Yoda's doc said that some dogs actually get nauseaus from the Sulf. and that we'd better take him off of it and he should improve with just the Pepcid and Cerenia.  The timing with when he started getting real fussy about taking his meds fits that theory that it was the Sulf.  He should improve in the next 24 hours.  If he were to vomit or get worse in anyway, I'm to bring him in and he'll probably get a couple injections for nausea.  Phew!

Hey Pam,

Yoda has been on the Cerenia daily.  He resists (violently) the sucralifate now both as a slurry and as a pill (because he's resisting all pills at the moment).  And he has and continues to be on 15 mg of Pepcid 2x a day.  He hasn't vomited since he's been on the Cerenia.  I'd certainly be tragically stuck, financially, if Yoda needed surgery for a perforated ulcer, but at the same time, his oncologist believes that the sucralifate he took actually contributed to his nausea and it's been a huge struggle to get him to take his pills since that started.  So, I'm pretty torn on your suggestion to put him back on the sucralfate (Carafate).  My understanding is that his oncologist thinks the Pepcid and Cerenia will be enough (though initially she seemed concerned when I told her the emergency vet didn't prescribe the sucralfate), since he is no longer vomiting and he has some appetite. 

He did have pale gums and black stool, but currently both are still past tense – is that a good sign that if they were related to the ulcer, that it is healing?

Thanks for your opinon thus far, just hoping to clarify a little.

Oh and could you tell me what kind of symptoms I'd see if it perforated?  His oncologist didn't bring up that possibility.

Thanks again, Pam

Yoda has lost his appetite for anything, except treats now.  So I'm thinking, as long as he doesn't want to eat any way, I'm out of reasons not to put him back on the Carafate, right?  It's his last day of the Cerenia pill.  Unless he eats his breakfast tomorrow, I expect I'll be taking him in for an emergency visit - again.  His oncologist had said if he got worse (his appetite decreasing, I think constitutes as worse, though she used vomiting as her example) that she would recommend another Cerenia injection along with another anti-nausea drug injection that started with a "d".  I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget, but now I can't find the paper. 

Today I tried giving Yoda chicken with rice (mixed with his food) and found that he's pefectly happy eating as much as of that as he can get but he will eat as little of his dry dog food as possible.  He also loved some wet food made from rabbit and smearing that on his dry food got him to eat some, but the necessary ratio of rabbit meat to kibble for him to eat it was too high for me to give him very much that way.

I'm beginning to wonder whether this is still nausea affecting his appetite or if it could be pain related instead?  He was taken off the Piroxicam when he started vomiting, of course, and won't be going back on it.  No new pain killer was added to replace that, but when I got a refill of his Tramadol the other day, I saw his oncologist did up his dose of that from 1 tablet to 1 1/2.  Not eating his dry food would be the only symptom of pain that I can see, if that's what it is.  He hasn't shown any difficulty or reluctance getting around.  He played enthusiastically with a new stuffed ball I bought him.  His mouth has stopped watering though (so far).  The vet or vet tech I spoke to on the phone today said since the mouth watering was a sign of nausea, he's probably getting better and feeling less queasy (or not at all?).  She advised me not to bring him in yet, if a decreased appetite was his only symptom, but to give Yoda some more time and call his oncologist tomorrow.

His gums are still pink and no black in the minimal amount of stool he has left behind.

He just keeps going back and forth.  Last night he started salivating heavily again and refused some wet food that he usually likes.  They gave him an injection of Odansetron (that's funney I thought it started with a "d") and then I got the pill version of Odansetron for Yoda today as well, because though the injection seemed to help, he was salivating and refusing boiled chicken the next morning.

I am experimenting with taking Yoda off the Pepcid, since apparently that too can cause nausea, and now he has the other med.  Plus, Yoda's oncologist doesn't believe we're dealing with an ulcer anymore, since there hasn't been any more melena (black stool).  She has concluded that the lack of appetite/watery mouth (nausea) is an effect of the cancer itself and he may just continue to decline.

Today he has eaten pretty well - some chicken and rice and some hamburger and rice.  A few of his treats still appeal to him.  He's turning up his nose at all his wet food, even when I make it as obvious as possible that there are no pills in it.

He's still active, doesn't seem to be in pain.  Though when we visited the park today, he didn't try to run with the other dogs.  He greeted them, enjoyed himself, but spent most of his time just investigating smells.  Once we got home though, he played more energetically with his new stuffed ball.