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

Well that sounds like a good report and I am so glad the weight lose is from food quantity. I sure hope the pill helps our little boy with those dang fleas. I wonder if it kills ticks, I'm going to look it up. Otherwise we both may have to get bubble wrap.:D:D

Enjoy your Tuesday night!!!:):):):)

Just in case ya'll didn't know - fleas leave a "dirt" on the body. You may not see the actual flea but the dirt is easily seen. Here are some pics of flea dirt on dogs -

https://www.google.com/search?q=flea...w=1280&bih=557

OMG Leslie, those photos made me itch just looking at them :eek::eek: those poor dogs. Luckily Flynny is nothing like that, he has no flea dirt on him thank goodness.

I have given him the Conformis 45 mins ago with his breakfast. It is meant to be chewable, but he did not want to chew it!! I put it in his breakfast and he managed to pick everything out apart from the pill, so then I just poked it in a bit of his z/d and he gulped it down. No reaction so far. He is asleep, I put him on the couch in his spot on and put a big white sheet over his blankies so I can spot any flea that drops off him. So finger's crossed. It's back to raining and cold today so he is quite happy to snooze for now - typical Spring weather it can't make up its mind what to do :p I have put a photo up of him undergoing this torturous flea treatment!!

I read the insert Addy, unfortunately no mention of controlling ticks on there

xx

That picture is just soooo adorable!! It might even be one of my all time favorites of Flynn.

Any signs of dropping fleas yet? Maybe he doesn't really have that many, even one can probably aggravate him really badly. (would me) LOL

Leslie, ick! I know that flea dirt though, from other animals I've had and flea infestations encountered. Not fun or easy to get rid of.

hugs, have a good day! rain = snuggle time
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

yuck a muck on the flea dirt:eek::eek::eek::eek:

I know Flynn doesnt have that:):):):)

Thanks for checking, I looked it up online too. So far so good with Tick Boy though, must be his new furfume spray:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Or the fact that it is freezing out:p:p:p never a dull moment at Addy's house:D:D:D:D Someone asked me that once- do I ever have a dull moment I said not so much.;););)

Happy Wednesday for you!!!!:D:D:D:D

Well Flynn slept on his white sheet a couple of hours after his Comfortis yesterday, two small fleas came off him! No side effects that I could see, he has scratched a couple of times but not badly, so fingers crossed this does the trick. He was very perky yesterday, we had a lunch and doggy play date with his friend Cooper and he wrestled that young pup good! No biting, just playing :D

Flea guy came this morning, he does not see any sign of flea infestation and does not think spraying outside will help. He said the flea bombs inside that I used only kill the adult fleas, not the larvae which could still be in carpet. He said if in another couple of weeks Flynn is still scratching he would spray inside and his stuff does kill them all. We also have to look at Mum and Dad's as he is there a good part of his day too. Most of them catch them from animals, like a cat coming through, or the cat sleeping outside somewhere and Flynny picks it up from there.

No results as yet... hopefully today!

Oh goodness poor Flynn, sending hugs and prayers..

So it seems that Flynn has a strong reaction to any flea bite, and while he isn't invested, even two on him is enough to get him going (itch mania - Sounds like a rock band..hmmm) anyway, hopefully it won't be a bad flea summer and this stuff you gave him does seem to work. How often can or do you give that?

Hope your week is quite enjoyable. I took a vacation today, my last use or lose of the fiscal year and enjoyed some retail therapy. :) LOL

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hey Trish, Glad there is signs of progress with Flynn's itches (if you can call seeing dead fleas signs of progress :o)

Hope everything else is going well and you are enjoying your time off!

Hi Sharlene

I did the retail therapy thing too yesterday :D:D loads of sales on here with our anniversary weekend. I left Flynny at Mum and Dads while I went to the shops and he is itching more again arghhh it is doing my head in!! I really think I need to get the pest people around there now :confused: He went totally off the z/d and I could not get enough into him and he was losing weight so he is back on his venison although I think a trip to the pet store is in order today and I will put him onto a different protein as the itching has started together with the diet change as well so who knows!

