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

Hey Trish! Whatsa happening out your way? Hope you had good weather for the weekend and you and Flynn were able to get out and about. No rolling in stinky stuffs! LOL
We went a wedding up in Ottawa this weekend. Bloody hot if I do say so. I think it was hotter here though when we got home. Molly is lazing around enjoy the AC now.

Let us know whats up when you get the time.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi all
Had such a busy week/weekend with family celebrations, Dad turned 81 on Saturday and it was also his brothers big 80th party... Lots of rellies visiting and catching up, it was great! I went back to work today for a bit of a rest :D:D

Flynny is doing good, he had a fine time playing with a load of kids yesterday, they took turns taking him for runs up and down the street and even made him go in races with each of them! Flynn won them all :D:D then they nearly hugged him to death! He is such a good boy with the littlies :)

I have spent some time tonight having a good read of that article I posted. It is discussing medication used for protein in the urine. It does not go into dietary or any other treatments. So with that in mind, the author Dr Pressler from Ohio State University writes that medication is not needed until UPC hits 2.0

Initial treatment starts with ace inhibitors like enalopril which is his go to drug. Dosage depends on whether or not BUN and blood creatinine are normal, if they are high you need to start on a lower dose and recheck blood creatinine 4-7 days after drug commencement. Because if their kidneys are that damaged starting at the higher dose could be dangerous. If blood Cr is normal, you only need to recheck UPC in one month. At that stage if UPC is still above 0.5 you should increase enalopril in increments to a maximum of 1mg/kg twice a day. Checking UPC monthly until at desired level. ACE inhibition in people with chronic proteinuric nephropathies slows the decline in glomerular filtration rate, delays progression to end-stage renal disease, and prolongs overall survival time, independent of the severity of initial proteinuria.

Hopefully by the time your dog is at 1mg/kg twice daily the dogs UPC will be at correct level of <0.5, if not then add in an ARB such as Losartan to gain better control. He mentions that before starting ARBs a vet should contact an IMS to make sure it is appropriate.

So that is my understanding! So now applying this knowledge to Flynn, we have never got his UPC down that low, his best was 1.49 and I was pretty ecstatic with that considering it had got up to 3.59. While his UPC has dropped >50% we are not down in that good range that Zoe nearly is!! :) It appears the aim of treatment should be to go for it until it is <0.5.

We have never increased his ace as he is also on amlodipine for BP so it is a bit of a fine line and we do not want to drop his BP too low. But he is due his recheck UPC this week so I have just written to our vet thanking him for sending the article and suggesting we need to be a little more aggressive in managing Flynn's proteinuria and depending on his result this week I am fully expecting we will be increasing his dosage and probably changing him from benzapril to enalopril.

I have probably made that as clear as mud, but hopefully it might help our protein pups when dealing with treatment options!! For sure I will let you know how we go :D

Have a good week everyone, Monday is done and dusted here and it was not too bad :D xxx

Thanks Trish for summing it up.:):):) If a pup's BP is not elevated, what happens? When I reread it I was not clear on that.

I hope the reunion was wonderful and glad Flynn had a good time as well. Hope Monday is good, yuck start of the work week:( Mine is short though, I hope to have off Friday but will be hangin out with our youngest granddaughter, hopefully in the pool!!!!

Hugs and love and thanks for reading the article and posting. I feel better knowing I can wait until Zoe's UPC is 2.:):):):)

Hi Trish,
I just recently found a blood pressure report when they did Trixie's initial testing back in April and I see she has high blood pressure--her reading taken with doppler was 230. I right away googled this and see this is high! The vet never mentioned it to me at all...and she hasn't had a pressure reading since so I didn't even know to ask or check about it. Then I just read your post about all this...ok...I'm freaking out! Would Trixie be showing any other symptoms that are noticeable??
I am about to call the vet because I am pretty worried about this. She is acting completely normal...long walks, running up the hill at the park even...but she does have this rapid breathing that I am concerned with, and her urinalysis from last week has a 2+ for protein.
Only other abnormal numbers on the blood work were liver numbers which actually are down, cholesterol and triglycerides. I'm feeling really nervous about this now and I feel like I better get her over there for a blood pressure test.

