Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Five Pills in One Gulp

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Our initial directions for supplements we purchased when we were told Sampson had Degenerative Myleopathy was one dose, twice per day for the first week and then increase it to two doses twice per day.  I was slightly concerned as the Immuplex was over $60 a bottle and at that dosage we would be tearing through a bottle like an iguana through a head of lettuce. We would have figured it out though, because my boy is worth it.

Supplements

After the diagnosis changed to a partial ACL tear, my vet said we could just continue the Immuplex and the Neurotrophin at the lower dosage, but increase the Canine Musculoskeletal Support as she felt this would be the supplement that would do him the most good.

So for those keeping track, Sampson was talking 1 Immuplex, 1 Neurotrophin, 1 Gaba Pentin, 1 Tramadol and 1 Carprofen two times each day.  That’s five pills per day at the low dose!

The Musculosketal Support is a powder which is sprinkled on his food and it must taste alright because he eats it with no problem.  (Thankfully he has finished the Gaba Pentin so our pill count drops to four.)

Anyone who has ever given a dog a pill knows, it’s not always easy. 

Once long, long ago I could hand Delilah her thyroid pill and she would swallow it, but I think she’s wised up to the fact there are other ways to take pills and it’s better to hold out for the good stuff.

Sampson on the other hand has always been very picky with what he eats.  Once the teller at the drive thru window gave him a Milk Bone which he politely took and then dropped it into my purse.

So the issue became, how do we get him to take all these pills?  I mean we could use peanut butter, BUT it’s fairly fattening and he’s on really limited exercise so he’s not burning as many calories on a daily basis.  I can’t imagine the size of a peanut butter ball that was full of five pills.

One of the pills, the Tramadol has a bad taste and my vet said some dogs will drool if it touches their tongue and some will stop taking it.  I can deal with the drool (I have labs after-all) but the refusal to take it is never pretty in my house.

You do the math.

One stubborn lab + one stubborn Mama = Bad Times.

Hubby came up with a great idea using Coconut Oil for the evening dose.  Since they are getting Coconut Oil anyway, he puts all the pills in the cap of the jar and then drops the Coconut Oil into the cover and wads the pills up.

Gulp, it’s gone.

The morning dose was slightly more problematic, until I had the BRILLIANT idea (if I do say so myself) to use some left over Ricotta cheese.

Typically Ricotta cheese is not the best thing to give your dog as it can be very high in fat and calories and some dogs don’t do well with dairy.

I however bought the no fat Ricotta cheese which has 40 calories for one quarter cup.  Don’t freak out I’m not giving the dogs 1/4 cup of Ricotta!

You guys, this stuff is SO EASY to use.  We use a cereal spoon.

Ricotta

Smear the spoon through the Ricotta. (It might look like a lot in the photo, but it’s barely 1/2 the spoon.)

Hollow

Using your finger, spread the Ricotta and flatten it down, making a small hollow in the base of the spoon.

Ricotta 1

Add your pills.

Ricotta 3

Fold the Ricotta over the pills.

Ricotta 4

Roll it around if you’re concerned about the presentation.

Viola, five pills in one gulp.

Of course I would advise you to make sure you are giving this in small doses and you’re aware of what your dog can tolerate.  Some dogs will NOT tolerate dairy well and others may be able to handle little bits.  My dogs get yogurt or Keifer every day so I’m comfortable with small doses of Ricotta Cheese.

If you are unsure at all, always consult your vet!

Totally switching topics here, how many of you will be joining us tomorrow for the inaugural Barks and Bytes blog hop?  Did you remember we are having a giveaway for all participating blogs.

You can get your badge here, from my side bar or head on over to 2 Brown Dawgs and check out her badge.

Resized B and B Then come back tomorrow to add your link.

The Blessing of an Ear Infection

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In yesterday’s post I shared the story of Sampson’s trip to our veterinary clinic and his diagnosis of Degenerative Myleopathy.  I tried to indicate to you that despite an initial devastating diagnosis all was not lost.

Based on some of the comments, I’m not sure I accomplished that and for that I’m sorry.

Some of you will know the symptoms of DM but for those that don’t there are two pronounced indicators.  

One is what is called Knuckling, where the dog’s toes turn under and he basically ends up walking on his ‘knuckles.’  Understandably the nails on the dogs toes get very worn down.

The second indicator is often times referred to as a ‘wiggle’ although from the video I saw, it looks more like a ‘hitch’ to me.

You can see a video of dogs with DM here.

After my vet consulted with the original vet, she told me she thought it best to go ahead and test him for DM.    I scheduled the blood draw for Wednesday, January 8th, and immediately became obsessed with watching Sampson run and walk.  I shot video of him walking on gravel, grass, leaves and pavement. I shot video of him running and walking side by side with Delilah.  I posted all of these videos to my Facebook page and tagged my friends.  Even folks who didn’t know why I was posting video were commenting and none of them could see anything that made the vet think DM.

Tuesday, January 7th I noticed Sampson shaking his head.  A LOT.  He wanted his right ear rubbed and I spent a good part of the evening with my finger in his ear, rubbing it.

Wednesday I called the vet and asked if I could add an ear exam to my blood draw appointment.  Thanks to the amazing ladies at the vet’s office, they fit me in to see our regular vet at 4:20.

After confirming an ear infection my vet said, “Do you mind if I exam his back end?”

Are you freaking kidding me?  I’ve only been praying you would every second of this day since I made the appointment!

I reined in my excitement and simply said, “No, go ahead.”