I had to rush Devil Cat Elle to the vets a couple days ago, her little chin (and it is a pointy Siamese chin) was suddenly very swollen, then within another half hour her throat looked to be swelling. She looked like a FrankenCat :eek: No trouble breathing that I could see and she was running about, but there are a load of bees in their garden at the moment so I think she was stung, although I could not see a stinger. The vet gave her antihistamine, steroid, antibiotic and it settled down and was back to normal overnight. He thought it could be bee, spider bite or even maybe she had been in a fight and had cellulitis develop. The funny thing was when Flynn turned his nose up at his z/d lunch that day she had scoffed some down, I thought maybe she reacted to that but Vet thought it would be very unusual for her to have an allergic reaction to anti allergenic food!!!

Hi Naomi and Letti - so nice to see you popping in here!! Missed you x

Still no results, maybe he has the long weekend off :( xx

Ohh, sales sound nice. My friend just emailed me that she is getting a bunch of girls together to go to Niagara Falls this weekend, because a really awesome outlet store is closing, and everything is 90% off.

Arggghh, what to do. I have a cocktail party on Sunday, which is when they are thinking of going and a memorial service tomorrow I have to attend. Maybe I can figure out something for Sunday, although might want to warn the hubster as he is flying home that day after being gone all week.
Gee the problems a girl has eh.

Oh my, poor Elle, that must have been uncomfortable to have a face like a balloon, well, chin part anyway. Betcha a bee, but who knows. At least no breathing problems. Take more than a bee or spider to keep her down eh. :)

Flynn, Flynn, Flynn. do you think he picked up some fleas from your mom and dads place? hmmm..maybe you've found the guilty parties.
Course, yea the food, did you Want him to lose weight? or are you now trying to put weight back on?
Always something going on with the gang around here.

Well, I bet it would have been tempting for your vet to take some holidays with the anniversary and Labour day all happening. Oh my, did I see you say 3 weeks at Christmas!? Divine! Go for it!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Trish,
Thanks for you nice messages while I was off the site for awhile. Getting back on the usual schedule here and getting caught up with all the news on the board. It's taking me awhile to get going again. It's good to have a dog so I am getting myself up and out in the morning for our usual walk. It's gotten pretty cold which has been great for Trixie.
Sorry that Flynn has still got the itches. Hopefully more of the fleas will be be dying off. Poor Elle the cat...glad her swollen chin is back to normal!
It's always something with our furry friends!

Barbara

Hi all
Got the results.

UPC now 1.91. Which has dropped from 3.88 so that is good. I really need to google some more, the Cr level in his urine has dropped a lot, as well as Creatinine in his blood which is low at 51 (53-123), we have always thought this is good having low creatinine as with renal failure it goes high. :confused::confused: But I am not sure why his Cr is consistently low low, that is the part of the test that is putting UPC up. The protein level in his urine is the best it has ever been :D For first time his urine is dilute with specific gravity of 1.019 and it has usually been around the 1.040 mark :confused:

Anyway, ALP has shot up to 2097 (0-185)from 1367 seven weeks ago while ALT has gone down to 176 from 342 (0-75), so god knows what is going on in his liver. Well apart form the benign nodules and the past history of liver cancer!!! He is on no liver supplementation. Calcium also high at 3.15 (2.20-3.00). Chloride low at 101 (105-121), Albumin high 46 (26-44).

Anyway I have to shoot back out to parents... will do a bit more researching into these numbers tonight.

Well, I guess I would have to research it as well but it is good the UPC is down

The calcium and albium are just a bit off, dont you think? The specific gravity can bounce around if it is not first catch of the day, they had a bunch of water, etc. I think maybe we wont worry about those things unless we see it next month. What do you think?

Im sure Tina will be by with her thoughts as well.:):)

Hope you are still enjoying your vacation:):)

Hi Addy
Thanks for reply, I am not too worried about the albumin and calcium at this stage, his lab notes state that calcium is 40% bound to albumin and the mild increase seen may occur artefactually or with mild dehydration. Elevated calcium can also be seen with tumours though which does worry me.