Hi Addy

I am not too sure what the effect of these drugs would be on a dog with normal BP, the ace inhibitors do drop it somewhat and they would have to keep a close eye on the BP to make sure it does not go too low. So glad Zoe's proteinuria is not at a level that you need to go there!! Long may it last and I am sure it will!! Finger's crossed for nice swimming weather and no dead mice in the pool :D:D

Barbara, I posted on your thread about your BP concerns with Trixie, so pleased you picked it up and are going to get it checked, hopefully it is all back to normal now and nothing to worry about :)

xx

Hi Trish,
Rosie has been having some ear problems. They started out as ear mites. They are finally gone, but a double ear infection remains. It's not getting better. Please read Rosie's thread when you have time and let me know what you are thinking. I am taking her back to the vet in the morning. Thanks.

Big hugs to you and my special boy.:)

Done, I posted in Rosie's thread so you can keep track of things. Flynn sends a big hug back!! xx

Hi Trish,
Sounds like Flynn is loving life. I love how he immediately tore a hole in his new blanket. That sounds just like Boriss.
Your dads birthday sounds like it was a blast for everyone. I don't even know what my dogs would do with that many kiddos around. Probably have nervous breakdowns trying to decide which one to chase first.
Glad things are going good your way.
Amy

Oh bet the party was grand! All those people showing up. I love reunions. lol Flynn sounds like he was the star with the kidlets. I can only imagine how much fun the races must have been to watch.

Glad you had a good weekend!
catchya laters
hugs,
sharlene and molly muffin

Hi Trish,
Thanks so much for your help with monkey girl. She was spayed today. Not at all what I expected when I took her in to have her ears checked again. :o It's a long story. You can catch up on it on Rosie's thread if you like. Rosie will be able to come home tomorrow if there's no complications tonight. I am once again without a fur baby.:o

Hi my lovelies!

Flynn spent the day at the vets yesterday for his checkup: BP/UPC/bloods etc. I don't have results yet as his vet had to leave before I got there after work to collect him, but he has scheduled us a 45 min appointment this afternoon as he wants to have a discussion about that article I posted on proteinuria and decide what we should do with Flynny taking his latest results into account.

He has been great lately, although a mucousy covering on his poop last night, but that could be due to the stress of spending day in a pen at the vets, poor boy!! I took his lunch and blanket to the vets so he would be as comfy as possible! Bit quiet this morning but it is rainy and he missed his walk yesterday and he doesn't like that :p

AND in further good news, today is the last day of winter here!! HOORAY!!! Soon be on daylight savings again and not so dark in the evenings and I can get back to taking him for a little walk at night after work. But he is lucky he never usually misses a walk as his Grandad takes him daily, but he likes two better :D... he is one lucky boy! xxxx

Hope that yesterdays results come back good and then it will be so much less of a worry for todays meeting.

It seems so strange to hear you say the end of winter. It feels like you didn't even have a winter. LOL Still nice days and walking on the beach, that is my kind of winter for sure!
We were watching one of the national geographic programs the other night on tv and it was about the tectonic plates, and the movement in New Zealand. Truly some beautiful landscapes. We agreed it's on our bucket list to go to. Maybe one day when we have more time. LOL With that long of a flight, I definitely want to be able to spend some time on the ground before having to head back. :)

Enjoy the weekend!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

HI Sharlene~! It gets cold alright, I had to put a coat on yesterday :D:D:D:eek:

It is funny now when I hear things on the news and it relate it to people on here... this week there were news and footage from Canada as our young 16yo golfer girl won the Woman's Canadian Open and I thought of you!! Then the US Open tennis was on from New York, I looked to see what the weather was like to see if Trixie would be having her walk in Central Park :D

Isn't it funny how we relate things now to the people and dogs we know from the forum?! At the specialist yesterday I kept seeing forum dogs in all the different dog pictures and dogs that were in the waiting area. I'd say there is a scoop or there is a trixie. Saw a Tipper and a Flynn in the wall pictures too! LOL

Oh my a coat! That just won't do at all! Course it is good that the coat doesn't have to be a Down coat, boot length and rated to -30C. Uggs are our friends too, when it comes to warm comfy boots. (and I just found a pair in a runner style, nice fur inside, you know I had to grab them up. ROFL!

