My sweet girl, Kumba has just recently took a turn in a different direction. We went through chemo for six treatments every four weeks (my memory is so bad, I think that was the timeline). Kumba was so brave and such a trooper through the whole thing. She threw up and lost her appetite off and on, had the runs quite a bit, but always seem to bounce back. Unfortunately we found out on her follow up visit after her final (1 mo. after) chemo treatment that she had a couple of small spots in her lungs. We were told she would only have a few months of life left. This breaks my heart, I was hoping she would have fought the cancer completely. She had clear lungs when we started this process and I was trying to stay positive.
Now a couple of months later…Kumba is having problems getting up. She doesn’t seem to want to move alot of the time. Her back legs tremble when she is laying down and seem weak when she tries walking. Her one front leg seems to be giving out when she walks also, she stumbles alot. She is still getting up and going outside but it is only twice a day and it seems to be such a chore for her and hurts me to watch her because she struggles so much.
She was throwing up but I changed her pain meds and now she hasnt thrown up in a couple of days but shes not walking much. She also has this wierd thing goin on with her eyes. Dont gag…They have goopy colored stuff that keeps coming out of them and its like a yellowish green colored pus. I keep cleaning them and in no time its there again, not sure why. Of course its the weekend and the vets office is closed. I have been giving her so many pills, seloxine/thyroid pill, pepto bismo, pain med, probiotic, acid reflux pill and its getting harder and harder to encourage her to eat them when hidden in cheese, bread, meat, hotdog. I am running out of ideas on how to get her to eat them and I don’t like to pop them down her throat, I feel awful doing that to her. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
I read a few posts from other tripawd parents and got a few ideas and encouraged me to give an update on Kumba. I left a message for her vet who is different then the one who she went to for the amp and chemo due to far location. I am hoping to change her meds. Right now she is taking tramadol which I just swiched to because meloxicam was making her throw up and seemed to be hard on her tummy. I am on here trying to get feedback and ideas of what to do. I don’t know if her vet will be familiar tripawds, disko or disc issues. I will try heat and cold packs and hope that gives her some comfort. Its really hard to know what to do at this point. Am I being unfair at this point if she is not getting up like she used to? Is it possible that something else might work or is this what should be expected? The thought of her being miserable and in pain hurts my heart… I appreciate any feedback, ideas or experiences that may help me when I talk to the vet. Thank you all for your support and for sharing your experience with your beloved companions
I am very sorry that Kumba is having a hard time right now. Try not to lose hope until you can pinpoint what is going on.
At the time of diagnosis of OSA, we had a CAT scan on Zeus which showed a small spot on his lung and one on his liver. I’m sure you know that a met on the lung at the time of diagnosis does not leave much hope. But, we took a shot and amputated. At the time of his first chemo about a month later the spot had grown a bit. As of 1.5 months ago (6 months post-amp) the spot was still a single spot and did not appear to have grown. It is unusual to only have one spot for so long, but a few other dogs on here have experienced the same thing (Abby). Mets aren’t always the end of the road.
Zeus also has the eye goop for the last year (even before his diagnosis). I clean it out a couple of times a day but it doesn’t seem to bother him. I did notice that it cleared-up when he was on antibiotics for pneumonia but it came back after we were done with the meds.
As to the weakness, it took me a long time to put two and two together, but Zeus gets that way when he has pancreatitis (he’s had it three times since last July!). His back legs get quite weak (causing him to struggle a bit when standing), his walking changes (seems like it is more of an effort to hop that front foot forward and when he does it lands very heavily). I don’t know if these symptoms come from him being weak from throwing up or the painful stomach. It might be worthwhile to request a “Spec cPL” test. Normal CBCs don’t test for pancreatitis and this is just an extra blood test that costs about $40. Other sign of pancreatitis are a yellowish color to the stool.
As for giving meds, try extra chunky peanut butter. We’ve found he cannot tell the difference between the chunks of peanuts and a pill.
Good luck!!!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for sharing what you experienced and for the encouragement. Its hard to hold onto sometimes…I will look up pancreatititis, it sounds very similiar to what Kumba is experiencing. I did get a prescription today for Pretnazone and will try it and follow up in a couple of days with the doctor. Is this something that is common for Tripawds? I mentioned it to her Vet and he didnt seem to think it was but he also didn’t seem to give me much info on what it was either. I didn’t push for too much on an off duty Sunday return call but I will research more and then ask him during a follow up. I did get her to eat a can of tuna last night and today:) I also found out that I was able to give her an Ibuprofen to help with her discomfort. After being her mama so long why is it that I didn’t really know that was a safe med to give her.
