Jasper (12 yr old Mini Schnauzer) is now at peace

Mental health day,( I had one last week) mental health concert, (you had one last night) wish we all had a mental health life:p:p:p:p

YIKES!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Hope you get the results soon, Tina.

I got mental health week :D... well annual leave really but it is doing my mental health good!!! We stalking your thread Tina waiting for results, hope you heard something today xx

Hi Tina,
Good for you getting out to the concert. You probably needed to get away from all the worrying...you had a few all nighters with Jasper and that can really take a lot out of you!
I'm glad to hear Jasper is doing well...I bet he'll start to get more energy back each day.
Hope the results come in soon and that they are all good news! :p

Barbara

The way my class is going this year, I need a mental health week every other week! How about arranging that for me Addy?;):D I am off this week for Thanksgiving, so that's a start. :p

We'll be waiting along with you for those results. I'm glad that you got out for an evening. It's hard to leave them, but so necessary to get a small break now and then.

Hang in there Jasper. We are all pulling for you. :) xxxxx

Hi Everyone,
Oh my gosh, thank you all for waiting with me for Jasper's results. My vet called on Sunday and left a message that they were back (I missed the call!). She apologized for the delay, she doesn't work every day, so it sounds like a combination of things that delayed the results. She left a detailed message, and also called me directly at work on Monday also so we did get a chance to talk.

I am beyond thrilled to report that the histology results were very good and mostly normal. No signs of hepatitis, bacterial infection or cancer. :D There are some changes in the liver cells related to Cushings, and the fact that he is on steroids now, but she said they are not a concern as far as his liver function goes. I will post more details later, I just wanted to get the basics posted here for everyone. I am so happy and relieved, I just want to hug him to death every time he comes near me.

She emailed me the histology report which I will see if I can post later. But it sure seems simple and not very detailed compared to Trish's report for Flynn.

I am going to try to get a bit more sleep before work. Jasper has been up twice during the night again for potty breaks the past few nights, I don't know what that is about. We have been managing with one pit stop during the night for the most part, so I hope this is not going to be a new trend again. I am so tired. Kathy I know what you mean about work, mine is just exhausting too right now.

Thanks guys for waiting with me, and all your comments. I really don't know what I would do without you. It's so hard to face all of these ups and downs alone along with all the other things I have going on in my life right now. I feel like things are out of control sometimes. I'm so grateful that you all are here for me and Jasper.

Big hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Tina:
Great news that you got a good report, I am so happy to hear some good news on one of these babies. Blessings
Patti

YAY!! More good news this morning and for our sweet Jasper! :cool::):cool:

Just been catching up and so pleased to see good news for Jasper. :D

This is such good news Tina, I am so pleased for you and Jasper. BIG HUGS!!!

That little boy did not need any other problems with his liver. I will be looking out for the full report. Hope work is settling for you, it does sound like you have too much going on at the moment. Do you have time off over Thanksgiving and Christmas? We get two public holidays at Christmas and New Year so if I take the other 6 days A/L in between I will get another two week break then!! When I get back to work next week I will have to reassess my leave balance :) But that sounds good to me :) Hopefully you can get on tonight for an update! No pressure though :) xxxxxx

Oh Man I wish I could do that, the captain (our boss) of the ship just had surgery so the first mate (me) is on deck. i usually have off Wed, Thurs, Fri and then the weekend for turkey day but this year I'll be lucky to leave at noon tomorrow and Friday i am working most of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving Tina and Jasper:):):):):)

I booked a gig for New Years for the Protein Pup Band. They have some practicing to do:p:p:p:p

Yay, wonderful news Tina! Jasper just seems to have these spells, but obviously the over all picture is good.
Now you can have hopefully, a stress free Thanksgiving! :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Tina, Such great news about Jasper!! You must feel relieved, you can take a deep breath now! ;)
So glad to know things are looking good! :D

Barbara

Awesome news!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Tina, Jasper and Shelby!

