Sick Dog Question– help, please?!

[ownedbyspencer]

Yes, Spencer was on pain meds last night. The first night (Saturday) after the surgery, the vet was reluctant to give him pain meds, because he seemed nauseous, and she was afraid they would make him vomit. Vomiting would have been a real setback, because it would aggravate his throat and tongue, worsen the ulcers, possibly cause bleeding and cause him to lose what little food I had been able to get down him. Sunday morning I thought Spencer was in pain, so the vet came in and gave him an antibiotic shot and a pain shot, along with subQ fluids. I took two syringes home and gave him another round of antibiotic and pain shots before bedtime. Thankfully, they relaxed him, and we both got some sleep.

Today, he got an antibiotic shot, but no pain shot, because most of his pain seems to have dissipated, and no subQs, because he is finally drinking enough. He will go on antiobiotic capsules tomorrow and possibly get a shot of Dexamethasone to stimulate his appetite. This ordeal has cost him six pounds– more than 25% of his body weight. The worst is over, though, and I will fix him all sorts of yummy things to gradually get the weight back on. I appreciate everybody's concern and interest-- the response has been amazing and truly touching!

[nomrbddgs]

I've been following, but not been able to respond. I'm glad Spencer is on the mend. Good luck in the future.

[Anne-Marie]

So happy to hear Spencer is on the mend. Hope he feels better soon.
Never too much info, this is very helpful .
Hugs and love for Spencer.

Anne-Marie
with Joey in my heart

[Patty]

May Spencer continue to improve. Thank you so much for keeping us informed despite the hectic time you've been having. Hugs and kisses to Spencer.

[MacPack]

So relieved to hear that he is improving. He is one tough cookie!

[ownedbyspencer]

Well, I think we escaped another close call here at Casa Spencer. The little guy wouldn't eat again this morning, and my heart just dropped, then I tried again tonight and almost lost a finger. He snatched that chicken and rice ball out of my hand and scarfed it down like a hungry wolf. I have never been so happy to see an animal eat in my life. He still can't lap up food, so the vet suggested that I make mini meatballs out of all sorts of tasty things so he can just grab them one at a time with his teeth. I made chicken and rice balls and dog food balls and bread balls dipped in gravy. The dog food balls did not go over well. Tomorrow I will try Muttloaf balls and maybe rice and cheese balls. Or maybe veggie balls. Anybody have any more suggestions?

The vet said Spencer's tongue and throat are healing well and released him today with two weeks of antibiotic capsules (and a bill that just about took my knees out from under me!). After traipsing to the vet twice a day for the past week, this is such a relief! The only thing still worrisome is that his alk phos remains, inexplicably, over 2000– way, way over even Fanconi-normal. We can't find a root cause for that. Thanks again to everyone for caring about my sweet Spencer. What a wonderful bunch you are!

Pamela and Spencer

[agilebasenji]

I know my kids like sweet potatoes - should be easy to eat. maybe that and some meat. mine also like zucchini. If you were closer, I bring some stuff over, but Co to Tn is a LONG way. You may want to ask your vet about something like Nutracal. I believe you should be able to find it at the local Petco/petsmart type place. And probiotics.

[krunzer]

LOL well of course he won't like the dog food meatballs, chicken and rice sounds way more tasty, as does the bread and gravy. I am glad to hear that his appetite is back. Best of luck for the little guy and getting some weight back on him. Yes I can imagine his vet bill. Our little guy had enamel hypoplasia when his adult teeth came in and we had to take him to a doggy dentist to get his teeth repaired at like 5 months. Ouch, that was a nasty bill and then he had to go in for a 6 month check-up after that, ouch again. The things we do for our babies though! Someone said something about putting him to sleep because of it. I snapped. I will do anything for my babies.

[ownedbyspencer]

@agilebasenji:

I know my kids like sweet potatoes - should be easy to eat. maybe that and some meat. mine also like zucchini. If you were closer, I bring some stuff over, but Co to Tn is a LONG way. You may want to ask your vet about something like Nutracal. I believe you should be able to find it at the local Petco/petsmart type place. And probiotics.

That is so nice of you! I don't know why, but Spencer won't eat sweet potatoes, pumpkin or zucchini, though he loves most other veggies, including the icky ones like broccoli and cauliflower. He loves tuna, so maybe I could make a tuna casserole for me and knead some of it into meatballs for him. Honestly, he eats better than most children… which is exactly what he thinks he is!

