I know we haven't met, but, I want to wish your Jasper a very Happy 9th Birthday :D
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I know we haven't met, but, I want to wish your Jasper a very Happy 9th Birthday :D
happy birthday jasper boy, have a fantastic day with mom!!
Happy Birthday Jasper!!!!
Wow, 9 already. Hope you both had a good day :)
Super big hugs and a belly scritch for Jasper
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Happy 9th Birthday, Jasper!!
Happy Birthday Jasper!
i also want to stop by to wish jasper a very happy,healthy,fun filled birthday !!! patty(milo)meka xoxox
Dang I missed it..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASPER!!
ugh!!!! were LATE!!!!!!
however.............
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOFWOOF PAWS IN THE AIR PARTY IN THE HOUSE................LOL!!!!! GET YOUR SWAG GOING!!!!!
Happy Birthday Jasper, just keep celebrating the whole year!
Hippo birdie two ewes...hippo birdie two ewes...hippo birdie dear Jasper...hippo birdie two ewes!
TINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope all going well and your just having a wee break and good on you for doing that! I remember you said life was pretty hectic recently.
Love to hear how Jasper is doing though, have not even seen you pop in the middle of the night.
Hope all good in your household
Trish xxxx
Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful birthday wishes for Jasper. We had a great day, so glad I took it off to spend with him. The only thing I am sad about is that he didn't get any special treats or things to eat, because I just didn't want to take a chance with all that has been going on. He was still on the metronidazole at that time to treat the last bout of colitis, so I didn't want to rock the boat by feeding him anything out of the ordinary. :( But we spent lots of quality snuggle time. :D
Jasper is hanging in there. He finished the 2 week course of metronidazole on 3/21 pm. He continues on the FortiFlora one packet daily. I finally restarted the Welactin fish oil on 3/19 (Happy Birthday poor boy :rolleyes: ), because I wanted to restart it while he still had a couple of days left of the antibiotic. Only one change at a time so I can monitor the poops. It has only been 3 days since he finished the metronidazole, but so far so good. The poops have been ok for the most part. And he seems to be tolerating the Welactin, thank the Lord. This is a very important part of the treatment plan, for both the kidneys, and to help lower his triglycerides. He continues on the RC renal MP diet, and on Enalapril 5 mg 1/2 tab twice a day. His appetite has been good. The drinking and peeing are still more than normal, but have decreased a bit. Some days he is not too perky, but he seems to be feeling good overall for the most part.
We had what I would call a milestone of sorts on Friday 3/22. It marked a full 2 weeks since I have needed to call the vet for anything. This is the first time we have been able to go for this long since all of the problems started, so about 10 months or so!! We have made it 1 week a couple of times, and 10 days on one occasion, but never a full 2 weeks. So I feel this is important to note!! :p
I did have to call on Friday to get a refill on his Enalapril and found out that my vet is on vacation for 2 weeks! She will be back on 3/29. At first I was glad I didn't know she was gone, but then felt a little panicky. You know, "what if something happens?!" But later I started feeling like my vet should have at least left me a message that she was going to be gone for that long, especially with all that has happened with Jasper. I don't know, I imagine she felt it was ok since she hadn't heard from us for a week before she left. Actually, she was probably celebrating that she was going to be away from us for a bit, Lol!! I do know who to see in the office in her place. But I guess I still wish she would have let me know. After all, I am pretty sure Jasper is her most complex patient. Just being picky I guess. It's not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D
I left a message for her to call me once she is back, just so we can touch bases and I can give a report on Jasper, and clarify when we will be rechecking labwork, UPC, Percorten injection, etc. Sheesh, if we don't need anything in the meantime, by the time she calls, it will be 3 weeks since we have talked! Fingers and paws crossed. I had to joke with the receptionist that I was glad to see they were keeping their doors open without our once or twice a week visits!