I hope you are having a lovely day. Sneaking in a nap somewhere too!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. I haven't meant to be absent from the forum, but unfortunately my grandmother (Nana) fell on Thanksgiving evening at her assisted living facility. She had X-rays and a CT scan which have confirmed a fractured pelvis in 2 places on the right side and also a fractured left tibia under her knee. :( Right now they are saying that surgery is not needed. I don't know how well she would be able to tolerate that anyway.

Yes Trish, I am off till Monday for Thanksgiving and was so looking forward to finally getting some rest and just spending some quiet time at home with Jasper and Shelby. Instead I was up almost all night Thursday night and spent most of the day yesterday at the hospital. I will be heading there later this morning also. I am just so tired and feeling discouraged. While I know that things can always be worse, I am having a hard time feeling positive right now. :(

Jasper is eating and seems to be feeling ok at the moment and I am so incredibly thankful for that. I keep focusing myself on that when I am feeling discouraged. I pray he continues, because I will not be able to manage everything with my Nana and him if he starts not feeling good again right now. I don't even want to think about that.

I still want to get Jasper's thread caught up as far as some previous labwork abnormalities, and the histology report from his biopsies. I will do that as I am able. But I just wanted to let you all know what is going on in case I am not able to be around here much in the next few days. You and your pups are all in my thoughts.

I hope everyone that celebrates it had a wonderful peaceful Thanksgiving with family, friends and their pups. I am so thankful for each of you and the incredible support of this forum.

Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

aw, Tina, I am so sorry about your Nana and hope they can provide her some comfort and that she heals soon. I know how awful it is to hear that they have fallen at their age. :( You don't need to worry about updating us on Jasper's labs right now - concentrate on him and your Nana...and yourself. Please take care of yourself most of all. We so many depend on us, we tend to forget about that aspect of our care-taking. ;) We will be here and ready to help any way we can always so don't let the site add pressure, 'k? Of course, if you want to chat anytime you know we always love to hear from you.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Oh Tina, I am so sorry to hear all of this. My mom fractured her pelvic two years ago, it takes a long time to heal but it can heal. Hopefully Nana will be able to do physical therapy even with the knee problem. Keeping them motivated to do that is key and it is hard at that age, it just sets them into a tailspin. She will hopefully go to acute rehab for a few months. Keep the faith sweetie. I am so sorry you are having such problems right now.

Big Hugs Tina.

Hi Tina, so sorry to hear about your Nana. You have sure had a heck of a year so far. I hope your Nana will heal up just fine. Surgery is so hard for the older folks, so if that doesn't have to happen, then it's much better.

I'm glad that Jasper is doing well and that you can focus on your Nana right now. When it rains it pours right. :) Don't let yourself go down that road of negativity, it's so hard to crawl back out of it. When facing all these really huge issues, the small victory's mean so much more and they are what you can hold on to during the bleaker times.

Don't worry, we'll all be right here any time you need us! :) Now put a smile on, because Jasper is doing well, Shelby is a darlin, and Nana doesn't need surgery :)

Sending you love and hugs Tina!
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Oh no, your poor Nana... so sorry to read that Tina such a nasty thing to happen for her and also for you I bet you feel so bad for her having to go through that. I hope her bones knit together and she heals well and is not in too much discomfort right now.

Well the wonderful good news in your post is that Jasper is doing well and we are out of the nasty months of Oct (Jasper) Nov (Flynn) so everything should be smooth sailing for a while for these boys now :)

You know we are here for you Tina, so go about your days doing what you do so well for your family and we will be here if you need a chat or a dunk in the big chocolate filled spa bath where we all head when times get tough :) xxxx

Hi Tina.. just letting you know I'm keeping you in my thoughts.

Pelvis and knee! Ouch. Poor Nana.
Both should heal with physical therapy.

I'm glad that Jasper is doing well! One less worry at least.

Hey Tina

Just nipping into give you a hug, sorry to hear your Nana has hurt herself, it does all seem to come at once.

