Morning Sickness Medications

[Boronia]

i don't know if this will help encourage him to eat but if you cut up chicken heart and fry them in a little olive oil and mix in a crumbled-up charcoal tablet. Just lightly fry, don't make them hard.

[Loving my Oldies]

Boronia, Danny is supposed to be on low fat foods. I know heart is a muscle, but what about fat content? With chicken I imagine it would be not worth worrying aboutl?

This morning sure has been a lot better than the past few with only one large throw about 3/4 hour after his first med of carafate. Unfortunately, it contained a lot of bile and some of the food he'd had at about 8.30pm last night.

Something that came to me last night and I will be discussing this with my vet this morning is that, because I discovered that he would eat a reasonably sized meal of kibble late at night, I was making a practice of this as I cleaned up before going to bed. I was also doing this in an attempt to keep his weight stable. I stay up very late and so this meal could be as late as 11pm or midnight and shortly after that we'd be off to bed. Also because of his throwing up, he was missing a few doses of Cisapride and I think these two things might have had a contributing factor to his throwing up in the morning. But then ....... until yesterday and this morning, there wasn't food from the previous evening in his throw-ups.

I am changing my routine to see if it helps, that is going to bed earlier, getting up earlier and making sure, despite how he is feeling, he gets all his meds. Even if he throws up afterwards, some must be getting through .

One of the problems with Danny now is that I can't move that he doesn't follow me . He can be absolutely dead to the world, but the second he knows I am not in the same room, he is up looking for me.

Lots to consider and take action on today.

[Salukifan]

This morning sure has been a lot better than the past few with only one large throw about 3/4 hour after his first med of carafate. Unfortunately, it contained a lot of bile and some of the food he'd had at about 8.30pm last night.

This was why I asked about liver function. Some dogs, it seems, don't deal well carrying a largish meal overnight - they throw up the next morning before they get more food. It relates to how much bile the liver is producing.

I was going to suggest feeding earlier/more often to see if it helped. I don't know how many times a day he is fed but suggest moving the more substantial meals to earlier in the day if he will accept them.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Haredown Whippets

[espinay2]

Has your vet suggested/tried a drug like cerenia for the nausea?

[VizslaMomma]

If Danny was a diabetic, would you be able to give him needles?

If so, would administering the medications by injection work?

[cavNrott]

Geez! It's all trial and error when looking for the best way to do things for a sick dog. Your own sleep never warrants a second thought. I know this from experience when nursing my Rottie in her final year of life after a cancer diagnosis. She was diagnosed at 6yo and I lost her exactly one year and one week later. I was lucky to have her for that last year after she was given a prognosis of just a few weeks. It was a good year and with a dedicated oncologist we were able to keep her pain free so she could enjoy the time she had left.

I was hoping for no throw up for Danny this morning

This little boy could not be in better hands DDD You're doing a great job and I can only imagine your vet bills.

[JulesP]

If his condition has improved I would be be tempted to stop all medication apart from his heart ones and see what happens. I would like to see how he was without medication for the stomach stuff now. Frequent little meals but don't stress if he doesn't want to eat in the mornings.

[Loving my Oldies]

I was going to suggest feeding earlier/more often to see if it helped. I don't know how many times a day he is fed but suggest moving the more substantial meals to earlier in the day if he will accept them.

Thanks Haredown. There is rarely bile in his throw ups and I can tell you I am kicking myself from here to there for not realising the affects of a late night meal. I am really going to try harder to give him the small meals more often. I know now that when he did eat with any show of enthusiasm, I would get carried away.

Has your vet suggested/tried a drug like cerenia for the nausea?

Yes We did all that a little while ago.

If so, would administering the medications by injection work?

I think we have actually got to a stage where giving the meds is under control. Now that the worst (Ranitidine) has been stopped and replaced by another that will be compounded in liquid form and only twice a day and a tiny little dose, I think meds will no longer be the enormous problem they were in the beginning.

Geez! It's all trial and error when looking for the best way to do things for a sick dog. Your own sleep never warrants a second thought. I know this from experience when nursing my Rottie in her final year of life after a cancer diagnosis. She was diagnosed at 6yo and I lost her exactly one year and one week later. I was lucky to have her for that last year after she was given a prognosis of just a few weeks. It was a good year and with a dedicated oncologist we were able to keep her pain free so she could enjoy the time she had left.