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
That sounds like a pretty darn good report, Tina.:):):)
I have my fingers crossed you make it another two weeks:):):)
I'm really glad to here Jasper is tolerating the fish oil. I have nightmares about trying to give that to Zoe:rolleyes::rolleyes:
One second, one minute, one hour at a time, then 1 day at a time, one week at a time, hey we are up to two weeks at a time:D:D:D
LOVING IT:D:D:D:D:D:D
gotta run, Koko is LOCO, flying around the house and the rugs are flying every which way and poor little Zoe is trying to trot after him:rolleyes:
I think they are needing my attention:D:D:o
Sounds like a good Jasper report! Yaaayyyy!!!!
2 weeks, you can do it. Hopefully nothing will come up and you won't even notice she is away.
Addy, hope you have your running shoes on, sounds like Koko is having fun. :0
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Woot Woot, for good reports, sending happy hugs from Sim and me....
Very weird, my vet is away for a holiday too, without checking in with me either.. . what are they thinking having a life without notifying us :D:D:D Eek, we haven't driven them away have we :D:D:D
Hope Jasper is behaving himself till the vet gets back. Flynny is doing pretty good, I have him booked in on 9th April for his next BP and UPC checks, thats a couple of days before I go to Australia. So hope he does good while I am away.
See you soon
Trish xxxx
PS Koko is Loco made me laugh Addy :)
Hi Everyone,
My vet got back from vacation last Friday, and I have checked in with her. I will post an update on Jasper in the morning. I just want to post real quick to say that we will be trying a mobile dog groomer for the first time in the morning. I kind of freaked out a couple of months ago after reading that horribly sad grooming tragedy post and the feedback from others about that.
Since Jasper got sick, I have become more and more concerned about leaving him at the groomers for his bath and haircut. I don't know why exactly, I am just nervous leaving him somewhere now. He has gone to this groomer since he was born, and I have worked with her to decrease the amount of time that he spends there. But even with dropping him off first thing and her taking care of him first in the day, he is usually there about 2 hrs or so. He used to be there about 4 hours total, so it is better, but I still don't like it. Just a feeling in my gut I guess.
So I called a mobile groomer and scheduled an appt for tomorrow. I am a little nervous just because it is someone new. Like I said, Jasper has gone to my regular groomer since he was born, and I have known her for about 20 years. So this will be a big change. But I like the idea that it will take much less time, and she said I can sit in the front of the van if I want to while she grooms him, if it doesn't make Jasper anxious.
I started looking into this based on the feedback of others on the forum. We only have 2 mobile dog groomers in town. It is quite a bit more expensive, but it will be worth it if it is less stressful for Jasper and he is more comfortable. I have to give him extra dexamethasone to compensate for the increased stress on his body. He got his regular every other day dose today, and I will give him a dose tomorrow morning also to help with the stress.
So wish us luck. I really hope I like this lady, because I really like the idea of him just being out in the driveway in her van rather than having to leave him somewhere. I can keep an eye on things this way. ;) She will be here first thing in the morning. I will let everyone know how it went.
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Will be thinking of Jasper and you. He might like a personal spa day in his driveway;););)
I feel so bad Zoe cant really do the groomer anymore. Iwas trying to give her a haircut on her face, trying to match it to Koko.
Did you ever give a snapping alligator a new do:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
I'm sure it will go just fine. If only we lived near John we would not have to worry!!!!!!:):):)
Hi Addy. Lol, spa day in the driveway. Yes, I have often wished that I lived near John, and my grooming worries would be over!! And so sorry that Zoe wont let you trim her face, that would be tough if she was snippy. I would not want to approach with scissors. :eek:
Well the appt with the mobile groomer went well. She was very nice and calm, seemed very gentle, soft spoken, and seemed genuinely concerned to know all about Jasper's health issues. She did pretty well with the haircut. There are a few minor adjustments that will need to be done with his beard and face, but this was the first appt, I am sure we can improve the next time. For now, I am going to try to do a few snips here and there to adjust. I am not good with eyebrows, so wish me luck! Jasper had an extra dose of dexamethasone to counteract the stress from being groomed and so far is doing ok. And what a huge relief to not have to leave him anywhere for a few hours. Not to mention that he won't be exposed to other dogs with his compromised immune system.