Okay, I'm so very procrastinating, sitting here at the computer and rubbing my toes on molly's back. LOL

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Me too, except for the part about rubbing my Flynn's back... he is snuggled on the couch! I have a hair appointment in an hour and a half so that is the plan for today, then visit the vet and a quiet one tonight! YAY after such a busy week I am looking forward to relaxing! Maybe a curry! Ohhhh nooooooooooo not ugg boots, I think they were invented in NZ.... not sure though but they are most definitely not a fashion statement in this neck of the woods but I guess at -30 I would be tempted to wear them :D:D:D

LOL- Kate loves the Ugg boots. Funny, I snagged a pair of Coach tennis shoes on sale, super, dirt cheap, like $22 and I bought them to wear to walk the dogs because my old tennis shoes have holes in the sides and winter will be here soon. LOL Kate had a heart attack I was going to wear Coach tennis shoes to walk the dogs so she begged me for them, of course I gave them to here since they seemed more important to her than to me, I just wanted shoes to walk the dogs:D:D Of course now she has her fashion statement tennis shoes and I still have tennis shoes with holes in them:rolleyes:

Let us know what happens at the vets I am so wanting to hear.

Happy weekend!!!!

Hehehe, yep, Uggs are definitely "in" here, or anything that resembles them, in the winter at least. Toasty toes, works for me. LOL
Oh yea, I know the coach tennis shoes you mean, we call tennis shoes, runners here in Canada. :) I have a couple pair too. No way I'd pay full price either but if you go to like a Ross in the states or Marshals, you can usually find stuff like that at a very good discount. Love them, coach is one of the ones that actually fit my feet well, so I tend to go for them if I find them at a decent price.
I have the coach boots for winter too, but they have these little pom poms on them that drive me up the wall. My daughter was horrified that I wanted to cut them off! hahahaha
I think that is so funny that Kate ended up with the shoes. So, what did you find for walking the dogs now??
Ahh, a hair cut, vet chat and a curry. Sounds good to me too.
I'm thinking of making nachos and watching a movie or two tonight. We're thinking about watching Hunger Games. I haven't seen it yet and hubby would like to see it.

Have a good evening all
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

I'm still wearing my old pair with holes in them:p:p Kids, and I cant say no to her when she bats those brown eyes at me;)
Ahhhhh friday night, long weekend, day in the pool, doesnt get any better than this unless hubby decides to fire up the grill.

Trish, you are looking forward to daylight saving time and I am dreading it being dark when I get home from work in a few months. Last night it was dark out and it wasnt even eight pm:eek::eek::eek:

At least Zoe has been sleeping in lately. Nice change of pace from those 4:30 am mornings a while back:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolle yes:

Oh poor Flynn..another day at the vet and then a distressed tummy. Those mucous poops...ugh..hate when that happens. Sounds like a few forum dogs had some bad poops this week like we did.
You're so lucky to have that chat time with your vet, my guy is nice but I never get the feeling that there's any time for more than a few moments of questions.
Trish we are at opposite ends for sure...you'll stay lighter later, we are already getting darker earlier. :(

My kids are always rolling their eyes at me...but never so badly as when I put on the dreaded fanny pack!! HAAAAAA. Something I never thought I would wear!! But hey- Trixie comes first..I need things for her when we head out to the park. In the cool weather I have jacket pockets so I don't use it but in the summer I don't have enough pockets for her treats, bags, small water dish etc...
I have super old beat up UGG boots for the fall and I am finally at a stage in my life that I don't care what I look like when I am doing the park thing with Trixie. I mean my hair is neat :D but clothes, shoes, whatever works and is comfortable. Not all is lost...if I need to look decent I definitely will do my best, but walking the dog...it's all about staying comfortable in the weather.

