Well - Sophie had a somewhat restless night - she managed to wake me up enough to have me blindly leaping out of bed and stumbling down the stairs to let her out - I don't remember how many times. I thought I had her securely "locked" in my bedroom - with the carpets all covered with various "blue pee pads" and blankets, mats, etc., so that if she had an accident, it would be relatively easy to clean up. Wrong. I guess I didn't close the door tight enough, or in my sleep-deprived state I failed to latch it securely one time - she left my bedroom at some point and managed to leave a few piles of diarrhea around the house, which I didn't find until I had to run out the door to an appointment this morning. That was very discouraging. She hasn't eaten much of anything - a few bits of kibble, a little bit of a piece of toast (no butter, or anything on it) - seriously - smaller than a dime. She did drink a bit of water. 

This afternoon I was out in the yard doing some gardening - she came outside with me - and seemed quite content to lie in the sunshine and sleep soundly. There were no big piles of diarrhea to be picked up in the yard - she did all that in the house, I guess. 

I have run out of carpet cleaner again - my new carpet cleaning machine has been going pretty much non-stop during waking hours. Everywhere there is carpet in my house - it looks like aliens have landed - little "crop-circles" of clean - overlapping each other - spread all over the rooms and down the hall.

We had to go out to my son's hockey game tonite - Sophie was alone for about 2 hours - when we got home - more diarrhea. 

The oncologist - I spoke to her this afternoon - seems at a loss as to why Sophie is having so much diarrhea. She said we could take her back to the clinic and they would hook her back up to the IV and try to stabilize her again. OR, we could take her daily for 5 days for injectable anti-nausea meds. I don't know that she's nauseous so much - although she's not interested in eating - but anything she eats comes out before very long. At least this isn't black and tarry - it's just copious amounts of brown muscous filled poop. 

My house will be condemned if this continues. I can't get the stains or the smell out. She finds the most remote places to go. When I had a little terrier - years ago - and he was very ill - he also had cancer, but we didn't know it at the time - he would wander off into the strangest places. I would find him in the closet in the spare bedroom, or under the bed in the guest room. He NEVER went to the bathroom in the house - never. Not even at the end. I just don't know how to deal with this. It seems never-ending. Sophie stinks, my house stinks, I smell poop even during those few precious moments when I am actually asleep. 

Can I give her Imodium? Any other suggestions? There must be something. Obviously, confining her is a given. I will have to get a kennel - or baby gates - or something to confine her to an easily cleanable area.

I am exhausted and overwhelmed. I am too old to be getting up every few minutes to half an hour during the night  ..... wah, wah wah......  (that's me feeling sorry for myself.....)  

Gosh, I wonder if she has some sort of infection? Pam mentioned metronidazole, which is an antibiotic, maybe you can ask the vet about it.  I'm so sorry you're going through such a rough time. It sounds like the frustration I felt during Sadie's 2 weeks post-amp.  I hope you can get some answers, and that Sophie is feeling better soon.

Hugs and sloppy Sadie kisses

Tana,

I'm so sorry to read about Sophie and all that you're going through.  I have to say that the best cure for diarrhea that I've used for my dogs is flagyl (metronidazole) as Gerry's mom and Pam have said.  I keep a supply on hand and whenever they have bouts of diarrhea it clears it right up within a couple of days.  So I would highly recommend that you talk to your vet about this.  Maybe you already have? Maybe they've already given it to her? (Sorry to come on strong about this but I swear by this stuff!)

It sounds like Sophie is having an extreme reaction to this chemo.  Mackenzie had pretty bad side effects too but didn't have diarrhea like this although she had severe nausea and loss of appetite.  Mackenzie was on 2 kinds of anti-nausea medication - cerenia and  another kind plus ginger.  It didn't seem to help all that much to tell you honestly.  But the flagyl, now that worked when she had diarrhea.

I can only imagine how difficult this is.  Someone once told me that the reason why dogs prefer carpeting if they have to go inside vs. the tile floor is because carpeting feels more like grass. I find that when my dogs have gone inside the house because they just couldn't hold it in,  it was always in the worst, most difficult places to clean up - like the carpet.  How stressful this must be for you. 

Hang in there - I'm sure once Sophie gets this through her system she'll be doing much better.  I don't blame you for wanting to stop the chemo treatsments.  i would too if this was the reaction (but don't beat yourself up about this - you just never know how a dog is going to react to these treatments.)  

Thinking of you and Sophie. Hope that Sophie gets to feeling better very soon and you get your house back to smelling good again    

Kami

I'm so sorry to read the latest.  I'm sending healing thoughts and lots of hugs to you and Sophie!

Susan