yellowgirl

Cheers LmO, I haven't been on DOL for the longest time! Thanks for the PM, for some reason my DOL notifications don't work. @Beckiesmithyour boy (who is gorgeous by the way!) might be going through a teenage stage which often results in skin issues in cresties. Bathing every second day is too often, I prefer to wipe over every day with fragrance-free baby wipes and then lightly moisturise until the skin settles down a bit and you can get into a regular cleaning routine. The main thing is for the skin to be clean. Is he wearing coats or jumpers? Be careful with fleece and other non-breathable fabrics if he has skin issues. I like to have a cotton shirt on first so that's what's next to the skin, fleece coats can go over the top. While treating skin issues I change the cotton shirt every day, as well as giving a wipe over with the baby wipes. Make sure the skin is dry before putting the shirt back on. It would be worth getting a vet to check his skin just in case it's actually a staph infection or something else that might need medication. They can do a skin scraping to check. Happy to chat further if you'd like to, my notifications don't work properly for DOL so you can send me a message on facebook - I'm Jo Van Dee (my profile pic is a crestie )

I buy fresh chicken pieces and boil them. No worries, LMO, you're very lucky if it was that long ago since one of your senior bubs has had pancreatitis! x

Maddie goes straight onto cooked chicken and rice if she has pancreatitis. Seems a bit odd to add the i/d as well as it has 14.8% fat content. I keep Maddie under 10%.

Thank you Sandgrubber I've researched so many kidney sites! This one looks familiar so I'm pretty sure I've been on this one too lol. The problem I'm having is finding a diet/food program that's low in fat, along with the requirements for a safe kidney diet. My vet has only recommended Hills or Royal Canin but they're far too high in fat. He's happy for me to look into alternatives that cover all the bases.

I'm glad you've found a food that's working for your Jeune LMO It's such a worry trying to find the right fit for them. I've emailed the company for more info as I can't find all the nutritional info I need online. Fortunately, since being on Gabapentin Maddie's appetite is very good so at least I don't have the worry about her eating, it's more about making sure she has the right foods to suit her needs. xx

Can anyone recommend wet/dry food for my Madeline? She's a desexed Chinese Crested, nearly 14, she has high blood pressure, kidney disease and is prone to pancreatitis. She needs a fat content of under 10% but most of the kidney diets I've looked into have a high fat content, so they're not good for her pancreatitis. For kidneys she needs she needs good quality protein but not too high, low phosphorus and low salt.

Awww, thanks so much @tdierikx

Can you handle double adorable @persephone? Here's Madeline and Mason

@Tassie

So sorry to read this @Kelly_Louise I lost my darling Pip last year from this awful disease, and like you, I had to make the hardest decision when it came to his quality of life. Thinking of you

All of this! @tdierikx Kisses from Maddie

Yes @tdierikx, they were all done and were within the normal range. Potassium - 5.5mmol/L (3.9-5.9), Calcium - 2.5mmol/L (1.9-2.9), ALP - 94 IU/L (1-150), Glucose fl.oz - 6.0mmol/L (3.3-6.8), Glucose, serum - 4.8mmol/L (3.3-6.8). I guess it makes more sense now why my vet isn't pursuing Addison's as a diagnosis - it's highly likely that he told me but I'd probably forgotten it in the information overload. Please thank your vet for me! It's adorable that you asked him about Maddie by the way I had to look up what a TIA was (it's a transient ischemic attack for anyone else who's wondering) and I think it's a possibility. Maddie will be having her 4th PCV test in a week's time. The first one (6 July) was 28%, second (17 july) was 31% and the third (25 July) was 28%. Normal range is 35 - 55. Under 35 is anaemic. If the fourth test next week is still within that range then maybe that's just her new normal? I mean, she's doing pretty well considering these levels. She's eating and drinking well, doing good poohs, she's happy and content, in fact her appetite has increased a bit and she's put on 600g since being on the Gabapentin! I'm hesitant to put her through too many more tests, particularly ones that involve sedation. Her full blood panel doesn't show anything too obviously terrible going on... neutrophils, lymphocytes, etc are all normal, her organs seem to be functioning pretty well (except for the heart murmur of course), she's happy, alert and engaged, and she hasn't had another major episode. So ... I'm not going to stress too much now, just keep loving and spoiling her and making sure that every day is the best day ever for her and wait and see what the results are next week.

Thanks @teddybeans and I will certainly pass on the cuddles

Oh @Tassie, that's just heartwrenching. How helpless you must have felt. Since Maddie's been unwell, I've heard of so many cases of IMHA from friends and on forums. It's just an awful thing and something that needs immediate intervention.