I gave my vet an update on Jasper last Friday 3/29, and we talked again briefly this past Friday. Jasper had his monthly Percorten injection on 4/1. The dose was lowered by 10% again, so he got 0.4 ml. We are still looking to wean him off it in the future. We need to recheck electrolytes to see how those are doing, which is included in his plan.
Here is the current plan:
- Continue on Enalapril 5 mg, 1/2 tab twice a day
- Continue on Dexamethasone 0.5 mg, 1/4 tab every other day
- Continue on FortiFlora one packet sprinkled on food once daily for 30 days (he will be done with this after supper tonight)
- Continue on Royal Canin Renal MP prescription diet
- Recheck a chemistry profile around the beginning of May, to include kidney and liver values, and electrolytes
- Recheck UPC at the beginning of May
- We may recheck the triglycerides at the same time, although preferably we want him on the Welactin for a 3 full months before rechecking (Welactin was restarted on 3/19)
- We will probably get a baseline cortisol at the same time also, just to verify that he is likely permanently Addisonian
- Continue to measure water intake
I asked about rechecking the UPC sooner, and she said that it is slow to show improvement with treatment, and she has found that it can be discouraging to recheck it sooner (i.e. monthly), because it may not show any improvement that soon. I guess that makes sense. I am anxious to see what it is now, but sure don't need any more discouragement! My vet said we are doing everything we can as far as treatment for the kidney issues, there aren't other options, so I continue to pray that the treatment will stop the progression of the proteinuria and kidney disease.
I am worried about him finishing the course of FortiFlora. His poos have been much better, and I would say they have been mostly normal for the last week and a half or so (Yay!! :D). I asked my vet about continuing the FortiFlora. She said it wouldn't be a bad thing, but she prefers to stop it after the 30 day course. She said if his poops get soft again, we can start him back on it. She seemed to think that he didn't need to be on it all the time at this point. It will be done tonight, so I guess we will see. I am just hesitant to change anything that seems to be working!
He is eating well on the prescription diet with the Welactin added. His drinking and peeing are about the same - less than it was when he was drinking up a storm, but still more than normal. He is drinking about 3 1/2 to 5 cups a day, it should be right around 3-3 1/4 cups per day according to his weight.
It seems to me that his abdomen isn't as large as before. I am hoping that this means his enlarged liver has decreased in size now that we have been able to get the Dex dose down to a physiologic dose. I am hoping his liver enzymes will go down also, but I am not sure if that is realistic or not.
He seems to be feeling pretty good and is happy. I am so thankful for that. I will just feel better once we have some labwork to validate that his little body is indeed doing better. I am still scared to death about the kidney stuff and am praying hard about that. I treasure every day with my precious boy. Thank you all for your continued support.
I hope everyone and their babies are having a peaceful weekend.
Hugs,
Tina and Jasper
So glad to hear that the mobile groomer worked out. I think any time you change groomers, there are a few adjustments to be made. Perhaps next time, now that you know what was done differently you can talk to her about how you would like those areas to be trimmed to.
I know for Molly we can go with a shaped beard, face area, or we clip it down to a puppy cut, where they trim the beard off. I admit this does keep her cleaner for longer. Somehow she always manages to look like a slob with the long beard. Puts her whole face into her water bowl, then into her food bowl and well you can just imagine. Still I do sometimes have the shaped beard cause it's cute. Thank god I don't have to worry about eyebrows! I do have to worry about bangs in her eyes and her eye lashes grow like you wouldn't believe, very long. I've hard this is actually a disease, but it never seems to have affected anything other than just being long and having to be trimmed.
Hopefully Jasper will be fine without the FortiFlora. However, if not, he could always go back onto it if needed. Jasper as we have said many times writes his own book.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Glad the groomer worked out. I tried one many years ago in Omaha (he passed away) and it was a disaster. It was winter, very very cold and he had my girls in his van trying to groom with the door open. I about crapped my pants. Only tried it once because of that. I saw a metal table, no padding and thought they must have been freezing their buns off. :eek::D:D:eek:
Hi Tina, checking in on you and jasper and shelby.
