Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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tazziedog said:
There are other brands of probiotics but make sure you use one made for dogs since their normal intestinal bacteria is different than ours.
That is good to know. Will yogurt with active cultures help too, in lieu of a probiotic supplement?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks Shadow and Pam for all the great info. This will really be helpful to a lot of people whose dogs have problems with diarrhea while on chemo. That's why I like this site so much; there's so much information sharing.
Your friends, Blazer, Kitty Kimber & Mom (Vicki)
Jerry,
Yogurt works for some dogs but the bacteria in yogurt is usually Lactobacillus sp. and dogs do best with Enterococcus faecium bacteria. Yogurt won't hurt unless your dog is lactose intolerant, in which case the diarrhea will get worse.
Innova and some other premium foods also include probiotics in some of their diets. The large-breed line has it and I think the EVO does too. It should say on the bag.
Pam and Tazzie
Thanks for clarifying that Pam, we had no idea. We learn so much here from you!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I have a question for Pam and Tazzie. Where do you find Fortiflora with the Enterococcus faecium in it?
Hi Shadow,
To find Fortiflora, just type in "Fortiflora" in your search engine and lots of places carry it. For example: http://www.heal.....hypets.com It is regularly $29.99, but they have it on sale for $21.99.
Your friends,
Blazer, Kitty Kimber & Mom (Vicki)
EntirelyPets.com has pretty good bulk pricing on FortiFlora CANINE Nutritional Supplement by Purina (3-Pack, Boxes of 30, 1 gram packets). They also have single boxes of FortiFlora CANINE Nutritional Supplement.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Shadow had his third chemo (carboplatin) on Friday 12/12 with the normal follow on symptoms of stomach upset and diarrhea. This time however we started treatment Saturday evening before the symptoms began. Actually, the oncologist suggested this course of action, and it has seemed to have dulled the intensity of the symptoms which started Monday evening.
He still has very little appetite and soft stool, but not the serious diarrhea that he has had in the past. More ultrasound scans were done to look at the abdominal masses and more needle biopsies were done.
The good news is that none of the masses had enlarged and only one is now of a suspicious nature. The biopsy showed that the cells were abnormal, but no specific category was found.
We have taken a wait and see on this mass which is on the bladder and will do another ultrasound two chemo's from now. A chest Xray was also done and preliminary reading showed no areas of concern. The next chemo (doxorubicin) is scheduled for 01/05/09.
Shadow, all in all that sounds like pretty good progress. We really like the suggestion your oncologist gave to start treatment before the side effects actually started. Makes perfect sense to us! You used the Metronidazole and Immodium again, right?
Wait and see is a good approach for those masses. Live for the moment my friends, enjoy every second. You know how to do it!
Your friend,
Spirit Dog Jerry, Jim & Rene
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Shadow & Family,
We're glad the oncologist recommended starting his metronidazole and immodium (I'm just assuming here that those are the drugs you are still using) before the diarrhea & upset stomach symptoms started. Like Spirit Jerry says, "Makes perfect sense to us!"
We're very happy to hear that most of the needle biopsies returned negative results and we will keep our fingers and paws crossed that the mass on his bladder will turn out to be OK, as well.
Please keep us posted on Shadow's progress if you can. Good luck with the doxorubicin treatment on 01/05/09.
Love, Blazer, Kitty Kimber & Mom (Vicki)
To clarify my previous post, yes the diarrhea teatment we used was the metronidazle and immodium. I also started to use the FortiFlora, but not until after the symptoms started as it did not arrive until after the diarrhea had already started so I don't have enough experience with it yet to comment on it's helpfulness.I have an adequate supply of the Fortiflora and will continue to give it on an ongoing basis.
Another thing to add is that Shadow also had a couple of bouts with vomiting prior to the diarrhea that I treated with Metoclopramide , which I had been given after the first chemo. I had used it once after the first chemo, which was done the day after his surgery, because of vomiting and noticed some aggressive behavior but credited it to the pain of the surgery.
When I gave it this time he became somewhat disoriented and agitated. We went into town which was our usual routine and to walk in the park. While I was out of the vehicle for a short time he went berserk and chewed the seatbelt off on the truck and got into the front seat, something he has never done.
I went to our local Vet and she prescribed Xanax which brought him back to normal. I will be very cautious using this medicine again, and I would caution anyone using it for the first time. I quit giving it for nausea and started using Pepto Bismul which needs to be given more often, but has no side affects except dark stool.
shadow said:
Another thing to add is that Shadow also had a couple of bouts with vomiting prior to the diarrhea that I treated with Metoclopramide.
Thanks for letting us know about his reaction to Metoclopramide. Indeed, he was one of the unlucky ones to have a reaction like that. Xanax for dogs? Who knew? We learn something new here every day, thanks for sharing with us.
Many hugs to Shadow.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Shadow & Pawrent,
Yes, thank you so much for letting us know about the metoclopramide. It sounds like Shadow's behavior really became quite bizaare on this drug. I'm glad the Xanax brought him back to normal, again. I know that Shadow has been having some tough times with his chemo and I wish this wasn't so. We will keep our fingers and paws crossed that he comes through the rest of his chemo treatments with a lot less problems.
Love, Blazer, Kitty Kimber & Mom (Vicki)
It has been some time since I have updated Shadow's file. He has had two more chemo treatments since my last post, January 5'th and the 26'th. The 5'th was doxorubincin (Adriamycin) and the 26'th was Carboplatin. Shadow tolerated both of them well and the recovery period was approx. one week. Due to his bizarre behavior on his previous anti nausea drug (metoclopramide) he was given a new medicine (Cerenia) which worked very well for him, no sign of anything on his lungs.
As some of you may be aware, at the beginning of my posts I was very concerned about having the amputation done and how it would affect Shadow's life and ability to still be able to enjoy his walks at the park. For all of those who are facing the same decision, for Shadow it was the right thing to do. I have slowly built his distance up to the point it was prior to the amputation, one mile a day with no stops for rest. He is not tired at the end of the walk and does not seem to be stiff after coming home and laying down for a while. This is on a dog that is at least 12 years old, but was in good physical condition at the time of amputation, this was a rear leg amputation. To all of those faced with a decision about amputation, in most cases it is the right thing to do for the dog, as it gets rid of the pain and the dog will cope with the results.
I wrote an update a few days ago, but it never showed up. And only the first few words showed on this one. I will attempt to do an edit of this and see if I can get the edit update to stay. Shadow has continued his alternating chemo treatments at 3 week intervals. Everything went well until we reached the 7'th out of 8 treatments. He was recovering as usual from the treatment(carboplatin) when he started to show signs of going downhill. He rapidly got bad and I made an appointment with our local Vet, but had to take him in for an emergency off hours visit, he had a temperature of 106+. He was given chilled lactate with ringers and a shot of antibiotic. His appointment that I had made was for the next day which we kept and his temperature was down to 101. More lactate with ringers and another shot,also a bottle of Cipro. He was steadily improving when I took him for his next appointment at MSU. They did Xrays and ultrasound and found that he had contracted pneumonia. No last chemo was able to be given and I left there with 21 days of Cipro and Clavamox. Shadow is doing very well at this time and is able to walk his mile at the park with no problems. Apparently the chemo knocked his immunity down enough for him to develop the pneumonia. It is doubtful that he will be able to get his last treatment as we are now 6 weeks past his last one. The good news is that there is still no sign of mets in his lungs.
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