Sally, he hasn’t wanted to move around much today but his leg seems about the same…no worse, but no better.  He is still having the watery and frequent diarrhea and I tried to give him the slightest tablespoon of canned food so I could mix the proviable into it (in the hopes that might help) and he didn’t want it.  He never does not want food so it’s concerning.  🙁    Tonight I’ll just try to give him some white rice and plain chicken.  I know it’s said white rice isn’t good for cancer patients but I think I’ll have to make an exception.  

Suzanne, that is a great vet to have!  Things always do seem to happen on the weekend and I feel horrible that I can’t do something to get him feeling better.

These bears are going to be the death of me…or my dog 🙁

This time it was my mistake.  We had returned from the lake (and I was actually going to report here that his walking looked better for the first time) and he needed to go in the yard.  I had scanned the area.  Things were quiet and clear  and I took his leash off and gave him a bit of space so he could sniff around and go to the bathroom (still having issues there). 

In the few minutes I had it off, a large bear popped out of the woods which he spotted first  and Honor ran to edge of fence (about a 25-30,foot run from where he had been).  I quickly ran over and grabbed his harness and tried to keep him from jumping while the bear just sat there staring at us. I couldn’t get Honor to “leave it” and go back inside.  I didn’t have my phone but used my watch to call one of the kids to go wake up their dad and send him out.   Neither of us could get him to go inside and he laid down and the look on his face told me he was in pain.  The bear went back into woods (finally). Even the fact that Honor laid down with a bear still in the vicinity was a very bad sign.  I really was worried he fractured it but he did finally get up and went in.  Back to not walking well and head bobbing and I am worried it could be even worse in morning.

I really don’t know what to do at this point.  I’m not even sure how realistic it is that I can have him on leash in our fenced yard every second he is out there.  Sometimes I’m the only one home and he isn’t always willing to come in quite so fast.  Often he will lay down in protest of coming in and then I am  stuck staying there with him regardless of if I need to get the kids somewhere, hear one of the other dogs scratching at the door to be let out, a grocery delivery arrives at the front door etc.  So, I can’t even let go of the leash for a few minutes, to go let another dog out or grab something from inside or do anything really because I now see it’s a given that a bear will show up during precisely that time.  I’m so mad at myself and frustrated with this situation.   Were it not for these bears, we wouldn’t be having any issues.  There is nothing else outside he would be motivated to run at. And, anything except for the bears, he will respond to a “leave it” command, “come” or “inside.”  

Watery diarrhea still continues.  I’m going to give the flagyl another try.  The problem is I can’t give him his galliprant and amantadine until his stomach is more settled and l, after this morning, I think he will need them. 

Thanks so much for those appetite tips.

Yes, I may be able to put a 4x8x6 dog kennel type thing out in a corner of the yard within the larger fence that I could let him hang out in off leash or put him in if I need to run inside for a minute (assuming he will cooperate with going in there).  We have one in the garage that we used inside the house when my other dog was recovering from TPLO surgery. 

My husband set up an ex pen outside within the fence. Only wish I had thought of it sooner.  Larger problems going on now.  He is limping badly.  Watery diarrhea and awful stomach sounds continue. It’s like he strains to go multiple times and not much comes out.  He had no interest in ground turkey and boiled potato for dinner and that’s just unheard of for him as he loves food.  I’m in tears and just feel like I’m going to lose him soon.  How could I even put a dog through amputation that seems so sensitive to pain medications?  How would he be able to take the necessary pain medications after an amputation?  I still don’t even know of the chemo is causing this or one of his other medications.  I haven’t given him Galliprant of amantadine for 2 days already due to the diarrhea and, at the moment, he definitely needs it.  He was struggling with diarrhea before we even did the chemo (although not as bad as this).  And if I give him a medication to correct one thing (ie flagyl for diarrhea) then that seems to cause another issue like nausea.  I’m not even sure who to call tomorrow. The specialist who works with him for chemo is on vacation.  I can call their office and see if they have any advice.  At this point, now I’m worried he may need yet another xray as what if he fractured it.  Is there a danger to doing an xray of the area every 2 weeks?  I could call UF but they will tell me to bring him back in again and we were just there on Thursday and, honestly, I can’t imagine making him do that drive at the moment given his stomach issues going on.  

He ate his dinner of organic ground hamburger, boiled chicken and brown rice (with a tablespoon of canned pumpkin added in which he largely managed to eat around because he has never wanted anything to do with vegetables).  He wanted more but I don’t want to overload his stomach all at once.  I didn’t even give him the appetite stimulant.  I think the IV fluids helped him a lot.   Whitney being so kind to backtrack and document his days for me gave me the idea that maybe I should start keeping track somewhere … like a daily account of what medications he has had and how he is doing.  

This morning we did go to the lake even though he is still hobbling.  We skipped the bit of walking we normally do and just walked straight  down to our sitting spot.   No more watery diarrhea… but now he hasn’t gone at all yet.  

Today’s issue is I noticed he has some fur loss and sores that have developed under his nose.  The sores were not there as recently as Friday.  I did send photos over to the oncologist but she doesn’t think it’s chemo related and advised he may need to go to regular vet if it persists/gets worse.  I checked in groups and couldn’t find any other dogs having this as a result of chemo either.  

Also, do all dogs have their platelets drop below normal when doing chemo?  

I’m seriously considering going ahead and doing the cementoplasty using the product from Bioceravet and the Dr. I consulted with at UF spoke with the company.  I sent Honor’s x-ray from yesterday over to both she and the company to get their opinion on if he is a good candidate.