The low creatinine could be due to liver disease, the liver metabolises creatine which we get in food and breaks it down for the kidneys to excrete. In some instances if the liver is not functioning properly there is not so much creatinine in blood and urine. It is a little weird if his liver is packing up with that high ALP then why is the ALT which indicateds actual liver cell damage so much improved?? But his creatinine level in his UPC has been trending down over the year. Normal urinary creatinine levels are difficult to interpret as the literature says that is because it fluctuates so much through the day with hydration levels.

Quite concerned about the rise in ALP over seven weeks, during that time his Benzapril was doubled and he also had the IBD flare, started the z/d antiallergy food. Gastrointestinal causes can put up ALP, so maybe???


Over this time span I have also noted a few non specific things like:

• Whites of eyes a little red at times, definitely not yellow/jaundice
• Less energy especially in mornings, better as day goes on but generally not as perky
• Runs slower on walk, still beats me though!
• He has always been a trembly terrier but noted he is twitching/jerking more, even at rest. I took this video at 3am this morning to show the vet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88pHI...eature=mh_lolz
• Panting more with exercise/stress
• Of course, his ongoing itch
• Lost weight 800g, but that might be my fault and on yesterdays trip to get meds, his weight up 300g from Tuesday and since he has been back eating his normal food and stopping the z/d

So a few things going on, I have not spoken to the vet as he has got the long weekend off,I had to pick up his meds yesterday and asked the nurse to print me out the results. So I will put all this together and send him an email for when he is back next week and then we can organise a trip to the IMS and ultrasound hopefully next week or so.

My main questions for vet are:
Sudden deterioration in ALP. ?Cause
Recent IBD flare
Liver deterioration like increasing size benign nodules, tumour recurrence
Tramadol
Recent diet changes and weight loss
Need to start liver supplement
Need to do full liver screen include AST, GGT etc
How can ALP worsen but ALT improve by 50%??
Increased Benzapril ?effect on liver?
Low urinary and serum Creatinine
Relation to liver pathology
Impact on UPC

That's all I can think of for now! xx

Sharlene, the coconut pie was yummo. I think I should have cooked it a little longer though as the base was soft. Got gobbled up though!

Hope you get to Niagara Falls, shopping is very therapeutic :D:D

Hi Barbara, lovely to see you posting :D Hope the weekend is gorgeous in NYC!

xx

Hi Trish, I think that is what happens with pies that make their own crust, it's different from if you have an actual pie crust. Softer, etc. yea, it went pretty fast in our house too. Since it's an easy one to make, I'd make it again, but it's definitely not like a regular pie.

That is a lot of twitching in that video! Although Flynn is still so adorable sleeping. Maybe the vet will have some ideas on that.

I know they say the ALP isn't as much to worry about as the ALT, but still there has to be a reason for it to jump that high, that fast.

I did some checking around and Gastrointestinal inflammation, gall bladder, kidney and some medications can lead to higher levels of ALP in the blood. I couldn't find a definite that listed Benzapril as a culprit but I think it might be a possibility. I ended up going through some human sites looking rather than canine as there was more information. Also interesting is the different types of ALP, 1, 2 and 3 from different parts of the body.

What I am thinking, is that you will feel better, over all, after you have his next ultrasound and can put your mind to rest about the liver nodules, see what the kidneys look like. It's the nature of the beast that we worry about the little buggers. :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Thanks Sharlene, you are a gem looking that up :D

I had looked at Benzapril too, it can cause liver problems, rarely but it still can happen and like you I have been looking at the adult sites.

Could very well be GI issues causing it, or maybe just a mixture of a few things.

I am not too worried about the low Specific Gravity for now, it was not a first pee catch but he had brekky and drunk. So I will make sure the next one is first thing.

Yes, ultrasound will be good... most likely it will have the usual long list of things wrong with him but it will be good to know that nothing like tumours causing it. But then it is nearly November, that is Flynny's worst month when we have found out about both his cancers. It is always November :(

I have spent a day in the garden, doing all the things I had promised myself I would do over my week off, well here we are and tomorrow is my last day :eek: time to get busy today!! Out for dinner soon so better go get myself presentable! Thanks again, it is reassuring to hear a voice of reason when your mind starts thinking the worst! xx

Just stopping by to say hi and give hugs. Not sure what to think about the liver values but still want to give you a hug.:):)

Hello you

Sorry I have been a stranger work has been nuts, I have been following along mind so I haven't abandoned you completely. Any word back from your vet?

