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[Bulldogger]

Well, as many of you know, Doc's Mira Vista test came back negative and since the bloodwork was good and the vet was never able to find anything on the skin tests or lymph aspirations, we decided to stop the fluconazole and try doxycycline, incase it was one of the tick born diseases.  My husband did remind me that he pulled a tick off Doc's neck a month or two ago, and he believes a lesion cropped up somewhere in the vicinity of where the tick was pulled from or may be even the actual site where it was pulled from, so that was another reason I thought the tick born disease could be another possibility, if it's not blasto.  

It's been a few days now on the doxycycine, but he seems to be just getting worse.  Now I don't know if I've done the right thing by taking him off the fluconazole or not.  Perhaps I was too hasty.  It's just so difficult when time is of the essence, esp concerning getting the right meds to them.  He just seems to have so much inflammation going on.  He sees me coming with the thermometer or any kind of meds and wants to run hide now.  He's been letting me take his temp, but seems like even his hiney is sensitive to the touch.

He's not running fever, but I've noticed his lymph nodes are swollen now.  His cough, even though it's not as frequent, has turned into what is almost a demonic sounding gag from deep below.  I noticed this right after we had started the doxycycline and thought may be he was just gagging from it, but tonight I notice he is very swollen under the chin, like fluid or infection may be building up!  Might also be why he's gagging more.  Eyes are still bloodshot.  I keep applying the ointment and at times, they look a bit better, only to be bloodshot again the next day or so.

I feel like we're lost in a fog and just keep going around in circles.  Now, I'm really starting to worry about the C word to!  I'm thinking about taking him completely off all meds for a little while, to give him a bit of a break.  I hated to play musical chairs with the meds, but I'm broke already from the previous two vet trips and very limited in what I can do.. at least til the next pay day anyway.

Please pray for Doc!  He's hanging in there, but I'm real worried about him!

Lou  

    

[Cathy, Bailey and Duke]

Prayers said!!

[benniesmom]

I'm praying for Doc. Dear fellow.

[Sadie123]

How is Doc's appetite?  Is he willingly eating or are you having to force feed him? I really hate to tell you this, but the week or 2 before Sadie was put down she had a few lumps I found.  They were almost black in color and about the size of a small tick.  There were 3 of them one on her inner left leg, one on her outer left leg near the shoulder joint, and one on her left side of her upper chest/neck area.  If I squeezed them it seemed like she was bleeding a little just underneath the skin aorund them.  Now that may be an effect of the low platelets (easy bruising) but it could also have been the very start of a hemangiosarcoma tumor, which is a blood filled tumor.  They were so small that I never even showed them to my vet.  I just found 2 of them a few days before I let her go.  I know for a fact they weren't there prior to her illness because I am always petting her and I groom her myself.  I would have noticed them even though they were so small.  

Doc's bloodwork is normal and that's a good sign.  Cancer usually at some point shows anemia at the very least.  If Doc is this sick, and had cancer, well one would think his blood work would start to show the effects of it by now.  Sadie had a normal checkup in July, started getting sick by late Oct.  Had blood work done early Nov, and that's when the changes showed up.  Her cancer was a very fast spreading type.  I pray that's not Doc's case.  One thing that was confusing was she never really lost weight.  Cancer victims lose weight despite eating because the cancer sucks up all of their nutrition in order to grow and spread.  Perhaps given more time she would have started losing weight too.  Maybe her cancer came on too quickly.  I believe if it hadn't spread to the lungs so fast she would have continued to act normal and I would have never known anything was wrong with her.  Dogs are so very stoic.  


Have you tried steriods yet?  I know for a fact they can give a dog more energy and a little better appetite.  It doesn't change their diagnosis or the outcome if it is cancer, but it really did make Sadie's last days better.  Once I started her on the steriods she had a huge turn-around and started eating again.  Even did her usual tricks to get her treats.  It probably bought her another week or 2 with me and it was a better quality time rather than just sitting around watching her waste away.  It bought us time to see if there was any other illness we could find, it gave her a chance to respond to the doxy if that was going to happen.  It wasn't until she started really having a hard time breathing when laying down that I decided enough was enough.  The day I bought her to the vet to be put down, we sat out front in the yard and when my friend pulled up to go with us , she ran over to her barking like her normal self.  Many people didn't see her as sick as I did, because it was mostly when she lay down that she had the trouble.  So many people commented to me, including my vet "well she doesn't look very ill".  But I knew and my vet listened to me when I described her laying down.  He knew too.  But it was the steriods easing her symptoms.  So if it is the same type of cancer, and youwant a little more time, it's worth a try.  It took Sadie about 12 hrs for the first dose to make her feel better.  Then I gave it to her 2x a day.     It's a cheap way to buy just a little more time.  It didn't stop her cncer, it didn't slow it down, but it did make her feel better.  

Praying for you and Doc

Shelley

[Bulldogger]

Thanks so much guys!  Below are some shots of my sick boy lying on the daybed.  I'm sure you can tell by the pics that he is not feeling real well.  Now we've found a new lesion that looks a bit different from the others.  It looks like a teat in the picture, but it's almost like a skin tag or wart filled with clear fluid on his tummy, next to his privates.  Wish the picture was clearer.  I think I was too close when I took it.

To give a little more info on Doc.  He is eating good right now.  Actually seems to be pretty hungry most of the time and willing to take food whenever I offer it.  I bought some Dannon plain yogurt and have been giving him a couple tablespoons of that, along with some turmeric mixed in with it.  He seems to enjoy it, so I'm glad his appetite hasn't appeared to have lightened up any.

