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Glad the groomer worked out. I tried one many years ago in Omaha (he passed away) and it was a disaster. It was winter, very very cold and he had my girls in his van trying to groom with the door open. I about crapped my pants. Only tried it once because of that. I saw a metal table, no padding and thought they must have been freezing their buns off. :eek::D:D:eek:
Hi Tina, checking in on you and jasper and shelby.
Hope everything is going okay and all is well and you aren't being over worked too much!
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hi Tina
How are things going with Jasper? Miss you popping in the middle of the night for a quick chat, hope all well with you guys and you are starting to get some nice sunshine for some walks!
Trish xx
Hi Tina,
Sorry to hear that your mom and grandmother have both had medical issues lately (from Flynns thread) and I hope that they are both doing okay now.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to pop in and finally give an update on Jasper. Thank you Sharlene and Trish for checking on us! I haven't been on the forum much lately as both my Mom and Grandmother ended up in the hospital during the past couple of weeks. :eek:
Thank you Sharlene, everything is ok now and they both seem to be doing fine. My Mom lives in San Antonio, so that was quite worrisome that I could not be there. Thank goodness my brother lives nearby so he could be there to keep on top of things and fill me in by phone. It was kind of touch and go for about a day or so as to whether I needed to urgently go down there, but fortunately it was not necessary. My Grandmother is here in town and lives in assisted living, so that was a bit easier to manage.
It all just brought to the forefront my fear about needing to leave Jasper for any reason. I have a wonderful pet sitter that we have used several times before, but I have not gone anywhere since Jasper got sick, so have not needed her. I need to get ahold of her and talk to her about all that is going on with Jasper so she can be up to speed. I am hoping that she will not feel that he is too much to handle. Also, she needs to meet my unfriendly little hooligan Shelby to see how that goes. Hopefully Shelby wouldn't be too much for her to manage behaviorally. So - lots of issues that all need to be addressed sooner rather than later. I would be up a crick right now if I needed to go away for an emergency, and that is a very scary feeling.
Jasper has been doing pretty well I think. He has been off the FortiFlora since 4/8 and no further diarrhea. (Yay!!) His poops have been multi colored however, just like some of the pics that Julie posted of Hannah's poo. They go from lighter to darker and back again, and sometimes are lighter on the inside and dark on the outside, or marbled looking. I don't know if this is anything to worry about or not. The variability in the color is very odd. Something I will be talking to my vet about when we see her, I guess.
He continues on the RC renal MP diet, Welactin fish oil, Enalapril and dexamethasone as I previously noted. We have an appt on 5/4 for follow up on all his labs, UPC, and his yearly wellness check. I am anxious to get some follow up on things, I won't feel secure until I see that the labs validate that the treatment is working, especially regarding the proteinuria and kidney values, as well as hopefully some improvement in the ALP and triglycerides.
I posted earlier on Addy and Zoe's thread that Jasper seems a little off lately, but I can't identify any glaring things that seem specifically wrong right now. I guess he just seems overall more subdued. Jasper has never had an ultrasound, it was not something my vet recommended during the Cushings diagnostic process, in fact I think it was only mentioned as possibly the next step if the LDDS test was not conclusive. I found this forum after Jasper had already started on Lysodren and got over suppressed during the load, so didn't even know that most dogs going through this have an ultrasound. I have often wondered, especially recently, about whether or not I should ask if he should have one. I don't know. I would welcome your thoughts or advice about this.
I thought of something else just a couple of days ago after reading about all the pups that are scared of storms or thunder. Jasper is afraid of storms also, mostly the sound of high wind. He doesn't like thunder either, gets quite restless, but it seems to be the sound of high wind that scares him the most. Knowing what I now know about how cortisol functions in the body during times of stress, I wonder if maybe he would need an extra dose of Dex during the times that we are getting severe storms?