Pleased to hear Jasper is going ok

Look after yourself

kisses to Jasper

Mel
Xxxxxx

Stopping by to give you a hug sweetie.:):):):)

Hi Tina
Popping in with a hug for you Jasper and Shelby and a hope your Nana is doing OK. Hope the rest of your family is around and its not all up to you as that is very hard. Take Care my Friend! xxxx

Just popping in to say I'm thinking of you, Jasper and your Nana...praying all is well with you all.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Checking in to see how your Nana is doing. Hope she is making a good recovery and that Jasper and Shelby are staying well and out of trouble. :)
Geezz hope you are able to get some rest in the midst of everything too.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Oh Tina,
So sorry to hear about your Nana. It does seem like things pile up at once and it does sometimes feel so discouraging. I hope your Nana is not in too much discomfort. At least you know Jasper is well now so you should try not to worry too much about the pups.
Hoping Nana is doing okay...and you too!! ;)

Barbara

Thank you everyone for checking on us and for all your kind words. (((Hugs))) I just want to check in to say that my Nana is out of the hospital and is now in skilled care for rehab as of late Monday. I have been running back and forth between work, home, taking care of things at skilled nursing facility, and getting her clothes, etc from her assisted living apartment. It is tough as I am the only person in town so I have no help. Mom is in Texas, and I am hoping to decrease the amount of time that she may need to be here. She does not tolerate the cold well, and it is a bitter 7 degrees F now. I sure don't need any health problems with her right now. My Nana seems to be doing fairly well, her pain is being managed, and they have started physical therapy. A new concern is that she sounded a little congested to me, not too bad, but I asked for a chest X-ray. They called today and said it showed that she does have pneumonia so they have started an antibiotic. She does not feel bad, and very minimal cough, so hoping we caught it early and the antibiotics will kick in. It is going to be a long road.

Jasper has been doing pretty good but Monday and Tuesday had accidents in the house without letting me know he needed to go out. :eek: He was real sneaky about it, and I remember he did this very same thing back in August and he had a UTI then confirmed by culture. So I took him in on Wednesday 12/4 for a UA and urine culture. The urine was dilute as usual and did not show any blood or wbc's, but did show a little protein, which it usually does. Hoping that the protein is not on the rise. Since he doesn't seem to be feeling bad, my vet wants to wait for the culture results before starting an antibiotic since he went off his food the last time he was on it. And he is finally eating good again now. :rolleyes: We should have the culture results some time today.

I have been reading and keeping up on most everyone and am hoping to get caught up with posting on the weekend. I am so sad to read that we lost Annabelle and Poppy, and also sad to read the latest on Turtle. I was thinking about Flynn's one year anniversary of his adrenalectomy and how well he is doing now after his recent surgery, as well as good news for others, and this does my heart good. I am so attached to all these babies.

I have to go in to work early for a meeting, so need to get back to bed now for just a bit. Thank you all so much for the support, I really need it and it means a lot. I am thinking about you all.

Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Hi Tina

Pleased to hear Nana is out of hospital and getting the help she needs. Her injury must be so painful so I am pleased they are keeping her comfortable. I bet she could give physio the flick but bet they will also help her a lot :) Well it will be nice to have your Mom there even for a few days, I know Jasper and Shelby will love that too!!

Awww stink he has another probable UTI, so annoying for you. I don't want his appetite affected either, so hopefully the antibiotics are not needed. xxx

So glad to hear that your Nana is out of the hospital and good catch on the chest congestion. I bet you did catch it early so the antibiotics should really help her.

Drat if it's another UTI. The other option would be that he misses you being home with all the back and forth with your Nana and is letting you know it. (Molly would totally do that) LOL

Hugs Tina
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Hi Tina

I was thinking of you before while I was outside playing with Flynn, I heard the first cicada of the year. It must have been this time last year and I think it was you telling the story of the 10 year cicadas that all come out the ground in a swarm... I have had nightmares over that!!

Hope you are doing well and Jasper's bladder infection never gathered any speed. Also hope things are a bit smoother with your Nan and your also getting a bit of time for yourself as well to recharge the batteries xxxx

I just had to go back through Jasper's thread and see what his last UPC was and my gosh is was 0.6.... I thought it was!!! Flynny's is 0.63 so they are doing the follow the leader again Tina... I love how they do that! Hope your nearly finished work for the week and we catch up again soon. Big hugs to you, Jasper and Shelby and a special one for your Nan too xx

Hi Tina, Jasper and Shelby!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!!

