Flynn 11 y/o Foxie Cross - Right adrenalectomy- Good Bye Flynny We will miss you

Good luck tomorrow Trish! Hope it all goes smoothly and that BP is coming back on down again. I think we could all do with a little less stress between us. Take it easy, don't work too hard. :cool:

Not sure if you can get Culturelle (human probiotic)- our holistic vet some years ago had me give it to Zoe. I just bought a prescription probiotic from GP vet- bloody fortune - supposed to help kidneys, ha, not sure of that claim- it seems to be helping her poo though the first two days, it was strange, we are not yet on full dose. I always start at half dose for five days to see how Zoe reacts to it. You have to give it a few weeks to see if the bacteria will colonize or not.


((hugs))))))))))))))

That blinking bird has a lot to answer for! Hope he is starting to perk up. Also hope all the family are well...

Good luck for tomorrow

Big hug, bum scratches for Flynny

Mel
Xxxxx

Hi Trish!
I just said that I have been so selfish these past few weeks!I'm only just beginning to be able to read others threads.Here you are going thru such a hard time with Flynny and yet you have been so kind to me!:).I'm so sorry that he has not been feeling well.I hope he gets good news tomorrow.I miss speaking with you in the early am but I've been sleeping later the past few days.Hope to catch you this am so you can update us about Flynny.Lots of love to you and Flynny tomorrow and "paws up"!:D:D.

Hi everyone... thanks for the good wishes, they must have worked.

BP is really good, Flynny stayed the day there. I packed his blankie and snacks. Got up real early and took him for a good walk before I dropped him in. The vet did his BP four times through the day (he does 7 recordings each time, drops the highest and lowest and averages the rest) So they came out at 135, 133, 127, 131!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee so pleased :D:D:D So he is to stay on amlodine and benzapril. Vet was so delighted he gave me a hug when I got there to pick him up today :) He now thinks it is much less likely to be pheo recurrence with the BP going down without using the phenoxybenzamine. Plus, he knew how worried I was and was sending me texts through the day for progress reports. Nice guy.

I do not have UPC result yet, but he said his in house testing looked better than last time but it is not as accurate as external lab so hopefully that will show improvement too.

We talked about the scatching, no lesions except small hot spot on tail. He thinks it is allergies from plant material with all the mouse hunting he has been doing. He thought maybe very low dose prednisone and antihistamine would be worth a try. After being in this group I am reluctant to give him prednisone if we can get away without it, so we are trying plain antihistamine first. But tonight is the best he has been since the tummy issues/bird drama on Sunday, I nearly did not give it as have not seen him scratching too much but will decided to give him a couple of days worth to really knock it on the head. It is Loratadine. I also got more Losec for his tummy, he can have it daily. But seems to do ok on it once every 2/3 days.

He could not see any mouth ulcers, I had a look with him and he thinks what I was looking at in his mouth was a normal skin fold.

Lastly, pain from arthritis. We both agree to keep him off NSAIDs. So he has given me a low dose of Tramadol to try. Unfortunately it is a capsule, 50mg. I have to give him a quarter of it twice a day. (please if anyone reads this you must never split cushings capsules as that is dangerous and it can be bad for both your dog and you coming into contact with those drugs) but with Tramadol he said it is ok to split. If it works and we do it long term I will get it compounded.

Thursday night is our homemade fish n chip night and the whole family congregates at Mum and Dad's. He was so perky, lately he has just wanted to lay about getting over his tummy problems. But tonight he was dashing about seeing everyone and even gave Elle the Siamese a push :D:D. Mum has bought her a pussy harness lead and I had put it on her to try it out and she did not like it one bit. Flynn was keeping a close eye on proceedings and thought if she had a leash on he should have his on too and we should all go for a walk and he starting barking the house down :eek::eek: the cat would not budge from lying down poor thing so took it back off her.

