Rescue Journal

the scoop at saints today (and other places too)

Carol  ·  Apr. 24, 2008

squirt is goofing on my lap as i write this...yay squirt, you are so freaking cute!

jewel had her vet check for a second opinion...colleen agrees with me, there is something up with her abdomen, and she also agrees with the other vet that jewel's neck is utterly wrecked. we discussed my adding elavil to her med mix...it is an anti-anxiety/antidepressant but we use it alot in human medicine as a neuropathic pain med. it hasn't been used in vet medicine for this (mostly just for SA or spraying cats) but colleen said it was worth a shot to give it a try. so here we go, jewel will be our guinea pig. she will stay on the roboxacen and colleen wants me to add tramadol at night and maybe the elavil will tip the scales into good pain control. if yes...we will get her back in for bloodwork (too painful right now to restrain her) and if not, we might be looking at her quality of life.

jed gained ONE WHOLE POUND in a month..come on jed, you can do better than that! his heart rate is down from 260 to 150, his skin is much improved so he can stop the baytril but is to continue with weekly baths, he still needs his eye meds but we can downgrade his ear meds from ottomax to surolan. colleen thought he looked brighter and healthier and he was pretty darn cheerful so she is happy with how he is doing.

tammy and i finished re-seeding the bottom field...yay.

lexi started a GI bleed today from the melixacam for her profound arthritis (NSAID/pain med)...shit. she is off it now and on straight tramadol for pain.

i went and met nikko and had his foster agreement signed...nikko is now officially a full saint. he is a lovely and beautiful dog and he woodles. his foster mom will book him in for vet assessment/treatment and we will see how he does from there.

here is my story for tonight. eva and tammy and i went out for dinner. on the way home we saw a dog running along the road so i stopped and tried to catch him. he ran up the driveway and sat on a porch and i went and rang the door bell. his family answered and said thx very much they didn't know he was outside on the road. apparently he was hit by a car last year so they now have a tie down on the front porch but he got tangled in it last week and still has several stitches and i suggested they consider building a fence. while we were chatting their neighbors three legged dog came over to say hello, he lost his leg when he was hit by a car 6 months ago too.....hmmmm, it was an interesting chat. when we finally started home again, we saw a small, but quite tidy poodle out on the road about 100 feet from his home. we stopped and then his cell phone talking owner WAY UP in the driveway called him and he went home. thursday night in rural mission must be play chicken with your dogs life on the road.

we are switching mrs.p's meds tomorrow...hopefully she will feel better really soon.

Comments

Tracey

Carol, I will be going to Sumas, WA next week. I havent noticed if there is a pharmacy there, but if there is, I'd be happy to p/u some up for you.

Carol

thx for the tip cynthia!
next time someone is crossing the border, can they pick us up some...i can't cross cuz canada won't let me back in til i get my new immigration card (which i have no intention of getting, i will just stay on this side of the border instead!)

Cynthia

Hi
I haven't met you but I do read your blog quite often. I'd just like to share my experience with Meloxicam and GI bleeds. Our 12 year shepherd has been on Meloxicam since she was 2 for elbow arthritis and hip dysplasia. I should have realized that she would eventually burn a hole through her gut (I'm a nurse) but I didn't and she bled, big time. I found an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that stated GI bleeds caused by NSAID's would resolve and heal even if you continued the NSAID IF you also started Losec. I ran it by one of the GI doctors at work and he completely agreed with the article. He also said not to waste my time or money on Pepcid, Sulcrate or Ranitidine for this type of bleed. Our vet agreed and its been 4 years now and she hasn't had a single problem. We go across the border and buy Prilosec over the counter for around $20 for 28 days versus prescription only Losec in Canada for $90 + for 28 days. We usually bring back 6 months worth at a time and have only had to pay tax at the border once. It would appear a lot of Canadian border guards are dog owners and sympathize with us and wave us through. Hope this is helpful.
PS....the dose is 20 mg only....a higher dose is not any more effective and a waste of money