Four Paws Wholistic

12/20/2020

So I havent written in about a weeks time. To be honest, I thought after the IV therapy 8 days ago, I had put Layla through an uneccessary treatment. Four days after the therapy she was uncomfortable, had little energy, and basically didnt eat for about 4 days. Then on the 5th day she woke up and seemed in much better spirits. She got her appetite back, was moving around, and spent time in the back yard smelling. In the last two days, she is definitely in less pain, and sleeping much better. So I guess the biphosphonate needed time to start working. So if this continues, I will probably try another round in about 5 weeks time. I will take the week off to comfort her. Perhaps the next round will have less side effects, or at least be less. I have changed up her veggies this week, substituting steamed broccoli and yams for the spinach and butternut squash. She seems to really be enjoying her gourmet food. Heck, these days she is eating better than myself. Christmas is a week away, and I look forward to the New Year, the vaccine, and the possibility of travelling again. I have a few videos to post, and will do so this evening. I am hopeful the IV therapy will continue to help her and give her a quality of life for many more months. I guess only time will tell. I have been able to scale down her tramadol to the original dose of 100mg every 12 hrs. During the 5 days after her therapy I increased her dose to 150mg every 10 hours as she definitely needed it. Merry Christmas
M

12/13/2020

One of the websites that has a wealth of information and resources is Smiling Blue Skys. They have pages of sites that can help with paying for your pets vet bills, to support groups and health information.
The Guelph Vet School also has some great research papers. The website that I found the prorocol for Layla is on the Veterinary News Practice site. Type in Osteosarcoma and Dr. Ben Stein's page and management will come up. If you feel that you would like to follow this path, give your vet as much information as you can. The more confident and knowledge you have, the better for your pet.
Penn State Vet School also has a wealth of information.
Bone Cancer Dogs is a non profit group that offers support and assistance. There is a vaccine that is in clinical trials, however it will not save my dog. I will become an advocate for the vaccine, its the least I can do. No dog should have to go through cancer. They are not supposed to contract human diseases. I will continue to add websites that I think may be of some benefit as I find them. Until then, stay safe, stay calm, be kind.

12/13/2020

Yesterday Dec 11th Layla had her first IV therapy of 60mg of biphosphonate. She did very well. We decided to give it to her over a 4hr period as she is sensitive to most drugs. I was nervous of course, not sure whether I would be helping her, or just fulfilling a selfish will to keep her here with me longer. It is my hope that it does what it is supposed to do, ease the bone pain, and hopefully slow down the cancer cells. Only time will tell. Her CBC came back better than i expected with only a low white blood count. Her urine was normal, as was her temp and heart rate. Dr. Blythe said she was a perfect patient. She was very excited to see me when I picked her up and jumped around more than usual. I hope that in the weeks to come it helps her. She is still on the 100-150 mg of tramadol every 12 hrs. It has now been 24 hrs since her therapy and she is no worse for ware. She is sleeping, and has eaten 3 small meals which I am preparing for her. The most important thing is to ensure she drinks to help her kidneys. So from the braised pork shoulder I ladled off the broth and have added it to her water to entice her to drink more. It seems to have done the trick. She is up to her old ways of coming up and rubbing her face on my legs and chair to get me to rub her head. Those little things are a great comfort. Now only time will tell if the treatment will help. At the very least I am hoping to ease her bone pain with the pamidronate. It is an osteoporosis drug used to help slow the leach of calcium from the bones. It is also used in Osteosarcoma. I am not expecting it to help her limp, although that would be a wonderful sight to see. As long as it helps Layla I will continue to. Having the baseline CBC's was necessary to go forward with the therapy. It will also give us a baseline to see if there is any headway made with the drug. I want to thank the staff at Juan De Fuca vet clinic for taking such good care of my beloved pet. They genuinely care about her and her welfare. They were nothing but empathetic and compassionate to both me and my dog. I will post some videos of the past few days to show you how she is doing. I hope this will help anyone out there who has a pet that is not ready to leave this earth, but has some love to give and a life to live. I will post some of the websites that have been helpful to me.

12/07/2020

12/07/2020

12/07/2020

12/07/2020

12/07/2020

12/07/2020

So I haven't posted for the last 4 days, just needed to decompress from the stress of work. Layla has been good. Not going outside much, but she decided to go for a walk yesterday. We went about half way down the block and came back. Today, she is limping more than she has in the past month. So I guess she went too far. I have been in touch with my vet. She has agreed to try the biphosphonate on Layla. So next Friday she is going in to get the drip. I have done considerable research on the drug and found some great websites. There are numerous studies going on, and there is a wealth of information. It just takes some digging. I will post them after this post. I have decided to make her food as she seems to be off her dry kibble, so now I am making it. One of the most important things is that they keep up their health. She really seems to enjoy it. I have simmered pork shoulder( as that's the only protein she is not sensitive to), butternut squash, steamed carrots, and fresh spinach. I pulse it in the food processor to chop it up a bit. It is a huge success. She has eaten almost all of it. She is still on 100mg of tramadol twice daily. She sleeps most of the day away, and seems comfortable. I am posting some videos from the past 4 days. She has always been sensitive to many things, however, noise is a big one. So I have her old bed in my bathroom and she often sleeps there during the day. Its darker and quieter than the family room. I have put an extra feather blanket on both beds to help keep her warm and hopefully more comfortable. She is continuing to drink the chaga tea that I add to her water. I do not know if it is making a difference, however, I figure it cannot hurt. I also didnt write over the last couple of days as it is hard to say what I feel when I have to be strong for her. Yes, I am sad; and some days are sorrowful, but these past two days seeing her appetite again, has made me happy. I guess we rejoice in the moments we have. Today I have changed up the music and played a station with music from Lucy Rose and like minded. It is soft, melodic folk. Truly the perfect music for today. She is calm and sleeping as I write.

11/29/2020

Nov 29th. Today was a beautiful day. Layla decided she wanted to go for a stroll. She was good today, ate her food, drank lots of water with some chaga tea. It is a fungi that researchers are studying for its properties in treating cancer. So far it shows promise. So I have been making tea and putting it in her water. I don't know if it is helping, however, I do not think it can hurt. She was up and spent about 15 min out and about in the yard. She slept well, and was there to greet me at the door when I got home. She seems to have stopped shedding as in previous weeks. I take that as a positive as well. I have found some great information on a Veterinary Practice website. published by Dr. Ben Stein DMV, pain management guru and founder of VAASG. He has a protocol for the management of pain in the dog who has Osteosarcoma. So. I am hopeful with the help of my dedicated vet Dr. Blythe, we can indeed manage Layla's pain and keep her healthy for as long as possible. It is a great relief for me to be able to share her journey with my children and those who may have a similar situation. It is my hope that by sharing her remaining days and medication schedule, that it may help someone else who has been given the same diagnosis. If you can see that it helps my dog, perhaps it may enable someone else to seek the same treatment. As long as Layla continues to stay the course, I will continue to keep her with me. My vet agrees with me that she is nowhere near the option of euthanasia yet. That is a relief to me. I think writing about it may help me in the coming weeks. When Dr. Blythe decides on the course of action I will let you all know what I am doing.

11/29/2020

Layla Nov 29th enjoying the sunshine, feeling good today. 's journey