I still have to pick up probiotic too, missed the shops again today. Probably get it on weekend. Jeepers his pills going to be a nightmare.

Tramadol twice a day
Loratadine twice a day
Amlodipine twice a day
Benzapril once a day
Losec every 2/3 days
Probiotics - not sure on dose for that yet.

It is amazing how much my day improved from when the vet txt me at lunchtime to give first BP result! When he is good, I am a whole lot better!! Hope the UPC will show improvement too then it will be a really good week! xx

Hi Trish
Great news about your boy Flynny!!!What a relief that he is not even thinking its a reoccurrence of the pheo tumor!.Sounds like you had a great night with your family.It's awful how much we worry about our babies.The second we hear good news,everything in our world seems right again.:).What a great guy your vet is!I love that he text you and even hugged you!!They all could learn a little from him,some of them I've encountered in my years have just been awful!!

Anyhow,so glad Flynny is doing well and love the BP readings.Poor boy has been through enough,doesn't need anything more going on.

I just woke up and its a beautiful sunny day today-gonna get Grace out on the beach again.Hope we find some more balls-she gets so excited!!Its as if the green tennis balls that we find are so different from the green tennis balls we have at home!:D.Have a good day and hugs to you and Flynny.

HI Patty, you have just got up and I am just going to bed!! Yes it has been a good day today. So nice to get together with the family to have a good catch up!

I do have a good relationship with the vet now, but it has been a work in progress. I had a lot of trouble coordinating things after this last surgery, communication was proving difficult and I nearly fired him at one stage. But since it all came to a head and I had a mini hissy fit we worked it all out, now we have our written down plan and he now knows I like to kept in the loop and I had to realise I am not his only patient :eek: He is honest, lets me know if he is not sure on anything and consults with specialists at pet hospital when needed. Now I get phone calls regularly, email contact frequently and even txts! So I am very happy and I think he is happy too. He was genuinely happy to see his BP down today.

Hope you have a good stroll down the beach and Gracie finds some balls! I bought Flynn some new balls last week, they are the Kong brand. They look like normal albeit colourful tennis balls but they got a squeaker inside them. Plus they are covered in non toxic fluff, someone on here told me when I had mentioned Flynny loved ripping the green stuff off the balls that it is quite abrasive on their teeth. He has not managed so far to bite right though these new balls so I dunno how that squeaker thing is built in, but he has happily gone back to his tennis ball peeling ways!

RIGHT bed for me!! Or I will be a bigger grumpy pants than usual in the morning... say Hi to Mel for me when she pops in, yay Friday tomorrow, my favourite day at work!! See ya on the weekend :) xx

Goodnight and sweet dreams!My day is just beginning.We truly are on opposite ends of the world.Well,you've prob solved the mystery of Gracie's teeth.She just got them cleaned last month and had to have 2 extractions!-she has been fascinated with tennis balls since she was a baby!She can smell them a mile away.She has dived under parked cars when walking and I've said "what are you doing Gracie?" and sure enough,up comes a tennis ball in her mouth!!I'm sure they have not been kind to her teeth however!I may try to get another type of ball for her.Knowing her,she will spit it out because she wants the "green" one!:).

Sounds like you just had to "train" your vet!:D.I'm sure you will sleep alot easier knowing that Flynny got great news!All that worrying makes us so sick!Hugs to you and Flynny.

Woo hoo doing the happy dance :D arent those numbers in the near normal range if I am not mistaken?

And he is back to raging around too with the family. That is so awesome

These are the best kind of updates and long may it continue. Maybe I will catch you at stupid o'clock your time early doors mine. I am so pleased to hear this news for you all

2013 is going to be his lucky year

Mel
Xxxx

I'm so glad you got such a good report for Flynn! YAY! :)

Good report indeed! Rock on Flynn!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

And the good news keeps on coming!