I was hoping for no throw up for Danny this morning

This little boy could not be in better hands DDD You're doing a great job and I can only imagine your vet bills.

Such a sad but loving story about your Rottie, cav. Only 6!! Too cruel.

I'm doing a mountain of filing and honestly the papers for Danny's file for the past six months are about an inch high. No way will I be getting out the calculator. I do from time to time have mild hysteria welling up and if I knew what I'd spent in the past year I think it would overflow. Not just Danny: Myrtie died of pulmonary hypertension after trying for three days to save her at SASH :cry: ; Danny's had eye surgery as well as everything else; Bunter is going to have to have a raft of tests, etc etc etc; and then my dearest little Gussy Cat died of blood clot and heart failure three weeks ago. :cry:

If his condition has improved I would be be tempted to stop all medication apart from his heart ones and see what happens. I would like to see how he was without medication for the stomach stuff now. Frequent little meals but don't stress if he doesn't want to eat in the mornings.

He isn't on heart medication, JulesP. I have tried dropping the number of times he gets his meds and really the difference was very difficult to assess. I did start keeping a chart in the hope of seeing whether it was worse or better, but no indications either way.

I really appreciate all this input as on the other thread. Reading everything people have to say and formulating my responses, make me realise the mistakes I am making and the better systems I can instigate, not to mention the additional things to try.

[Salukifan]

I was going to suggest feeding earlier/more often to see if it helped. I don't know how many times a day he is fed but suggest moving the more substantial meals to earlier in the day if he will accept them.

Thanks Haredown. There is rarely bile in his throw ups and I can tell you I am kicking myself from here to there for not realising the affects of a late night meal. I am really going to try harder to give him the small meals more often. I know now that when he did eat with any show of enthusiasm, I would get carried away.

Having battled though with two aging dogs with flagging appetites, believe me when I say I feel your pain.

Perhaps try the more easily digested foods like meat or canned last thing at night?

I swear Big Ted survived his last months only due to the attractions of My Dog Puppy

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks Haredown. I don't know if you braved my previous thread about Danny, but I think just about every dog food known has been tried . At Danny's age, I wouldn't worry what sort of food he ate; it was finding something he would. We have cracked that, but the nausea has still proved to be problem.

I want to buy a blender that really turns food to liquid which will go through a syringe because he likes (and actually will eat it normally from time to time) Royal Canin canned.

I give him what I call "a shake" consisting of lactose free milk, bone broth and RC canned. Unfortunately my stick blender doesn't blend it into a real liquid, so off to check out kitchen shops this afternoon.

[White Shepherd mom]

The oldies really keeping us on our toes, don't they DD? I'm sorry you're going through this with Danny but he couldn't be with a better mum!

I have not read your other threads regarding his health so I apologise if this question's been answered before. I'm curious as to how many meals Danny gets in the day? I was wondering whether doubling the frequency but halving the quantity might help his little gut digest?

[Loving my Oldies]

The oldies really keeping us on our toes, don't they DD? I'm sorry you're going through this with Danny but he couldn't be with a better mum!

I have not read your other threads regarding his health so I apologise if this question's been answered before. I'm curious as to how many meals Danny gets in the day? I was wondering whether doubling the frequency but halving the quantity might help his little gut digest?

Thanks WSM. Danny is supposed to have small meals regularly, and I'm afraid that I haven't been sticking religiously to this rule, but the experience of the past week has shown me that I must. Because he is always off colour in the mornings (hence starting this thread), his meals have tended to be more concentrated to the evening and larger than he can obviously cope with. And because finding something he would eat was such a process, I still tend to get a bit overexcited when he has a good meal and, if he wants it, give him more. That will stop.

He had two small meals (liquid ones) before 12 noon today and no more throws or regurgitations. We had to go down to North Shore Vets for his final check up (eye surgery late January) and on return he had a couple of pieces of dried chicken breast which he loves and about a desert spoon of ice cream - which he also loves.

And has been at the front door telling off passers by - LOL. Having given up hope that, by the strength of the appeal in his gorgeous eyes, he will get some more icecream, he is back at the front door.

