Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi all,
I hope everyone and their fur babies had a very Merry Christmas! We had an ok Christmas. Kota has been doing great, although his last xray showed some mets in his lungs. We are doing fenbendazole (the dewormer liquid) along with curcumin and hoping that does something. Other than that, Kota has been getting along great - doing some energetic things he hasn’t done since before the surgery ~7 months ago. Things like standing up on the center console from the backseat during rides and playing tug with his brother and doing the fastest zoomies he can do.
Anywho, about a week or so prior to Christmas, I noticed he was hesitant to jump up on the chair with me and the couch and things that he normally would do fine. This Christmas Eve it was cold and rainy here. Kota woke up and got down from the bed and just was moving slow and I could tell something was wrong. Could see his heart pounding and he was shivering (covering him up helped cause he was cold). As the days went by, his movement worsened to the point where he couldn’t walk without swaying, had a wide stance, his leg would give out, and he was just having trouble getting around. He also seemed like he couldn’t lay comfortably sometimes and getting up was very slow and wobbly. Each day seemed to get worse. I talked to my vet and he said to try Prednisone in place of his Carprofen. So I’ve been giving him Prednisone and Gabapentin. After the first day on that, I noticed like a 75% increase. He was back playing around and hopping around and getting up easily. Day 2 (today), he’s following me around and hopping faster and just doing all the things he normally does. You can still see slightly that his legs want to do the thing where it doesn’t want to move sometimes and his stride gets messed up but that’s getting better. And if he steps weird on the bed he has to catch himself. But you can tell he feels good now.
My long-winded story leads up to this question: After 5 days, we are getting off the Prednisone. What’s a good combo to keep him on to combat this arthritis issue he’s developing? I don’t want to keep him on a steroidal but I don’t want to drop down to something weak and have him go back to being hurty again. Looking for thoughts and opinions on good meds to try. As always, I will bring those recommendations up with my vet to see if he agrees. Thanks much in advance!
Personally with the lung mets I would keep him on a low dose of prednisone since this also reduces inflammation in the airways. I have not personally used the Librela injection in a dog with cancer but I would consider it if it improves his quality of life. Also check out supplements such as ElleVet CBD and Flexadin Advanced. He can also take gabapentin daily long term.
Pam
Thanks, Pam! I guess great minds think alike because I forgot to mention I have him on CBD and a joint supplement like flexadin daily.
My vet gave him 20mg of Pred once a day. He seems to be doing much better on the Pred now and is almost 100%. He’s a 60lb boy, so should I bump it down to 10mg daily? I won’t let him jump on the couch even though he wants to. Just want him to rest for a week or so.
Here’s his current regiment:
20mg Pred once a day (in place of 100mg Carprofen)
400mg Gabapentin once a day
Fenbendazole 3 days on and 4 days off
Curcumin once a day
advanced joint supplement once a day
CBD once a day
You definitely need to run this past your vet first but I typically give the 20 mg once daily for 14 days then reduce to 10 mg once daily for a dog that size. If he is doing well after another 14 days it is possible you may be able to maintain him on a lower dose.
You can give the gabapentin up to 3 times daily if needed and may be able to get by with less. CBD can be twice daily. Make sure that your joint supplement has UC-II which is Type II collagen (Flexadin Advanced; the regular Flexadin is a glucosamine product). You may need to give two products. Green-lipped mussel is also something to consider if his symptoms progress.
Personally I would also be giving him some sort of mushroom supplement for the lung mets; something with turkey tail mushrooms. I like the product from RX Vitamins because it is a powder that easily mixes into the food.
Pam
Pam,
Sorry to bug you with a bunch of questions. You mentioned the Librela shot and to consider it if it helps with QoL. Is it something with side effects or something that we would need to weigh the pros and cons?
Also, I know Gab can be given with Pred. I can’t give Pred with Carprofen, right?
I’m going to go see the vet about more Pred for daily use and I’ve ordered the Flexadin Advanced and a turkey-tail mushroom chew so it’ll be just 2 chews I put in his food daily, which he will appreciate.
Yes you can give pred with everything except carprofen or other NSAIDS.
Librela seems safe but I am not sure how it may affect a dog with cancer. It is a new product so we often have to wait and see but if my dog needed more pain relief and already had lung mets I would sure try it if all else failed.
Pam
Just chiming in on Librela for OA. We are giving it to our Nellie (she doesn't have cancer) and believe we are already seeing improvements with just one injection. She goes back for her second this week, and that is where the research on it shows the real improvement begins. It's $90 a shot at the clinic we are using.
That’s awesome! I’m glad it’s helping 🙂
I talked with my vet today and he thinks maybe it was his back that got hurt/is causing the issue. He told me to stay on the prednisone for 10 more days, then lower the dose and keep him on it every other day. He said we could administer more OA meds later if it doesn’t improve any of the next few weeks. All in all, Kota is getting around well. The only “issue” is that sometimes it seems like it takes him a little bit to get comfortable when he lays down. But when he finds a comfy way to lay, he falls asleep fine. He still hops around and does everything else. Every once in a while when he’s going kinda fast, you can see one rear leg kind of flail forward or out to the side. I think I need to be more conscious of making him exercise a little more. We don’t really have a rehab facility here for pets.
Justin342 said
We don’t really have a rehab facility here for pets.
You might be surprised. Please reach out to me via private message, and send me your location. I'll do my best to find you a therapist. Usually I can find one when it seems none are nearby. Remember Tripawds Foundation can pay for your first rehab visit too.
Hey Pam,
Was just wondering your thoughts on this. The prednisone helped Kota get back to normal, but I didn’t like the side effects it gave him (restlessness anxiety which led to constant licking of the floor, thirsty all the time, etc.). I’ve kinda weened him down to 5mg every other day. I was just wondering your opinions on what to ask my vet to replace the prednisone with. I’m still giving him the gabapentin twice a day.
Is he still drinking a lot and peeing even on that low of a dose? Most dogs would typically not have side effects. If he can't tolerate even low-dose pred then you can try to switch him to an NSAID such as meloxicam but you can't give that in addition to the pred; most vets recommend at leat 3 days off in between drugs so as not to cause stomach upset.
Pam
Yeah he was drinking a good bit but not as much as when he was on a higher dose. I went to my vet yesterday and he gave me Galliprant to take once a day instead of prednisone. I gave him his first pill this morning. I’m assuming it takes a day or two to start seeing improvements?
tazziedog said
Yes you can give pred with everything except carprofen or other NSAIDS.Librela seems safe but I am not sure how it may affect a dog with cancer. It is a new product so we often have to wait and see but if my dog needed more pain relief and already had lung mets I would sure try it if all else failed.
Just chiming in with another Librela recommendation. I’m in the UK and we have had it for several years here. My Meg was on monthly injections for more than two years before she died and the positive impact was really obvious, though in her case it took three months to really kick in. She did not have cancer so I can’t comment on that specifically.
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, 23 November 2023, adopted 12 January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
Pam,
Do you have any recommendations on supplements to help with RBC? I took him to the vet this morning and after a CBC, they said he had a RBC count of lower 20s. He did an xray and, although the Mets have gotten bigger, he didn’t see anything that would suggest bleeding from somewhere. He’s considering putting him back on the prednisone.
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