Hope everything is going okay and all is well and you aren't being over worked too much!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hi Tina
How are things going with Jasper? Miss you popping in the middle of the night for a quick chat, hope all well with you guys and you are starting to get some nice sunshine for some walks!
Trish xx
Hi Tina,
Sorry to hear that your mom and grandmother have both had medical issues lately (from Flynns thread) and I hope that they are both doing okay now.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to pop in and finally give an update on Jasper. Thank you Sharlene and Trish for checking on us! I haven't been on the forum much lately as both my Mom and Grandmother ended up in the hospital during the past couple of weeks. :eek:
Thank you Sharlene, everything is ok now and they both seem to be doing fine. My Mom lives in San Antonio, so that was quite worrisome that I could not be there. Thank goodness my brother lives nearby so he could be there to keep on top of things and fill me in by phone. It was kind of touch and go for about a day or so as to whether I needed to urgently go down there, but fortunately it was not necessary. My Grandmother is here in town and lives in assisted living, so that was a bit easier to manage.
It all just brought to the forefront my fear about needing to leave Jasper for any reason. I have a wonderful pet sitter that we have used several times before, but I have not gone anywhere since Jasper got sick, so have not needed her. I need to get ahold of her and talk to her about all that is going on with Jasper so she can be up to speed. I am hoping that she will not feel that he is too much to handle. Also, she needs to meet my unfriendly little hooligan Shelby to see how that goes. Hopefully Shelby wouldn't be too much for her to manage behaviorally. So - lots of issues that all need to be addressed sooner rather than later. I would be up a crick right now if I needed to go away for an emergency, and that is a very scary feeling.
Jasper has been doing pretty well I think. He has been off the FortiFlora since 4/8 and no further diarrhea. (Yay!!) His poops have been multi colored however, just like some of the pics that Julie posted of Hannah's poo. They go from lighter to darker and back again, and sometimes are lighter on the inside and dark on the outside, or marbled looking. I don't know if this is anything to worry about or not. The variability in the color is very odd. Something I will be talking to my vet about when we see her, I guess.
He continues on the RC renal MP diet, Welactin fish oil, Enalapril and dexamethasone as I previously noted. We have an appt on 5/4 for follow up on all his labs, UPC, and his yearly wellness check. I am anxious to get some follow up on things, I won't feel secure until I see that the labs validate that the treatment is working, especially regarding the proteinuria and kidney values, as well as hopefully some improvement in the ALP and triglycerides.
I posted earlier on Addy and Zoe's thread that Jasper seems a little off lately, but I can't identify any glaring things that seem specifically wrong right now. I guess he just seems overall more subdued. Jasper has never had an ultrasound, it was not something my vet recommended during the Cushings diagnostic process, in fact I think it was only mentioned as possibly the next step if the LDDS test was not conclusive. I found this forum after Jasper had already started on Lysodren and got over suppressed during the load, so didn't even know that most dogs going through this have an ultrasound. I have often wondered, especially recently, about whether or not I should ask if he should have one. I don't know. I would welcome your thoughts or advice about this.
I thought of something else just a couple of days ago after reading about all the pups that are scared of storms or thunder. Jasper is afraid of storms also, mostly the sound of high wind. He doesn't like thunder either, gets quite restless, but it seems to be the sound of high wind that scares him the most. Knowing what I now know about how cortisol functions in the body during times of stress, I wonder if maybe he would need an extra dose of Dex during the times that we are getting severe storms?
Since his poor little body hasn't been able to produce ANY cortisol for quite some time, that only seems reasonable. I can't believe it didn't occur to me before! :o So far he has not gotten sick after any storms, but if the last couple of weeks are any indication, we are in for a bad weather spring. I give him extra Dex before he gets groomed to help counteract that stress, so wonder if I should do the same for storms. The only problem is that a lot of times severe storms come up while I am at work so I wouldn't always be able to know when it is going to happen. I will be asking my vet about this. Your thoughts??