Sharlene..I do the exact same thing in the park when I see different dogs!! I see one that looks like your photo of Molly, or one that resembles Keesh...and today I saw a Tipper look alike!! So funny I think the forum pups are often on my mind.

Looking forward to good results from Flynn's tests today! :p

Barbara

Addy,
I have the black signature Coach sneaker and wear them for most of the year :)

Hi Trish,
Poor Flynny, he just can't escape those vets! :o I hope his poor little tummy has settled and his poops are good now. No one likes to spend the day at the doctor. What a great idea taking his food and Blankie. Fingers, toes and paws crossed for great test results. Xxxxx

Yes well, its never good when they start the chat with "Well we have good news and bad news" :mad:

So I asked for the bad news first. His UPC has shot up and is the highest ever at 3.88. STINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He said it could be one of three things:

1. An anomaly, as it has been up and down before.
2. I said his tummy was a bit off last couple days and the last time the UPC went high, his tummy was bad also. So he thought that could be the reason also (backed up by another two mucousy poops on his walk just now after our vet visit)
3. Renal deterioration

He said Flynn is a mystery to him, he has not seen a dog with proteinuria like his that has been there for at least 18 mths, maybe longer without deterioration in symptoms/renal function but that is how long we have been monitoring it. His bloods tests for renal function are great, His blood creatinine is low end normal :), albumin high end normal :) and he would be expecting to see worsening of those numbers specifically if Flynn's kidneys were packing up. So we are hoping this is an anomaly or due to the tummy troubles. The lab staff had also written something along those lines about how unexpected the proteinuria is with his other tests.

He likened the glomeruli in the kidneys as acting like a sieve, which is where he thinks Flynn's renal problems are. The glomeruli are not meant to let protein through, but if they are damaged in the filtering area the protein molecules can escape through the "sieve" holes into the urine. They continue to deteriorate until they get to the stage where the protein is flowing through freely so much that the protein (albumin) levels in the blood start dropping hence the close monitoring of those levels. The kidneys can lose up to 75% or thereabouts function sometimes before it starts affecting blood results. So at this stage Flynn has not reached that level YAY!! :rolleyes::) We would only truly know what his exact renal problem is by doing a biopsy of the kidneys and treatment would be pretty much the same so we are not going there.

So we have to stop this happening so are doubling his ace inhibitor, Benzapril to 5mg daily. He is still at low end of that drug dose as he can go up to 14mg as per his weight. So we are going to go with the recommendations of the article and retest UPC in a week or two and hopefully we will see improvement.

So to the good news.... well apart from the normal blood renal tests, his LFTS had dropped a little but still ALP in 1400 range. He is emailing me the actual numbers.

Oh and BP had its up's and downs. 168 first thing but he said that the pattern for Flynn is first one is usually a bit higher. 2nd one after lunch 148 but the third one was 230 :eek::eek::eek: but that one he has discarded as outlier as he said it was really busy in the surgery at that particular time and there was a dog next to Flynn coming out of anaesthesia that was crying and whining and Flynn was upset. So he is going with the 148 as the best actual reading when he was less stressed.

So plan:
Repeat UPC in 1-2 weeks. I will make sure his tummy is fine and he is good before I do it again.
Continue to increase his Ace Inhibitor until we get good control (and we will!)
Get his tummy symptoms back on track

Damnit I just remembered, I forgot to ask him about fish oil too.
Complicating our plan is he is off to London next week for 3 weeks, but he is having the result sent to him and we will take it from there, I told him not to be ridiculous and go and enjoy his holiday and they will also email me UPC so I can check progress.