Hope things are ok at your house and Jasper is feeling well. Hope things are also OK with your Nana... you have had so much going on and I hope today brings you some relaxation xxxxxx

Merry Christmas Tina and Jasper and Shelby and family.

I hope this finds you and the gang doing well. I also hope things have continued to improve with your Gram. :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Tina,

I hope your Nana is ok and the pneumonia is better. Thinking of you and Jasper with love

Hi Everyone,
Well, I have so much catching up to do on Jasper, it's hard to know where to start.

But first I want to thank everyone for the Christmas greetings and all the good wishes for my Nana. I have been so busy with her and her situation, and work, that I don't know which end is up most of the time. She is not doing well and they have determined that she is no longer progressing with the therapy and rehab, and needs to go to long term care. Last week the staff from the assisted living facility where she has been living assessed her and determined that she can return there with the additional care of hospice. (Initially we were told that she would need to go to a long term care facility as her previous facility could not manage the level of care that she needs). So this is a big relief. She is scheduled to return there on 12/31. This has all been a massive time and energy drain, and I just feel maxed out all the time. (Hence my scarcity on the forum). Hopefully once she is settled back there, things will lighten up for me a bit.

Now back to Jasper. I am so thankful every day that he has not had a major crisis during this difficult time with my Nana. I think I left off on my last post with waiting for results of a urine culture after he had some accidents in the house. The culture from 12/4 was negative, but we went ahead and treated him for a full 2 weeks with Zeniquin. My vet said he could still have an infection as his urine is so dilute. So far the UTI if that's what it was, seems to be resolved. He did ok with the med this time, no problems with his appetite.

He had a chemistry profile drawn on 12/16 as a follow up from when he was so sick mid November. The ALT had dropped back to 73 (normal <100 IU/L), (Yay!) :D. It had been up to 1130 on 11/12, which was my vet's biggest concern and prompted the ultrasound.

Abnormalities from 12/16:

ALP 2278 (<95 IU/L) H :eek:
LDH 288 (<175 IU/L) H
Cholesterol 350 (125-260 mg/dL) H
Triglycerides 1114 (41-115 mg/dL) H :eek: :mad:

The ALP is a bit lower than the >2400 that it was last, but is still way higher than it had been running, and he has continued on the Denamarin. My vet said she is not super worried about it right now. Her big concern is the triglycerides, and said we have to get that down. I think it is the highest it has ever been now. She feels that the last couple of times he has been so sick has probably been related to pancreatitis, which can be triggered by triglycerides this high.

She said we need to change his diet to a low fat prescription diet. Of course I voiced my concern about taking him off the moderate protein restricted renal diet due to the proteinuria, and she said firmly that the priority now is to get the triglycerides down, especially due to the pancreatitis risk. I did some reading and found that triglycerides as high as Jasper's can cause a lot of scary things besides pancreatitis, including seizures. This is apparently not real common but can happen. Pancreatitis is by far the biggest concern. So I am in the process of transitioning him to Royal Canin Low Fat Gastrointestinal prescription formula. So far he is tolerating it, we are at about 50/50 ratio.

The vet is hopeful that the diet change will not impact his proteinuria much if at all since he is on the fish oil and Enalapril. Hopefully those two things are making the most impact there and the diet change will not cause a problem.

We did get another UPC on 12/23 after he finished the antibiotic for the UTI and before I started the food change. Unfortunately it had gone up a bit from last time.

His UPC's and dates:
10/22/12 1.27
1/14/13 3.57
5/6 1.49
8/31 0.6
12/23 1.63 :( :( (Flynn, DO NOT look at this!!!)

I voiced worry about the increase of course, since he has continued on the same treatment and now we are going to change his food. My vet said that protein levels can fluctuate throughout the day, and that she is more concerned with a trend than a specific number, however acknowledged of course that it had come up a bit. She said that a value over 2 is considered significant, so we will continue to monitor. She reiterated very firmly that the priority now is to get the triglycerides down so we must change his food to low fat. If that doesn't make a significant improvement then she will need to consider medication, but that is a last resort. So it is very good that we checked the UPC (at my request, by the way), or we would have blamed any increase on the food change.

