cavNrott

Thanks to all in here for keeping Sophie in your thoughts. Chell, that was a lovely compliment. Thank you. I think Sophie's doing well because she's strongly fighting her cancer. My contribution to her present state of health is minimal compared to her fighting spirit. The best thing we did was to consult an oncologist. I doubt Sophie would still be here without the onco's expert advice and treatment. Sophie was given a very gloomy prognosis. I've found there are things we can do to help our cancer dogs do quite well when they are willing to fight their illness. Though no one, including the oncologist thought that Sophie would still be doing so well at this stage. I think I mentioned the onco calls Sophie the miracle girl. Sophie has no issue with all the medication she needs to take. She happily takes the tablets now that I'm able I keep her nausea under control. Jodie, I was cooking the vegies you mentioned as part of the cancer diet this morning. I'm certain this cancer starving diet makes a difference. I'm also convinced that cottage cheese mixed with Flaxseed oil is of huge benefit too. She has that for breakfast, sometimes with salmon mixed in and an organic egg. You and Ollie are always in my thoughts and I hope you are both doing well.

What utter nonsense. What on earth are you talking about? You are replying to statements I didn't even think of, let alone say in my post. Why you brought up all that nonsense about not taking the chi to the pound and dogs needing sunlight I couldn't begin to fathom. I hope the little puppy does ok. The poor little baby can't fend for himself and it seems you are not happy with him in any way. Please consider rehoming him to someone who understands the breed and is prepared to do what is needed for this pup. You claim you want assistance and advice but experience shows you take absolutely no notice of any advice people offer you. On that note I'm outta here. I remember the sheer frustration of the last episode with one of your dogs and don't wish to revisit it.

animalover12 you are saying things that don't add up. You claimed some time back that Rascal was your dog and I clearly remember when you first got the chihuahua. I checked your posts and they confirm this. You are now claiming Rascal belongs to your sister? I may need to stand corrected on this but I also recall you posting under another name before you registered again under the current one. There was a health problem with your GR Einstein, if I recall and we were all strongly urging you at the time to get him to a vet despite your many reasons why you could not do so. Now you have a Cavalier puppy that you are unable to care for properly or to protect him from being attacked by your other dogs and your sister's dog. Why did you get a Cavalier when you must surely know they are not outside dogs and that you are in no positition to look after it properly? The Cavalier is a gentle little dog and will not do well in the circumstances he is living in at the moment. I suspect this puppy is not from a registered breed or I would recommend you return him to the breeder before he comes to harm. If you are unable to change the situation and care for this puppy and give him the protection he deserves then please rehome him to someone who will allow him to live inside and be the companion they were bred to be rather than have him live in constant fear of attack. No doubt you will strongly object to my post but this is a dog forum and I care more about the welfare of this puppy than I do about your probable objections. This little puppy is not living in appropriate conditions for his breed. I'm worried about his survival and welfare.

Oh Man! I just read your recent post. You are feeding 3 cups of dog roll, dry biscuits, raw chicken necks or drumsticks, and raw dog mince as well as grated carrot to an 11 week old Cavalier? You do realise this puppy has a stomach not much bigger than a boiled egg don't you? He is being grossly overfed and you'll end up with a very unhealthy fat dog. As for the other dogs attacking him. This is a baby puppy and it's your responsibility to protect him. If he is being continually attacked then you're not doing the right thing by him. Get a crate for your pup and keep him safe from the other dogs. Do not leave him at the mercy of the chihuahuas, lock them away so this poor little puppy can safely have some free play time without being hurt by the other dogs.

You need to give your pup a stern Ah Ah when he nips and do what you are already doing by redirecting him with a toy. Praise him for taking the toy. Toilet training will probably take another few weeks. At 11 weeks he is still a baby puppy. Do you have a crate you can pop him in if he doesn't oblige when you take him outside? If so, put him in the crate for 10 minutes then take him outside again. If you don't have a crate it would be a good idea to buy one. It makes training much easier and quicker. I used to take my pups out every hour on the hour and it worked for us. Is the puppy being wormed regularly? Any dog roll is not a diet I would feed my dogs. What did the breeder recommend you feed the puppy? Either way, I would put this pup onto a better quality diet and you'll find he won't be so hungry if he's getting proper nutrition. Cavalier puppies have tiny stomachs, I would not be feeding a full cup of food 3 times a day, it's too much food and a cup of food is too much at one time. I'm surprised the vet didn't suggest better food and less of it. Re the scooting. It sounds like the pup is trying empty his anal glands. You may need to take him to the vet to have them expressed. My Cavalier boy needed his done by the vet at 9 weeks and again when he was about 12 weeks old. We've had no problem since.

That's very poor advice from anyone, let alone an experienced vet nurse. I hope she doesn't do this to clients dogs in at the vet's for the day. If I saw anyone tap my dog under the chin they had better prepare themselves for a pop under their own chin delivered by yours truly. Tapping a puppy under the chin is a very outdated method and serves no purpose. It teaches the pup nothing except to avoid you because you might pop it under the chin. You need your dog to trust that you will treat him kindly. I would be ignoring the vet nurse as she clearly hasn't a clue about training dogs.