Oh oh oh I did not forget you Addy!! I specifically asked him about the effects of an ace in a dog with normal BP. I tell you what... he launched into this most excellent description of the pathway of ace inhibitors - even drawing me diagrams on the white board!! :D But the outcome is that they can most definitely be used in a dog with normal BP, he said there will be an effect on BP but the sympathetic nervous system will regulate it so it does not affect the dog but of course careful monitoring would be needed! I reckon your question added about 15mins onto our consultation Addy :D:D:D But you are worth it my friend :D

Hmmm I think that is it, sorry about the novel everyone... it can be your bedtime story as your all probably snoozing about now! It is an epic post but I did want to pass on all that renal stuff. I did have a laugh with the vet nurse, she said that in all the time she has been working there, only one other dog has a special folder in his inbox to store all the emails... so isn't Flynn a privileged pup!! I so appreciate their care xxxxx

Hi Trish... isn't it wonderful to have a "mystery dog."

If we could just pinpoint directly what is going on, both our pups and our lives would have far less worry and chaos not to mention a healthier bank account.

I certainly hope you can get his tummy settled. Man I wish they could talk to us.

Wishing you the best with everything and I'm sure Flynn will be feeling better very soon.

We were all hangin out on your thread waiting for you to get back and then I think we ended up going to bed:o:o


First, I think I would tend to throw out the UPC as well. I remember our surgeon telling me they can throw protein from anywhere and then stop so something could have been bothering our Flynn and tummy troubles can do it, look at Zoe.:) I think increasing the BP meds is a smart move and your vet seems to be really on top of things. I wish I could clone him and have him here.:)

Thank you dear friend for asking my question:):):) BIG HUGS because I sure do trust his answer over any answer I would get from my group;)

I'm sorry that it was a stressful vet visit for you both. I have a good feeling that Flynn will respond well to his BP meds. Positive thinking only here:):):):):) I love to picture you and Flynn walking on the beach and I know there are many more walks to take!!!

You really do end up having the most interesting conversations with your vet. Got to love that. :)

So, unless the UPC was consistently up, it could be a flux right, like Addy said, several things Could cause it to go up and I'd be interesting in knowing what the UPC is on a day when he hasn't had any tummy troubles, just as a comparison.

Renal issues are one of the new areas that I am learning about on this forum. :)

How did the hair cut turn out?

Didn't watch Hunger Games, we got sidetracked till around 10pm and I wasn't up for a 2.5 hour movie at that point. Watched LockOut, sci-fi, sort of cheesy, they had some awesome crazy prison characters though. Maybe will try again tonight. :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi everyone!
Well here I am up at 7am on a Sunday morning :eek: It was me awake early, not Flynny having any problems although when I did let him out he had another mucousy poop. So I am going to definitely chalk this UPC blip to his bowel problems :rolleyes: maybe wishful thinking but I do not like the alternatives so I am not going there! I also wanted to check the increase in his Benzapril last night had not made him feel funky, but so far so good. He ran out the house so that has to be good :D:D

My other thought in my early morning wonderings is what could have caused his IBD to flare when it had been good for at least a couple of months. Like stress.... I had stopped his Tramadol so maybe he is in more pain from arthritis and that has contributed to stress levels and upsetting his bowel. He is still running on his walks or if he thinks a cat has entered our property but at other times is a bit slower, not limping though. So it could due to pain, our pups can be so stoic can't they but he is going back on the Tramadol. I talked about that with the vet yesterday, he thought the Tramadol had not affected his blood results like LFTs so will be safe. Because he has been good, he has been getting the odd treat he probably shouldn't so they are out the window too. Plus we had stopped probiotic, but he is back on that now. He had put on half a kilo in the last month so the extra weight probably not helping either. So getting all these things back on track is my strategy to get his tummy sorted and hopefully fix his mucousy poops. Plus a good reminder for me not to fiddle about with things too much!!!

I asked the vet if he sees many doggie UPC results higher than Flynn's, he said not very often. But the difference is that his bloods have been so good throughout, not even showing any evidence of creatinine trending upwards.... or downwards in the case of albumin. Most other dogs in this situation will be in full blown renal failure which Flynn obviously isn't which also makes him think it is an anomaly. He went further with the "sieve" analogy, describing it as the disease process worsens it is like an old sieve that rusts out at the bottom and so the kidneys can just stop working probably once it gives and if that happens they are lucky to get 3 months. :eek::eek: But he does not think that is happening with Flynn boy yet. Phew! He really has been pretty good apart from these last couple of days of icky poops.

