Hello everyone! I am the doggie mom of two 11-year old pups, and it’s the bigger one who got cancer this summer, two lumps, soft-tissue sarcomas, on his left front leg. We are one month out from his front leg amputation, and scheduled for chemo – or a check-up and then chemo if everything is ok – on September 11th. Apparently the cancer is the aggressive kind, so even though the vets have found no trace of it, we need the chemo. (There may be some there that our technology can’t detect.) I’ve already gotten lots of helpful advice surfing this site, and have chatted with Jerry and Paula who reassured me that what I’m going through is normal. My struggles are with:
eating (he’ll only eat what he wants: roast chicken, scrambled eggs, …),
peeing (he is drinking, thank heaven!, but peeing is a rarity),
pooping — really can’t do it anymore, so he just lies there & it comes out. Today outside I helped him, got it all over both of us (it was runny because of his varied diet), had to give him a sponge bath because I’m not going to ask him to stand in the tub.
bathing (see above) – he’s really dirty since he falls down so much.
him allowing me to shove a pill down his throat every 12 hours — he used to let me do this. Both of my dogs are too smart for the cheese ball thing, it just doesn’t work, so this has been my method. Seems medieval, but they usually let me do it and that’s that. These past few days, Tank’s jaw is clamped shut. I’m never in danger, it’s just a struggle to get him to accept the pill.
& just plain walking. He was able to for a bit, but now his back legs collapse a lot. He has figured out how to hop, he is all right lying down (moving to a “down” position) as long as he’s on carpet or dirt.
I was going to make an appointment with a veterinary physical therapist & forgot – I’m a teacher, grades are due, I was observed on Friday (that’s a huge deal, your only chance to ensure you get a good bonus at the end of the year), and on top of everything Friday evening I caught the cold that’s going around and have been down for the count for three days, sleeping and barely tending to Tank’s needs.
SO, feeling overwhelmed. He’s on rimadyl, 100mgs, I divide the pills & give them once every 12 hours with food. They seem to help, and I think it’s going better now that I’ve divided them. I’ve bought him a bark bed, which he’s not usually on, he prefers to stretch out on the carpet, but that’s okay, he has used it and I know he will in the future. I also bought him boots and socks, put them on today and he refused to budge. He lets me put them on but then won’t get up. I have a harness coming in the mail. In the meantime he refuses the makeshift grocery bag harness I have used – hops away from it, slips out of it,… so there’s no way for me to help him pee. Don’t know if I need feedback, unless you’ve been through some of this and have suggestions, mostly just need sympathy! I will make an appt with the therapist in Nashville so we get help where rehab is concerned. Hopefully on the same day as our other appointment, since it’s a 2 hr trip to get there. My doctors (oncologist & surgeon) are at the Nashville Vet Specialists clinic, they are all wonderful.
Tankie is adorable! Thank you for sharing his story. You future blog posts will not require moderation.
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Oh Tank is sooo cute, I’m thrilled you started a blog.
You absolutely have my sympathy for all the reasons you listed, and I’m so sorry you feel terrible yourself. Yuk, no fun at all 🙁
I think once you get him into rehab therapy you’ll notice a difference. He may even want to start walking in the boots, give him time. At least he let you put them on, that’s HUGE. Here is a post about boots training:
https://gear.tripawds.com/2013/01/07/how-to-introduce-your-dog-to-wearing-boots/
About his pooping: did you mention that to the vet? I know this is a common problem with older dogs. Although it “could” be related to his amputation, it may not be. I would let your vet know what’s going on.
As for the pills….perhaps if you get the Rimadyl in liquid form it will be much easier to administer them. I know that you can get Metacam in liquid, so I’m sure it’s the same for Rimadyl. A compounding pharmacy is a good source, ask your vet. Meanwhile don’t feel bad about opening his mouth to give them in them, we do that all the time for Wyatt. You can also try a pill gun:
https://amazon.tripawds.com/2013/01/02/how-to-pill-a-dog-or-cat/
I don’t want to overwhelm you and hope this helps. Feel better and keep us posted OK?
And thank you for becoming a Tripawds supporter, we are so grateful!
Hello and welcome!
What kind of puppy is Tank and what kind of puppy is beautiful Squirt? She looks like she has terrier and Chinese Crested in her??
They are beautiful 🙂 How active was Tank prior to surgery?
Please don’t feel badly about the pills. A trick I have used is to rub a fingerful of butter on it and it slides right down and is more pleasant. My pup’s mouth is large enough that I can slide it right down in one quick swoop. Left hand opens the mouth from the top, right hand goes in and tickles his tongue sliding that pill down to his neck and quickly comes out, holds his chin, and my left hand rubs his head while the right slides down and massages the neck. I talk to him the whole time and tell him how awesome he is. I end up with a tail wag 🙂 Call me silly, but it works.
Wishing you lots of luck and looking forward to getting to know your furmily 🐾💖🐾
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck 💖
Lord only knows their provenance – but here’s our best guesses:
Tank: vet: pit mix, maybe with border collie — I’d think maybe some Akita or some other curly-tailed breed… ? My friends tease me that he’s really a cow. Mooo.
Squirt: vet: cairn terrier mix. The lady I got her from (from West TN Pet Rescue, now evolved into another group) thought she was affenpinscher. She’s definitely terrier, and I love calling her part toto, but when she is in need of a trip to the spa, she has the bushy eyebrows and beard of a schnauzer. If there were such a thing, she’d be a miniature Irish wolfhound. I always get comments about how she’s not like any other dog – once we were in a crowd in a park, and a man came up and took a picture of her because he’d never seen another dog who looked like his Charley. I was dumb enough not to get a pic of Charley.