UPC has gone down too.... (normal is <0.5)

26 Jan 1.5
22 Feb 2.92
5 March 1.9
9 April 3.57 :eek:
2 May 1.49

Vet said today when he got in touch it is obviously related to his BP control. But that is the best it has been since Jan 2012! YAY!!! So while it is still up, I will take it :D:D

HI again

How rude of me, I did not thank you all for your kind messages of support!! So thank you thank you thank you :D:)

I just thought anyone reading that last message who is not a regular reader of Flynn's saga might wonder what test I am talking about!! UPC or sometimes UP:CR is urinary protein creatinine ratio. When it is high it means there is excessive protein in the urine which is usually an indicator or kidney problems and can be a sign of renal failure so I was getting pretty concerned about it shooting up like it had done.

Mel - that BP result is good, Dog BPs are meant to be pretty simlar to human ones. So normal is 120 range. Before his operation Flynnys was up to 200 and over, so this is an excellent result for him!

YAY its the weekend!! Love it! xx

we are so happy for you and your flynny!!! we go back i think next month.

Double happy dance

What a great way to start the weekend with good news

Am hoping you get some good beach walks in before it gets too cold over there

Hope you had an awesome day and I look forward to the next installment of "adventures by Flynn" non bird edition :eek:

Mel
Xxxxxx

Aww thanks for your good wishes for Flynn and celebrating with me. Haha, I am sure there will be some new adventure on the weekend, never a dull moment around here!

It never really gets too cold for walking in NZ, I kinda like the beach walks in the winter weather, I can wrap up warm and watch the waves crashing in while strolling along. There is a walking path up the beach that our council put in a few years back which is perfect. Only trouble is cyclists are allowed to use it too, so they come speeding along silently in their lycra suits and a couple of times Flynn or I have been nearly bowled! Need eyes in the back of my head!

The worst we get in winter is cold rainy days, but it only gets below zero during the night. So we can have frosty mornings but never snow, so pretty lucky here in that regard. I am still in short sleeve tops during the day as it is still over 20, but heater is on tonight!

So thrilled for all the good news. I know how nerve wracking all this is.. poor boy been thru alot but hanging tough. Go Flynn!

Re weather... it is very strange here in the US.. winter wasn't all that bad until spring hit. What's up with that? It hits 80 and two days later it snows! Highs back down in 40's all this week. It froze overnight here - broke an all time record for weather this time of year. Ugh.

Take care! Kim

Hi Kim, thanks for your good wishes for Mr Flynn, he is hanging tough isn't he! Kinda surprised the UPC could reverse that quick with BP control, but there ya go! I am not complaining! :D

Still waiting for our first frost here, the weekend is meant to be warmish, so autumn is not looking too bad here, plus I kinda like it cooler at night, least I can sleep under the blankets! Flynn seems to move from his bed to his padded mat that I have next to his bed, but I drape my quilt over the side and each time I wake I make sure he is covered. I tell myself he has fur for a reason hahaha.. but can't have him getting cold.

If he got cold at night when he was younger he would jump onto my bed and burrow under the blankets. Awww nice, but he not coming up for a snuggle, oh no... he just wants my body warmth the little rotter!

Yay for good news. Isn't that interesting about the BP having an effect on the UPC. I wouldn't have thought of that as a side result of higher BP levels.
Have a wonderful weekend! Lets see what new adventures Flynn will have. :) LOL

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hey Trish
Decided to break out and visit you and Mel on your page!Not so great navigating around on computers.Your breakfast sounds delicious-Flynny def deserved some bacon!:).Enjoy your weekend and hope Flynny has fun at the pet store with all the animals!

I had a blah day today but it is Friday,just 2wks today since he has been gone.Plus the weather didn't help since it was cold,windy,dark and depressing.I'm looking for those signs from Fella a little too hard.I had just taken a plant out of my car and when I returned I saw the most perfect ball just sitting beside my car.I got so excited-it was as if Fella just placed it in the perfect position for Grace to find it!Then I realized it was the foolish new ball I had bought for Grace on vacation that must have rolled out of the car while I was taking out the plant!:D.Have a great wknd and nice seeing you on here during these hours!