He also has a good temp.  No fever back yet.  His bloodwork was good back on Nov 4th, but I guess that could have changed.  The lesions on Doc are not dark colored.  They are really more purple/red looking, sort of like blisters and I believe they have a clear fluid in them.  Also some of the purple staining yall are probably seeing on his skin/fur is from the homemade spray with gentian violet in it.  I mixed up povidone iodine, boric acid, gentian violet and some other stuff and made my own antibacterial/antifungal spray.  Gentian violet is a great topical antifungal, but that stuff stains like crazy!

I was doing some searching on the internet and ran across something called pemphigus.  There are apparently 4 kinds that affect dogs.  It's basically an overactive autoimmune disfunction where the dog's body starts attacking itself.  Symptoms can be swollen lymph nodes and blister or wart like lesions that run with fluid, lethargy and no appetite.  Shelly, it's funny you should mention the steroids cause that's what it says they normally treat that condition with, to help calm the immune system down.  Thank you so much for your tips and suggestions.  You have no idea how helpful it is!!

Steroids is the one thing we haven't tried yet.  Pemphigus can be triggered by medication reactions, so I'm just wondering if it's a possibility with Doc, since he's been on 3 meds here recently, may be I've overloaded the poor guy with all these meds.  That's why I was thinking may be I should just rest him completely off everything for a day or two to give him and his liver/kidneys a little break.

There are just so many uncertainties!!  You have the fungal, tick born, protozoan & cancer's that are all so similar as far as symptoms go.  It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, esp when nothing can be confirmed and there are just no clear answers to the mystery.  Ah well.. I reckon I will rest Doc for a day or two (except for his turmeric & yogurt and his eye ointments).  We'll see how he is and then go from there.

I do have some prednisone already on hand that I had been saving incase I ever needed it.  I have been dealing with a possible autoimmune disease myself, so I understand the uncertainty.  It all hit's home on a personal level for me.  One Rheumatologist dx me with mixed connective tissue disease, but decided it could possibly be lupus.  The latest Rheumy says no, it's RA, so who knows.  I'm just glad I kept the prednisone on hand cause it may come in handy!

Lesion on the belly that looks like a skin tag with clear liquid in it


Notice the blootshot eyes..









  

[Cosmo]

He's a gorgeous boy! Poor Doc!  He has a loving and caring family.  What more could a dog need?  Keep up the good work.
Jacci

[benniesmom]

Oh i just love your Doc. How sad he looks! I think your gut feeling about a rest from all the drugs might really be a good thing to try... You are so tuned into this big wonderful fellow. I just love him! He reminds me of Max, a Boxer we had....... Macko was so expressive like that guy Doc.... He was maybe my favorite dog ever. I will never forget him. and niether will my son, Henry, who was Macko's little boy....

Good luck with the next plan.. I have to take Prednisone every once in a while, and it is a miracle drug when needed.... bet it will help Doc, if you use it. Great that he eats...... And.. Ensure Plus is a real life saver. vanilla...... Bennie will often lap that up when all else fails.....

[Sadie123]

Lou,

If you decide to give the prednisone a try, start with the low dose.  It makes them drink so much water and they have to go urinate every hour or 2, so it's a lot of getting up and down for them.  It also causes some fluid retention which can lead to belly bloat, making breathing more difficult.  Sadie was around 50 lbs and I gave her 15 mg.  The vet was surprised at the turn around she had on such a low dose and that made him hopeful that she was responding to the doxy.  The day I put her down, he offered to let me try her on high dose steriods just to see what happened.  I told him no, because by then I had weaned her down to 10 mg just once a day and she still drank alot.  I didn't want her getting any more bloated than she already was, which I knew would make her more uncomfortable.  I could tell when I tried to completely wean her off the pred, her appetite started declining, so I gave her some more.  I just kept picturing her chest x-ray and the limited space for good air exchange that she had, I just couldn't make breathing any more difficult for her.  So that's why I stuck with the low dose which did perk her up a bit. 

[Cosmo]

Prednisone helped with the swelling in Cosm'o eye.  It helped relieve the pain.  He is now on deramax for pain but he couldn't start that until he was off the prednisone for 48 hours.
Jacci

[Niners]

I hope Doc is resting comfortably, and getting some relief. I'm so sorry. This has been so hard. After losing 99, I just can't stop rooting for all of you and your wonderful dogs. Praying for your boy to feel better soon.

ct

[jefndebbacon]

Oh poor Doc, and poor Doc's "people."  I am so sorry to hear of all of these troubles.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.  Hugs, Deb

[Bulldogger]

Thanks for all the support!  I can't tell you what it means, but at the same time my heart breaks for those that have lost their babies.  I thankful and greatful for every moment I have and praying for each and everyone.  A vaccine or better and more curative way to treat this can't come soon enough!!

One little thing that was so nice tonight was we ordered pizza.  It's Doc's absolute favorite food!  As soon as my husband said we were having pizza, Doc jumped off that daybed and started wagging that tail.  He was so excited!!  It's the first time I've seen his tail wag in a while.  I probably shouldn't have, but I gave him 2 pieces of pizza and halfed another between him and his daughter, Red girl.  He also wolfed down some of my left over crust.  Little things mean so much when you've got a sick baby. 

[apope43]

If Doc is willing to eat pizza right now when he feels so bad, then pizza it is!!!!!!  Don't feel bad about that one bit!!

It's so difficult with animals (and children) because they can't verbalize that where's and how's of pain and illness.  Diagnostics are so expensive, making it even more difficult.  Go with your gut on halting the medicine...sure, it may be helping, but at the same point, it may be hiding symptoms that will help point you in the right direction.

Sometimes intution can trump medicine.  This can all be overwhelming and confusing, deep breaths for a few minutes can really help!

[Sadie123]

How's Doc doing?   I'm thinking about Doc. 

[jiggasmom]

Glad to hear he ate pizza. That's definitely a good sign!! How is he doing today?