We called the U of M this morning because Jack was a bit uncomfortable and we didn’t want to give her any Rimadyl because it seems to give her diahrreah and we thought it might be why she wasn’t eating. We had laid off the Tramadol as it seemed to cause her to breath faster and it worried my wife. The U of M felt she may not have been eating due to being in pain so we started the Tramadol again. They said the rapid breathing is fairly normal and just to watch that she doesn’t actually have trouble breathing which we’ve not seen. We also had a small victory. She ate a small bit of pumpkin from a can but the U said it acts as a stool softner so we only gave her a little bit. She would also eat a small amount of cold pasta if it was rolled into a ball. My wife then took her dogfood, a bit of hard boiled egg and water and puree’d it in our food processor. She put the paste into a large synringe that we used to give water when the dogs are sick and sent me outside. I expected a very unpleasant experience for both of us. Much to my surprise, I squirted a small amount on her tounge and she just swallowed and licked it up. She oddly would lick the mess from my fingers and the snow but would not eat the paste from a spoon. So we gave her three synringe full of dog food without any fight and she didn’t even seem irritated. It’s nice to know we now have a way to keep her fed even if food is not currently appealing.
Jan 30, 2010 | | Dog Chemotherapy
I can’t explain it but Jack had a MUCH better day yesterday and today as far as the pain is concerned. I’m so happy. She had a Tramadol in the morning yesterday and that was it all day and evening except for a 1/2 Rimadyl at about midnight. She didn’t seem uncomfortable dinnertime and beyond so we just let it go. Today she was also not uncomfortable so that’s just awesome. Now if I could only get her to eat. I’m not sure if it’s the Chemo, or the pain drugs or what but she is very tough to get to eat dog food and even fresh human food. Of course she’ll take a dog cookie but I can’t fill the bowl with dog treats. Since she didn’t get pain drugs this morning and did finally eat last night i’m less concerned but hoping we can get her to eat good for dinner in case she becomes uncomfortable this evening. Monday we go to the U for an Osteoperosis drug and radiation.
Jan 29, 2010 | | Canine Osteosarcoma
My wife found a good article that describes the type of pain associated with Osteosarcoma Bone Cancer in dogs. It is located here and is accurate as far as I can see with what my own dog is experiencing. We started the Tramadol today and lucky are seeing no side effects. Hard to say if it’s working better than the Rimadyl. We’re hoping to get her in for radiation as soon as possible, we were told the 10th of February but are trying to get her in sooner to get her whatever possible to relieve the pain. Seems much worse at night for some reason.
Jan 27, 2010 | | Canine Osteosarcoma
We took Jack to the U of M to have them look at her as she was not recovering well we thought from the chemo but it seemed like she was in pain in her him and other rear leg. They took xrays and found that the Osteosarcoma had spread to her hip and other leg. I never imagined it would be so fast. We are giving her pain medication but it is hard to say how effective it is. The nights are expecially hard for her, she is restless and can’t seem to get comfortable. We expect that she only has a short time if the pain cannot be managed. We’re going to try a drug that is a 4 hour IV drip that slows the progress of Osteoperosis and we’re going to try radiation to help with the pain. We also will start the Adriamycin chemo in three weeks which is what we probably should have started with. I’m honestly not sure if she’ll be with us for all this but we’re going to try what we can and see how her spirit is.
Jan 27, 2010 | | Dog Chemotherapy
With the past chemotherapy treatments Jack had nearly recovered by day three and on day four we knew she was better because we’d get a maw wow wow moan when she wanted her food. This time though while she would eat she needed to be encouraged and seemed to be depressed, tired and just wanted to lay around. My wife examined her and she seemed to have some pain on the hip where the leg was amputated. After getting a 1/2 Rimadyl she seemed to perk up a bit. My wife talked to our neighbor who received chemo for breast cancer and she said that there were cumulative effects from getting Chemo. She said that with each treatment she felt more and more exhausted and felt nerve pain. So we’re hopeful that this is all Jack is experiencing as well. It does seem to fit as her recovery has been slower with each treatment she receives.
Jan 24, 2010 | | Dog Chemotherapy
Wednesday January 20, 2010 was Jack’s third round of chemotherapy, this is her third and final round of Carboplatin. Previouly we had trouble with her spiking a fever over 105 several hours after bringing her home. We’ve found that it seems that she gets dehydrated which causes a fever which leads to her not wanting to drink. This was our most successful treatment yet because we did alot of preparation. In the morning Jack had acupuncture which is supposed to help with naseua. Our Eastern Medicine Vet also performed Moxa treatment for about 40 minutes. Prior to receiving her Carboplatin Jack received Benedryl and an IV based Anti-Naseua drug which we did on treatment two. We also had them give her IV fluids under her skin prior to heading home. We did not have trouble with Naseua but she did have a temp of 103.9 which is a fever but much lower than the 105.5 and 105.9 she reached before. We kept encouraging her to drink fluids and around 9:00pm her temp had dropped to 102.9 and she was normal the next day. We’ve continued to give her the anti naseua drug twice per day usually for about 4 days to stave off any naseua.
Jan 23, 2010 | | Dog Chemotherapy
When Jack receives the Carboplatin it seems to be about 4 days before she’s her old self. Thanks to getting the acupuncture and IV based anti-nausea drug she doesn’t throw up after Chemo but is fairly lethargic for 1-2 days. Day three she seems better but she always makes a mow mow type moan when it’s time for breakfast and dinner and she doesn’t do that until day 4-5 and then she is also fairly naughty picking on the other dogs, stealing toys etc. So it seems that it’s 4-5 days to fully recover from the Carboplatin chemptherapy.
Jan 07, 2010 | | Dog Chemotherapy