[ownedbyspencer]

@krunzer:

LOL well of course he won't like the dog food meatballs, chicken and rice sounds way more tasty, as does the bread and gravy. I am glad to hear that his appetite is back. Best of luck for the little guy and getting some weight back on him. Yes I can imagine his vet bill. Our little guy had enamel hypoplasia when his adult teeth came in and we had to take him to a doggy dentist to get his teeth repaired at like 5 months. Ouch, that was a nasty bill and then he had to go in for a 6 month check-up after that, ouch again. The things we do for our babies though! Someone said something about putting him to sleep because of it. I snapped. I will do anything for my babies.

Yes, vet bills are expensive and yours sound like they would definitely be in "ouch" territory. The only consolation I had today was that the receptionist told me that the dog leaving after Spencer had a bill twice as high! I'll keep reminding myself of that as I munch on the PB&J balls that will be the mainstay of my diet for the foreseeable future.

[tanza]

What a wonderful Basenji MOM you are…...

[SissyT213]

Have you thought of thrush? I was on a 7 day course of high dose steroids in December of 2000 due to my ms and it caused me to develop thrush. I now also get it when I take antibiotics as well. What happens is when you take antibiotics or steroids, it kills all bacteria and it allows the yeast to grow unchecked and causes lesions to grow on the tongue and down the throat and it is very painful. Since you said your spenser was on antibiotics and steroids, it makes sense to me.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk

[MacPack]

Somewhere here there is a recipe for Satin Balls, designed to put weight on (very high fat), I'll see if I can locate it.

[tanza]

@MacPack:

Somewhere here there is a recipe for Satin Balls, designed to put weight on (very high fat), I'll see if I can locate it.

They really are not a good thing, IMO. Mostly used by handlers to put quick weight on a dog in the show ring. Could IMO cause more problems then it is worth…..

[krunzer]

@ownedbyspencer:

I'll keep reminding myself of that as I munch on the PB&J balls that will be the mainstay of my diet for the foreseeable future.

Well at least you are still eating PB&J and not on the Weiner Water Soup diet!

[ownedbyspencer]

@krunzer:

Well at least you are still eating PB&J and not on the Weiner Water Soup diet!

Weiner Water Soup– that sounds worse than ketchup soup, and I thought that was as low as you could go. Suddenly, PB&J sounds quite tasty!

Although, Spencer might slurp up that weiner water. Hmmm...

[ownedbyspencer]

Spencer is continuing to feel better today, so much so that he is resuming his picky ways. Dog food balls are a total bust– even heated. Those get nothing more than a disdainful sniff. We have a new favorite, which sounds pretty gross-- though not to Spencer. Tuna salad mac-n-cheese balls. I made tuna salad for lunch with egg whites (no yolk) and plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise. I mixed some of that with bread and some leftover mac and cheese and made tunaballs for Spencer. We have a winner! Tonight I went back to leftover chicken and veggie balls and bread balls with gravy. Doable, but not as good as the tunaballs. Surely he'll be back to eating like a regular dog soon. Though I'm not sure what I'll feed him, since he had gotten downright reluctant to eat kibble.

Last night, he wet the bed. That was a first. Not just a little bit, either, but a whole bladder full. He must have done it in his sleep, because he seemed quite shocked this morning. Though not as shocked as me. I'm hoping it was a one-time thing. The only other weird thing is that his teeth chatter after he drinks. I'm guessing all this is due to the infection, which he continues to fight.

As to your question about thrush, Sissy, we checked for that. But he is on antibiotics, so I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for mentioning it!

[Chealsie508]

I know nothing about fanconi restrictions so I'm asking purely to learn, are the satin balls too much protein for a dog affected? Just wondering… I assume from what I've read it will be extra hard to put weight on him because there are nutritional restrictions for fanconi dogs, is this correct?

[ownedbyspencer]

Yes, Chealsie, you're right. I have to manage a low protein diet with the need to put weight on him. I'm using veggies, rice and bread as filler, with lean cuts of meat and egg whites. It's not ideal, and I'm giving him more protein than I normally would, but he is really thin. It will take a while to get him back to a good weight. I'm feeding him five small meals a day right now, instead of the usual three, and hoping I don't screw it up!

I'm not sure what the satin balls are, but I'm going to search them. I'm interested to know.

[Chealsie508]

There's a recipe on the forum, and my memory may serve me wrong but I thought it was high protein based… Usually suggested on the boards to feed the males when the females are in heat and they don't eat...lol, when Oakley was out of the hospital he lost a few pounds and I considered making a batch but I opted to add bison to his meals, which is a lean protein, maybe you can add that to his new "meatballs" diet...