Loving my Oldies Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Gosh, I missed these posts, I'm sorry. Thank you for thinking of Danny and me. He is just the same and the first time he ate the goodies and "recipe" that BM Animals sent up was the last (photo of empty plate at post #442). Same pattern as so many times before, but I really thought this time would be different. He won't even eat the Green Tripe Medallions that he absolutely wolfed down when Valbitz sent me some. The only things he eats regularly (i.e. every day) are the dried chicken treats and because he was eating those, I tried him with liver treats and he eats those as well. I have previously not given him liver treats because I thought they would be too rich. But I don't over do it and as long as he keeps them down, I'll give him little bits throughout the day. So I've ordered more Chicken Treats and another chicken treat so hopefully, he doesn't decide that he no longer likes those. Today, he wouldn't even eat a roo jerky piece. Following today's consultation, his vet is not happy with the slow healing of the ulcer on his eye and if there hasn't been any progress at next consultation (this Friday) he may have to go to the eye specialist. He has also lost weight and is now only 5.1kg. I have started syringing bone broth mixed with the probiotics from BM Animals. That isn't easy because he will sometimes refuse to swallow and just lets it dribble out of his mouth. I found a last can of Science Diet in the cupboard, so I will make that into a slush tomorrow and syringe. Only thing I can do, I suppose, short of letting him starve himself to death, which I am really afraid he is doing all by himself . I'm terrified he will reach that anorexic stage where he really wants to eat but just can't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 thinking it's time for stomach cam... wonder if anyone is doing that for dogs? you know where the critter swallows a pill (you push it down past the swallow reflex), and it takes photos all the way through... not sure if it needs a flash tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valbitz Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Sorry to hear that Danny doesn't like the green tripe anymore, hope he keeps eating the dehyrated chicken treats at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 thinking it's time for stomach cam... wonder if anyone is doing that for dogs? you know where the critter swallows a pill (you push it down past the swallow reflex), and it takes photos all the way through... not sure if it needs a flash tho. He had endoscopy and stomach biopsies way back in October. Nothing definite. He was going to have a flouroscopy, but we decided against that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Checking in to see how things are going. You're in my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks, SM. As pathetic as it sounds, I am sitting here in tears an hour and a half late with starting the daily round of medications and trying to find something Danny will eat. He is so good, because as much as he hates it all, he just stands there while I put drops in one eye, two ointments in another, and syringe three medications and give another in a bit of peanut butter. And apart from the drops in his right eye which is only once a day, this goes on three times a day every day. He never complains, never runs away, just takes it all. And I don't even know if any of it is helping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 aw, shucks... it's not pathetic to be concerned about your wee man. It's overwhelming to try to be on top of everything you are doing to help Danny. Danny knows how much you love him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 DDD, sorry to hear Danny is still having problems with his appetite. You're very patient and doing everything you can to get him well. I can only imagine how desolate and frustrated you must feel when he refuses to eat. He is a very lucky boy to have you caring for him. About the eye ulcer. I think a specialist is the way to go. My rescue Rottie developed an eye ulcer and my vet fiddled around with it for 10 days, even putting her under a GA to debride the cornea, all to no avail. One trip to the eye specialist and the job was done. He debrided the cornea and my girl wore a contact lense to protect the eye until check up. Upon checkup 8 days later the eye had healed and she had no further problems. The unsuccessful fiddling around by our usual vet cost a lot more than the eye specialist did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Hi DDD I probably wrote this before - but did you try wrapping the pills in sardine. My dog will take gigantic pills encased in peanut and then sardine and it doesn't touch the sides. Peanut alone she tends to chew on, gets stuck in her teeth and then the pill tastes horrid so it doesn't go down. Even peanut dipped in oil to make it less sticky... but the peanut is probably a bit rich... Other than that, at some point there is a kind of swallow reflex and stuff will go down automatically if you can get it there (including the teaspoon in the case of small children). