Split: For Hope and Steve – Page 5 – Second Chance AIHA Dogs

Keymaster

Hi Hope and Steve. Awesome that you are doing so well and gaining on the PCV Steve. You good boy, you. Reading your questions was way too familiar with my own through the months. Never, never, stop asking though. That’s why we’re all here.

On the rawhide chews – did anyone respond. I will. Sadie love them – down the hatch in no time flat. No chew – she devours them! So, I stopped giving them to her, for several reasons. First, they can bite off such a large piece and it can lodge in their stomach and or they can choke. Second, she was frantic while chewing and her heart would race for 30 minutes after the chew was devoured. Third, she was SO thirsty, that she downed more gallons of water than normal (post AIHA and nasty/good meds). And fourth, she would continually SMACK her lips. Awe.

Now, we have reverted to the infamous ‘bully sticks’ and she devours those too. I get the US ones (Red Barn) and literally hunt (okay, I know this sounds perverted) for the longer, thicker ones so they’ll last longer and I can get to it to take it away before she gets to the end (when I’m lucky – I’ve miss several – and yes, panicked AND posted). Everyone here now knows exactly WHAT bully sticks are – so I won’t go into that, either. They last longer and are more digestible than the rawhide. However, I’ve stopped both now and keeping it simple, food, a few treats (love Fruitables, made with pumpkin). Poor boring pallet.

I have to watch Sadie constantly with the lip smacking. Sadie goes in and out with it. She was on full blown Sucralfate, three times a day for a while. I also gave her the Cerenia, which helped much. I keep it on hand – never without it in her medicine chest (that looks like my dad’s – he’s 98!). She still, to this day, for no reason at all, except perhaps ‘extras’ that she’d getting in her diet, will do the lip smacking. Has been lately as a matter of fact. Like I said, constant checking.

Sadie too, will have loose stools out of nowhere. The pumpkin does not help her, although she’s most likely the only pup on this forum that it doesn’t help. I do give her the a product called Perfect Form by Honest Kitchen. Just a tad, or it too, as the pumpkin does with her, makes ‘matters’ worse.

About the Denamarin – it’s a wonderful product. But after long time use and fear of the additives (beautiful blue color), I opted for the Herb Pham liquid milk thistle and Lumina Cell Food SAM-e, which are both in Denamarin. Sadie is big, she’s almost 40 lbs and I give her 18 drops (agree with Sheena – too much can give them loose stools or diarrhea – so if you do this, gage accordingly) of milk thistle and 11 drops of SAM-e, in her food, twice daily.

Additionally, I give her slippery elm for her tummy (in plain Greek yogurt, about a teaspoon full) when the lip smacking starts. She’ll get some today. I just open the capsule and pour a bit in a bowl with the yogurt and a bit of H2O. She laps it down. Ravenous girl, that she is.

Tamara – so glad you’re getting Ashki’s scripts at Costco. A good thought to keep in mind Hope. They are certainly less expensive and very, very helpful. But Tamara, Anti Icky Poo – that is a hoot!!! See what our pups get us to resort to!!! Checking for just the right bully stick and buying Anti Icky Poo!!! One must keep a sense of humor through all this!! :)

Here’s hoping Steve continues to do well. Keep us posted AND ask all the questions, voice all concerns. I, as I’m sure all feel too, never get tired of anyone here trying to grasp it all. Lord knows I continue to do so too.

Love and hugs, Linda and Sadie

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