Hey Trish, great news on the bloods and BP! Yay! Bought time something went right again hey? All that worry with Flynn's tummy didnt help the cause either :p (stoopid birds)

And you know what? I just realised those good results came back on his 5th month anniversary! Even more cause for a bacon celebration! Get your party hats on!!!!! :D:D:D:D

(Wow, 5 months, how times flies!........ and yet drags too) :D

Hi Sharlene, Patty and Naomi

Yes it was the big 5 month anniversay! Whoop whoop, Flynny is still in the house! Not without its hiccups, but so worth it for us!

We went visiting this afternoon, to see my friend who has just got herself a new puppy, Cooper is a Silky Tzu?!? Who knew! haha never heard of them before. But he is very cute and very energetic! Flynn is now his idol, he followed him everywhere they romped and wrestled, chased balls and had a jolly good time. Cooper's Mum was a little concerned at one stage when Flynn had his whole throat in his mouth, after all she had just watched Flynn decapitate a stuffed bunny and was scared for her baby :eek::eek: but he was really gentle on the whole, except for a bit of attempted humping... dear lord how embarrasing was that haha. I put up a few pics where Flynn took young Cooper under his wing showing him how to shred his toys!

Evening

Thanks for your note on Tias thread, I hope with time Fridays will be better it's just a rolling number of weeks which will turn into months since I lost her so it's tough.

Wow 5 months has flown, I am so chuffed for you guys, you defo deserved a good break still can't get over the swab incident god knows how you dealt with that I would have FREAKED!

Chapter one, how to embarass yourself and your mum by Flynn! take him on a nice play date and he gets all frisky! Must be feeling more like himself though to do that :D

What you upto now? Settling down for the night?

Big hug

Mel
Xxxxxx

Eating caramel corn and watching Masterchef! You?

Awesome!

About to have a bath and meet a mate for breakfast. Got to get out for a bit change of scene!

Go You!! Pleased to hear you are getting out for brekky, I am impressed considering I barely surfaced before 10am today. Bet I will be up till 2am now!

I will have French Toast with berries, cream and maple syrup please mmmmmmmm... no really, you better bring me back take out haha

Hi Trish!
Remember me?! I have been sooo busy with work and other things the past couple of weeks, so tired of it. :mad: I feel so bad I haven't been been on the forum much, but have been reading along as much as I can. But I have to say I am SO pleased to read all of Flynn's wonderful lab results!! You must be so relieved. I am especially happy to see how much the UPC has gone down. ;) I was kind of suspecting that the elevations were BP related for Flynn, and it looks like that is the case. Way to go Flynny!! How weird that the 3.57 result that he had previously is exactly what Jasper's was the last time, which prompted us to start treatment.

I hope you are having a quiet weekend and no more bird incidents. I would have ran out of the house too with a frantic bird flying around. Hope you got all the poop cleaned up ok, what a job that must have been! I have a couple of bird stories for you also, will need to post about that later. Lets just say that Flynn and Jasper could be related! :eek:

It sounds like your Mom and Dad are feeling ok? Are there any further results with your Dad's tests? Sorry if you posted and I missed that.

Jasper's follow up appt is this morning. He will have his yearly "physical" , heartworm check, etc. He will also get all his bloodwork rechecked, liver and kidney profile, chem profile, electrolytes. Not sure if we will recheck the cholesterol/triglycerides yet, or get another baseline cortisol, I will have to see what the vet says about those. And of course we will be rechecking the dreaded UPC. So I am feeling a bit anxious. This is the first check of everything since we started the prescription food and meds. But I am so encouraged by Flynn's results, I am hoping Jasper will follow his lead!

