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Struppie's Battle To Stay Alive A Bit Longer


gwp4me
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DR, Stuppie was not well one week ago, after I fed him cooked lamb off cuts, must have been the pieces of bone his system could not handle. He looked so miserable, that I thought his time was up, and wanted to dig his grave. After two days, he was getting better, still looking a bit bloated with fluid in his abdomen, side effect from the Macrolone tablets. He had chemo yesterday, and is now on a daily fluid tablet, his lumps on hindlegs have enlarged a little. Seems like he will be around for a little bit longer, he pulls when walking through the paddocks, good sign. His treatment started on the 21.05. 2013. Thanks for asking about him. :D

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Knowing what you know, It's very hard when things are not going well not to think the worst. I have noticed with Kobe anything that is overly fatty he does not seem to cope as well with as he would have before.

Very happy for you Struppie has turned things around and hope you have a lovely time over the Easter break with Struppie and the rest of your family.

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Thanks, shepherds, hope your Easter with Kobe will be a happy one, too.

Hubby took Struppie for a walk this morning, will have another one with me and the two other dogs before I go to work. I will have him on a leash, as he wants to wobble around (go hunting), and will overheat. Just to think that without his fortnightly chemo, he would be under in a few weeks time.

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Hi gwp4me, thanks for the Struppie update, always lovely to hear how he is. Good that he is still so keen on his walks and enjoying life.

Vets told me that the predisone/macrolone can make them more prone to pancreatitis, so maybe the lamb (which is fairly high in fat) might have upset him a bit? When I look back, I realised that I let Lucy have some lamb just before she got sick during her treatment which probably didn't help her. Trouble is, we want to make their time special and probably tend to spoil them and give them all their favourites - true in my case.

When you have time, would love to see some photos of your gang together! :)

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Bindo, a few days ago we found a grass seed between Struppie's toes, which we could pop out. Then yesterday afternoon, Struppie went very flat for about ten hours, then slowly picked up again. This morning we went for a slow walk, he ate all his cooked chicken and fish, not keen on broccoli. Will see if I can get chemo again for him on Wednesday. He is round like a toad fish, also I can feel some ribs, who knows what is going on inside him?

All three dogs are fast asleep now, after their midnight dinner. :)

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shepherds, Struppie is back to what he was last week, went for a walk yesterday, is always looking for food, has sleeps inbetween. We removed a second grass seed in the same foot, between toes, it was still half stuck/out underneath. Will take him to the vet on Wednesday, hoping for more chemo. Condition monitored daily, so far so good. :)

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shepherds, Struppie is back to what he was last week, went for a walk yesterday, is always looking for food, has sleeps inbetween. We removed a second grass seed in the same foot, between toes, it was still half stuck/out underneath. Will take him to the vet on Wednesday, hoping for more chemo. Condition monitored daily, so far so good. :)

:thumbsup: thats great news

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Those grass seeds are a real bugger - glad you could get them out before they caused any more trouble. Sounds like Struppie is happy at the moment, hope all goes well so he can have his treatment this week. :crossfingers:

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Yesterday, Struppie was able to have chemo again, afterwards he was not as tired as normal, mum noticed that he was even prancing a bit. :) My vet is happy that he has survived for nearly eleven months now, she thinks of giving chemo only every third week, don't know if this is a smart move. He gets his fluid tablets now every second day. Struppie's two bouts of being unwell, were probably caused by the Macrolone tablets, similar to Pancreatitis, tests show fat in his blood, now I have to remove the skin from the chicken drumsticks, which I feed boiled to him. Struppie seems to be shrinking, notably his head and neck, I had to fit him with a smaller collar.

Wonder how long we can trick his cancer.??

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Glad he was well enough to have his chemo and sounds like he coped really well. It's hard isn't it, if you had that crystal ball it would be easy to make a decision on whether or not to change the current regime.

Kobe is on quite a few things, whether they are all working or not is debatable...but I'm to bloody scared to stop any of them as what if the thing I stop is the magic bullet....

I have noticed that with Kobe as well, his head seems to have shrunk....but maybe it is an ageing thing as well.

Is there anything else that can done done for the fat in the blood or do you just have to manage it with diet?

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shepherds, I don't like to change too much at present, while the going seems good. Vet does not want to reduce dosage of Macrolone, so she said to try and take fatty skin of the drumsticks. Cooked drumsticks are a good (cheap from Aldi) choice, the only wastage is the piece of splintering bone in the middle. When cooked, I cut them into small pieces with kitchen scissors. I think Struppies's shrinkage comes from being ill, his bodyshape is out of plum. We lost another GWP at age 14 from heart failure, I watched his head shrinking, too, first time ever I have noticed this then.

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Thanks k9angel, he is quite cheerful today. I got a shock when I came home tonight, found my lovely 2 1/2 year old GWP in great pain and not wanting to move. He has severe HD (candidate for two hip replacements) and must have been overdoing it while playing with Teddy, never seen him that bad before. I gave him a pain tablet, and hope he will improve. It's just sadness where ever one looks. :(

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Thanks k9angel, he is quite cheerful today. I got a shock when I came home tonight, found my lovely 2 1/2 year old GWP in great pain and not wanting to move. He has severe HD (candidate for two hip replacements) and must have been overdoing it while playing with Teddy, never seen him that bad before. I gave him a pain tablet, and hope he will improve. It's just sadness where ever one looks. :(

Yay to Struppie being cheerful, but very sorry to hear about your younger boy. Sometimes it seems you can never catch a break and the emotional and mental toll is takes can be overwhelming. I have no answers to that, but every day when I get up and look at their faces you just do what you have to do and try and find some quiet happy times amongst it all where it's not about the illness. That's said, it's far easier said than done somedays and I can totally relate with managing both Kobe and Levi. And to top it all off, yesterday Levi appears to have come down with vestibular disease :( (that's the initial diagnosis from the vet and for now we have adopted a wait and see approach, but he does seem slightly better this morning).

How often does your younger boy cone up lame from the HD? Have you tried or thought about trying acupuncture or Bowen therapy for him? I'm actually a qualified human and canine Bowen therapist and I treat a number of dogs with mild to severe Hd and Bowen has been brilliant for them.

Hope Struppie woke up with a bounce in his step today and your younger guy is feeling better after some pain relief and a good nights rest.

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It's Adi I am writing about, I was so upset I forgot to mention his name. :( He is usually managed fine on Green Lipped Mussel Extract, Ester C, Glucosamine, Fish Oil tabs, Vit E and a daily walk. Only when he is overdoing it/running around, has he gone lame for a short period only. We will try harder to stop his rough playing with Teddy, as he becomes careless and can slam into objects, the yard is large enough for dogs to develop top speeds/chase the birds. Adi has been PenHip'ed twice, last time at Canberra Veterinary Referral Centre, seen by Dr. Sarah Webb. Rang up my local vet today, to ask about dose of Carbrofen (Carprieve) I can give him, it's 2x50 mg every 12 hours - for two days, then 1x50mg every 12 hours. Can't touch Adi's left hip at the moment, he refuses to go outside for a wee, hasn't been for 12 hours now, he is asleep in lounge room. Haven't looked into Acupunture or Bowen Therapy, as he was fine when not revving around too much. He should improve with rest, lucky he is eating his food. :)

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