Help and advice – Experience with Acute Respiratory Syndrom in AIHA dog

[Tamara]

Hi Anne, I’m so happy to hear that Bilbo is feeling better, tummy troubles are just miserable. I agree with Sheena, pumpkin is very helpful for constipation (or diarrhea, for that matter); you could also add a small amount of psyllium to one meal (maybe try 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon). For treats, you could try little pieces of carrot or apple or green beans or courgettes and see if Bilbo likes that? I, too, have been so worried about the loss of muscle tone as Ashki has very bad hips. Like Sheena I’ve been giving more frequent meals too. One thing — do watch closely about Bilbo eating things he shouldn’t because he’s so hungry. I say this because Ashki has picked up and eaten cat feces (!) since he’s been on prednisone, and I always used to be able to get him to spit it out but those days are gone for now! Ick, I just hate that he does that!! And there is an outdoor cat who comes in our yard and uses it for a toilet so I have to look very carefully and clean up.
I hope you all are doing well, I’m so happy to hear how well Bilbo is doing!
much love and many hugs from Ashki and me, tamara xoxoxo

[Vally]

Tamara, that’s Bingo’s really really really favourite treat too – cat poo!!! I must admit he’s gotton better lately, or the cats have moved away, because I’m not seeing as much around. There would always be a fight over it too. I’d wait till he found it and then dive in with a poo bag and try and scoop it up, much to Bingo’s utter disgust, and yes, if he gets to it first, he gets my fingers shoved in his mouth to get it out – oh so yuk.

Anne, I’m really pleased Bilbo is feeling better. Keep it up Bilbo!!!

Love Vally and the Connoisseur.

[Anne]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the advice and good wishes, everyone! I’ll try apples, as he loves fruits. He eats carrots pieces as well, but I can tell that he doesn’t enjoy them as much as other stuff.

His new diet seems to help with the bloating, so we’re sticking to a mix of chicken,sweet potatoes and potatoes for now.

I asked about treats because Bilbo LOVES bones (the good quality ones, and the one that are square shaped), and it was also helpful for stress and his teeth. But since he had constipation and bloating issues, we stopped. I’m just trying to find something that might be good for him and that we could use instead.

Oh, th cat poo challenge… I’m experiencing the same here! Connoisseurs indeed.

Bilbo is now using Zentonil Plus 200 for his liver. He’ll have detailed bloodwork and chemistry report in 14 days, so I really hope to see some improvements here.

BUT: Bilbo had his check up at the vet yesterday, and he’s still stable at 31 AND still highly regenerative. This made our day, and we’ll have a great weekend!!

You asked for his current medication, here it is (quite the parmacy):

Clindamycin 75mg/co : morning and evening, with meals. To treat skin infection that developped due to his weakened immune system. Only 7 days to go.

Cyclosporin (atopica): 75mg, twicw a day, with meals,

Azathioprine: 50 mg/co, half a pill every two days.

Zentonil Plus 200: once every day

Sucralfate: 3 ml thrice a day,

Omeprazole: One pill (10 mg) a day

Aspirin: 8 mg, once a day,

Bilbo took a small 5 minutes walk in the leaves this morning – fall is here. Nothing quite as cute as a dog walking or running through the leaves, in the sun. :-)

Love to you all,

Anne-Marie and Bilbo

[Vally]

I think we need a photo of that Anne-Marie

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie,

I now have visions in my head of Bilbo running through piles of beautiful colored leaves……
When you mentioned Bilbo’s diet an article on Dr. Dodds blog came to mind and I wanted to share it with you (and everybody else)

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/55006392224/sweet-pototato-white-pet-dog#.VDBlv4WBU-8

there is some other interesting information on Dr. Dodds blog if you have time browse around!

Best wishes,
Brigitte

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie

How is lovely Bilbo doing? I’m so pleased to hear about his blood results when you last posted, and I’m glad to hear he is enjoying autumn. I absolutely hate it. If I could hibernate, I would, from September to March!

I see that lots of your pups enjoy a good feast on cat poo? If you run out, we’d be happy to send some over ;) Aren’t animals so gross sometimes?! Lovely, but revolting all at the same time!

I do hope all is going well

Mary and Mable x

[Anne]

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing? I’ll browse through the latest thread after this message. :-)

It’s been a while since my last post. The whole family is doing well though, and well, here are your pictures, Vally! :-) Dachsund in the leaves!

 

Bilbo had his last check up last Thursday. His RBC has now reached 37, yay!! His platelets levels are still rising though, but apart from continuing to give him a daily aspirin, it seems like there’s nothing else we can do, as it appears to be a side effect of the prednisone. Have you experienced that as well? I submitted his latest results on the website, if you want to have a look.

Bilbo is still highly regenerative, so we have high hopes. He’s now down to 10 mg of prednisone (he was initially at 25 mg). Our next appointment is in 2 weeks, and hopefully, we’ll be able to reduce by 2,5mg then. We’ll also have a detailed report for his liver then, to make sure everything is good on that side as well. I hope the Zentonil (SAme) helped.

This made a huge change on his energy level and his coat. He used to have sking problems, and while he still has patches of missing fur, at least there are no more infection now. He’s now quite comfortable walking at a slow pace for 15 minutes, and I tink we’ll stay at that for a while, so that he can gain back some strength. His back legs work better now too and he’s now able to use a small ramp my father in law made for him, so that he can move around the house witout being picked up or risking a back injury. I trained him to use it for the past week, and it’s working well! Bilbo can do a lot of things if food is involved…

So all in all, we’re in a good period now , and I hope it stays that way! It is so heartwarming to see him improving, especially since we thoughts we’d lose him for good after his acute respiratory distress episode in the early days of the disease. It is so great that I can share some good news with you as well. I feel very grateful that you’ve helped me (and continue to help me!) going through this roller coaster. I’m very grateful to still have my dog with me today.

But do not expect Mr. Bilbo to dress up for Holloween. He’s too much of a snob for that!
:-)

Love yo you all,

Anne-Marie and Bilbo

[admin]

Hi Anne-Marie

It’s lovely to hear the good news – I am so glad the reductions are going well. Bilbo is adorable & he looks brilliant too – his skin looks wonderful in the photos. Hoping the platelets will settle down some more with the next reduction – that should help. In the meantime, continuing with the aspirin is essential as you so rightly say.

Let us know how he’s doing when you can

Love & hugs
Sheena & the boys xxxxxx