Thank you all for reading and your feedback. I know this is a Cushings website, but I am forever grateful that you all have allowed Jasper and I to stay and continue to be a part of this forum even though he is now likely permanently Addison's. And also now with kidney issues. I really don't know how to thank you all. :)
Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Tina, Great update. I can help with the thunderstorms... My girls were afraid as well - that and 4th of July (until their hearing went :-> ) I gave them melatonin - just one pill and it chilled them enough they didn't shake all over. It is all natural and doesn't affect the cortisol. One 3 mg tablet should do it. Buy at any drug store. Kim
Hi Tina,
I hope your mom and Grandmother continue to improve and no emergency trips are required. I'm in the same shoes - no one I could count on to take care of my babies if I had to leave them and it is scary to think about. I hope you have no need to leave.
Here is some info I posted earlier on Tipper and Patti's thread -
Hope this helps!Quote:
A friend told me about the TTouch Body Wrap as an alternative and it works much better for Squirt than the Shirt does - and it does not interfere with her ancient body movements. I use an ACE bandage that is about 3" wide and has a Velcro end. Here is how to put it on - http://www.crvetcenter.com/ttouch.php
One of the tricks to handling storm fear with either the wrap or the Shirt is to start using it when there is no need for it so the pup associates it with happy, calm times. Wrap them or put the Shirt on then go to the park, or for a walk, something they enjoy while wearing the wrap/Shirt. Once they are comfortable in the wrap/Shirt, you then make sure it is put on long before the storm actually begins - which means you have to watch the weather predictions like a hawk. If it is supposed to storm this afternoon, you wrap or put the shirt on in the morning - hours before the activity starts so they immediately associate the wearing of it with those good times they have experienced earlier while wearing it. I have a narrower ACE bandage that I use on Brick but Sophie will not tolerate either the Shirt nor the wrap. She basically attacks it until either she has ripped it off or I take it off. She has the mildest reaction to storms of the three so I let her be as the wrap/Shirt makes her more upset.
I also use the melatonin for Squirt as well as Brick and Sophie. In addition to the melatonin, I use the dried herbs Passionflower and Skullcap made into a tea. Squirt gets 2ml, Sophie gets 4ml, and Brick gets 1ml.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang
Hey Tina,
I wanted to keep Zoe on her melatonin and lignans when we first started Vetoryl and our IMS was adamant that we could not as she claims melatonin can affect cortisol. So maybe check with your vet before trying melatonin. She was so adamant about it, just got me thinking today when I read this. Maybe she is wrong.
Hi Tina, Good to hear things have stabilized with your mom and grandmother. So much to Handle at one time. Maybe turning on a fan or a radio would help drown out the noise of thunder??? Just a thought. I hope your dog sitter can get acquainted with your other pup in case you need to travel.
Praying things calm down in all areas of your life. Peace and blessings,
Sharon, Norman (cushings doxie) and Millie (mini -yorkie pooh)
Tina, super big hugs girl! You know we love you and Jasper! Cushings is what might bring us in the door here, it isn't necessarily what keeps us here. Just walking in that door, makes you a part of the family of k9cushings, whatever may be going on, cushings or not.
I'd get the pet sitter on board and acquainted, just in case of an emergency in the future. Let her get familiar with Jaspers issues and meet little miss Shelby. :)
Ultrasound, if you feel something is off with Jasper, and you would know better than anyone else, then you could get one. You after all know Jasper best. Something to put on your list to talk to your vet about.
Hoping things continue to go well with your mom and grandmother.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin♦
I think I would ask for an ultrasound, it could show something in his kidneys that may be treatable? I know Flynn had a few stones there, I must ask about that again.
I also read the kidney dogs could benefit from aspirin, another thing to check with my vet about as well as fish oil.