He has been itchy though and I have seen a flea or two on him lately, vet said he has seen a few with problems and puts it down to our mild winter. I do flea him with frontline and wash all his bedding and blankets weekly, so going to be super vigilant with that too. But again itchiness could be causing him more stress.

Right, I am going to start fish oil. Salmon, if I can find it today at the store. I need to google and find out dosage, I know it is on here somewhere so will search the posts as well.

I see all the chat about shoes :D, I have not heard of Coach before... can't have made it all the way down here or else they have never been on my radar!! I need new walking shoes too, might have to put them on the list for today! Flynn recognises the walking shoes as soon as I take them out the closet and knows a walk is coming and starts yodelling in excitement :D The hair appointment when fine Sharlene, got to keep up with covering the silvers in the 50s you know :D:D

Thanks for your positive thinking girls, that is what I am going to do too!!! xxxxx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trish

Right, I am going to start fish oil. Salmon, if I can find it today at the store. I need to google and find out dosage, I know it is on here somewhere so will search the posts as well.

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My boy, Bear, is on wild salmon oil which was recommended by his cardiologist. The dosage that's suggested for his weight of 13.5 pounds is DHA 200mg and EPA 300mg.

From what I am told it is important to buy the oil that is from wild salmon and not from farm raised salmon because the wild salmon's primary diet is krill.

I purchase Bear's wild salmon oil from Monica Segal, here's a link to her website: http://www.monicasegal.com/Wild_Salmon_Oil.html

I, too, think that Flynn's recent UPC results are a fluke and am sure his next UPC check will be better.

Love and hugs, Lori

Thanks Lori

Hmmmm now you have got me wondering, I have just bought some Red Krill oil for ME to take as a supplement :) Going to look at the bottle for the dosage - be good if I could give him that!!

I have emailed the vet about dosage for Flynn, he does have vitamins and minerals in his bone and joint supplement and I have worked out he is getting approx 250mg omega 3 and 550mg omega 6 a day from that. He weighs 30 pound.

Okay but start slow with the fish oil and work your way up to the require dose ..... mucus stools+ fish oil+ baby doses to start:D:D:D:D:D:D

Poor Flynn, hate the tummy trouble for our pups, sending hugs...could he have a bug or something? wondering if they have checked it out....

Hi Trish,
I think mucousy poop is going around. All the way to New Zealand!:D
Flynny has the best mom EVER advocating for him. He is still the same sweet boy continuing on because of you! Thanks for being such a great inspiration to us all. I hope Flynny's tummy settles quickly. Poor guy.:o

I gave up trying to cover the silvers and let it go! 50's too!;) I also cut it all off and went short. It is so much easier!:D

I hope you had a pleasant weekend! Hugs to you my dear and a belly rub for the tough guy.:)

Well I went on the fish oil hunt! The Krill was just in capsule format with weird doses so did not get those, plus they cost an absolute fortune. Could not find salmon oil at all :mad: So I settled on Nordic Naturals Omega-3 purified fish oil. Had quite a chat in the store with a naturopath, she has me convinced I should take it as well! It is made from anchovies and sardines.

Haven't heard back from the vet yet about dosage, so I just gave him a wee tiny bit on his dinner. Unfortunately it is has a lemon flavour :p But it did not seem to put him off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harley PoMMom

The dosage that's suggested for his weight of 13.5 pounds is DHA 200mg and EPA 300mg.

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Flynn is just over double Bear's weight, but I need to find out from my vet the dose he should be having as unsure whether I should double that for him or not, so best to be safe, hence I gave him only a few drops, not even an 1/8 tsp.

This oil has EPA 825mg and DHA 550mg in 5mls - so bit tricky to work out to get even close to the dose Lori's cardiologist has recommended.

I hope it helps Flynn. I know Leslie said you have to start out with a small dose and work your way up when it comes to oil. I remember reading a long, long time ago about feeding Zoe sardines, they were suppose to be so good for her but with her touchy system, I bought a can but never was able to give it to her.