The advice from your trainer isn't terrible. Understandably, he doesn't want the other pups in the class to have an altercation with an agressive dog. I kept my pup well away from aggressive dogs for the same reason. I didn't want to ruin her confidence and make her think she must protect herself from all dogs in case they had a go at her. When I attended group training sessions there was an aggressive dog there whose owner was also told to stay right at the edge of the class and not allow his dog to harrass other dogs in class. Unfortunately he didn't follow advice and his dog constantly disrupted the class and many people left and never came back. What your trainer failed to instruct you about was to stay within your dog's comfort zone when approaching other dogs. As he becomes more confident you will be able to decrease the distance between him and other dogs. As you learn to read your dog's body language you will know when he has reached the limit of his comfort zone. I will pm you the name of an excellent trainer in your area. I would suggest a few private training lessons to get you on the right track..

How sad. Rest In Peace Harvey

There are a few different surgeries for repairing ligaments but not dozens. There is the de angelis method of suture replacement, the TWLO or TPLO method and the latest being a new method called a TTA (I think that's what it's called). The secret of the success of the surgery according to our orthopaedic surgeon is the quality of the aftercare. He said most surgeries turn out about the same. He insisted on my dog being crated for 6 weeks with only on lead toilet breaks. After 6 weeks she was allowed a 5 minute on leash walk per day....this increased by an 5 extra minutes per week. This meant 2 x 5 minute walks, not one 10 minute one and we proceeded that way with 5 minute increases. At 12 weeks she no longer needed to be crated and made a complete recovery with no limping at all. She had TWLO surgery. Keeping a dog confined is very important if the surgery is to be successful.

Thanks for asking about Sophie Oonga and to everyone for your kind comments. She's about the same but her tumour is growing. Her appetite is good and she's happy. I go gently with her and she thinks obedience commands are optional, though I rarely ask her to do anything. It's no biggie, she's well behaved so she can do what she wants. We went to a new oval today. We go to a new place once or twice a week. She loves to explore and roll. She calls the shots and lets me know when she's had enough. Where we were today the grass was really long and she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to roll and roll. I think I kept her out a little too long because she's really tired tonight. All in all she's still doing amazingly well.

I give a constipated dog paraffin oil. It not only urges them to go but it softens up whatever is clogging up the works.

I second the recommendation of Wing Tip Wong. He did the TWLO surgeries on my Rottweiler's knees. Her recovery was excellent.

Sumosmum, I am so very sorry for your loss of Daisy. She was a much loved dog, you did everything anyone could possibly do for her. She is now at peace. Godspeed Daisy

Did you have an ultrasound done to establish the extent of metastatis? In which organs has it metastasised? Some are not as diabolical as others but the end result is the same, unfortunately. I know Sophie's time is limited but her vet and I believed an oncology specialist was the way to go for us. It's expensive but Sophie's life has definitely been extended on the metronomic protocol. Most importantly she is feeling well and happy. Cancer is a very painful disease and the oncologist shares my opinion that it's about the quality of Sophie's life. On the drug regime she has prescribed, Sophie is able to live pain free. Blood tests are done every three weeks and she has a thorough examination so we know how things are progressing. My normally hyperactive Sophie has less energy as her cancer progresses. She's using energy to fight her disease. I don't tire her out as I want her to conserve energy to fight the cancer. I limit her exercise and drive her to wherever we are going instead of walking her. She then has a 15 minute run around the oval and it's back in the car and home to rest. You may find that Mish needs more rest than normal. I agree with you that a gloomy attitude doesn't help us or our dogs. Sophie gets anxious if she knows I'm sad and upset so we maintain a happy attitude and I try to live in the day, like she does. They've found there's a cancer starving reaction between cottage cheese and Flaxseed oil. The oil and the cheese must be mixed together well and left for a few minutes before feeding. I use the Melrose Flaxseed oil from the fridge in the health store. I also use Quark which they say is better than cottage cheese...probably because it's organic.

GSD's 4ever. We were posting at the same time. I would suggest you see an oncologist. There are a few treatments available. Sophie is on a metronomic protocol. I refused surgery and chemo for my dog because osteosarcoma has usually metastasised by the time it's diagnosed. Sophie's prognosis was that it was expected she only had a couple of weeks. This was last December and she's still doing quite well. When you say she had her glands removed I guess her problem is with the anal glands.

Which part of the dog's body is this apocrine gland located? Colon, abdomen, anal gland, eyelid etc.,? For the cancer starving diet I don't feed any commercial dog foods. I feed a high protein, high fat diet. As few carbs as possible and no sugars. I mostly cook for my dog these days because I'm not sure her compromised immune system can cope with the bacteria in raw meat. She was previously on BARF. For breakfast Sophie has full cream cottage cheese with cold pressed flaxseed oil. She has one organic egg every day. Dinner consists of either chicken mince or beef mince (organic) with cooked sweet potato, zuchini and broccoli. I mash this together and add a little grapeseed oil. Because Sophie's cancer is in her mouth she has to eat soft foods that don't require much chewing. Her nightcap is a couple of tablespoons of organic yoghurt with goats milk. She also has a number of natural supplements. Hope this helps regarding diet.

cjm I am so very sorry for your loss of Pru.

cjm I haven't any useful suggestions, I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and wishing Pru well.