She examined him thoroughly and asked, “When was the last time he saw the Holistic vet?”

She recommended he be seen again as his spine is out of alignment, she also feels he may have some arthritis in his hips and then she asked, “Do you mind if I take him back to see Dr. B? (the vet who diagnosed him with DM)”

Of course not!

I could hear them chatting, but I couldn’t hear what they said, BUT when my vet came back she said, “Dr. B doesn’t see what she saw last week.  I don’t think it’s DM at all.  I think he has a partial ACL tear.”

She based this on the fact that Sampson’s knee was considerably looser than it was in December and then went on to explain that Sampson is a very stoic dog, which is why he hasn’t exhibited any signs of discomfort.

One of the tests they do to check for DM is to take the dogs toes and turn then under.  Typically because DM is neurological the dog will hesitate to ‘fix’ the toes because he can’t feel them.   She recalls the surgeons at Tufts telling them that ACL can mimic DM because a simple act of fixing their toes can be extremely painful when the ACL is torn.  Since Sampson had been on anti-inflammatories and pain medication for a few days he was feeling better and quickly fixed his toes.

SO the blessing of an ear infection brought us a different diagnosis, which is challenging in and of itself, because our goal is to give Sampson the time he needs to heal on his own without having to do surgery.

For now we are keeping him on the Herbal supplements we came home with, keeping him on the anti-inflammatory and pain medications and trying to keep him quiet.  No free access to stairs, no running and no jumping and he is limited to five to ten minute walks.

He is pissed off.  And he pouts.

Pouty I don’t see how you think an ear infection if a blessing, you don’t have this funky crud in YOUR ears.

He’s ridiculous.

But it’s something we can work with.

Thank you for hanging in there with me and all your words of comfort and support and for sharing your stories and virtual shoulders.  I’m extremely hopeful that we can get Sampson through this, and allow him the time he needs to heal so he doesn’t need surgery.

The Words No Pet Parent Wants to Hear

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Starting 2014 as a year of gratitude has been challenging to say the least.

Thursday, January 2, 2014 Hubby said, “Sampson tried to jump up on the couch and couldn’t make it. So he laid down on the floor.”

Really?

A short while later he went to get on the bed for his snack and he fell.  He put his front legs on the bed and I lifted his back end up (like I’ve done hundreds of times in his life) and he yipped.  Of course he stared at me like I’d done something to him and I said, “That’s it, you’re going to the vet tomorrow.”

Me and My SamMan1

Friday morning I called the vet and my vet wasn’t scheduled until later in the afternoon so we saw another vet in the practice.

After examining Sampson thoroughly, she said, “I think there are a couple of things going on here.  He’s got some arthritis in his hips, he has a loose knee and he’s got Degenerative Myleopathy.

I’m sure I sat there with a stunned look on my face for a few seconds as I digested this.  I’m not a vet, nor do I work in that field so I had no idea was Myleopathy was.  But I sure as hell know what Degenerative means.  After a few seconds, the words formed on my lips and I asked the question.

What is Degenerative Myleopathy?

And then words that no pet parent EVER wants to hear came out.  I won’t bore you with that now, because quite truthfully I was so stunned that I can’t remember the entire conversation, but I will tell you this.  I have never in Sampson’s entire 9 1/2 year life, cried at the vet.  But I did on January 2nd.

Here is a link to DM.  I know that 2 Brown Dawgs is planning a post on DM in her health series, but it won’t be for a while.  The simple explanation for you is this, it’s Lou Gehrig’s disease for dogs.  Which means this disease cruelly and methodically robs your dog of his/her ability to use their back end.  And eventually what you have is a decision to make of when enough is enough.

DM can really only be diagnosed in one way and that is with an autopsy, but there is a blood test which determines if the dog is “at risk” “carrier” or “clear.”  A dog that is “carrier” does not necessarily have the disease.  Typically DM is diagnosed via process of elimination and the blood test.   The lab that tests for DM is closed on Saturdays and the specimen needs to be overnighted, so I needed to schedule an appointment to have a blood draw.

My next question was how to treat it. While there is no ‘cure’ for DM, there are supplements which can be used to help support your dog.

Supplements

Additionally the vet thought we could try some pain medication, so she gave us some Tramadol.

As soon as I left the vet’s office I went to my sister and basically threw myself in her arms (thanks for the shoulder Sheena) and when I could pull myself together, I drove home.

I am always humbled and ever so grateful for this blogging community, because it means I have unlimited access to support from other people who are far more knowledgeable about dog related topics than I am.  And who love their dogs as much as I do.

When I got home I reached out to a number of them, I talked to Jen from My Brown Newfies, Linda from 2 Brown Dawgs and Donna from Donna and the Dogs.  I also shared on a Facebook page I belong to (you know who you are.)

I was comforted and supported by their generosity and love.  I knew whatever we were facing, we wouldn’t be alone.

Once I’d been home a few hours I thought it might be wise to call and schedule the test and also run this past our own vet as she’d had Sampson under anesthesia in December and I specifically asked her to check his back end.

When I got on the phone with our vet she was as flabbergasted as I was.  She was also concerned about the loose knee as when she had examined him under anesthesia the knee was tight.

She said she wanted to try him on an anti-inflammatory and she was going to speak with the first vet as she’d seen nothing to indicate an issue when she had him on the table three weeks prior.

Sampson’s story doesn’t end here but this post does as it’s rather long, let me just say the diagnosis changed quickly.  Please come back tomorrow for the Blessing of an Ear Infection.

**Hint** It’s better news!!

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