I wonder if it accomplishes the same thing? Though we prorbably would not not how may sardines to give them. I dont remember where I read the article, it was probably four years ago.

Happy Sunday!!!!

Hi :D I have not seen any loose poops since yesterday morning which was still mucousy, but hard to tell really as we have stayed at Dads to keep an eye on him after minor surgery yesterday. They have a lot of native bush in their yard so Flynn has the perfect hidey holes to go where he likes where I cannot follow :D He has slept all night though and not wanted out so that is good and seems fine otherwise.

I have only been giving a tiny little dribble of the oil Addy, plus upped his probiotic to twice daily again. I only give him a 1/4 tsp of the powder at a time. I would think the sardines would do much the same, you wouldn't want to feed him those every day though... he does like them when I have given them on the odd occasion. They have bones in them though, teeny tiny ones but I know with renal dogs we have to be careful about phosphorous which is high in bones, Flynn does not get them anymore.

No snacks, he seems real hungry though. This morning Elle did not eat all her breakfast and it was red meat, I had it up on a bench so Flynn would not steal it but he knew it was there and was crying for it!

Hopefully by next week his tummy will have settled back down and with the increase in the benzapril we will see a decrease in proteinuria. I hope so anyway :D xx

Flynn knows where the good stuff is. :)
Hope your dad is making a full recovery too.
Hopefully Flynn's next test will be right where it should be.
Hopefully this will be a nice easy week at work.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Trish,
Thank you so much for posting on our thread and for all of your feedback and support. You are always so reassuring. I am not happy to see Flynn's latest UPC, and after getting fully caught up on your thread, I am hoping it is a fluke also. He has been doing so well, and the UPC had been going down, just like Jasper's. I am so hoping that it is falsely elevated since Flynn's tummy and poops have been off. Come on Flynny, lets get things settled and stop scaring your Mum. I guess we will have to see how Jasper's turns out since he and Flynn have been mirror images of each other the last two times. And Jasper has had other issues going on now too, go figure. :rolleyes:

As far as the fish oil, I agree with Addy, go very slow since his poops aren't normal right now. The fish oil that Jasper gets is Welactin. I am not sure if it is salmon oil for sure, the label says cold water fish, so that makes me suspicious that it isn't. The website doesn't say specifically, so I think I will call the drug company and ask when I get a chance. It is what my vet prescribes and she said she has had good results with this brand. The dose that Jasper gets for his weight of 25 lbs is EPA 750 mg and DHA 500 mg per day (which is one spoonful), split in half and given twice a day mixed with his food. This dose is a little bit more but very close to the dose that Lori mentioned for her dog by his weight. The Welactin bottle recommends this dose for dogs weighing 20-44 lbs, so this would be the dose for Flynn also.

How's your Dad feeling? I hope he is doing ok after his procedure. How nice that you are close so you can look after him.

I too think about everyone's pups on the forum. There are a couple of Boston's in my neighborhood and when I see them I always think of Boriss. So many times I see a pooch and I think "there's a Molly dog" or "that dog looks like Flynn". We saw a dog at the vet Saturday that I thought looked like Zoe. And my baby Shelby resembles Barbara's Trixie quite a bit. :)

How is Flynn doing with the increase in the Benzapril? After reading that article, I think Jasper is on a lower than recommended dose of Enalapril. He gets 5 mg daily, split in 2 doses. I will need to look at that more closely if his UPC comes back higher this time, and consider mentioning it to my vet. And even though his last result was much better than the previous one, it was still way above 0.5, which in and of itself would justify increasing the med according to that article. I just feel nervous about that since he has done ok on the current dose, and the med itself can cause the BUN and creatine to go up. I guess I will see what the result is this time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trish

He likened the glomeruli in the kidneys as acting like a sieve, which is where he thinks Flynn's renal problems are. The glomeruli are not meant to let protein through, but if they are damaged in the filtering area the protein molecules can escape through the "sieve" holes into the urine. They continue to deteriorate until they get to the stage where the protein is flowing through freely so much that the protein (albumin) levels in the blood start dropping hence the close monitoring of those levels. The kidneys can lose up to 75% or thereabouts function sometimes before it starts affecting blood results. So at this stage Flynn has not reached that level YAY!! :rolleyes::) We would only truly know what his exact renal problem is by doing a biopsy of the kidneys and treatment would be pretty much the same so we are not going there.

