Loving my Oldies

Thanks @stellnme. Good to know that it was of benefit to you and your dog . Funnily enough, Mezza hasn’t lost weight which, considering his self imposed extreme diet, is a worry. He is a teeny tiny so the dosage is watched carefully.

Thanks @PepperP. Yes, belly bands have been in fashion at this doggy retirement home for many years. Bitches Britches too . I’ve lost track of the number of seniors I have adopted over the years hence my forum name. @Papillon Kisses, I am worried about the Propalin although from what I have read about effects, appetite loss is the only evident one apart from the two huge throw ups which now are two in 7 days: ie last Sunday and Thursday. Mezza isn’t picky, he is not eating at all even what are generally his favourite foods!! Poor darling Malcolm; he has been through a lot, as have you trying to help him. I’m off to look up lymphangiecstasia to see what that is. He doesn’t seem anxious. On the contrary, generally he is a very laid back little dog, but he has started barking a lot more than usual. Loves standing at the front door and barking. Luckily, we are quite set back from the street. I have had a few dogs over the years who seem to get a great deal of enjoyment from telling the neighbours that they are here. Mezza has refused Tuna this morning (one of his favourites) but is currently sniffing at some puppy roll from Woolworths which is something I use in tiny amounts to give Sooty her tablets and to help Mezza get rid of the taste of the Propalin. I call it doggy McDonald’s and It isn’t something that can be fed as a normal meal. Nope, just checked and he hasn’t eaten any of the puppy roll either. He was also sodden this morning which hasn’t happened for a while, but he is sleeping so deeply. All the bedding gone into the wash and he has had a sponge down with a bath on the agenda for later today. Looks like ultrasounds tomorrow.

Thanks @Boronia. At the moment, that wouldn’t work because Mezza isn’t eating well. 5 drops is quite a lot so it must taste okay?? Definitely worth following up if we find that Propalin is making him unwell. I’m so worried about my little boy.

Caveat: Mezza has been seen by the vet, bloods and urine samples taken and I am waiting for results which should be available later today. Mezza is a 17 years old Pomeranian whom I adopted 3 years ago from Campbelltown Pound. (Our very own @shmoohelped me with that via Gina Fallon’s Golden Oldies as he was being released only to rescue because of the condition he was in.) Sometime ago, Mezza became incontinent at night and whenever he slept or was just lying around. I was constantly washing bedding, wiping him down and wiping wherever he’d been lying. He became very stained (dark brown like overstewed tea) and if I didn’t wipe him for a day or two, the smell was revolting. I can’t describe it, but not a urine smell. The vet prescribed Propalin saying that incontinence treatments for males dogs aren’t always very successful. It was a bit hit and miss at first and I would celebrate a “dry night”. However it seems to be working really well now and dry nights are the norm and wherever he might have been lying is rarely wet either. So, all good there. However, he has become quite picky with his food, eating smaller and smaller meals. Twice this week, he has done two huge throw-ups containing a lot of undigested food which was very worrying as he hasn’t eaten the amount of food that seemed to be in the mixture. He ate a small chicken meal last night, but when I tried him with a little more later in the evening, he didn’t touch it. Ditto with some of his favourite foods. He hasn’t eaten today and is sleeping a lot. What I am getting to in this long winded way is asking for any experiences with Propalin. There seems to be quite a list of side effects for this drug which are worrying considering Mezza’s age. Vets don’t think this is causing his current problems. My saga was interrupted by the vet ringing with tests results. Everything is good, white blood cells are a bit elevated and the lab is culturing the urine to see if any bacteria are present as initial tests don’t show anything untoward. However, she wanted to give him a couple of long lasting injections: Cerenia and ABs. If no changes by Monday, we will have an ultrasound taken. Just back from there and think I will open a bottle of wine.

Not much worse than having to give meds that hurt or taste really horrible. Hope you can find Annie something that heals and does not hurt.

Champ looks singularly unimpressed by that upstart newcomer

That’s wonderful, @luvmybulldog. Dublin looks a treasure (naughty or not)

Oh you people are just so clever. The trouble shooting gene has missed me by a long shot. Thanks @persephone

Waiting for @tdierikx

Grrrrrr. Can’t get pic up. Doing what I have always done but any updates of any site seem to create problems.

