Mac's Last Days

[westiemum]

Rather than clog up the Dear... thread, given the vet mentioned the words palliative care yesterday I thought this was the best place to post about Mac's last days - however many they might be - and hopefully it won't upset anyone here. There have been times before when I thought we were at the end and he's rallied and carried on. The difference this time is his turning up his nose at food which he has never done before and is so unlike my foodaholic little man.

He appears to have rallied a bit this morning - he's steadier on his feet, but is still very wobbly and is circling, is walking around, took himself out for a wee this morning, has had a poo and thoroughly enjoyed a small serve of Maggie Beers Scrambled Egg (plenty of egg, butter, cream and a little salt! ) having turned his nose up at his regular breakfast! Earlier this morning he had his pills in blue cheese - his favourite! Now I'm just waiting to see if he keeps it all down. Yes I know its a risk but I'm at the point where getting anything into him is critical. Getting some calories into him seems to be the highest priority now given he hasn't kept a meal down since Friday night.

So I'd be very grateful for any meal ideas for a palliative care dog with swallowing/oesophageal dysfunction?

Edited November 20, 2015 by westiemum

[VizslaMomma]

aw, first thing I thought of is maybe taking some info from DDD & Danny.

DDD has Danny drinking lactose free milk, ice cream & makes a bone broth.

Is darling wee Mac excluded from this type of food?

Tibor used to adore scrambled eggs too & right up until his end ate well. He never overate ever...

Can Mac have oils?

Am I correct Mac could manage slurries?

[westiemum]

Thanks VM very much - I think we are at the stage that Mac can have anything he likes!!!

Thanks so much for those ideas - really helpful as I'm not thinking very clearly at the moment. I have some lactose free milk - I'll try him on some in an hour or so after I'm confident he's keep his calorie laden brekky down. Ice-cream is an excellent idea - i'll get some for him when iI go out later and get the bone broth ingredients - that would be good for the other two as well. And yep he could have oils - what do you mean by a slurry?

[JulesP]

I used a kid's hospital drink when Amber wouldn't eat anything. It is called Pediasure and you can get it in Chemists Warehouse - http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/searchresult.asp?terms=pediasure&SearchSection=products&requery=1

[dogbesotted]

Rather than clog up the Dear... thread, given the vet mentioned the words palliative care yesterday I thought this was the best place to post about Mac's last days - however many they might be - and hopefully it won't upset anyone here. There have been times before when I thought we were at the end and he's rallied and carried on. The difference this time is his turning up his nose at food which he has never done before and is so unlike my foodaholic little man.

He appears to have rallied a bit this morning - he's steadier on his feet, but is still very wobbly and is circling, is walking around, took himself out for a wee this morning, has had a poo and thoroughly enjoyed a small serve of Maggie Beers Scrambled Egg (plenty of egg, butter, cream and a little salt! ) having turned his nose up at his regular breakfast! Earlier this morning he had his pills in blue cheese - his favourite! Now I'm just waiting to see if he keeps it all down. Yes I know its a risk but I'm at the point where getting anything into him is critical. Getting some calories into him seems to be the highest priority now given he hasn't kept a meal down since Friday night.

So I'd be very grateful for any meal ideas for a palliative care dog with swallowing/oesophageal dysfunction?

can he lap safely??????

try thickish broths ( blend them so there are no lumps but they should be thicker rather than watery ) My birth mother has swallowing problems( dysphagia) and all her food/liquids needed to be thickened to a sort of runny jelly or thickened cream consistency..does this make sense to you? foods should not have mixed consistency... ie no lumps in the soupy mix.

water also needs to be thickened.. you can get the thickeners at the pharmacy, if i remember correctly

hope this helps a little

H

[westiemum]

Thanks all.