Since his poor little body hasn't been able to produce ANY cortisol for quite some time, that only seems reasonable. I can't believe it didn't occur to me before! :o So far he has not gotten sick after any storms, but if the last couple of weeks are any indication, we are in for a bad weather spring. I give him extra Dex before he gets groomed to help counteract that stress, so wonder if I should do the same for storms. The only problem is that a lot of times severe storms come up while I am at work so I wouldn't always be able to know when it is going to happen. I will be asking my vet about this. Your thoughts??
Thank you all for reading and your feedback. I know this is a Cushings website, but I am forever grateful that you all have allowed Jasper and I to stay and continue to be a part of this forum even though he is now likely permanently Addison's. And also now with kidney issues. I really don't know how to thank you all. :)
Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper
Tina, Great update. I can help with the thunderstorms... My girls were afraid as well - that and 4th of July (until their hearing went :-> ) I gave them melatonin - just one pill and it chilled them enough they didn't shake all over. It is all natural and doesn't affect the cortisol. One 3 mg tablet should do it. Buy at any drug store. Kim
Hi Tina,
I hope your mom and Grandmother continue to improve and no emergency trips are required. I'm in the same shoes - no one I could count on to take care of my babies if I had to leave them and it is scary to think about. I hope you have no need to leave.
Here is some info I posted earlier on Tipper and Patti's thread -
Hope this helps!Quote:
A friend told me about the TTouch Body Wrap as an alternative and it works much better for Squirt than the Shirt does - and it does not interfere with her ancient body movements. I use an ACE bandage that is about 3" wide and has a Velcro end. Here is how to put it on - http://www.crvetcenter.com/ttouch.php
One of the tricks to handling storm fear with either the wrap or the Shirt is to start using it when there is no need for it so the pup associates it with happy, calm times. Wrap them or put the Shirt on then go to the park, or for a walk, something they enjoy while wearing the wrap/Shirt. Once they are comfortable in the wrap/Shirt, you then make sure it is put on long before the storm actually begins - which means you have to watch the weather predictions like a hawk. If it is supposed to storm this afternoon, you wrap or put the shirt on in the morning - hours before the activity starts so they immediately associate the wearing of it with those good times they have experienced earlier while wearing it. I have a narrower ACE bandage that I use on Brick but Sophie will not tolerate either the Shirt nor the wrap. She basically attacks it until either she has ripped it off or I take it off. She has the mildest reaction to storms of the three so I let her be as the wrap/Shirt makes her more upset.
I also use the melatonin for Squirt as well as Brick and Sophie. In addition to the melatonin, I use the dried herbs Passionflower and Skullcap made into a tea. Squirt gets 2ml, Sophie gets 4ml, and Brick gets 1ml.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang
Hey Tina,
I wanted to keep Zoe on her melatonin and lignans when we first started Vetoryl and our IMS was adamant that we could not as she claims melatonin can affect cortisol. So maybe check with your vet before trying melatonin. She was so adamant about it, just got me thinking today when I read this. Maybe she is wrong.
Hi Tina, Good to hear things have stabilized with your mom and grandmother. So much to Handle at one time. Maybe turning on a fan or a radio would help drown out the noise of thunder??? Just a thought. I hope your dog sitter can get acquainted with your other pup in case you need to travel.
Praying things calm down in all areas of your life. Peace and blessings,
Sharon, Norman (cushings doxie) and Millie (mini -yorkie pooh)
Tina, super big hugs girl! You know we love you and Jasper! Cushings is what might bring us in the door here, it isn't necessarily what keeps us here. Just walking in that door, makes you a part of the family of k9cushings, whatever may be going on, cushings or not.
I'd get the pet sitter on board and acquainted, just in case of an emergency in the future. Let her get familiar with Jaspers issues and meet little miss Shelby. :)
Ultrasound, if you feel something is off with Jasper, and you would know better than anyone else, then you could get one. You after all know Jasper best. Something to put on your list to talk to your vet about.
Hoping things continue to go well with your mom and grandmother.
hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin♦