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King Louie's Comeback - A 13yr staffie
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On The Road


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24 November 2020 - 10:27 pm
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Awww Louie! You look so spectacular. The outdoors suits you very well, and that tug of war game had us on our feet cheering for you. I'm so glad you got out for some fun!

Stay strong and know that we are cheering you on for your upcoming treatment. Hoppy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful to have you as part of the Tripawds Nation.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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9 December 2020 - 8:14 am
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My 13yr old staffie mutt is now a 14yr old staffie mutt. We celebrated his birthday yesterday. Of course, we don't actually know when his birthday is, but Dec 8th was assigned 12 1/2 yrs ago when the shelter said he was about 1 1/2. And it's really more of a birthday week celebration anyway. Hell, a birthday month/year/every day.

Louie re-learning to swim (he's gotten better and smoother since): https://www.ins....._copy_link

More Louie pics: https://www.ins....._copy_link

Walking with him is very different. I don't know that I really understood this before the surgery. We had been doing 3 or 4 mile slow walks, we now travel about 1000 ft in the course of an hour (when I have that kind of time). But he's fired up to do that every day, and meet other poochies and people and just be outside smelling and peeing on things. And EVERYONE is surprised to learn he's 14. Little man makes it look good. We also had an incident recently where I made poor choices, and Louie embraced his hunter instincts and ran a good distance terrorizing some ground critters on private property. He had a blast. I climbed through barb wire. Good times.

Palladia/Losartan is only a week in, so can't comment other than they sent me home with gloves to handle the palladia because these pills I'm feeding my dog are too dangerous for me to touch. WTF. That feels like shit. Also, by the end of the day today, he will have taken 14 pills. Appetite still kicking.

He's got a bump right above his amputation scar that is suspect, but doesn't currently seem to bother him so I didn't bother getting it tested. Vet agreed outcome wouldn't change our course. Second lung met didn't show up in our latest x-ray, but could have been an error in either of the x-rays (didn't actually exist in the first one, or hid in the second). But stable is good.

New York, NY
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9 December 2020 - 12:27 pm
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Happy Birthday, Louie!  What an awesome milestone to celebrate!  He looks absolutely fantastic in the swimming video and the photos.  I laughed out loud for real when I read about you making "poor choices" - sometimes that results in the most fun!  It sounds like Louie is doing well with Palladia.  Griffin's inappetence issues occurred almost immediately after starting (and he was taking it every other day), so hopefully this means that Louie, like most dogs, will tolerate it well.  Griffin and I are sending hugs and lots of birthday wishes to Louie!  ~ Stacy

Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com

On The Road


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9 December 2020 - 12:51 pm
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Oh you sweet boy! Hoppy Birthday! It's such a joy to see you outdoors loving life in the water and out. Congratulations!!!!

Louie is quite the success story, especially for senior dogs. And that he is also tolerating the Palladia so well, so far, is a great sign too. Look up "Kicking Cancer's Butt" in the dictionary and there will be a picture of your handsome boy.

I'm so hoppy for you! Thanks for taking time to update us and give hope to the community.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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15 January 2021 - 12:18 pm
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Well, Louie Palladia update. Mostly really good news, but a little not great addition:

The 2 mets are stable! They haven't changed in the 2.5 months since they were first found in x-rays. So the palladia appears to be working! Louie's appetite is still very strong (VERY strong), and he seems to be feeling good. He's doing some lip smacking occasionally, which I know can be a sign of nausea. But not puking, poopicon normal. So onwards with the palladia/losartan combo. 

We added amantadine for his arthritis. Little man has more energy than he can comfortably expel, so here's hoping one more pill makes him even more of a needy little attention seeker. I mean, hopefully we can go a little further on our walks. 🙂

So, not so great, they found a trace of blood in his urine. This is not associated with any palladia side-effects. Vet recommended an ultrasound on his belly to look for masses or stones, but also seemed to suggest that they wouldn't/couldn't really do much with that information. They won't do surgery on him considering everything else. So I didn't get a sense of the urgency of the ultrasound, and the diagnosis was provided in an email, which I didn't appreciate. Vet is out today.

Also, he had a weird episode the other night where he woke up (4AM), was huffing, then collapsed. Was awake, but dazed, and eventually got up, went outside, and then came back to bed. Woke up in the morning normal. They did a couple blood tests, but found nothing, no explanation.

But really, my biggest concern these days is finding time to provide enough fun for pibbles. So that's great.

