Ashki – new thread

[admin]

Hiya Tamara
Keeping this brief as hard to type on this weird foreign PC thing! Jean is not worried – it’s so good to hear that. Your vet wanting to work with her is such a relief, I bet, and I think you are the most patient owner already because of what’s happened. Interesting about the folate & late maturqtion arrest. Ashki will get there slowly but surely – you are one amazing Mum, Tamara, and I am happy things are looking so positive.
Love & cuddles from me & the boys
Sheena xxxxx

[admin]

Hi Tamara

I’m so pleased to hear Ashki is hanging in there and it’s always nice to see a little rise in PCV. I like the sound of your specialist very much, and have a lot of respect for medics (human and veterinary) who are open to other opinions. What does she think is the reason for Ashki wanting to eat grass? Could it be pica? I know cats often eat grass when nauseous or needing to bring up a furball, but I wasn’t aware of this behaviour in dogs.

Omeprazole: I am a huge fan. I’ve never used it for my animals but have taken it myself for a long time and think it’s wonderful. Will you be continuing the famotidine alongside it or doing a straight switch?

Very interesting about the folate and maturation arrest. It will be great to hear how Ashki gets on with his new foods.

How is he feeling in himself? I hope he’s monitoring those cats! Mable sends him some gentle ear licks. And how are you? You are such a wonderful and dedicated Mum to Ashki, and I am so happy that you have such a great specialist who is willing to work with you.

Lots of love, Mary and Mable x

[Vally]

Tamara, sounds like a really good visit and yes, I like the sound of your specialist too. Enjoy the cooking Tamara. Enjoy the eating Ashki.

Love Vally & Bingo

[Linda]

Hi Tamara. I am so glad that you think the meds are kicking in for Ashki’s tyroid and that this might be a reason for the retics. Dr. Dodds is awesome and we are so lucky that she responds to our (constant, me too!) questions. She would not say she’s optimistic, if she wasn’t – so that is great the hear.

The sadness of all they go through on these horrible/wonderful drugs is concerning, to say the least. But know that as soon as he can get some of these horrible/wonderful drugs down in amount, you will start to see a reversal. Sadie is finally becoming black again, instead of dull almost grey. So, keep that in mind – a bit of encouragement.

I am glad you’re weaning slow. It does take forever. Sadie’s first relapse was due to weaning too fast. But then, I think she’ll be on some sort of immune suppressant for life. I had gotten her down to 2.5mg pred (only) daily when she relapsed last time. So weird. And she was doing so great too. It’s okay – she’s doing well now – that’s all I care about, right?!

Keep up the GREAT work and keep us posted! Much love and huge hugs, Linda and Sadie

[Tamara]

Hi all, thank you so much for your support and love. I’m so thankful to have our specialist talking to Jean, having the two of them working together is just wonderful and I think will be very helpful.

It is interesting about the folate, and when I started reading about it I saw that it is a necessary part of erythropoeisis.

Mary, Ashki eats grass when his tummy is bothering him, so similar I think to cats. I am keeping an eye on that as it’s a clue as to how he’s doing there. It seems to be a little better. He seems to be feeling a little bit better too, playing with his toys a little bit. It’s so hard to see them feeling poorly, and we’ve been at this for so long. He is keeping an eye on the cats and everything else in the neighborhood. The other night he went to the window and just about lost his mind, there were two cats sitting at the end of the driveway!

Ashki seems to like his new foods, though since he ‘s on pred he wants all the food all the time :) . I do get tired of all the cooking but am hanging in there. Right now though I’m just tired, my sleep is fractured from the med schedule and I do struggle with insomnia a bit. I k now it will get better, though.

Linda, I’m so happy to hear that Sadie is doing so well. It’s interesting what you say about her coloring changing, Ashki’s muzzle gets very light when he’s on higher doses of pred.

Sending you all big hugs and lots of love —
tamara and ashki xoxox

[admin]

Hi Tamara

I’m happy that Ashki got a treat of two cats to monitor! How is he feeling? Glad his tummy is a little better. Do you think the omeprazole is helping? I didn’t realise dogs also eat grass when they have a tummy upset. When is Ashki’s next PCV check?