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This is pretty much exactly how my vet described it. She calls Jasper's diagnosis PLN - protein losing nephropathy. She mentioned that she has a couple of dogs that she is treating with this whose kidney blood values have continued to stay WNL, one dog for over 2 yrs. So I feel that is encouraging!!

Glad to read that the poops are improving, hope it continues.

Big hugs to you and Flynn xo

Hi Trish,
Glad to hear that Flynny's poops seem to be much better. To think I almost missed out on a poop discussion!:D

You are such a sweet daughter taking the day off to watch out for your dad. I hope he's up and around walking the beach with Flynny real soon.

Now that I am back to work, our late nights visits are over for now.:( By the time you connect on in the evening there, it's midnight here the day before. I have to start going to bed with the workings stiffs.;):D

Take care of yourself and my very special pal. Xxxxxxxx

Hey Trish,
It's 12:15 AM here, so it's about time for you to be emerging there! :D Such is my plan to sleep like normal working folk. A migraine hit, so I'm up anyway.:o Too many things rushing through my mind with a new school year starting tomorrow. New kids, new needs, no Buddy. I over think at times.:o The first few weeks back is always crazy busy. After that, we usually settle into a semi smooth working rhythm.

I just wanted to say hi and that I'm thinking of you and my pal Flynny boy. I love Flynny's energy and zest for life despite his health issues. Gotta love that boy! Take care my dear. Xxxxx

Ha, I just posted on your thread as I spotted you online! Ack not a headache tonight of all nights when you need a good sleep for tomorrow.. that sucks :mad:

Hi

Dad is doing good thanks, he had a colonoscopy and polypectomy. He had one about 2 months ago and they found a ton of polyps and were only able to take half of them as he had been under sedation for quite some time and they did not want to push it too much at his age. So he had to go back for Part 2 yesterday! They took out another 12! But he came through it with flying colours and we will wait for histology but they did not think any looked suspicious so that was good to hear.

Re his raised UPC, I received the formal report from the vet and he did have some sediment in his urine: "Small numbers of triple phosphate (struvite) crystals seen, No casts present, No bacteria seen, Moderate amount of amorphous debris", the rest of the analysis was normal though. Maybe that has contributed to the high result this time plus the tummy troubles.

He does seem a bit quiet, I took him up the beach today and he ran, but not as fast and by the end he was walking beside me and he hardly ever does that unless he is a bit under the weather. I guess he has reason to be, with getting used to increase in benzapril also have reintroduced Tramadol. So I will give him time to settle down before worrying too much :p Apart from a bit quiet Tina he seems to be tolerating the higher Benzapril dose. We are going to be more aggressive with the UPC, we will raise the dose higher depending on his next result. It certainly makes sense to me to try and get the UPC as close to normal as we can. When I spoke to our vet about it we were both initially so pleased to see the big drop that we just left it at that, so it was good to see him doing further research on proteinuria and now we can apply that new knowledge to Flynn and try and get it as low as we can. We are also keeping in mind the side effect of putting up the BUN/Cr with ace inhibitors, hopefully as it is only a small number we will not have that problem. I guess what your vet said about dogs with PLN and keeping blood levels WNL also applies to Flynn, his proteinuria has been present 18 months now. Only started ace treatment once it got >2.0 back in April.

Haven't seen a poop since yesterday morning, so not sure if they are better or not Kathy, but we have only got back home tonight so I can keep a better eye on that here.

Thanks for that info on fish oil Tina, that dose is close to a 5 ml dose of our brand, ours slightly more but then Flynn is 5 pound heavier than Jasper so think I will work up to that dose too. Will see what his bowel is like in the morning and go from there.

Nervous times again for our boys Tina, but keeping positive is the only way to go :D:D:D