Greyt Matters

This past weekend I noticed that Sarge’s back legs had gotten pretty weak.  He walks very gingerly, is not eager to get up from his bed, and he has some problems changing elevations (e.g., when stepping outside the door).  I think it has been building over several weeks but it has gotten worse of late.  The good news is that he does not seem to be in any pain, but he could be one of those stoic greyhounds who does not let on that he is hurting.

I posted my concern to the Circle of Grey and one of the greyhound owners, who also happens to be a vet, told me that I should have him checked out by my vet.  She said it could be the cancer but it also could be Lumbosacral Stenosis, which is not uncommon for greyhounds, especially males, as they age.  (See http://www.greythealth.com/lumbosacral.html for more info.)  I certainly don’t want it to be the cancer, and I don’t really like the thought of the LS either.

I called the oncologist and left a message with a description of the problem.  The vet tech called me back and said I could bring Sarge in or take him to my regular vet.  So I made an appointment for my regular vet to see Sarge on Thursday afternoon.  Then, the oncologist can also check him out when Sarge has his next chemo treatment next Wednesday. 

The oncologist did not seem overly worried in terms of urgency.  The vet tech also said I might need to see a neurologist, a surgeon…yeesh.  Let’s hope not.

Sarge definitely seems to have aged over the past month or so…ever since he had that second dose of Adriamycin. 😦 But maybe that was just a coincidence.

I gave Sarge some Pepcid each night for the past three nights.  I think it has reduced his sour stomach because he seems to have more energy, and he has not spit up for a few days.  But his appetite is still not right, i.e., he has turned away from his food bowl a few times including this morning when I had put canned salmon on top of his kibble.  He picked at the salmon but then he walked away from the kibble.  I had to keep adding salmon until he couldn’t eat the salmon without getting some of the kibble.

I did not give him the usual phase 2 of breakfast before leaving for church just to see if waiting a couple hours would jump start his hunger.  Luckily he did eat his Phase 2 meal (at 1 PM) with some gusto.

We then went to a greyhound meet and greet in the afternoon, and the woman who was hosting went overboard with the treats when she heard Sarge was on chemo (and lately not eating as he should).  Sarge was a maniac in terms of eating the treats she offered.  I just hope we don’t have to deal with the Big D later tonight or tomorrow.  :-0

I don’t think Sarge is manipulating me in terms of faking a loss of appetite in order to raise the food bar.  But, he is a very smart boy who has been known to wrap you around his paw.  Last year he manipulated Kate, the woman who keeps him when I go out of town, into moving him from the kennel with the rest of the dogs into the comfort of her home by acting all depressed and lethargic.  The little stinker!

Gotta go…I’m off to the grocery store to buy more irresistible goodies.

P.S.  A couple more recommended foods (I haven’t tried either yet): Weruva soft dog food and Great Life dried beef liver treats crumbled over the usual kibble.

Woo hoo!  We are definitely in the home stretch of the Wisconsin Protocol!

Sarge had his fourth and last dose of Cytoxan this morning.  (This is the drug that put him in the hospital the first time he had it.)  He’s done a lot of snoozing today, but he ate well and we did a couple of long walks. 

I’ve been a little concerned over the past week to 10 days because Sarge has had relatively low energy and also a slight decrease in appetite.  Usually Vincristine is a non-event for him, so I am guessing that that turbo-charged Adriamycin may still be affecting his tummy.  I wrote up a description of his symptoms and brought them into the animal hospital today: loss of appetite, occasionally spitting up small amounts of clear liquid and a few pieces of kibble, and showing a “more than normal” interest in eating grass.  I asked if I could give Sarge a Pepcid to see if that would help what seems to be a sour stomach.  The vet wrote me back on the discharge instructions (I never see the man anymore) that I could give Sarge 1.5 pills of 10 mg Pepcid every 24 hours.  I did not give him any today so far because I am paranoid about drug interactions. 

Pepcid makes the tummy feel better

But I will give him some tomorrow if he stills acts like his tummy is upset.

The good news is that I haven’t noticed any more blood in his poop over the past week.  Yay for healthy lookin’ poop!

And lastly, we will end with a shout out to Mr. Darcy, who is one of Sarge’s friends in the neighborhood.  Mr. Darcy was recently diagnosed with lymphoma and he started chemo a couple of weeks ago.  Rooooooo to you, Mr. Darcy, and we hope you are doing well.

I just wanted to post a note so I don’t forget about this…

This week, post-Vincristine, Sarge had a little bit of decreased appetite and some loose stools.  Up to this point, the Vincristine has never caused him any issues so it was a little surprising.  Maybe he is still suffering some after-effects of the Adriamycin.  Of particular concern was a little bit of blood in his stool the past couple of days too.  Hopefully that totally disappears soon.

I ramped up the irresistability of his diet to make sure he kept his enthusiasm for eating.  It’s worked for the most part, but, for some reason, both he and Daphne did not want to eat their breakfast kibble this morning even though it was spiced up with Brats and Tots.  I added tuna and I got most of it down them but they still had some leftovers (which I put in the fridge and fed them for dinner).  What is it about morning meals?

Also, Sarge peed in the house this morning before we went on our walk.  This is now the third time in 2011, which is quite unusual for him.  I’m assuming that the chemo / age may be taking a toll on his ability to hold his bladder.  I did sleep in a little longer than usual this morning, which delayed our walk.  I need to be sure and make allowances for this “new normal.”

Being a little superstitious, I almost titled this post “12.9 Down and 3.1 To Go.”  :-0 

So far, Sarge is doing well with the Vincristine that he got this morning.  He snoozed comfortably when we got home, but then he was a little reluctant to get up and go for the afternoon walk.  But once he was up, he was up making a bee line for the Pet Store down the street.  He loves his treats and they love to give them to him. 

After a pretty long walk, we returned home where he indulged in his afternoon Kong…stuffed with herring and sweet potato dog food.  They love that stuff but it does stink up the house!

Cytoxan on the 16th.  Lovin’ the two week break!

P.S.  We saw another greyhound at the vet hospital this morning.  The owner had brought in her grey for a checkup because he had spiked a fever a few days earlier and spent a couple days in the hospital.   I told her about Sarge, and she said one of her other greys had lived 2 years post-cancern diagnosis – chemo treatment.  Let’s keep our fingers, toes, and paws crossed that Sarge can meet – or beat – that timeframe!