I can hear in your post how tired you are feeling, and I know you have really been in this for the long haul. It is testimony to your love and dedication to Ashki and I admire you no end. Keep on keeping on! You are doing such a wonderful job and I hope you are managing to get some sleep. Insomnia is horrible and difficult to deal with. Personally, I find worrying about it is the worst thing. The more you worry you can’t sleep, the more you can’t sleep! Have you found anything that helps?

Remember to take care of yourself too.

Much love, Mary and Mable x

[Tamara]

Hi Mary —
Ashki is doing ok, I’m still worried about his tummy, though he does seem to do better when I give him sucralfate 3 times a day. I’ve done that for two days now (I tried to cut back to twice daily for a couple days) and now he’s up in his window keeping an eye on things. :)

I decided to change from the omeprazole back to famotidine because when I checked on drugs.com there are quite a lot of interactions between omeprazole and the drugs Ashki is on. I finally found that part of the site where you can enter all the drugs at once and it will spit out any interactions, what a brilliant service!

I’m going to see Ashki does today and may take him in for a PCV check tomorrow; otherwise I’ll wait until next week. He’s been looking a little pinker to me, I’m very happy about that.

There’s some drama at our specialist’s office, who is the owner. There is also an oncologist there, and I’ve known for some time she was leaving to open her own practice. Well last week I found out that she is leaving in two weeks, and taking almost all the staff with her, and they only gave two weeks’ notice, which I think is just incredibly crappy. Technically I understand that is the norm when someone quits, but when almost the entire staff is leaving, to not give more notice? To me that is sabotage. Thank goodness our specialist has another, larger office from which she can pull staff temporarily until she can hire ne.

I’m doing better, you are exactly right about insomnia it is horrible! And yes, you worry as you’re lying there, and then you can’t sleep! I have found a few things that help: there’s a tea we have here in the States, it’s made by Traditional Medicinals, it’s called Nighty Night Tea; I also have a supplement that has melatonin and some other things that help (I can get the name if you’d like); Rescue Remedy Sleep; lavender essential oil, just a tiny bit on my wrists; focusing on my breathing. And when none of that works, Ativan (which I rarely use because it’s addictive). I used to need all of the alternative remedies, now I only use the tea and lavender, and Rescue Remedy if I’m still awake after an hour. If I’m still awake 30 minutes after that I’ll use the ativan. The supplement with the melatonin has become too much for me and leaves me groggy now. Ashki is waking me at least once and often twice a night, but I can usually get right back to sleep. And I set the alarm for 5:30am to give him his first sucralfate and go back to sleep for an hour. But that fractured sleep is not ideal of course.

Sorry to ramble on about sleep so much! I’m a little fixated on it lol.

Sending you and Mable much love, please give her some scritchies and chin rubs from me.
tamara and ashki xoxox

[admin]

Hi Tamara

Good news on your beautiful boy Ashki’s pink gums – if they are acting fine, they are feeling fine & that is the biggest bonus.

I have always preferred famotidine because of the much fewer drug interactions, so you are right to change in my opinion. It is also part of many IMHA protocols I have read as it has the least side effects too. I always use drugs.com to check everything & I think it’s pretty good. I am always suspicious about “kick backs” from drug companies too, making professionals prescribe differently – does that happen over there? It certainly does here!

Strange goings on at your specialists – that is very uncooperative, but I’m glad it won’t disrupt your appointments as you are onto a good thing for Ashki’s wellbeing.

Sleep? I don’t remember ever having a good night ever when Worzel was going through his treatment, so you must be exhausted as it has been such a long haul for you – much longer than for us. Have you tried hops (as in beer making hops)? I have heard that if you put them in your pillow, they send you into a deep sleep, although temporarily, are not addictive & at least you might be able to get some rest. I have tried Tick Tock Tea, an Australian tea which is very relaxing. I cannot function without 8 hours solid sleep myself & it is no fun. We all know it’s not good for a clear head & you end up running on adrenaline, which makes things worse & worse.

Hope you are feeling sleepy after reading this message – go & get a big relaxing cuddle with that lovely boy!

Crossing everything for the next test! Pink gums are the best
Sheena & the boys xxxxxx