Flynn sleeps through storms without a peep out of him, plus I think I could take him for a walk with all the fireworks going off on Guy Fawkes and he would look at all the pretty colours :eek::eek:
I agree with the getting the petsitter up to speed, always handy to have that up your sleeve if you do need to head off anywhere quickly. So pleased to hear your Mom and Grandmother are doing better, they are such a worry aren't they. At work today, I ran into Dad's physician and also Mum's Dr from last week and had a chat to them both and gave them updates and asked a few more questions. So now instead of just having a plan for Flynn I have to worry about plans for Mum and Dad too!!!! :eek::eek: Getting hard to keep things straight with all the various illnesses!! I need an app :eek::eek:
Jasper sound like he is generally doing ok, so hoping we get good results on your little man next week, I will be waiting with baited breath to hear!!
Have a good week!
xxx
Just checking in on you and your furbabies, sending hugs too!
Hi Tina,
I happened to come across an article by Dr. Peterson which included this quote:
Quote:
Melantonin
Melatonin can inhibit the activities of both 21-hydroxylase and aromatase enzymes within the adrenal cortex. Inhibition of the 21-hydroxylase enzymes could potentially lower serum cortisol concentrations, whereas inhibition of the aromatase enzyme could potentially lower circulating estradiol levels.
I thought of you so am sharing it.
Hi Tina and Jasper - just wondering how you are both doing, hopefully having a good week with no dramas from your family either, these parents and grandparents can be such a worry. So hoping your stress levels have gone down and everyone is behaving!
Love to hear and update on the boy when you find time :D xx
Hi Tina
Just wanted to thank you for your kindness.Losing Fella has been so heartbreaking but I am so grateful to all of you.Just started reading about all of your furbabies and look forward to reading your thread on your baby Japser.So thankful to all of you for being there and helping me through this!Hugs to you and Jasper!
Love,
Patty
stopping by to see how things are going......hope to hear from you soon.
Hi Tina,
Hope all is okay with mom and grandmother and Jasper and Shelby.
Are they over working you again at the office?
Hope you have a good relaxing weekend.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hi Everyone,
Thank you all so much for checking in on me and Jasper! Things have been crazy at work again, and I haven't been able to be on the forum much lately but have been reading along as much as I can.
I just want to post real quick to say that Jasper's follow up appt is this morning. He will have his yearly "physical" , heartworm check, etc. He is not due for any vaccinations this year except for bordetella, which is given orally now. So I am thankful I won't have to deal with decisions regarding all of that this year. He will also get all his bloodwork rechecked, liver and kidney profile, chem profile, electrolytes. And of course we will be rechecking the dreaded UPC. We may also recheck a baseline cortisol, and the triglycerides/ cholesterol, but not sure about that, it may be too soon for those.
I am up at the butt crack of dawn to get my notes and list of questions together before his appt. I am feeling a bit anxious as this is our first check on things since Jasper started treatment for the proteinuria. He has been on the prescription kidney diet fully since 2/28, the Enalapril since 1/31, and the Welactin since 3/19.
I will be back on later. My goal today is to get caught up on everyone and do some posting. I feel so out of the loop and miss talking to all my wonderful friends here. I hate to feel so out of touch. Thanks again for checking on us.
I am asking for everyone's prayers and positive thoughts for good results for my boy today. Please keep us in your thoughts.
Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Ohhhh ask about the benefit of having ultrasound too....
GOOD LUCK JASPER AND TINA!! XXX
Awww, thank you Trish!!! Yes, I have added the ultrasound to my list, thank you!! A while back I think you mentioned that you had read something about giving aspirin for kidney issues. I remember way back my vet saying that in doing all my reading I would probably see aspirin mentioned as part of the treatment for PLN, but that she does not recommend it. She explained why at the time, but for the life of me I don't remember. I will ask about that again also.
Gosh, my list is getting pretty lengthy. I feel like I am always grilling her with tons of questions. I guess it won't be any different this time! :D
I'm feeling kind of scared, and it will be torture waiting for the results. I have told Jasper how good Flynn's results were, and to be just like him! :p
(((Hugs)))