Aussie had a slightly rough night last night. She definitely seemed to be in more pain than usual and she went out in the middle of the night and kept squatting for 30 minutes. It was cold outside, so we had to carry her in. With as thin as she is, we definitely didn't want her staying outside too long.
When we woke up, our carpet and tile looked like a Hitchcock film! This sounds awful, but in our case, this is exactly what we're hoping for. This means the bad tissue is being eaten away. Aussie still seemed sore and wouldn't eat her breakfast. This had us concerned for the first part of the day.
We took her in for acupuncture today to help maintain her arthritis care. Our vet noted that this was the saddest she had ever seen Aussie. She did seem very low key and had to be picked up so she could stand while the needles were put in. Once the 17 needles were in, she went to sleep and rested comfortably. She was notably more alert after the 20 minute acupuncture session. The vet seemed concerned that she hadn't eaten and asked if there was something we could tempt her with. Aussie loves a cheeseburger from Burger King, without the bread, of course. After her appointment, we got her a bacon double cheeseburger. She gobbled it up. It was nice to see her appetite was back. We went for a short walk and when she got home, she seemed to be resting much more comfortably than she had been.
We forgot to mention that she did throw up yesterday after her procedure. We are no longer going to feed her the morning of the treatments. Our vet has also asked us to document the blood in urine and rate it on a scale of 1-4. 1 is not very red, and 4 is bright red. We brought in the paper towels to show her what we were experiencing. She said it looked like it was about a 2. She has continued bleeding throughout the day. It appears to be at a 3 right now.
BREAKFAST
Refused to eat
LUNCH
Bacon double cheeseburger with no bun
DINNER
Burger on the George Forman grill with roasted broccoli
EXERCISE
10 minute walk
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Day 15 - Treatment 4
Aussie went in this morning for her 4th treatment. They were able to get the catheter in and she spent all day in the office. This is standard. We drop her off in the morning between 7:30 and 8am and pick up after 4:30pm. We got her home and she went outside. When she came inside, we noticed drops of blood on the floor. We got her to roll over and sure enough, there were signs of blood. We never thought we'd be this happy to see our dog peeing blood!
We called the vet immediately just to make sure this was as expected and to make sure we hadn't misheard earlier. She sounded as elated as we were. This is a sign that the tumor is dying off! Aussie's tumor is in the upper right portion of the bladder, so the vet said she increased the volume of the dosage to make sure it got all the way up to the top of the bladder. This is definitely a good sign!
The only downisde is that Aussie does seem uncomfortable this evening. She's moaning a bit and needing to go outside more frequently. We are contemplating giving her tramadol. We need to check how old our prescription is. We fear it's too old. She goes in tomorrow for acupuncture, so we can restock tomorrow.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, butternut squash, cabbage and yellow squash
DINNER
Aussie wouldn't eat dinner tonight. She ate a small piece of cheese, but didn't seem to interested in it.
EXERCISE
None. She seems uncomfortable tonight and we are going to let her rest
We called the vet immediately just to make sure this was as expected and to make sure we hadn't misheard earlier. She sounded as elated as we were. This is a sign that the tumor is dying off! Aussie's tumor is in the upper right portion of the bladder, so the vet said she increased the volume of the dosage to make sure it got all the way up to the top of the bladder. This is definitely a good sign!
The only downisde is that Aussie does seem uncomfortable this evening. She's moaning a bit and needing to go outside more frequently. We are contemplating giving her tramadol. We need to check how old our prescription is. We fear it's too old. She goes in tomorrow for acupuncture, so we can restock tomorrow.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, butternut squash, cabbage and yellow squash
DINNER
Aussie wouldn't eat dinner tonight. She ate a small piece of cheese, but didn't seem to interested in it.
EXERCISE
None. She seems uncomfortable tonight and we are going to let her rest
Day 12-14
Aussie had a great weekend. She bounced back quickly after her procedure on Thursday, and had a nice pep in her step when we went for walks and off-leash outings in a field. She hasn't had an accident since Thursday night, so we are hoping this is a good sign. We haven't been counting the number of times she pees outside as much, but she seems to be coming in more quickly than before.
BREAKFAST
Turkey and Tuna, butternut squash, broccoli
DINNER
Tuna, butternut squash, yellow sqash and cabbage
EXERCISE
15-20 minute walks each day
BREAKFAST
Turkey and Tuna, butternut squash, broccoli
DINNER
Tuna, butternut squash, yellow sqash and cabbage
EXERCISE
15-20 minute walks each day
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Day 11 - Treatment 3
Aussie had her third treatment this morning. We've found it's critical for her to have some urine in her bladder to help facilitate getting the catheter in. The vet assistants watch out for our car in the morning. We don't let Aussie's feet hit the ground and carry her into the office and go straight to the cage. This prevents her from peeing. The staff has been great working with us on this.
It still took some time to get the catheter in, but not quite as long this time. Our vet has asked for assistance from an emergency vet who catheterizes dogs more frequently. On his way home from the graveyard shift, he will stop by and get the catheter inserted. We are grateful our vet is reaching out and doing whatever she can to make this happen and cause Aussie the least amount of stress and pain. That's one of the many things we like about her.
An ultrasound was done today and the tumor has not decreased in size, but this is only the third treatment. The vet didn't say it had increased either. The case study we read showed a reduction after 5 treatments, so we'll stay positive.
Aussie is whining a little tonight, but seems to be doing pretty well. She had a small accident earlier.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Beef with broccoli and yellow squash
WEIGHT
38lbs. Vet said she was a little skinny and that we need to add more meat protein into the diet.
