Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thought you all might enjoy a laugh, Came home from work this AM and found out that the new pup, Dazzle had gotten into the recycling bin and took out some aluminum cans and proceded to shred them up in my entry way. I do mean shred them the boy must be part billie goat! He was all proud of his art work and prancing about it.There was blood on the floor and at first I thought " Oh great he has cut his mouth up" but an inspection of his mouth showed no cuts. In walks Dash blood dripping from his nose! He must have been hanging out with the new artist and dripping some blood to add his own touch to the master piece. Nice to see the boys working together!
Dash has had some more productive sneezes so now I am getting the bloody nose that follows them, His swelling seems to be down a bit too for now anyway. It changes day to day.
Does anyone have advice on getting your dog to eat? We are getting her to eat a little each day, but she does not seem to be interested in dog food. She anxiously still goes for walks and has just stopped taking an antibiotic, marbofloxacin and seems better, except the bleeding. I did not know if there was something to increase the appetite. Jan, I loved your story- I have never heard of a dog chewing up aluminum cans- I would just love to see mine want to chew on anything!!
Virginia10-
Sorry to hear about Ally's appetite. I have a very picky Allie with a very sensitive stomach on my hands too..she's always been a very picky eater but it's worse now due to the inflammation of her gums due to the radiation. The only thing she will eat is cooked chicken, ground turkey or very lean beef. I try to mix in some of her dry dog food but soften it first by soaking it in water or chicken broth, pouring out the liquid and mixing it in the meat. So far, that has worked. I don't know if you have tried just a little chicken broth over her food, that may help.
I read a lot after her diagnosis about diet for cancer dogs on-line. From what I gathered, it is more important for dogs with cancer to eat a 'grain-free' and relatively low-carb diet. It goes back to their ancestors in the wild that were only meat-eaters. A lot of the commercial dog foods (even the good stuff) have fillers in them that are primarily grain-based like rice, corn, etc. After Allie's diagnosis I purchased two brands of grain-free dog food after reading about them on another blog, EVO red meat bites and one called Orijen that is a fish blend. They have some carbs but they are not grain-derived and they include the important vitamins. Of course, they are more expensive than what she used to eat but so far a little bag has gone a long way.
Allie LOVED them both until her gums started bothering her. Now I just have to soften them as I mentioned. Maybe switching dog foods will help? That can always be a bit tricky though for their stomachs to swich up their food.
I know that Omega-3 fish oil is good for dogs who have cancer to help with the inflammation (the thought behind the budwig diet w/ the flaxoil and cottage cheese). I got some purifed fish oil capsules from her vet (also helps their skin & coat) and would poke a small hole in one and squirt the oil on her dog food. It smells horrible to you and I, but she went crazy over it. That may be worth a try.
I know Allie won't eat when her stomach bothers her from all of the medicines..maybe now that your Ally is done with her antibiotic (always causes my allie to turn her nose up at food too) she will get her appetite back. I'll cross my fingers for you
I'm happy to hear Ally is still loving her walks.
We finished radiation therapy on Friday. The side effects continue to progress but I can still get her to eat (with the adjustments above) and we are diligent about pain meds and the radiation cream. She is a little tired from the pain medicine but other than that, she is in good spirits.
Congratulations, Ally! What a strong, brave dog she must be! I remember when Scout finished radiation, and I just thought he was the bravest guy in the world. I hope she continues to do so well in the coming weeks.
Erica
P.S. We mix yogurt and pumpkin in daily with our dog's food, sometimes adding egg, chicken, and sardines to spice it up. Maybe Allie would like these things as well?