How did you know Zeus had pneumonia? That is so awesome to hear that his spot has not grown. I would have never thought that was even a possibility. The chemo vet didn’t make it sound like I should even try to get Kumba rechecked again. It was as if we needed to just know that we only had a few months left and that was that. Zeus is definitely a fighter and I hope he continues to do well! Thank you so much for sharing and caring.
I’m so sorry to hear that the mets showed up in Kumba’s lungs so soon after the chemo finished. We got the same diagnosis 2 months after chemo finished and were devastated.
Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it with your vet. If possible you need them to have a good look at Kumba ASAP;
I can’t offer any suggestions on the eye problem. I’ve never seen anything like that.
I would suggest checking with your vet if any of the meds might be causing Kumba’s muscle weakness. Also Tramadol can cause loss of appetite which will make it even harder to get her to take all her pills.
The horrible question to consider is whether the cancer might be in her spine or other bones. I’m sorry to suggest it but it is what happened to Magnum. It returned in her back left hip and she got to the stage where she didn’t want to get up because of the pain and we made the decision to let her go because her pain became too great and we were warned that she was at risk of fracturing her hip. Ask your vet about bisphosphonates if there is metastasis to other bones. It can be a helpful option in some instances.
Of course it might also be a muscle strain or disc issues. Others here have had good results from acupuncture. Magnum also benefited from massage from a vet physio. The physio warned me to be careful about using warm packs (they should be warm, not hot) because depending on the problem they might make it worse. I used cold packs on Magnum’s hip and that seemed to help. But I used warm (shouldn’t be too hot) packs on her upper back for the sore muscles.
Also consider posting in the “Ask a Vet” section. Pam the resident vet checks that section and answers questions.
Sending you lots of hugs
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Hi Karen,
Thank you for sharing Magnums experience and I am sorry to hear he went through more bone or spine cancer. He had a similiar diagnosis and signs like Kumba which concerns me. I will ask the vet about bisphosphonates. Its so hard to know what we are facing now but I feel better about trying to get things changed up for her in hopes of seeing some improvement. She actually ate more today then she has in the last few days. She hasn’t had the runs yet either and I stopped all the meds per the Vets direction/Sunday phone call. I will continue to Ice and stop the heat just in case and I will try to figure out the Ask a Vet section. Thank you so much for your great insight and for sharing Magnums experience.His spirit is still alive and serving a wonderful purpose by sharing and helping others like Kumba. I am very grateful.
Sorry to hear about all the trouble – it’s so hard to figure out what’s going on when there are so many medications that can make our buddies sick! My Bubba had a hard time with the Tramadol and it’s taken about 3mths to come up with the right type and dose of medication for him. When Bubba lost his ability to get up after the amp, we had to do a similar investigation. He ended up staying at the vet for 1 week to figure out if it was due to medication, disease, injury or depression. My advice would be to work with the doctor to find the problem by process of elimination and trying some different meds. I think dogs are more like people than we think. I work with cancer patients who constantly need changes in medications, especially pain meds. Be hopeful and trust your instinct. You know your pet better than anyone!
Hi, Thank you for sharing Bubba experience. What ended up being the cause to Bubbas lost ability to get up? I am hoping we can get to the bottom of this and I needed to be reminded that I have to go through the process of elimination. Thank you for the reminder. I hope we figure it out before she gets worst. Yes our pups are like people and need constant change in meds and especially with the food when they get so nauseous or worst, when they get sick, whatever they upchuck is probably the last time they want to even try it. Thanks again
I just read through this and it’s heartbreaking. I’ve seen a lot of posts where meds really do play a big role and create some odd side effects, I hope this turns out to be the case. I’m quite the novice in this group. I do have an idea for hiding pills. I always put them in either liver sausage or cream cheese and it’s always worked for me. I hope things take a turn for the better for Kumba. It does seem odd that she did OK through all that chemo and now all of a sudden is having problems. I will be keeping both of you in my thoughts.
Thank you kathy I tried the cream cheese, she hesitated but with a lil lunch meat to stick to it was a winner! I am trying everything I can to find the winners. After reading others and thier experiences, it doesn’t seem as odd to me. I guess all of the over compensation with losing a limb causes lots of other obstacles and the meds and chemo probably didn’t help her good bones:( I am hoping we find her some comfort soon…
Welcome and thank you for sharing Kumba’s story. We’re sorry to hear about her trouble. Consider seeking the opinion of a certified rehab vet and please keep us posted.