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) CavNrott, no matter what happens on Friday, I will def go to the specialist. Vet has been debriding the cornea for some weeks now (only needs a local drop into the eye) and at first he was very pleased with the result, but I imagine Danny's healing processes are somewhat compromised by his other conditions. What you have described as happening for your Rottie is what the vet has described to me as the specialist treatment. MrsRB, I'm not having any difficulties with giving Danny his meds at the moment; the only one in pill form is tiny and at the moment, he is still taking it in the peanut butter and it isn't (as was the case previously) making him throw up. Fingers and toes crossed that that continues to be the case. I did have a bad couple of moments yesterday morning when he spat it out, but mornings are never good and when I tried again, he took it. I don't feel I could risk trying to give him all his meds in peanut butter. I bought some lactose free lite cream because I'd remembered someone suggested that to me when Gussy Cat was losing condition. He lapped up an amount which would constitute a fair contribution to his daily calorific needs :D :D Now to watch him like a hawk to see that he doesn't bring it up because it is pretty rich, despite being Lite. Edited January 20, 2015 by Dame Danny's Darling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Big pot of bone broth ready for straining. House smells horrible, but a bit of lavender oil in the burner should set that straight. :) Oh, and Danny kept the Lactose Free Lite Cream down and has had a little bit this morning. Edited January 21, 2015 by Dame Danny's Darling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boronia Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 How is he this morning DDD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 He is much the same, thanks Boronia. Yesterday was extraordinary in that he was fed such an assortment of foods that I thought I'd be lucky to get away with it if I didn't have to strip and wash all the bedding. Thankfully, I was totally wrong in that. He kept down syringed broth and probiotics, syringed slurry of Royal Canin and broth, little meals of lactose free lite cream, ice-cream, yoghurt, liver treats. When we went to bed, he was leaping around, rolling and rubbing and digging to China, trying to hump Jeune and Tamar. He was so lively and happy and I figured it was because he'd had enough to eat through the day, and most of all was feeling good. So this morning, his mother was very very stupid. With his meds (which taste awful) I gave him a little bowl of lactose free lite cream which he quite happily lapped up. :whip: to me! I found it all brought up in the bedroom. At least there wasn't any evidence of food from yesterday there so that had all been kept down and digested. I keep telling myself and keep ignoring myself that I have a very elderly dog here and just the way you wouldn't feed an elderly sick person a huge meal of rich food, I shouldn't do that to Danny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) After the morning mishap, we did very well yesterday. He again ate the slurry mixture, so although he isn't eating the daily diet that BM Animals recommended, he is eating [drinking LOL] their probiotics and powdered pancreas mixed in with bone broth and Royal Canin. He hasn't lost any weight this week either. We have an appointment with the eye specialist at North Shore Veterinary Specialist Centre this afternoon and I am very happy that I will be seeing the specialist, Jeff Smith, who waved his magic scalpels and gave Bunter back his sight 4 years ago. Danny is so uncomfortable with his eye, that if they can be fixed, I am sure he will be happier. He has eaten really well this morning!! Never ending with elderly animals (not to mention their mother ). Edited January 23, 2015 by Dame Danny's Darling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Encouraging update DDD. Hopefully after Danny's eye is fixed he'll feel a lot better in general and hopefully regain at least some of his appetite. You're doing a great job with him. He's a lucky boy to have you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thank you, cavNrott. I am hopeful too. Angus (my vet) doesn't believe he is in pain, but just very very uncomfortable and his squinting has been becoming more consistent. Poor boy. I think I'd be more than squinting if some nasty person was squeezing two lots of gel into my eye three times a day. :( I am sure the goodies from BM Animals are helping as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 here's hoping you've found something that works, or the anti nausea meds are working in combination with the food system. the latest update is more encouraging anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogie Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Just popping in check on Danny and you DDD,I have been offline a fair bit but still sending good vibes for you handsome fella. Hope you are being kind to yourself too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Thank you ladies. I have to confess I am somewhat concerned tonight. Today we had an appointment at my usual vet to check his eye. We agreed that he really needed to be seen by the specialist and I was able to get an appointment at 4pm this afternoon. Because of Friday afternoon traffic, we were away from home for over three hours and only about 25 minutes of that was at the specialist. Tonight he is absolutely exhausted. He didn't really relax much in the car and it breaks my heart because one of his favourite things was to stand up on the seat and look out the window. Naturally, I wouldn't let him hang out the window and he would be secured by his harness; the window would be down just a little to let the air through. He doesn't have the strength in his legs anymore. My big concern is how he will cope with the little op he has to have. We have an appointment for surgery to his eye on Wednesday and I am wondering how he will come through. We will be doing pre-anaesthetic bloods of course, but he has to have a GA and not just a local. He will be under for only about 10 minutes and the specialist said that he'd be in more danger driving home. I just remember how sick he was after his trip to SASH and I did stress this to the specialist. The thing is, he is so uncomfortable that even with the ointments and treatment from my vet every week, he is squinting pretty well all the time now. I imagine it is like having a lot of grit in your eye all the time. I am hoping that when that discomfort is gone, he will feel a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajtek Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 How are you DDD and how is the beautiful boy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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