I need to make a quick post on Jasper's thread to ask for everyone's prayers for good results for my boy today, and will be back on later. My goal today is to get caught up on everyone and do some posting. Geez, I hate to feel so out of touch, I miss everyone around here! Thanks for checking in on us, we appreciate it! And congrats on Flynn's anniversary, he is a trooper.

Huge hugs from me and Jasper, and give Flynn a scratch from me. :)

YAY IT'S TINA!! I always get a smile on my face when I see a post from you!!

Ohhhh I am going to have butterfly's in my tummy until we get Jasper's results in. So nerve wracking waiting for them too. GO JASPER, GO JASPER.... we are the cheerleading squad that will be with you at the vets today (being ever so quiet, NOT!). I was pretty stunned in a good kind of way to get Flynn's results this week so fingers, paws, toes, legs, tails all crossed for the same good report for Jasper!

So nice to see your post Tina, I hope things are going ok in your life at the moment with your family. My parents are behaving just now! I have spoken with the Urologist who will see Dad soon, it is a tumour in his kidney but we do not know how long it has been there. So the plan is to watch and wait for another six months, rescan and see what is happening. He is 80 and had a small stroke after his last surgery for hip replacement so we do not want to rush in if it can be avoided. It could have been sitting there for years not causing any problem. My initial thoughts were GET IT OUT! But after speaking with urologist and going through the CT scan with him, the tumour is on the small side, nowhere near vessels and no sign of lymph node involvement so for now I agree with this plan of action. I told Dad, he is just copying Flynny! They are still going for their daily walks and he was off at bowls today, so still pretty fit and long may it continue!!

OK, I am on tenterhooks with you now, I will be checking in first thing in the morning (about 8 hrs from now) so I will be hoping to see some news... no pressure though! :D:D:D xx

Yay Flynn! what great news. Keep on keeping on!!
Now take some time to breath & enjoy life. :D

Hi Trish
Sounds like you had a good wknd and loved the pics of Flynny!Laughed about the humping-Fella was fixed but once or twice,he must of have been feeling a little frisky and tried to hump poor Buster!!:eek::eek:.

I'm supposed to be speaking with the doctor tomorrow and it's already causing me so much anxiety.I try to block out that surgery since it causes me so much pain and just try to focus on the wonderful 10 1/2 yrs I had with him.So afraid of going back and being stuck there again!Was wondering if you could help me with a few questions?

So confused,should I ask these?
1.What does he think happened?
2.Discuss splenectomy/misunderstanding/?cause of death
3.Did he recieve steroids and anticoagulants post op?(only has one dose of each day AFTER surgery)
4.Results of biopsies

Just thinking about this already has me sick.I'm so afraid I'm going to hear something,a mistake,whatever,that is going to break my heart to think that he could still be here with us.I'm so confused with the spleen.My worst fear is that all the biopsies will come back negative!Would that mean that he didn't even need the surgery?I'm getting confused.If the splenic spot came back negative and they had just left it,would he still have been at a huge risk for it to rupture?Sorry with all this,i'm just so afraid to hear that he could be still with us if they didn't do this,that,etc..What are your thoughts,questions to ask?

Thanks alot-you may be heading off to bed-write back when you have time.Really appreciate it!Hugs to you and that boy Flynny!

Hi Patty

Ohhh I was just about to click off and head to bed!! Work in the morning ugh

I think your list of questions is fine, only things I would add would be to find out what was the thing they found in his stomach, the grass or whatever and how did they get it out? I would also want to know how the clot got down around the kidney area, did they clamp the vena cava during surgery? I presume they would have done the testing on the samples, the adrenal gland as well because depending on type of tumour could impact on post op course ie pheo can cause more heart irregularities, cortical tumours need steroids etc

If you do not feel ready yet, just postpone it for a week or so Patty. No need upsetting yourself more at the moment, you need to be in a good head space to ask your questions so you can take it all in. MInd you getting the answers might help you move on, so its a bit of a hard call. Just do what feels right for you.