How you doing? Ok I hope

Big hug, bum scratches to the wee man

Mel
Xxxxxx

Trish..
I am going to hold my breath until November has come & gone for mr Flynn. He is such a strong guy! I hope he is feeling good today & you get some answers soon to get rid of some of the anxiety you must be feeling.

big hugs to you & Flynn!

Okay Trish, No November for you! You are skipping it this year! I'm sorry I have been absent of late. Work has been crazy and I have been totally exhausted. I have been reading daily, but haven't gotten around to posting for the last few days.:o

The dog I grew up with that resembles Flynny, twitched like that when he slept also. It is probably nothing but a weird coincidence.

An ultra-sound is always the best bang for the buck. Please let us know as soon as you know anything.

Hugs to you my dear and a belly rub from my pal Flynny. Xxxxx

Hello everyone!!

Yep, I think we should cancel November this year, lets jump straight to Christmas :D

Now, I have had a good talk to our vet, he said they had changed the external lab they use as they had a few issues. So he said that can cause a few discrepancies. Also a one-off rise like that coupled with his ALT going down he was not too concerned at this stage and we shall do another one to see what it is trending like. He has ordered me SAMe so we will be starting that when it arrives.

He agreed though to ring and book him in for his 6 monthly ultrasound and review by our IMS. So I did, she is off clinics at the moment doing some exams with the vet students :mad:. The receptionist said we could see someone else and that turned out to be a new resident who was having supervision, I asked to see the supervisor but no :mad: So I said OK am going to talk to my own vet again and the receptionist is going to find out exactly when our IMS will be back in the office.

Today my vet said that it should be ok to wait 3-4 weeks and I have suggested repeating his full liver panel to see how it is going. We both think just because Flynny is not an easy dog to treat that it would be best if we had our own IMS who is excellent and knows all the in's and out's of Flynn very well rather than inflict us on a newbie .

Flynn is much better the last few days since I took him off the z/d and also stopped the Tramadol. :D He is back to his perky self. Poops good, no mucous, itchies still there a little but much better.

Sooo... tomorrow I will hopefully hear from Pet Hospital about IMS and I will see what our local says about repeating liver tests now. If liver tests have come back down as I suspect/hope then I think we can wait, if they are shooting up higher then I will take him down now and at least get the scan done.

Thanks for checking in on us, nice to see you all and lovely to see you Mel!! xxx

I'm good with skipping November, January, February, and March :)

Awww but that's all of summer Valerie!! No can do :D:D you want to keep December though :)

Stick with your own IMS Trish. No newbie for my Flynny boy. ;) how dare that doc taking off with vet students! :eek:

I am glad to hear that Flynny's itchiness are better.:D He must be thrilled to get his yummy food back.;)

You are such a wonderful fur mom Trish and yes, one of my angels. :) xxxxxx

Your up late Kathy, hope your not having trouble sleeping as sounds like you need it with your busy days.

Definitely want our own IMS, just a little torn about wanting him seen yesterday haha, you know how it is. But with Flynn feeling better I am more relaxed about waiting, so hopefully we hear she will be back soon!

Zoe can do fine on a low dose of Tramadol at night before bed, it really helps her legs but if I give it for too long every nite she develops balance problems. Her head tremors seemed to be after waking up but not sure if I am remembering correctly in my stress brain fog:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'm for skipping all the way to the end of January because that is how long it will be before it is light out again when I get home from work:eek: Gimme light, she cried!!!!!:p:p:p:p


Your vet seems spot on as usual, Trish. I know Flynn is in good hands between you and your super vet. Have you figured out how to clone him and send the clone to me?

hugs

What's November? :confused::confused: If today is October 30, that makes tomorrow October 31 and friday October 32, Saturday October 33 etc.

Doesn't everyone know the rhyme? 30 days have September, April and June, all the rest have 31 except february which has 28 and October which has 61? I'm sure that's what I was taught at school :p:p:D

And Trish, if you do end up seeing the intern IMS, just think of it as a bit of sport :D

I totally agree that sticking with the IMS who knows Flynn already is the best bet. He's not an Easy case to just jump into without that pertinent historical knowledge. You can read it sure, but the regular IMS Knows it. Big dif.

hmm, well, new external lab eh. That can make things interesting. I'd repeat too. When are you going to do the repeat of the liver values?