Sooty the Pretzel trying out the new runner. I’ve bought a couple of runners to help her get about. Colour scheme is right off, but it suits her [url=https://flic.kr/p/2kjPGZq][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752476218_c0b3c07b5b_k.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2kjPGZq]C4982AE9-390E-40F7-9FF9-CEE4C95358D5[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/151194269@N04/]Cynthia Waters[/url], on Flickr

Latest update from bloods taken on 22nd. Really good results, white blood cells normal, red blood cells normal, and I can slightly lower the dose of Pred Sooty is on. She has gone up to 3.8kgs which did not surprise me She had another long lasting AB injection on Tuesday and I take her back in 14 days. From now on, her bloods will still be monitored with the goal of lowering gradually the Pred dose to eventual ceasing. If she maintains good results she might eventually go off meds, but if she relapses, she will be on the meds always. She takes meds really easily, just down the hatch in a little ball of liverwurst. Best Christmas pressie I could have. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts and best wishes for Sooty. Means a lot.

This is a tough time @Libby Elliott. I’ve had dogs with cancer (but none with liver cancer) and some have been diagnosed and gone in a short time, while others have showed few symptoms and not really suffered. It is a very multi faceted disease. I will be thinking of you and Larry as I am sure many DOLers will be. Just about every condition that ever there was has been experienced across the membership.

Vet has just rung me. Yee hah All good news. Her red blood cells are almost normal, white blood cells are coming down, not there yet, but dramatically improved. And we don’t go back for further tests until Tuesday 22. Your posts and good wishes have cheered and fortified me immensely and obviously transmitted to Sooty.

I think I’m going with the others. Too risky in the middle of summer. You’d like to think baggage handlers would take care that a dog wasn’t left sitting on top of suitcases in the boiling sun, but I can tell you from my own experience (not hearsay) that that is not necessarily the case.

I’m off to commission a Sooty-sized saddle. She is eating like a horse.

. Looking good. Red blood cells rising, so anaemia is getting under control. Have to wait until tomorrow’s report from the laboratory for more detailed results. I can stop the Carafate, continue the Prednisolone (that will be long term) and next appointment depends on results from today. She is definitely brighter as is Mezza who came along for the ride Happy happy.

Ah no, @sandgrubber. I am so sorry. So damned hard. Take care and, despite the huge Bonza hole in your heart, be comforted in time by the wonderful times you had together.

Thanks @Snook. I reckon she is definitely on the improve. When I gave her her eye drops this morning, her eyes were red threaded as they usually are --- for a while there was practically no red in them at all. Her ears are still whitish though. More blood tests tomorrow, so I am hopeful that these visual clues will be supported by those tests. She is definitely eating better and the last couple of meals she has eaten all herself, ie I haven’t had to finish off by hand feeding her. Although I enjoy doing that, seeing her eating all her meal by herself is so encouraging. I’ve just come in from doing some gardening out the front and when I do that, I take Sooty and Mezza out with me. A week ago she would just stand in the one spot, but for the past couple of days she has been wandering around, albeit tentatively because of her blindness. Mezza surprised me more than Sooty. He was ACTUALLY HAVING A LITTLE DIG where I’d been weeding and turned over the soil !!! He normally goes back inside, but I have been being mean and sneaky and closing the door so he has no choice but to explore. Love them to bits

I think this year has really hit me hard !!! I read this topic as “Sporting Disaster”.

You lot are funny.

To Wags: I saw a post on FB the other day which said, “Do you know how weird it is being the same age as old people?" Keep barking old boy, you have lots of company.

Blood result from yesterday. To quote the vet (who scared the life out of me by a phone call at about 8am) “All looking good.” Sooty’s blood counts and platelets are getting to the normal range and I need not worry about spontaneous bleed, even if she were to cut herself, it need not be of concern re bleeding. Pred dose can be slightly decreased and another test on Friday. Her legs are terrible and I have improvised to make Robert Jones wraps @tdierikx, but will little effect. I will keep trying to make them sturdier to try to keep her legs straighter. Sooty is amazing. What a shock though - I received my first Christmas Card yesterday from a couple who adopted a dog from me many years ago and she, too, has developed Thrombocytopenia !! She is doing well, too.

OMG, @Boronia, I’ve read only the first link, it was scary!!! That poor dog and thank god she was with someone who persisted.

My post wasn’t meant to be sad, it was meant to help and to illustrate that it can be far from clear . Over the years, I’ve seen many posts saying to the effect that you will know when the time is right. I don’t wholly agree with this because I (and surely I am not alone?) have found it very very difficult at times to assess when that time is and my examples of Danny and Bunter were meant to show the vast difference between knowing and not knowing.