Yes, we have had a good weekend thanks! Shame they end so fast :rolleyes: Dog park today where we had to avoid an aggressive staffordshire terrier, jeez it was feisty it took on two big dogs behind us, it ran right up to them and tried to grab the stick one of them had in its mouth and was like a big tug of war, crikey me and Flynn got out of there quick smart before any fighting broke out!! Then out to a yummy lunch! xx

Thanks Trish!Sounds like you had a great wknd!!Thanks for your input-not sure what I will do.Sweet dreams!!

Lol Trish, guess what turned up in my inbox yesterday!!!

IMS assessment of lab work and ultra sound;):rolleyes:

too bad she did not send it 3 weeks ago:mad::mad:

just had to pop- by and tell you

Evening

How you both doing? Hope work was ok..!?

Big hug, bum scratches for Flynn

Mel
Xxxxx

Hi Addy - well fancy that!! haha I say a day late and a dollar short lady!

Mel - Thanks for asking after Flynnikin... he is doing good perhaps a little quiet. Poop a little soft but no diarrhea or vomiting. I have started the "Inner Health" probiotic on Saturday, hopefully it will help. Made an executive decision and switched to the Tramadol drops my friend gave me, so much easier to give than splitting a capsule by four! I wonder if that is making him a wee bit quiet although it is such a tiny dose for his weight. I took him for a walk early before work, as the weather was looking dodgy and I don't really want either of them walking in cold rainy weather. But it cleared a little and Dad said they went walking anyway so he has had two today! They also must have stopped by my house as my lawns are mowed, told you I am spoilt! Hope you had a nice brekky yesterday, I went out for lunch and their specialty is hot freshly made donuts, covered in cinammon sugar and they give you a choice of jam, custard or chocolate to put in the centre with syringes that you have to insert yourself - or all three if you want!! I restrained myself and just had the jam :D:D:D Why do I love all the bad things in life!! Hope you have a good Monday, enjoy your day off xx

Tramadol is strong stuff so that would make sense. Take him a little while to adjust

I would have gone for all 3 such a sweet tooth me!

I saw your note on Val's thread about your parents spoiling Flynn. My mum and dad are the exact same, what is it about these grandparents. Tia would come home the size of a house after staying there for the day and would produce an extra poop every time :)

Have sweet dreams and will catch you later

Mel
Xxxxx

Evening

How are you both? Good day at work?

I got out of a client visit today so am well chuffed, hate leaving Boyce...

Big hug

Mel
Xxxx

Hi Mel

I had a good day at work thanks! Prefer the weekends better though :D:D

Flynn had loose poop tonight again, I really am going to try and get another specimen. This one was in the undergrowth in the garden. It is funny how he does that, usually poops right out in the open on the lawn but if he is unwell he will go in the bushy bits which makes poop patrol quite challenging! I did take a sample in a few weeks back, but vet looked at it and while it had bit of mucous on the outside (ick, sorry!) it was not loose so he did not think it worth testing. I need to get another specimen pot. He is OK though, scoffed his dinner tonight. He eats his meat portion in the morning but leaves his biscuits, but eats everything in sight at night. Been on probiotics 4 days now so was hoping that might settle his bowel. But he seems to get an attack of the poops once a week lately, no vomiting though which is good. Still seems a bit quiet, taken himself to bed already and no toy ripping tonight.

Glad you got to stay in today, lucky Boyce! Sounds a nice day for a wander! xxx

I know exactly what you mean. We have to keep these fur kids in the life they are accustomed to some how! Often thought there must be easier ways..

Bless him, doesn't want you looking at his iky poop cause he probably knows thats more trips to the vets. Curious it's only once a week, do you give him different foods every day could it be one particular ingredient his body doesn't like?

Those tramadol are very powerful. Hopefully he will be back to monster like activities in the near future. Not involving small critters though to freak you out :D