snoopy

[Sheena]

Hi Jill

Snoopy sounds so much better – these little things like wanting to jump up make your heart sing!

Alyssa has given some great advice here & I hope ot makes you feel that you are not the only one who has worried yourself daft! I think we all worry such a lot because of the drugs & their effects – at the high doses we have to use to save their lives, there are going to be side effects. Some are “acceptable” because every dog gets them & we deal with them – others, like pancreatitis are not.

I thought Snoopy looked like my Worzel too, but lighter. They are both very pretty boys, but I am biased of course! Our vets said Worzel looks like he has Kohl pencil around his eyes & they thought he must be a girl to be that pretty. He’s no girl, believe me, cheeky lad. Ollie is a scruffy lad, but has the most beautiful amber eyes.

I put pumpkin, about a tablespoon, in Worzel’s meals twice daily for diarrhoea. But Alyssa’s pill popping with pumpkin (that could be a good saying, couldn’t it?) sounds good. Worzel has always been a dreamboat with pills, opens his mouth & lets me put them at the back of his throat & swallows them- sadly I think that comes from his racing days when those horrible people gave him terrible drugs to improve his “form” on the racetrack. So he is definitely used to pills. Plus he has had pills for years for his heart murmur.

Crossing fingers & paws that he has turned the corner with his tummy issues.

Love Sheena & the hounds
xxxxxx

[Alyssa]

Pill popping with pumpkin, hahaha yes :) It really works marvelously – she swallows it right up and the pumpkin doesn’t really stick to your fingers. The Hills food seems to make her stool harder than she is used to as well, so its helping to keep that at a level that she doesn’t have to strain with. Pumpkin is really wonderful!

[Vally]

Now I don’t get this. How do you use pumpkin to feed a pill. Bingo has always been a dream with his tablets, but just lately, one of his teeth has caused a sore in his mouth, so he’s suddenly become difficult with tablets. I’ve been using a little roll of minced beef, which he loves.

Pumpkin is super soft, how do you put a pill in it?

Vally & No Pills thanks.
xxx

[Alyssa]

Vally-

You just get a blob on your pointer/index finger, make an indent to place the pills in (i’ve done 4 big pills at once!), and then smush the pumpkin around to make a ball. It’s super soft but also non-sticky to your fingers and molds into balls easy. Then you just plop it in their mouth as they’re looking up & it does right down.

[jill]

Hi all ,im on that rollercoaster again, Snoopy didn’t have good day yesterday didn’t want to go far and when he had his poo it was normal at first but then bit direh that turned to watery i9nstead of usual bit if cowpat, sorry to be graphic again,i was bit worried again so rang vetrs and had word with him, he said Snopy can still have the prokolin but its pricey, pets at home are cheaper, I asked if the direh could be side effect of azathioprine , he said he wasn’t sure, I looked it up and it says it can be, I said do you think the cyclosporine would be better option? he said all these drugs have side effects, when we go to vets end of month he will check liver and blood levels, he said he thinks Snoopy was doing better on the metronidazole? I think this is antibiotic? mayby he has picked a bug up?so im starting Snoopy on this today I must admit I left the second dose of sam e off last nite as he had small bit of runny direh again and poor tummy was making weird noises.I gave him the prokolin last nite second dose of the day so hoping this has helped, He hasn’t been for poo yet , just a wee, so we will see fingers crossed , sorry I forgot the pumpkin im definitely getting that this morning to , is this ok along with everything else? also do I give him the sam e this morning? thanks for all your help again , so glad I got you guys to turn to xxxxlove jill

[jill]

ps The vet said to slowly try to introduce his old food which Is james wellbeloved, but Snoopy just turned his nose up at it ! Also he seems so hungry all the time , im worried about overfeeding him, hes having about 4 small meals a day but keeps loking for more? at first I though its ok as he needs building up as he got so skinny at the beginning ? do you think its ok to give him the small meals a few more times of day? also can I ask you what food your doggies are are on? thanks again jill xx

[jill]

Hi Alyssa , thanks for the advice about the hills id , Snoopy is on the gastrointestinal one, I will buy some of the low fat version and try him with that, mayby it might be best if I change over slowly by introducing him to it? sorry I didn’t have much time to read your post more thouroughly earlier, have done now, thankyou jill xxxps you areso right about your heart melting when they greet you after being to ill to do that, however my heart sank yesterday when I noticed his direah had become like water, mayby I should try the food suggeston first as vet said before I give thw metronidazole? whast do you think? sorry asking losts of questions again love jill xxx

[Sheena]

Hi Jill

Have you tried the pumpkin yet? Blimey! Don’t I nag!

Absolutely, azathioprine can do this – no question about it. If the azathioprine has caused pancreatitis, Snoopy would probably be a lot worse, unless there is just a touch of it – unlikely. BUT would you please please get Snoopy tested for it as soon as possible to put our minds & yours at rest? It’s going on too long. Go first thing in the morning (at least an 8 hour starve needed, preferably 12) & get CBC including LIPASE & AMYLASE, & ask them to send blood off to lab for these tests as stated in this article:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/AIHA_Terms/pancreatitis/
Amylase, lipase & Spec cPL (you can do cTLI later if Spec cPL is positive)

Don’t forget if you don’t starve Snoopy long enough, you can get false positive results – poor Brigitte & Linda have had false positives & then after starving, the retest results were negative. So doing this, you’ll know for sure & if it is that, just change to cyclosporine – no problemo! In some ways. I’m inclined to say change to cyclosporine anyway – in hindsight, I would have used this drug as firt choice for Worzel. I cannot disrespect azathioprine though, because it worked well for us. And Snoopy is getting better on the anaemia front so far.

Metronidazole is fine for most dogs in the short term, but can cause neurological issues with some dogs in the longer term. I think it would be good to put him on it again for a short while. I have been thinking about Snoopy & wondering if he has a gut problem called SIBO – it happens with our dogs quite a lot. We know of something much safer than metronidazole & many of us (including me when Worzel was really ill last year) have used this safer drug.Would your vet be willing to try Tylan powder? Please have a close look at this article on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO):

http://www.epi4dogs.com/sidsibo.htm

You can get Tylan from amazon, but most vet wholesalers stock it.

You can read what happened to Worzel on this forum:
https://www.secondchanceaihadogs.com/forums/topic/worzels-diarrhoea-tylan-success/

Let me know what you think. I also think you should consider contacting Dick White Referrals in Newmarket, Cambridge. Their IMHA pdf looks OK & another UK lady on here had her dog treated there. Is that a doable journey?

Don’t worry – we’ll get Snoopy sorted out – but we need to address this diarrhoea issue as it can have an adverse effect on their recovery. Also, I am concerned that kaolin-type treatments might prevent the absorption of the drugs – that is not what we want either!

Lots of love & hugs

Sheena & the hounds
xxxxx