Virginia







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15 January 2021 - 12:54 pm
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So much to celebrate!!!  All of which falls under the banner of Loiie living life to the fullest and gettiig to be Louie!!!😎

The mets holding stable....such a great victory!1👏👏

No insight into the episode he had the mother nightnor the blood jn the urine.  Bottom line, no issues were found in blood work and guess listening  to his chest everything  normal as far as heart and lungs.  Whatever was going on, he is fine now.  And, as we always say, NOW is all that matters!

So HAPPY STABLE REPORT on the mets Louie!! Keep on keeping g on sweet boy!!

Hugs

Sally  and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

On The Road


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15 January 2021 - 8:50 pm
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Well that really is pretty good news overall, I hope the nighttime episode was just some crazy sleepwalking or something. That's awesome the Palladia isn't bothering him aside from a bit of nausea. You may want to consider just grating some ginger and adding it to his food on the days he has it. It works great for nausea and if he'll eat it, it's a win.

That's cool they added the Amantadine. I noticed it really helped our Wyatt. 

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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25 February 2021 - 1:40 pm
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Louie update:

But first, pictures: https://www.ins....._copy_link

Saturday is his 6-month ampuversary.

We had to go off Palladia. Little man was feeling crappy. Went back in for another baseline to find that the one met is still holding steady (the other met disappeared again which suggests it was never a met). This is huge. So huge I rethought the decision... decided two weeks off, and we would start again at a slightly lower dose. I made a very poor decision to put him back on Amantadine at the same time despite evidence that it made him feel even worse (TWO vets suggested that it shouldn't make him feel sick, but his vomiting correlates near perfectly with the amantdine). Long story short, second dose of palladia got thrown up (that's a $30 vomit). Along with all the other pills. AND my second attempt at feeding and medicating him also came up. Will let it clear his system and try again WITHOUT the amantadine next week. I guess??? 

Even though it seems to be working, I don't expect that he'll be able to stay on the palladia. Crap.

In the meantime, his arthritis is really bugging him. The only thing I can do are activities that involve treats.

We'd been going to the dog park again. Someone please tell me that Louie isn't frustrated that he can't keep up with the other dogs anymore. That's crazy right? He still likes to wrestle, and is super waggy tailed meeting the other poochies and their humans (people seem to LOVE tripawds). But I think the dog park is what is making him so sore.

I don't really know what to do physically with him right now. I want it to be swimming and sunbathing season already!

On The Road


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25 February 2021 - 2:07 pm
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HOPPY AMPUVERSARY LOUIE! You look so so good! I'm guessing you're much happier now without all the extra medication. You sure look hoppy!

Long story short, second dose of palladia got thrown up (that’s a $30 vomit).

Oh my gosh I never thought of it like that! You are so right and I'm really sorry it didn't work out! Did you try any kind of anti-nausea medication? That is odd about the Amantadine, but you just never know until you try so don't beat yourself up OK? You're doing your best and Louie would never hold anything against you. Just keep moving forward like he is. 

We’d been going to the dog park again. Someone please tell me that Louie isn’t frustrated that he can’t keep up with the other dogs anymore. That’s crazy right? 

Nothing is crazy here, we understand your worries. Is he frustrated? Probably not as much as he is excited that he can be around his pals. Dogs can certainly get frustrated but in a situation like a dog park, he's probably too overwhelmed with other emotions to let frustration take over. Everything you are describing about his behavior points to a happy dog at the dog park.

But I think the dog park is what is making him so sore.

I don’t really know what to do physically with him right now. I want it to be swimming and sunbathing season already!

You are absolutely correct. See:

Is It OK to Take Tripawds to Dog Parks?

As for what to do with him: remember, tiring the brain is as effective as tiring the body, and much kinder on their joints. Have you seen the new Canine Rehab on Demand Program? Or considered Nosework Scent Games? There are so many things you can do together right now, take advantage of this indoor time to build your bond and help him feel good. Give some of these activities a try and let us know what works!

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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25 February 2021 - 4:22 pm
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Oh my gosh! Nose work! I love this idea.

In no time Louie will be applying for his sommelier certification (to add to his good canine citizen certification). He's so good he doesn't even have to taste it to identify varietal and appalachian. I'm off to find boxes. Thank you!

While the $30 vomit was kind of a joke, I do wonder if there is any way to "donate" the $300+ worth of palladia I may not get to use? I know that's super tricky, but it's so expensive for anyone, meanwhile I'm throwing some away cause Louie can't handle it anymore. Ugh.