You're going to want to repeat those in about 3 months probably anyhow, to see if the SamE is having any positive on that. Although with the liver support molly is on, it took quite a long while to see a change in the numbers, and it wasn't much, but every bit helps. Even if numbers don't drop so much, I'd think that the over all benefit would be good.

Well, we're heading into November and we're just going to have this one be a real good one this year.

Good luck on your trip (crossing fingers for smooth sailing this time!)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Hey you. We are online at the same time!!

How are you and the wee man?

Mel
Xxxxx

Well Naomi, your a teacher so I am going with your verse, yay November is off and its October 32nd tomorrow :)

I heard from our vet, he wants to redo liver tests after a week of no GI issues. So all going well that is early next week. Pet Hospital receptionist called again but only to say she had not heard from IMS about when she will be back. So after we get next week tests results we will make a decision on how fast we need him scanned and reviewed down there.

He is good again today, but it was fish n chip night tonight and he was itching a lot, so hope that is not a precursor to any deterioration in the tummy department as they seem to go together. But he does tend to get excited when everyone is together. He got in trouble as Mum had bought Elle a little tunnel to crawl through which she does with surprising speed and leaps out to scare Flynn.... he tried to crawl through only to get the whole thing stuck around his middle! It has a big yellow fluffy ball on a string on the front and when we weren't looking he towed it over to his bed and chomped the ball off :eek::eek:

Then we had trick and treaters arriving, Mum usually locks her gate haha but this year she had bought some GIANT licorice all sorts and gave one to each kid on a napkin, it was so funny to see their faces thinking what the heck is this!! Jade had to get dressed up for her job in retail and arrived with a knife sticking out her head and blood running down her face and scared all the little kids when they called in :eek::eek: plus Flynn had to say hello to each of them. So it was very entertaining watching all this while we were all sitting out on the patio on a lovely warm Spring evening. So no wonder Flynny was amped up! xx

Hey Mel, how exciting, this does not happen very often!! Nice to see you, how are you and Boycie? Hopefully your work is a little better?? You work so hard and they are very lucky to have you!! :)

We are good, he is doing well, he is sleeping by his radiator in the hall as its winter now and he doesn't like the cold.

Work is still brutal, going through the merger has tipped it over the scales. We have been on this rollercoaster for over a year now, I had hoped it would improve but it seems to have got worse. Only thing that keeps me is the remote working so I can spend the days with my wee man.

Have got to start getting organised for Xmas as we go away, so have to take it all with us, I cook dinner so it's lots to do!

Did I read you have a trip coming up? I dont recall the destination.

Have you ever heard from Patti again? I do think of her and the little fella often.

Mel
Xxxx

Where you off to for Christmas? That sounds like hard work not a holiday!! Your work does sound brutal, but that sounds like a great benefit being at home with Boyce, don't think I would have the self control to keep my work up would find something else to do around the house for sure :)

No, I haven't heard from Patti in ages. I too, hope she has found some peace and little Romeo has fitted in :)

I am off to Northland, to a little place called Pahia. Up in the Bay of Islands. It is a part of NZ I have never been to so I am looking forward to it. I have to find a pirate costume for a fancy dress party out on a boat so it should be fun, even though I generally hate dress up do's.

Near the coast again. Dorset this time. Just have to be organised. We go away quite a lot though for short breaks and trips so I have that down to a tee. Lots of lists. I like cooking when I have time so I start bits from the 23rd!

My neice and nephew will be coming for new year so it will be a packed holiday. I am trying to engineer it that way as we go to the same place and last year Tia started to get sick around Christmas so I don't want to think to much. Miss my little girl so much so want to stay busy

I wish she would nip in and let us know how she is but I know it became hard as she hated to see when we lost a pup and I think it got to her. I have been reading most days will try and post a bit more!

Love going places I havent been to explore! Sounds like fun, doing something you wouldnt normally. Do you have costume shops or are you gonna pull something together yourself? When you off and for how long?