Thank you @Tassie It doesn't seem to be IMHA... the symptoms don't all seem to fit and her lab results are normal apart from the blood issues that I posted above for Tdierikx. From what I understand, only the Anaemia came up out of whack in the results, not the other issues mentioned here... http://scvsec.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Immune-Mediated-Hemolytic-Anemia-Canine.pdf From what I've read it's a very rapidly progressing disease with often fatal outcomes. I'm so sorry that you've been through that heartbreaking experience with your own dog

I hear you on the thyroid issues @tdierikx! I have Hashimotos Disease and also had a pituitary tumour removed in 2016. Surgery and recovery was pretty intense, including a few cortisol crashes. Very similar to Addison's disease symptoms actually. I really think Maddie's symptoms would be much, much worse by now if it was Addison's... but I'm going to bring it up with my vet again at our next appointment. Thanks for the link! I currently have 7 tabs open... so much for not getting sidetracked lol! And thank you so much for your input here, it's a pretty tricky one isn't it?! Cuddles and kisses given

You're awesome @tdierikx! Thanks so much, I really appreciate seeing if you can come up with anything else here! Maddie is on Gabapentin 100mg. She wasn't on any medication prior. I'm not sure about a pituitary test, would those results have come up in the full blood panel? Her T4 was normal - 25nmol/L (13-52)

Yes, that makes complete sense @tdierikx! Here's some of the possibilities my vet has mentioned - internal blood loss, underlying coagulating problem, polyaromatic cells, possible brain bleed, neoplasia, immune mediated haemolytic anaemia, abdominal cancer. Well done on continuing your education! That's awesome. If you want to break your brain a little bit more, here's Maddie's blood results... RBC - 3.8 -low (4.9-8.2) Haemoglobin - 89g/L -low (100-206) Haematocrit - 0.30L/L -low (0.35-0.58) Reticulocyte % - 1.8% -high (0.0-1.5) Reticulocyte ABS - 68 -in normal range (10-110) MCV 79fl -high (64-76) MCH 23pg -in normal range (21-26) MCHC 279g/L -low (310-360) Platelets - clumped and adequate

That's so sweet of you to google it tdierikx My info says that it's more prevalent in younger dogs, around 4 to 6 years, but can certainly occur in older dogs too. But yes, the enlarged adrenals and anaemia do fit. Most of the other associated symptoms aren't there though, certainly not lack of appetite, vomiting or diarrhoea, in fact she's actually put ON weight since being on the pain meds! Her weight loss was becoming a bit of a worry with everything else going on, which is why we went ahead with the abdominal ultrasound. Oh, her T4 (thyroid) test also came back in the normal range. The vet didn't seem overly concerned about the patchy liver as the results of her liver and kidney tests were all really good.

The vet mentioned Addison's as one of the things to look into but apparently the overall symptoms don't match with it. I'm going to google it though and have a proper look xx

Hi Boronia, it has been a while! Maddie was my first crestie - 10 years ago!

Hi Persephone! Thank you

I'd really appreciate some input on my Madeline's situation if anyone has had a similar issue or has some idea about what might be going on here. She's 13 and a half years old. On July 6 we went to the emergency vet because, while out at a playdate, Maddie had a bad 'wobble' episode where she was staggering and had trouble standing up. She's had head wobbles for about a year now and sometime has wobbles and minor staggering when walking around the house but this episode was more extreme than usual and her gums were completely white. The emergency vet did a PCV and TP test, the results were PCV- 28% TP-72g/L. I took her to my own vet on Monday July 8 for a full blood panel, most of which came back pretty good for a senior girl, apart from the obvious anaemia. I have a copy of the results if specific info would help. She also had the new Cardiopet heart test which came back normal. Oh.. she now has a grade 3 heart murmur which she didn't have a couple of months ago at her last check. On July 10 Maddie had an abdominal ultrasound to check for tumours and/or internal bleeding. The vet didn't find anything obvious in the abdomen, but he did find that the liver appeared 'patchy' and her adrenal glands were very enlarged. On July 17 she had a follow-up test. PCV was 31% and TP was 75g/L. She'd been much happier in herself during this time as the vet put her on Gabapentin after our visit on the 8th. He said it wasn't related to the anaemia issue, there's a good chance that it's reducing pain from another issue like arthritis, IBD, etc. Either way, she seems happier so we're keeping her on that. She had a third PCV/TP test yesterday and the vet is more concerned now as the PCV has decreased again to 28%. TP is 88g/L. We have another test on 7th August and if it's still decreasing the next step would be to try to locate the problem which involves more tests, xrays, etc, some involving sedation/anaesthetic - we're pretty much looking for a needle in a haystack, maybe a brain bleed, maybe something in the chest, maybe cancer or something else somewhere, who knows what or where. I don't know what to do, I don't know what we're looking for, and apart from the obvious issues indicated by the PCV results and the fact that her gums that are still very pale, Maddie is happy in herself (moreso since being on the Gabapentin), she's eating well (in fact she's put ON some weight!), no problem with toileting, and her poohs are great. She hasn't had any major excitement or playdates since she had the episode on the 6th and she's only had a few minor (usual) wobble episodes which resolved very quickly as they usually do. I'm hesitant to take her on another playdate because I think she overdid it at my friend's house and that contributed to the 'big episode' ... she only potters around the large yard but she does cover a fair amount of ground during the hour or two that we're there with the younger dogs. I think I just need some DOLer input here. ... Extra info I have is that that this is a 'Regenerative' anaemia, the causes of which are by haemorrhage and haemolysis. It is not a result of iron, glucose or Vit B deficiency.

10 is super sick! I'm so glad he's doing better now. Yes, a bleeding ulcer or tumour was one of the things we've ruled out after an abdominal ultrasound.

I've just come across this post while doing yet another internet search. Firstly, I'm so glad to hear that Cooper is improving! Do you know if the blood count is from a PCV test? My Madeline (13 years) is struggling with severe anaemia, currently her PCV is 31. Cooper's condition was one of the possibilities my vet mentioned so I'm very interested in his progress. Sending much love and hoping he continues to improve