And yeah, I've been careful at the dog park. We don't go far, Louie spends most of the time watching, and we leave before he seems to want to. He loves it. I think it's worth it. The dogs don't seem to notice anything weird about him at all. He just needs them to stay in one place to play, that's all.

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25 February 2021 - 4:43 pm
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I also want to give a shout out to Angel Griffin. My heart breaks for Stacy daily, but little man Griffin made tripawd life look like everything you would want any dog's life to be, so full and so happy. He'll be up there to show Louie around when he gets there and that makes me feel better. Thank you for sharing him with us Stacy.

New York, NY
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25 February 2021 - 6:47 pm
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Louie looks amazing!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a lower dose of Palladia (we were given the option of administering every other day or 3 times a week, giving 2 consecutive days for recovery) works out if you think that is what is keeping his lung mets stable, and stable is a great thing to celebrate!  Thank you for the kind words about Griffin - I miss him so very much every day, but I know how blessed we were to live an amazing life together for 11 years! sp_hearticon2

Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com

On The Road


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26 February 2021 - 12:00 pm
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You are doing everything right, bravo! I can't wait to see what you and Louie do with the nosework activities.

About the Palladia. Medication is a tough one because as the consumer you legally cannot give it away to pet parents, or ship it in the mail. Your best bet is ask your vet if they know of any responsible rescues that care for dogs with cancer.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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30 March 2021 - 4:56 pm
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Hi my wonderful Tripawd friends! Louie's staff here with another Louie update. I'll be bringing y'all along on his whole journey.

Louie's 7-month ampuversary was Saturday! So we've already beat the odds. He just had another 6 week check-up today, and the one lung met hasn't changed still. And nothing else has popped up. His vet is so surprised by this stability that she doesn't think that one spot is actually an osteo met. Either that or the Palladia is showing miracle response. Perhaps next visit we can rule out the latter because I promised Louie last week NO MORE PALLADIA.

I know last time we talked I was already leaning in that direction. But I tried it again. The palladia seemed to be working SO well! And maybe it was. Again, we'll see. He did fine for a couple weeks, and then he stopped finishing his meals. And did lots of lip smacking at night. And I found a very smelly stain in his bed which leads me to believe he threw up (during the day some time) then ate it before I found it. Grossness aside, little man doesn't need to be dealing with that.

We also went ahead with the ultrasound. She found ... something ... in his prostate that may be aggressive cancer, or it may be benign whatever due to his age of neuter (he was probably over a year old by the time he was relieved of his little doggie sack). The mass in question didn't have any crystalline structure they normally associate with the scary tumors. Doesn't rule it out, but makes us feel a little better. She also didn't think it was what was causing the small amount of blood in his urine. So we'll go ahead and add that to the long list of suspect masses that we are monitoring on this little puke eating, attention seeking, farty, furry 3-legger.

His arthritis is still a big problem. Now that palladia is out of the picture, I'll try the amantadine again (doc's out of other options), but not too optimistic. Then again, being a scientist, I should recognize the highly unscientific nature with which I determined it was a problem before. So, we'll try again. I'm icing his joints, but he HATES it when I do. The arthritis is not stopping him from trying to wrestle with other dogs, and just enjoying the ever increasing sunshine! We go out to the park, and sit on a blanket, and people and poochie watch. And if an off-leash poochie gets within hopping distance, it's go time! And what he considers "hopping distance" can vary dramatically by how enticing the poochie in question is.

But the best news is: it's going to 70 this weekend, and his favorite swimming hole should open ANY DAY now! There will be pictures.

Also, he's learned that boxes have treats under them, but that's as far as we've made it on the smells training. I don't think he gets the idea that he's supposed to sit in front of the box to get the treat. Baby steps. 🙂

On The Road


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30 March 2021 - 7:23 pm
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YAY Louie! Hoppy Ampuversary! Seven months is HUGE!

giphy.gif

You've had so many ups and downs, I'm glad to see you are on an up and I hope with all my sp_hearticon2 that it stays like that. The sunshine and lovely spring weather should definitely make sure you stay in the zone.

Such a bummer about the Palladia! But now you know you left no stone unturned. As for his arthritis, yeah, that's a tough one. It's so tricky to walk that line of letting him be a dog and making sure he doesn't overdo the fun to the point of pain. I can tell you're doing a good job monitoring him smiley_clap Excellent!

Don't furget to share some photos of his first spring swim! Thanks for stopping by.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

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