Split: Split: For Hope and Steve

[Hope]

Morning all!
I wanted to get y’all’s advice on a few things.. Today is day 2 of pred reduction from 30mg –> 20mg so of course I’m watching him like a crazy person and following him around!
1. With this reduction I’ve definitely noticed even in 1 day a decrease in the furious drinking that’s been going on with the pred. He’s still eating and food-seeking terribly lol but he’s not drinking as much. Is that typical?
2. Going with the above, what can I do to kind of keep making him drinking? Any ideas? A good thing about the constant drinking and urinating is that it kept his existing bladder stones out of the way and helps stave off new ones forming. I didn’t realize at the time but in half speak his vet had told me one day “oo yea the pred will help with the stones actually” and now I’m getting what he meant. So I want him to keep drinking a lot..I gave him a tsp of peanut butter this morning and that was a two-sided win. But I’ll take any suggestions on keeping it up.

He’s a little less eager to get up this AM (unless food is involved).. That’s to kind of be expected right? Until his adrenals start balancing out the new reduction? I will say his gums are not as gorgeously pink as they had been for a week so I’m kind of bummed. Not as bad as they’ve been but not awesome either.

Thanks all!
Hope and Steve

[admin]

Hi Hope,
when we go to agility trials and it is hot I am always concerned that my dogs drink enough. So what I do is I make them soup! I don’t know if this is ok for Steve but here is what i do. I boil some beef heart (trim away the fat) liver or chicken hearts. They love this soup and I give it to them, about 2 cups a day. They have never left anything in the bowl. The boiled meat makes great treats, just the way they are or if I have lots I put them in the dehydrator. Just like for us, keeping dehydrated does not mean it has to be just water. I know Steve has problems with proteins though, so I am not sure if that would be ok. But maybe veggie soup? Just something delicious like pumpkin soup? Also add water to his food.
Best wishes,
Brigitte

[Hope]

Hey Brigitte!
What a wonderful idea– soup!! I’m probably going to stay away from meat.. Poor Steve is an unintentional vegetarian! But vegetable soup sounds like a great idea!
Thanks so much!
Hope

[Patrice]

Hope,
Brigitte’s idea is super!

I make all my dog food at home. Willie gets a raw diet, but Cassie needs less fat in her diet so I precook her ground meats that I use in water to get the fat out. I drain the ground beef and turkey and reserve the broth. I put it in a fat separator and pour off the broth for them in their bowls. You can imagine how intent they are on this event, hovering around the kitchen until the broth is cool enough. You would only need a bit of meat to flavor the broth.
my best, patrice

[Hope]

Thanks Patrice!
I came home at lunch to feed Steve — hubby is home but I wanted to check his gums myself lol. I fed him his wet prescription food with water added to it. He was fine for about 30 min then he threw up everything he ate today! Should I bring him in? There was food still in there from this morning at like 8:00 (I gave him a few strawberry halves and I could see them as well as an apple slice). Should that have digested by now?

Hope

[admin]

Hope,
this is not good, this boy needs to eat and keep it down. maybe you added too much water and he gulped it down too fast? No matter what and why he threw up, if it were me I would take him in for a quick in house PCV check. When was his blood checked last? How is he acting otherwise? I remember you saying something about him straining and no pee coming out, maybe you should also have them do a urine analysis to check for a UTI. You said it could be the bladder stones, but then if you have it checked you will know and if it is a UTI it can be treated. I know that people with UTI’s feel pretty sick I am sure with dogs it is the same.
Best wishes,

Brigitte

[Hope]

Hey Brigitte!

He’s definitely eating too fast — the strawberry halves and apples were completely whole. So he’s not even chewing when he puts food in his mouth. I’m a little worried why none of the 8:00am food has been digested 5 hours later too. I’m wondering if the water was too much.. He did jump on top of me after he ate trying to get my food, like full on sitting in my lap. So maybe it was too much activity?

The straining to pee thing ended up being yhat one time — I think he was trying to mark territory and was running out. Lol
I called the vet though already bc I’m concerned as we gave him his aspirin at 12. I’m super paranoid about clotting so I asked if I should give him more (tech said no) and if I should bring him in (they’re going to call me back).
Could the Pred reduction be causing this? They asked me if he was acting normal and I said he was a little more sluggish than he has been but I thought that might be expected. And I told them he wasn’t drinking as much today. Regardless i think I’ll bring him in anyway for a PCV check after work. I left hubby looking after him bc I had to get back. Last week of work since I’m starting school! Super worried tho..

Hope

[Hope]

Last PCV check was last Wednesday: 40%. The vet said it was okay to start the pred reduction without a brand new check bc he’s been stable at that for 2.5 weeks.
Hope