Should I be concerned?

[JennnAL]

Thank you so much!

[barklessk9]

@lvoss:

Actually, it is not really strange, when an organ like the liver is off like that often times the only real sign we get from our animals is loss of appetite. When our cat Spot had fatty liver he refused to eat even though that is what he needed to do to get his liver functioning again. It was quite a struggle to find something he would eat and get enough daily calories from. Even after that incident we had to rotate foods, he refused to eat the same brand of food for more than two days in a row. The checkers at the food stores probably thought I was a nut because I would buy 2 cans of every food they had so he would never eat the same type food twice in a row.

This is what I'm going through with Zuki! Although now we've moved onto people food and baby food. Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out trying to find something she'll eat and still have it be a somewhat balanced diet.:D

[lvoss]

In the recent economy, I have been doing a lot of research into how to feed my dogs that best foods that I can without breaking the bank. What I have found is that instead of the canned food that I was using for their dinners, it is significantly cheaper for me to make homemade meals for them. Another benefit to the homecooked meals is that they are made from whole foods and the dogs go wild for their dinner. They especially love it warm, either fresh prepared that day or microwaved to right around body temperature which helps to bring out the aroma of the food.

Here are some online recipes
http://www.halopets.com/resources/homemade-pet-food-recipes/homemade-dog-food-recipes.html

[barklessk9]

Thanks for the link. With the recent turn in Zuki's health I have been doing a lot of research on home cooked diets to a point that I can hardly take it anymore. Unfortunately with her if there is an offensive item in the dish she won't eat the mix and I end up throwing it all out. She would not eat the Spots Stew recipe because she won?t like the sweet potato, and most of the other veggies. She would pick out the chicken and leave the rest. I call this ?chicken pickin?. And the kelp might tick her off as well. I bought some Missing Link powder along with another supplement because I was afraid she?s not getting the proper nutrients. But when I put the powder in her food she won?t eat it. I now refer to the Missing Link as ?poison powder.? Luckily the supplement is a tablet so it can be wrapped in chicken.

[lvoss]

I use Nupro which they love because of the dessicated liver.

http://www.nuprosupplements.com/

[kiroja]

I use the Missing Link and my dogs will eat it, although I have one that won't lick his bowl clean. lol You can still "force" feed it in a sense. Just get some velveeta cheese or a slice of cheese and pour the powder onto a piece of it. Then fold it/wrap it/smoosh it together so the outside is all yummy cheese and give it to them like a treat. Now I've never tried it that way, but sounds like it might work? Or does she like hamburger? You can put it on some meat and make a little meatball with the powder inside.

[tanza]

I have been through 4 seniors now, three that have crossed the bridge, one that is still doing pretty well…. and I can say with experience... that the more things you hide in food, they will find it... and they will quit eating that particular things.... I believe that is why it gets so difficult with a Fanconi dog and all those pills. These are smart kids... they can figure out the smell and they know it is in there... so if you are going to hide stuff in food, be prepared for them to figure it out... and decide not to touch it again. Now, again, I want to point out I am speaking about elders... but that is the experience that I had with mine... and I know someone with a Fanconi dog that was good with taking pills for the first month or so, but then didn't trust anything that anyone gave him... looking for pills in it.....

[dmcarty]

Have you tried Satin Balls? THat's the best thing that I've made for my dogs to increase caloric input. You can google Satin Balls and many recipies will show up.

[barklessk9]

I have tried hiding the "poison" in cheese and meat and like Tanza said, she finds it and then gets mad and leaves the room. I will look up the satin balls and see what's involved in that. I did order some of the Nupro supplement and will see how that goes over. Today's favorite is hot dogs and mashed potatoes (I tried to slip in some green bean baby food and that pissed her off). I appreciate the support on living with a senior dog and I am thankful for the wealth of information on this forum.

I'm sure time is limited with her. As I may have mentioned in other posts, her liver and kidney numbers are up signifcantly (she had been on the Science Diet L/D diet for years as well as a supplement) and she also has some blood in her urine and the lymp nodes in her neck are quite swollen. She had thyroid cancer 2 years ago and it may be that the cancer has finally returned (I only had the mass removed and opted for no further treatment at that time). She has also been treated with Lysodren for Cushing's for the past year. As far as the blood in the urine (discovered when she had a physical a couple months ago and that she had a UTI) and the swollen glands, the vet said it could be caused by a number of things and that we could do diagnostic testing, but is it really worth putting the old girl through? I think at this point in her life (15 1/2 years) it's best to do what I can with food and supplements to keep her comfortable, happy and stress free- which she currently is (she still demands her daily walk, and weekend coffee runs with her furry pal Zak). :o

Okay - enough! It's nice to get that all down since sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough and other times I stand back and think I am. I guess you never know.

Thanks for listening!

[tanza]

@barklessk9:

I have tried hiding the "poison" in cheese and meat and like Tanza said, she finds it and then gets mad and leaves the room. I will look up the satin balls and see what's involved in that. I did order some of the Nupro supplement and will see how that goes over. Today's favorite is hot dogs and mashed potatoes (I tried to slip in some green bean baby food and that pissed her off). I appreciate the support on living with a senior dog and I am thankful for the wealth of information on this forum.