So that is where we are at. So there are some concerns with his labs, but I am grateful that the ALT has come down to normal as it seems like this is what my vet is always most concerned with as far as liver values. I am worried about the UPC and will just have to pray that it doesn't continue to go up. One step forward, two steps back it always seems.

The plan going forward:

• Change to Royal Canin Low Fat GI prescription diet (in progress)
• Re-check the UPC in 2 months
• Re-check chemistry profile (triglycerides) in 2-3 months
• Continue on previous meds and treatment:
  Enalapril 5 mg 1/2 tab BID
  Welactin 1/2 spoonful mixed with food BID
  Dexamethasone 0.5 mg 1/4 tab every other day
  Denamarin 225/24 mg one tab daily
  Percorten injection 0.6 ml monthly

So I am hoping for a good period of some stability now. It is just never easy with my little boy.

I will be back a bit later, I have quite a few posts to make as I have been reading along on so many. Today I am taking as "me time", and nothing sounds better than getting caught up on everyone and their pups, especially since we are back in the deep freeze here. Thank you so much for checking in on me, Jasper and Shelby. I hope everyone had a peaceful Christmas.

Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper xo

Tina, Royal Canin is a decent food. Daisy has been on their dachshund formula for most of her life.

It is great to hear from you Tina. I have missed you and have been hoping that Jasper is okay. I am sorry to hear about your Nana, but glad that she will be able to return to where she was living. Yes, caring for elderly family members can be exhausting at times.:o

Regarding our boy Jasper. You know him better than anyone including the docs. Go with your gut. It's always worrisome with a food change, particularly when you're dealing with so many variables. Take the cue from Jasper. You'll know what to do.

Again, thanks for the update. We worry.... Xxxxx

Hi Kathy! I have missed you all too. I don't like it when I don't have time to keep caught up on everyone. I have been reading all about Rosie, she is a little spitfire! I still need to go in and look at her new pics, as well as pics that others have posted recently. It sounds like you have been ill. Are you feeling any better yet?

Yes, elderly family can be exhausting, that's for sure! As far as Jasper, I have to switch his food to the low fat even though I am worried about the proteinuria. My vet made it very clear that it is essential that we need to get the triglycerides decreased. :( I forgot to mention in my last lengthy post that he is drinking more again also, but he was already doing that before we started the food change. And my vet is aware. So I hope that is not a sign of anything worsening with his kidneys. It is tough when there are so many issues.

Thanks for popping in! xo

Hi Tina.. and Hi Kathy too!

So lovely to read your post and to hear Jasper is doing pretty well!! Darn that UPC, but they do fluctuate quite a bit (as we know :p) and least it is still below 2, once they do over that its a bit of a worry. We both still have room to play with our boys ace doses so we can keep that up our sleeves if we need it in the future.

Re diet, Flynny had the RC GI low fat for a while when we were worried about pancreatitis following his adrenalectomy. He was on the canned and the biscuits and I regret to say he did not like it and only ate it for a couple of weeks then went on strike :eek: so hopefully Jasper is a bet less fussy with his food than Flynn. It is so hard to know what to go for with diet... like with Flynn I want to manage:
Kidneys - moderate protein
IBD - novel protein, grain free
BP - low salt
Anti-cancer - just healthy!
Cholesterol - low fat

What do you do????? Jasper has a couple of his own to cater for.... I am just in the process of swapping him to Ziwipeak, which is healthy novel protein of lamb, grain free, no preservatives, comes in canned and biscuits... well flakey kinda things.. not real crunchy and has great reviews. Yesterday I visited the pet store and I want something with crunch for his teeth and found these sheep ear crunchy things that I thought might be OK considering sheep = lamb! Well loose poop this morning so the rest of that bag will be donated to a doggy friend of his. If I give him bone,s he gets constipated. :confused::confused: Anyway will keep him on the ziwi for a while to see how he goes!

Pleased your Nana is going back to familiar surroundings... she will like that.

Right, my dinner bell rang (fresh corn cob in the microwave :D) but here for a while yet xxxx