Is Flynny happy to have his old food back? Did he get any fish tonight or are you still restricting his people food? How is his mouth since he got his toys back?

You are still going through the firsts so Christmas is going to be a hard one for sure. What is the weather like in Dorset at Christmas, I guess pretty cold... hope you get some snow!! Be fun having the littlies there for New Year, they always make holidays more fun. Our family has no little kids, we are waiting for my sisters kids to produce some but they are not cooperating yet! We all still go home to Mum and Dad's, we have on the odd occasion had it at mine or my sister's but we all agree it is not the same as at our home, which is still the house we all grew up in, they have never moved. Mum is 79 next month and Dad 81 now, so we all muck in and share out the dishes and take them around there to tuck in!

Yep I know she did not like it when the pups got sick, especially the tumour ones, bit too close to home.

A friend has given me a pair of stripy pants with zig zag bottoms so I need to get something to wear on top! Yes we do have costume shops, might have a look on the weekend and get some inspiration! I fly up next Wednesday and home Saturday so not away too long. Will have a list of instructions for my parents to look after Flynny, hope he keeps good like he is now.

He does have a bit of fish, but it is raw.. sushi!! He and Elle both line up next to the bench when Dad cuts it up and crumbs it and they wait for him to throw them the offcuts which they race each other for (Flynn usually wins), so he is still not getting any people food.

You are most definitely missed around here Mel, but it is nice to know you are not far away and I especially appreciate when everything gets so busy, many a night I have popped in then dozed off without posting!! So we just do what we can and catch up when we can :D

Cold! It's actually already colder than usual. I think we will probably get snow this year. It causes absolute chaos over here, the roads block up and the trains stop but it snowed the day I lost Tia so it makes me think she is with me when it snows so I hope it does. I love snow despite all the issues as is makes everything look magical and it so makes it more Christmassy :D

Shirt and a waistcoat come to mind with a coloured scarf around your head and a fake parrot :D

Bless them, I can picture that in my head, little monkeys know how to work your dad!

The madness of work has already started, I am really over it this week can't wait for the weekend!

Aww Tia is close by but that is nice you have her memories to warm you up when the snow comes down! She was such a beauty :)

I will take a pirate pic to show you what I came up with, maybe I should dread my hair Johnny Depp style... and put a gold tooth in ... yeah, nah :D:D:D I have a necklace a friend gave me just recently and it has a little glass bottle with fake pearls in it so I will wear that!

Flynny has already taken himself off to bed, pooped from the evenings fun! I keep checking him and those shakes he was having seem to be settling back to just his normal tremours so pleased to see that. His mouth seems good and no return of ulcers that I can see.

I hope your day goes without any major hassles Mel, so nice to catch up with you! xxxxxx

Hi all

Our vet contacted me again yesterday, he has had a bit more of a think about this liver situation and he wants to do bile acid testing along with a redo of the liver panel. So Flynny is going in Monday and has to be fasted for 12 hrs. Still it won't be so bad as it is overnight fasting, he gets a blood test, then has his breakfast then gets tested again to see the effect the food has on his numbers. But he does specifically want his tummy good for a week for these to minimise the effect GI issues have on his results.

AND YAY He is still doing good in the poops department, itching OK too (oh gawd hope that does not jinx us :rolleyes:) He has his energy back in the mornings, he just ripped up a toy after eating his brekky and then doing a normal poop... oh it does my heart good!! I cannot say for sure but that z/d food was not good for him although it did settle down his bowel. But he did not like it at all and he cannot live like that hating his food and only eating it when he really got starving.

He has also had no Tramdol for a week tomorrow and I have not noticed any difference in mobility so I have to wonder if that was affecting his liver too. Maybe it was treating me more than him, as with all of us we want them to be as comfortable as possible. But I had noticed with his latest bottle of Tramadol drops he did not tolerate it as well and was suspicious of the food and would sometimes refuse it if he could detect it and if I just squirted it in his mouth you would think I had put acid in there :eek::eek: So I am very pleased he is now off it with no apparent increase in discomfort.

Saturday morning already, the week has flown by! Have a good one everyone xxxx