I'm so sorry to hear that your girl is having such problems. She's so young to be going through this. Was the diuretic Frusemide by any chance?

You guys are great. You give me so much confidence in the way I'm handing Sophie's situation. I really appreciate your strong support. Thanks so much for thinking of us. Sophie's liver enzymes are lower again than last time so that's a huge improvement. They're only just above the normal range now. The onco is happy and I'm happy. It must be the milk thistle doing its job. I think the coQ10 is doing it's thing too. This means she can now stay on the chemo tablet that's slowing down the progression of her cancer. Now the kidney level is high, yet her urine test yesterday was perfect. The onco has doubled the dose of diuretic which I start Sophie on tomorrow. She's confident that will fix the kidney problem. Confident enough that she said we will only test every second visit from now on. I'm not sure if that means we will test next time and give the one after a miss or do we give then next one a miss She'll still have a CBC every time but the onco thinks a full FBE won't be necessary every visit. How good is that? What I don't get is that the tumour is growing and Sophie's general health that was going downhill, is now greatly improving. The onco said the elevated levels are caused by all the drugs Sophie is taking. This onco is something special, she's so interested in Sophie and so fond of her....but I really don't enjoy our telephone calls much. She speaks so quickly and has a beautiful but very broad Irish accent so I miss half of what she says. I'm a bit deaf too so that doesn't help. Sophie and I went to the soccer oval today. She loves it there, don't know how I didn't discover this place ages ago. I'm glad we're going out again, Sophie is much happier.

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. It gives me a huge morale boost. Sophie's the one who's doing the hard yards in fighting this disease with everything she's got. She loves life and just wants to get on with enjoying every minute. The part I play is minor in comparison to her effort. She's an exceptional dog and I'm blessed to have the honour of sharing my life with her. Can't tell you how proud I am of my girl and her compliance with all the nasties that are done to her. The onco speaks often about how lovely Sophie is and how easy she is to treat. Sophie knows the drill now and when blood has to be taken from the jugular she lifts her head and turns it slightly to the side to make it easy for the onco to get that bloody big horse needle in. When a direct urine sample is taken she knows to lie very still while an equally bloody big needle is inserted in her abdomen. Oonga: I was late today because all the extra tests today took ages. I don't go in with her because I can't bear watching my dogs have awful things done to them. I'm not needle phobic if I need an injection or have blood taken but I can't watch it happen to my dogs. So I sit out in the reception area and wait. I was getting quite worried today, they usually take about 1/2 an hour and today she was gone for well over an hour. I am feeling rather optimistic about the liver test results. Hope I'm not living in a fools paradise. It's that Sophie seems so much better than she was a couple of weeks ago. efs because it seems I can't spell.

I wouldn't use Tramal for arthritis either. An anti inflammatory pain reliever is needed for arthritis rather than an opioid. I have an oldie with arthritis and she has Rimadyl as needed plus glucosamine and chondroitin with msm. Shark cartilage is good for arthritis too. Raffikki I hope all goes well with your dog.

Many thanks for thinking of us. We won't have the liver test results until tomorrow. Her urine test was perfect. It was a bit dicey when she was first diagnosed so there's improvement there. The tumour has grown. The onco still thinks it's growing slowly and I still think it's growing quickly Sophie had more tests than usual today and all results were good. She was in high spirits and was so excited to be there. It seems she doesn't mind being a pin cushion and being poked and pummelled. Sophie is such a happy dog, nothing seems to put her off. Onco paid me a huge compliment, she said if she is to be reincarnated she wants to come back as one of my dogs. She's happy with what she calls my home nursing.....so I'm at least doing something right. She's leaving the dosage of pain meds up to me because she and I both think Sophie's pain free. I've also been given the ok to dose her for nausea as needed. She doesn't want nausea putting Sophie off her food. Sophie's stacking on the weight with this cancer diet. I've been so careful to keep her a slim 42kg and now she's 48kg. She looks better with the extra weight I think. Her white BCC was within the normal range so she hasn't picked up any infection since I've been walking her. The onco said to do what I think is best for Sophie as I'm with her every day and know what she needs, so short walks have been ok'ed. She calls Sophie the miracle dog. No one expected her to still be alive and feeling well even though her cancer is progressing so to keep doing what I'm doing. We won't know until the liver test results come through if Sophie can stay on the chemo tablet. The onco has doubled the dose of the diuretic to make sure the chemo drug is flushed out of Sophie's system within the 48 hours before she has the next tablet. If the levels have gone up we will ultasound her. I take it as a good sign that she didn't book the u/sound. So now to wait until tomorrow for the liver test results. eta: I just want to indulge myself here and say my dog is amazing...truly amazing.

Often and empty stomach will cause this. I would give her a snack just before bed time. That usually fixes the early morning vomits.

I agree it's probably the pineapple. I doubt it would be the Sentinel.