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
MEDICINE
Her usuals, plus heartworm and flea and tick meds.
It still took some time to get the catheter in, but not quite as long this time. Our vet has asked for assistance from an emergency vet who catheterizes dogs more frequently. On his way home from the graveyard shift, he will stop by and get the catheter inserted. We are grateful our vet is reaching out and doing whatever she can to make this happen and cause Aussie the least amount of stress and pain. That's one of the many things we like about her.
An ultrasound was done today and the tumor has not decreased in size, but this is only the third treatment. The vet didn't say it had increased either. The case study we read showed a reduction after 5 treatments, so we'll stay positive.
Aussie is whining a little tonight, but seems to be doing pretty well. She had a small accident earlier.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Beef with broccoli and yellow squash
WEIGHT
38lbs. Vet said she was a little skinny and that we need to add more meat protein into the diet.
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
MEDICINE
Her usuals, plus heartworm and flea and tick meds.
Day 10
Aussie had a good day and wasn't whining like she was the other day. She didn't have any accidents, so we couldn't tell if there was any discoloration happening. She seemed to be sitting down a little more easily and didn't seem quite as sore. She had good energy.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey and tuna with zucchini and yellow squash and broccoli.
EXERCISE
Weather was nasty, so unfortunately we didn't get a walk.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey and tuna with zucchini and yellow squash and broccoli.
EXERCISE
Weather was nasty, so unfortunately we didn't get a walk.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Day 9
Aussie is still sitting down a bit gingerly, but she hasn't been moaning or whining otday or tonight. This is uplifting. She was excited to eat both of her meals and demanded a walk when we got home tonight. She hasn't had any accidents today, so that is good news as well.
While working on this blog post, I had to go get her veggies out of the steamer and I put the laptop on the couch. When I came back, she had jumped up on the couch and fell asleep with her head on the laptop. It was adorable. I have updated the profile with that picture. She is definitely resting comfortably!
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, cauliflower, green beans
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
While working on this blog post, I had to go get her veggies out of the steamer and I put the laptop on the couch. When I came back, she had jumped up on the couch and fell asleep with her head on the laptop. It was adorable. I have updated the profile with that picture. She is definitely resting comfortably!
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, cauliflower, green beans
EXERCISE
15 minute walk
Monday, November 3, 2008
Day 8 -- Treatment 2 (Take Two)
Aussie went to the vet this morning for her 2nd treatment. They were able to get the catheter in and deliver the medicine. It stayed in the bladder for 4 hours. When she peed, the vet was disappointed that it wasn't discolored. We are keeping the faith because this was only the second dose and it had been a week since the last one. Perhaps this is naive, but we aren't letting it get us down.
It did take 1.5 hours to get the catheter in, so she did seem a bit sore tonight. She would sit down gingerly and get up a little slowly. However, she was excited to go for a walk and had a lot of energy. She wanted to keep going. A little later, she did start making some odd sounds, kind of like moaning and whining. She sometimes moans at us when we stop rubbing her and this is when we noticed it. It was a sound we've never heard before, but she wanted to play ball and was very excited. We were kind of getting mixed signals --- when our dogs don't feel well, they aren't interested in walks or playing with the ball. They tend to just lie down and give us sad looks or go off by themselves. We have a theory. It could be complete crap, but we are actually wondering if she sounded different because she had a sore throat. She tends to bark a lot when she's in a cage and when she's at the vet, she's kept in a cage after the treatment so she won't pee. We need to check to see if she was barking a lot. Aussie has actually barked so much that she lost her "bark" so it may be a theory.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, Beef, cauliflower and green beans
EXERCISE
20 minute walk.
It did take 1.5 hours to get the catheter in, so she did seem a bit sore tonight. She would sit down gingerly and get up a little slowly. However, she was excited to go for a walk and had a lot of energy. She wanted to keep going. A little later, she did start making some odd sounds, kind of like moaning and whining. She sometimes moans at us when we stop rubbing her and this is when we noticed it. It was a sound we've never heard before, but she wanted to play ball and was very excited. We were kind of getting mixed signals --- when our dogs don't feel well, they aren't interested in walks or playing with the ball. They tend to just lie down and give us sad looks or go off by themselves. We have a theory. It could be complete crap, but we are actually wondering if she sounded different because she had a sore throat. She tends to bark a lot when she's in a cage and when she's at the vet, she's kept in a cage after the treatment so she won't pee. We need to check to see if she was barking a lot. Aussie has actually barked so much that she lost her "bark" so it may be a theory.
BREAKFAST/DINNER
Turkey, Beef, cauliflower and green beans
EXERCISE
20 minute walk.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Days 5-7
Last Thursday was a bit rough on us, but Aussie handled the brief "set back"well. She was in good spirits and we went for walks, played with the tennis ball, and she got plenty of rubs.
She did have about 5 accidents in the house, though, so we are concerned that the tumor isn't shrinking as fast as we'd like. She goes for a treatment on Monday so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the new catheters work.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, broccoli, cauliflower
DINNER
Turkey, yellow squash, green beans and cauliflower
EXERCISE
15 minute walks each day
MEDICINE
Same as all previous posts. I will stop listing medicines since it's consistent.
She did have about 5 accidents in the house, though, so we are concerned that the tumor isn't shrinking as fast as we'd like. She goes for a treatment on Monday so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the new catheters work.
BREAKFAST
Tuna, broccoli, cauliflower
DINNER
Turkey, yellow squash, green beans and cauliflower
EXERCISE
15 minute walks each day
MEDICINE
Same as all previous posts. I will stop listing medicines since it's consistent.
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