Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Grrrr....sosorry for all the tummy issues. Goodness knows though, you are giving her the best care and doing everything poss for her. And she KNOWS it!!
Hopefully, things will get under control sooner rather than later. YAY for good bloodwork and really glad they gave her some fluids. Possibly the pancreatitis has been one of the culprits all along so getting her on low fat diet should help too.
Paws crossed for improvement. She's such a sweet gal. Give her a big smooch for us and sa treat....and low fat treat of coirse!
(((((((((((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!
We've been gradually increasing Mojo's diet and trying to transition to more hard kibble then canned. She's only vomited twice (both small amounts) since getting her checked out by Banfield. We went back to SouthPaws today and they did not redo bloodwork since she just had that done but they did take another chest x-ray....the nodule has increased in size by about 30% and is now roughly 2 inches long. The rest of that lung and the other one look good. Dr. Boostrom decided (and I agree with him) not to restart the Cytoxan and Piroxicam as it obviously did not do anything for the nodule. He said it only works on roughly 20% of dogs anyway. Plus this way we can keep her GI tract nice and calm. He said it's hard to tell if the chemo meds is what upset her GI tract and then led to Pancreatitis.
Our goal now is to put some pounds back on her, she was 62lbs at her last visit on 6/29 and now she is 55lbs...thanks to the vomiting spell. He said she'll get more calories per punch from the hard kibble then the canned since the canned is 78% water. She had been getting 1c of dry so I bumped it up to 1.5c for dinner tonight and hopefully we'll get to 2c at each meal soon. If she starts to have a lack of appitite we will consider starting her on a steroid. Other then that he said just to keep an eye out for coughing and the inability for her to get comfy when laying down as those would be signs that the nodule has spread to a point of bothering her.
Online
Hey thanks for checking in. I'm glad she's able to tolerate more kibble. Yes keep her eating, whatever it takes to give her the calories to keep that nasty lung met from misbehaving. I'm sorry the news wasn't better.
How are her spirits otherwise? Is she still Mojo?
Hey I just want to throw this out there since you are in Virginia, but do you know about the UVA histortripsy trial for dogs with lung mets? See;
Although that nasty met did increase, it doesn't seem to be comprising her overall quality And when she can put on a few more lbs and has her tummy all back to normal,I bet she'll feel even better.
So has the pancreatitis cleared up? Do t know if she has to watch her fat content if it's still an issue, but hopef it's gone.
Don't hesitate to give her warm rotisserie chicken, cheeseburger, any good stuff she'll eat.
And yeah, the steroid can perk up her appetite IF needed, plus ot can reduce any inflammation that met ,at be caus, this adding to her comfort.
Okay Mojo, chow down and fatten up!!! That's not often what we say to Tripawds. As usual though you are a very unique special exception!!!
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!
Thanks Jerry and Sally. I did not know about the UVA study but will take a look.
Yes Sally, she has to be on a low fat diet now. She is still acting like Mojo 🙂
These were taken this morning at my in-laws. One of their dog's Fiona (who's a little over a year old) tries so hard to get Mojo to play with her. If you look close enough in the third pic you'll see Fiona's brother Finn looking on from the wicker couch.
Awww they're all best buddies!
Let me know if you decide to get involved with the study. It sounds so promising.
jerry said
Awww they're all best buddies!Let me know if you decide to get involved with the study. It sounds so promising.
Don't think she'd qualify....
Exclusion
- Dogs will undergo limb amputation as part of this study. Dogs who have already had amputation or tumor resection are not eligible to enroll.
- Dogs who have received any tumor-directed therapy (e.g. radiation) or immunosuppressive drugs prior to study enrollment
- Evidence of metastatic disease
Oh total brain fart on my part. I got it confused with this lung mets study in San Diego. Clients have to get there for treatment, but follow up can be done at their regular vet I believe.
Histotripsy is generally used to obliterate lung metastasis in people and now pets, but not for that study. It might be worth calling UVA anyways, just to even see if a study is coming up or if they can somehow get her in for treatment with the technology.
How is she doing?
She's doing well. Takes her a little longer to finish all the hard kibble at one time but she ends up eating it all. We tried softening it with water but she didn't seem to like it as my guess the flavor got washed off.
Oh WHEW! Hey as long as she is willing to eat that's wonderful. Maybe try a no-salt broth next time to see if she's more enthused about it? Either way I'm super happy to know she's good.
Mojo wanted to stop by and wish everyone a Happy Halloween!
PS. She took 1st place in the "Big Dog" category of today's Paws in the Park's costume contest in Strasburg, Va.
YAY Mojo! This made my day, I'm so hoppy that you are doing well! Congratulations on winning the contest. A de-stuffed shredded Beanie Baby right? 
#TripawdsRule!
Absolutely thrilled to see this update AND to see that adorable picture!!! Everything about this post has me grinning g ear to ear3😎
Very, very creative costume👏
Mojo is such a pawsitive example of how a pupper can still have a happy life in spite of a crap met. He's already secured his place around here as a Legend.
Tha ks for checking in. Give sweet Mojo some extra yummy treats for us, okay?
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!
jerry said
YAY Mojo! This made my day, I'm so hoppy that you are doing well! Congratulations on winning the contest. A de-stuffed shredded Beanie Baby right?
Yep, you guessed her costume!
Just wanted to give an update on Mojo...
Last Sat we took her to Banfield, she refused to eat the Rx dry kibble or canned (she'd gobble the canned food down prior) nor would she eat some canned Pedigree beef in gravy or even some Beneful beef in gravy soft food (both of which she'd gobble up on any other day). In a last ditch effort to get her to eat we been cooked up ground chicken and found that she will gladly eat without having to give her any Entyce beforehand. She was also having mobility issues....slipping on parts of the hardwood that we didn't have lined with something grippy or we'd come inside and she'd immediate just lay down. So her vet ran a bloodwork panel and it didn't come back with anything glaringly "new" given the osteo and pancreatitis issues she's already got. They also did a chest x-ray and sent that over to SouthPaws to have them compare it to the last one they did which was mid-Aug. SouthPaws got back to her this week and said that the met they saw in her Aug x-ray has in fact gotten larger and there are additional mets as well. So the thought is that the cancer is zapping Mojo's energy.
Then we get to the mobility issues and her poor arthritis is kicking her behind. Her Banfield vet did give her an Rx for Rymadil which she's still taking daily but we basically have to help her get up most of the time. Once she's up and with us supporting her via her harness she's able to get around but avoids the hardwood now at all costs. I just bought her this and it should be here on Wed so we'll see if it helps out. Also, her Banfield vet will be prescribing her Adequan to see if that helps her at all.
The hard thing is that mentally Mojo is still all there it's just her body starting to give up. We definitely don't want her to be in pain so we're going to see if the Adequan helps at all though it is a four week regiment.
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