I'm sure time is limited with her. As I may have mentioned in other posts, her liver and kidney numbers are up signifcantly (she had been on the Science Diet L/D diet for years as well as a supplement) and she also has some blood in her urine and the lymp nodes in her neck are quite swollen. She had thyroid cancer 2 years ago and it may be that the cancer has finally returned (I only had the mass removed and opted for no further treatment at that time). She has also been treated with Lysodren for Cushing's for the past year. As far as the blood in the urine (discovered when she had a physical a couple months ago and that she had a UTI) and the swollen glands, the vet said it could be caused by a number of things and that we could do diagnostic testing, but is it really worth putting the old girl through? I think at this point in her life (15 1/2 years) it's best to do what I can with food and supplements to keep her comfortable, happy and stress free- which she currently is (she still demands her daily walk, and weekend coffee runs with her furry pal Zak). :o

Okay - enough! It's nice to get that all down since sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough and other times I stand back and think I am. I guess you never know.

Thanks for listening!

I think you are doing just great… the main think, IMO, is to make their senior years as easy as possible... And while there most likely is a battery of tests you could do... I agree you have to weigh in... "is it worth" putting them through it... when Maggii started with renal failure we did keep her going for almost 2yrs with SubQ fluids which was easy to do and pretty easy on her.. but that was the only thing that we really did... we knew her time was coming and like you, keeping her comfortable and as pain free as we could was the main things to consider.

[kiroja]

Thanks for sharing her story, and hopefully you can find things that work for a while so you guys still have some good time together. Bummer about the "poison", but oh well, you tried!

[JennnAL]

Thank you all for the great information!
I still didn't get the exact numbers from the vet, but he said that the blood results ruled out all of the problesm that bloodwork shows, and she he is trying to treat it as IBS, with prednisone and at first had given me Cerenia for vomiting, but now has given me Reglan. (He is 14 yers, and I rescued him for BRAT as an owner surrender at the shelter.)(He has never been a pickey eater until the last month.)

From reading the above post, I think I was messing up his taste for foods, possibly, because he would stop eating something, as the first time I gave it to him straight out of the can, and since I thought he liked it, would put Missing Link in it the second time, and then he would reject it. ( I have been giving him Missing Link since January, and it never bothered him before.)
So now I have been trying the food cutlets in the sealed packets starting yesterday, and today is the firsd day he hasn't thrown up yet, an today is the 3rd day on the Reglan, so maybe a combo of the 2?

I have also figured out that he doesn't like drinking water from the steel bowls I have, as he will go to my boyfriends and drink alot from the plastic bowl there, and not drink much here… and when I put both down, he would sniff the metal bowl and go to the plastic one to drink. Maybe that's contributing to the food as well?
Lord, who knows...
I'm just happy I didn't have to clean up vomit this morning...

[JennnAL]

OMG… just read something else...
do you think Frontline Plus could cause some of these symptoms?

[tanza]

I would doubt it is the frontline…. he is a "elder" and they are different as they age.... and yes, Reglan is a life savor... IMO.... and I remember with my Mickii after she had a bout with Vestibular... for a bit she would only drink from the shower... then from a drip water bottle..... when you are dealing with elders... the most that we can do is just make their life as easy as possible. And I agree.. at his age... the missing link is not going to make a big difference... the main thing is that he eats period... just find something that he likes and eats.... period... again IMO

[youngandtired]

You know getting old really su***, in humans as well as our furbabies. So sad for your B, and to know that my B, Sahara tested postive for Fanconi genes.

[JennnAL]

Hi there -
well, a visit to the vet again last Wednesday brought it down to either cancer or severe stomach ulcer, without doing a biopsy and all the extra expensive stuff…
so we stopped the Reglan (it wasn't working) and went back to Cerenia and Carafate, and eating only chicken and oatmeal, and he hasn't thrown up since! He had lost 6 pounds, and in a few days, gained one back. He still doesn't have much energy.
So, I don't know if this is a temporary fix, but it's working so far!

[dmcarty]

I would also stop any chemicals like heartworm and flea stuff. If he were to get heartworm - that takes a long time to kill a dog probably more years than he has left. You can treat topically for fleas with some natural things like Lemon and Eucalyptis spray (better for you as well) so that the harsh chemicals don't get into his system. Here is a link to some diet suggestions - have not tried them but they do make some sense: http://www.naturesfarmacy.com/UserFriendlyDiet.pdf

Good luck

[Rita Jean]

Go look at the following websites. When our akita had cancer we used this I found the information by accident as I was going crazy on the internet looking for help. I really belive YoYo would have made it had the vet fround it was cancer sooner and had I found this more quickly.
Go to the following please:
www.angio.org
there is also navy protocol www.specialspecies.com
under Health & Behavior go to Dog Tale of Survival at www.usa today.com

Also go read about colloidal silver just type it in ask questions about it and silver. Buy it at health food stores and only buy the one in glass bottle and glass dropper. Only want up to the 10ppm otherwise be to much.

Good luck and let us know how it is going.

Rita Jean

[Basenjimamma]

I sure hope it isn't cancer, just had two dogs with cancer put down this spring and I don't wish that on anybody. Hopefully he is doing better once you keep him on only chix and oates.. I will keep him and you in my thoughts..please keep us updated.

[Rita Jean]

I also hope with all my heart it is not cancer but if they will go look at the websites there is help. I had to go back to those when they told us granny had cancer. I do so hope much better days are ahead.

Rita Jean