Alliebear and Erica, Thank-you for your quick replies. This is such a caring site that I knew I would get some guidance on what to do. I also read about diets for dogs with cancer. My Ally has always been a picky eater, so I stopped the dry food because of the carbs, but maybe that was not such a good idea. She has been usually willing to eat what we are eating, but I have been trying to find a dog food she will eat because we leave for a 2 week cruise in 2 weeks and our son is coming here to stay with the dog. When I come home I will start making her food, hoping that she will enjoy it more, but I am worried about my son feeding her. Today I brought home some beneful and she ate that because it looked like people food. I no longer feed her in her dog food bowl, but put the food in our dishes. When she was done, it was heartbreaking to see the blood along the rim of the bowl. I read about the Budwig diet and it says that you are supposed to use natural cottage cheese, but I guess I will substitute lowfat. I have been trying to find the flaxseed oil- I have found it in capsules, but did not think that would work. But it sounds like you use the fishoil capsules, and just open them- do you need to get them from the vet, instead of a local store. I am so glad you are done with the radiation therapy and hope that the side effects go away quickly. I will try the Evo and Origen- my husband says my trunk is starting to look like a pet store with all the different dog foods in it. I will also check on getting the fishoil- our Ally was taking feldene for inflammation, and had to stop because it was too hard on her stomach. I hope all these good things work for your Allie!! Erica, I will try the sardines- I have used eggs and chicken- but not the yogurt. I did buy cans of chicken and salmon at Costco, but was afraid to just feed Ally that in case they were too rich for her diet and would not contain the right vitamins for her. Thanks again for taking time to answer my question.
virginia10,
Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com. It gives a detailed analysis of many types of commercial dog food. We feed our Emmitt Wellness Core dog food because of the protien content and he LOVES it! We also give him Wellness Well Bites (kind of like jerky treats) and he would eat the whole bag if we let him! They actually smell pretty tasty when you open the bag. We use them as a "bribe" to get him to do something and I wouldn't be surprised if he would stand on his head if he could just to get the "payoff". I'm not sure if he can smell them very well anymore but he truly loves them! As for the food itself, it also has a "meaty" smell. He can't eat dry dog food like he used to so we soak it in warm water for about 30 minutes and then mash it up to make it easier for him to eat. I must admit that it smells pretty tasty as well. We mix in some dry kibble from time to time just to give him some variety. After 7 months of Neoplasene treatments, he still looks forward to meal time! He recently had some blood work done and his vet said that he had healthy dogs who's blood work didn't look as good as Emmitt's!
We fed him a high priced dog food all of his life (10 years) because we felt that, because of the price, it HAD to be nutritious and we only wanted the best for our little man. After researching the above mentioned website after his cancer diagnosis, we came to the realization that his food was nothing more than a bag full of junk...a virtual bag full of garbage. Unfortunately, so many of the veterinarian recommended foods don't receive very high marks either. I hope you're able to find some useful information on there. There has got to be something on there that even picky eaters like Allie will enjoy. Good luck! We're all behind you!
SchanuzerDad, Thank you for the referral to this website. We live in Southern CA, so I figure I will have access to most of the dogfoods. I could keep trying until I find one she likes. I have a question. I notice from most of the people who write on this site, that they have continued to feed their dogs dry food. We used to mix dry food with our dog's canned food since we had always heard that dry food was better for the dog. When I read about carbs being bad for dogs with cancer I decided to discontinue the dry food because she never really liked it. I also thought that since the MRI showed that the cancer looked like it was starting to go to the bone of the soft and hard palate that it would be easier for her to eat canned food. Now from what I am reading I am thinking that I should be adding some dry food also. Our main concern right now was just getting her to eat something. The heavy duty antibiotics has cleared up the sinus infection and she sounds good right now. They stopped the anti-inflammatory because it upset her stomach. She appears to be getting better, except for the blood and the reduced appetite, but I know that is only an illlusion. I'm almost afraid to call the vet and start something else, but it sounds like several of you are using Neoplasene treatments, and I feel like I need to be doing something. Did you do radiation therapy first, or can you just move into the Neoplasene treatments? I asked about the metronomic therapy and was told by the oncologist that her tumor is too big for that to help. Other than this very nasty nasal cancer she is in good health with great blood work (up to now anyway). Thanks again for the referral to the website- so many of you are so well-informed on this site that I really feel like a neophyte. If Emmitt is still around after 7 months and has such good blood work, you have to be doing something right!!!
virginia10,
If Allie is still not eating, our vet gave us a recommendation that seemed to work for Emmitt after his CT scan and nasal scope. He wasn't eating anything so we were told to give him KFC Original Recipe (without the bone of course). Our vet said he hadn't met a dog yet that would turn it down. He was right! Emmitt ate that but turned his nose at anything else we put in front of him. No problems now though. He eats like a horse.
