New Journey / Off to a promising start

[Alison Kratish]

Update on Cody. New CBC and PCV this past Friday, 6/17/2016. PCV up to 33 now (it was at 29 on 6/13). I’m happy that the numbers are moving in a positive direction. I remain cautiously optimistic.

I also noticed that his Reticulocytes are in the high range @ 4.8% (181,000). I think this is also good, indicating regenerative. Please correct me if I’m wrong about that.

[Alison Kratish]

I also started Cody (and his sister, LuLu) on a new diet. I’ve read in more than a few places that grain free is generally better for dogs (even healthy ones), but specifically for IMHA dogs. So we are now using the Under The Sun brand of Grain Free Chicken Flavor dog food. Both dogs are LOVING it, but they are Corgis, so in all fairness, I haven’t seen them turn their noses up at any food. Ever.

Below are the ingredients and other details:

OUR INGREDIENTS
Pork meal, green peas, chickpeas, yellow peas, chicken fat, chicken, suncured alfalfa, flaxseed, natural flavor, minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, tomatoes, butternut squash, green apples, blueberries, carrots, sage, parsley, sweet potatoes, mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E).

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (min.)
25.00%
Crude Fat (min.)
11.00%
Crude Fiber (min.)
4.00%
Moisture (max.)
10.00%

CALORIE CONTENT (CALCULATED)
ME (kcal/kg)
3280
ME (kcal/lb)
1491
ME (kcal/kg)
3.28
ME (kcal/cup)
357.5

[Amy E]

Because the steroids can cause so much muscle waste we put Coal on freeze dried raw and it made all the difference in the world. You may want to consider adding some to the kibble to keep costs down. We used Bravo. It is an excellent product you just soak it in water and add to the kibble.

[Sheena]

Hi Alison

You are right – high reticulocytes = regenerative, which is always good news. Any improvement in PCV is always welcome – come on Cody – keep getting higher & higher for your Mum.

Diet is always a little bit of a “contentious” issue, but I personally believe in keeping the protein high & the fat reasonably low as this what what we always told people on longer term steroids to do. I also used Dr Dodds dietary suggestions. Fat aggravates the pancreas & is best avoided. Muscle wasting is a big problem as it is a side effect of the pred as Amy so rightly says. Even though Worzel was eating may six (or more) times his usual meals, he still lost muscle very badly, but greyhounds are pretty much skin, muscle & bone anyway which makes it worse. Thankfully, he did return to a completely normal shape, just like he was, after we got him off the pred. I think most of us on here would tell you the same story.

Good luck on your next visit – when will that be? We will all be thinking about you of course.

Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxx

[Alison Kratish]

Next PCV test will be this Thursday, June 23. I’m supposed to be out of town Fri and Sat night so I want to know the number on Thursday so I can decide if I need to cancel my trip. Any decline in that PCV will prompt a cancelation for me. Fingers crossed!

[Sheena]

Crossing everything for you both!

[Vally]

Alison, with feeding, I try to keep it as little grain as possible, but Bingo has had arthritis issues for years, so that’s what prompted me on that. I had him on raw food for the whole time I had him, but when he developed a serious gastro infection, whilst on the high dose pred, I learned that raw is not safe for dogs on high immuno-suppressants, obviously because they can’t fight any little thing that they would normally not have an issue with (learning curve all the way). I went back to raw when he came down in his pred dosage, but in the end, have gone back to cooked as he seemed to keep getting some tummy problems. So he now gets cooked, which he’ll ONLY eat if topped by a raw chicken neck, so I guess he does get a bit of both.

Good luck with that next test and hop you can get away.

Vally & Bingo
xxx

[Alison Kratish]

I just wanted to post a suggestion for those of you in the United States, whose dogs are on Atopica. I found a great source for less money than any other site that I looked at this week. Allivet.com sells their 50 mg Atopica 15 capsule boxes for $40.99/box. If you put it on Autoship, they offer a small discount off of that price. My vet hospital pharmacy charged me $56/box for the same exact med. So, basically I got 3 for the price of 2 at Allivet. They phoned my vet’s office the same day to get the approval, and my meds shipped that afternoon. They just arrived at my office! I’m very excited about this source and will compare their pricing with Walmart’s pricing for the Prednisone and the Azathiprine that Cody is also on. I like the auto ship option….Saves me a trip to the Walmart pharmacy!

(they may also ship out of the US)