[White Shepherd mom]

Thanks WSM. Danny is supposed to have small meals regularly, and I'm afraid that I haven't been sticking religiously to this rule, but the experience of the past week has shown me that I must. Because he is always off colour in the mornings (hence starting this thread), his meals have tended to be more concentrated to the evening and larger than he can obviously cope with. And because finding something he would eat was such a process, I still tend to get a bit overexcited when he has a good meal and, if he wants it, give him more. That will stop.

He had two small meals (liquid ones) before 12 noon today and no more throws or regurgitations. We had to go down to North Shore Vets for his final check up (eye surgery late January) and on return he had a couple of pieces of dried chicken breast which he loves and about a desert spoon of ice cream - which he also loves.

And has been at the front door telling off passers by - LOL. Having given up hope that, by the strength of the appeal in his gorgeous eyes, he will get some more icecream, he is back at the front door.

I'm sorry for the delay in replying, DOL is my weekday guilty pleasure ;)

It sounds like a Catch-22 situation, Danny has big meals at night because he is off colour in the mornings, which in turn probably causes him to be off colour in the mornings. I hope you can find a good balance for him.

I'm sure a lot of people would like to have liquid meals in the morning followed by ice-cream in the afternoon! He's a lucky little guy and I know you would move Heaven and Earth to keep him happy and healthy.

Take care.

[Loving my Oldies]

LOL - WSM. We all need so-called guilty pleasures. I call them health improving pleasures Just thought that one up :laugh: :laugh:

I am being so strong for my poor darling and instead of those pleading eyes making me put something more into his bowl, I think of his little food pipes trying to get it into his stomach.

He has had just a few very small meals today - one of lactose free milk and bone broth which he brought up twice and licked up twice :eek: . So while the mechanicals were having difficulties, I have to assume that he wasn't feeling sick which is such a relief.

We are coming up to afternoon meds and, although he doesn't often throw up in the afternoon, but it does happen from time to time.

:crossfingers:

[Loving my Oldies]

I've just fed the tribe and decided to update this because, due to help and advice from knowledgeable and caring DOLers, Danny's days are so much better.

I hope I am not jinxing Danny, but he is doing really really well. In fact, today, for the first time in MONTHS, Danny has had two "ordinary food" meals. Since the huge scare of his losing 500 grams, I have watched every morsel very very carefully to ensure that whatever he eats, he keeps it down.

The combination of a change in his meds and a religious adherence to food regime has seen such a change in him; I feel sick when I think of the months before this when he was suffering so badly.

One of the best things, I am sure is the cessation of 3 lots of horrible Ranitidine a day each of .6ml down to .25mls twice a day of not too bad Famotidine. He hated the Ranitidine and I hated having to give it to him.

I make up his "super shake" every couple of days and try to syringe about 90-100mls of that per day. I drop it down if he eats a decent sized meal as he has this evening and at breakfast.

He is a little old man, though, and his need to keep me in view is as obsessive as ever, but sometimes when I look around and he isn't there, I'll find him downstairs sniffing around, tail up and just doing a normal little dog pottering about. And most days he comes for at least one of my two walks. If he doesn't want to come, he hangs back from the side gate and the welcome I get when we arrive home brings out his puppyhood.

So -- all goes well for the moment.

[cavNrott]

DDD what a brilliant update. I'm so glad Danny is on the right track now. It was that darn Zantac that was making him feel ill.

[Little Gifts]

Well that is brilliant news! Keep it up (or down!) Danny!

[Loving my Oldies]

DDD what a brilliant update. I'm so glad Danny is on the right track now. It was that darn Zantac that was making him feel ill.

I feel so bad about that and have to thank you for pushing it and enabling me to hold my ground with the vet.

Well that is brilliant news! Keep it up (or down!) Danny!

Yes indeed: tail UP and food DOWN

[cavNrott]

No no DDD, no thanks necessary. Zantac is evil, I doubt I've ever felt so nauseous as when I was taking that stuff.

There absolutely no need for you to feel awful about following your vets advice. We trust our vets to do their best for our dogs and they're not too keen on us disagreeing with the prescribed medication. Some medications though effective for some dogs, seriously suck for others. (same with humans).

[Loving my Oldies]

:) :) Another good day.