According to his last CT scan, his tumor is growing backwards and turning down. There was evidence that it was going behind the septum in the back of his nasal cavity and going towards his soft palate. I don't know about the amount of discomfort when he eats dry food. He can eat dry, it just takes him awhile. He'll take four or five pieces in his mouth, drop it on the ground, and eat one piece at a time. When we moisten the dry food it takes him about a minute to finish it. We just mix in the dry kibble occasionally to keep his teeth and gums as healthy as possible. One drawback of the high protien food (dry or canned) is it gives Emmitt gas. We remedy that with a half a tablet of Mylanta 2x a day. If Allie has nosebleeds, there is a chance that a good bit may be going down her throat into her stomach. That could make her nauseous. The Mylanta would possibly help soothe her stomach. Remember, not more than one full tablet a day.
Neoplasene is another story in and of itself. As in Emmitt's case, it is not a cure; it is a treatment. It has definately slowed the growth of his tumor but it is still there. There are a whole other set of issues that comes with Neoplasene...finding a vet that's willing to work with you, getting it in her nose, bloody noses, stuffy noses, and above all, snotty noses. A year ago if you would have told me that I would be an expert on snot and blood, I would have told you you were crazy! Emmitt did not have radiation or chemo. We went right into treatments with Neoplasene. He also gets a couple of other supplements daily to boost his immune system.
If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't do anything different. I didn't get the results that I had dreamed of but, I did get results. Who's to say what treatment is better than another? Only you can decide what is best for Allie. Do your research and be positive. Allie doesn't know she has cancer. Whatever direction you choose to go...it will be the best for Allie.
Virginia10, When Dash has had to take antibioics he too will not eat. When he does start eating it tends to be Proteins only so for awhile so he gets boiled chicken, eggs or baby food ( chicken or turkey) . Dogs love the baby food so he rarely turned that down! I also start giving him plain yogart with live cultures so it will help replace the normal bacterial of the intestine and before too long he is back to eating his normal food. He loves plain yogart mixed with pumpkin which the others do too.
Alliebear, Glad to hear that Ally is done with her radiation! As you go through the side effects remember it will get better. Just watch out for possible nasal infections.Here's to a speedy recover from the radiation!
Sunday Dash was so slow on the walk that I was worried but today he has been much better and did the walk fine. I guess being the weekend babysitter since I worked Fri, Sat and Sun nights was hard work for the old guy. Now he gets the next 4 nights off.He is doing a great job with Dazzle as my neighbors say Dazzle is not crying/howling.
Bill give Emmitt a big hug and Erica that goes for you and Scout too Big hugs. Ok Dash says give all the dogs big cookies too!
Hi - i joined this site about 2 weeks ago, after returning from a rhinoscopy with my lab. We were told there was a very good chance she had nasal cancer (60% to 70%). We had lost our lab 5 1/2 years ago to nasal cancer so it seemed unbelievable we were dealing with this again. But the symptoms, particularly the nose bleeding and bloody sneezes were the same. So looking for some comfort i joined your site.
I wanted to let you all know your words helped me thru the difficult days of waiting for lab results. We did get the results and there was no sign of cancer!!!! They are now treating her with 3 different medications, believing we could simply be dealing with bacterial rhinitis. I am "guardily optimistic" that she will be ok. We've had no blood recently, but she continues to have a runny nose, but that i can deal with!!
To all of you who are dealing with your dogs nasal cancer i wish all of you the best. Having gone thru it once i know how difficult it is. Thanks for your caring words.
Deb
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Update