DBS yes that makes absolute sense - while he's OK with water still I want to try and make a thicker broth using turkey meat and bones so my other two can also enjoy it - poor old Sarebear and Andy are being a bit neglected at the moment. i hope your birth mother is doing OK - I was a Speech Pathologist in a previous life and swallowing patients were part of my daily work - its amazing how much we take swallowing for granted until something goes wrong. When Mac first had his laryngeal tie-back I didn't know what to do to help his post-surgery so I just did what i would do for a human swallowing patient - and it worked! And thank you for the reminder about no mixed consistencies - I'd forgotten that!

[Stressmagnet]

Thinking of you and Mac.

X

[Loving my Oldies]

I used a kid's hospital drink when Amber wouldn't eat anything. It is called Pediasure and you can get it in Chemists Warehouse - http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/searchresult.asp?terms=pediasure&SearchSection=products&requery=1

I looked into this when you suggested it in Danny's thread, Jules, but it was so expensive and I'd spent so much on foods he wouldn't eat, but that was okay because I could give them to the other dogs. By the time I looked at it I had discovered a few things he always eats, otherwise the cost would not have been a consideration.

Westiemum - my heart goes out to you. Such a difficult time. :cry: I notice the changes in Danny almost daily. But we had a nice little walk this morning.

As VM said, I make Danny what I call his Shake. He won't always take it, but what he always laps is Lactose Free Milk.

I also buy goodies from BM Animals (with thanks to Valbitz) in Melbourne and the other thing he will always eat is their dried chicken slices - it is like fine chicken jerky and all the dogs LOVE IT

So the Shake consists of Lactose Free Milk, Bone Broth, the dried powdered goodies from BM Animals, and Royal Canin canned intestinal.

This morning, I also cooked rice in the bone broth (absorption method of course) and he ate a small amount of that mixed in with his Shake.

Will Mac take Nutrigel?

[VizslaMomma]

Another suggestion, and one I used when both Tibor & Gabor were 'seedy' in the chills of winter came from this company. It's Back Country Freeze Dried foods. There are several different choices. All are dehydrated & it's simple to add water to make the consistency wanted.

It's human grade food, not over spicy.....

http://backcountrycuisine.co.nz/bcc/

check out the above. There are retialers in most states in OZ

I have also used the food rations from CFA!!!! There was a fab chicken,rice & vegetables that were so easy to swallow for Gabor.

Edited April 19, 2015 by VizslaMomma

[Loving my Oldies]

I have also used the food rations from CFA!!!! There was a fab chicken,rice & vegetables that were so easy to swallow for Gabor.

What is CFA, VM?

[Guest donatella]

I have no advice just lots of love

[cowanbree]

I have a dog that hasn't been able to eat solid food due to scaring on the throat for 5yrs. Once you get into a routine it is manageable. When it all first started he was heavily medicated, carafate slurry to reduce inflammation and protect the throat, something to reduce the acid in his stomach and something to stop the vomiting. Now days he is more or less medication free and I just blend his meals. Everything blends with enough water. I soak his dry, add water and blend, he drinks it. I blend beef mince and water, works fine. He loves the smooth yogurt which has been a really blessing.

I am not sure if this is your lads issue but if it is feel free to PM me. Was a real journey with some serious lows but we have made it work in a busy house with multiple other dogs and I believe he accepts and enjoys his current life.

[dogbesotted]

Thanks all.

DBS yes that makes absolute sense - while he's OK with water still I want to try and make a thicker broth using turkey meat and bones so my other two can also enjoy it - poor old Sarebear and Andy are being a bit neglected at the moment. i hope your birth mother is doing OK - I was a Speech Pathologist in a previous life and swallowing patients were part of my daily work - its amazing how much we take swallowing for granted until something goes wrong. When Mac first had his laryngeal tie-back I didn't know what to do to help his post-surgery so I just did what i would do for a human swallowing patient - and it worked! And thank you for the reminder about no mixed consistencies - I'd forgotten that!

hugs

h

[westiemum]

Thanks so much everyone for your good wishes.

OK - HRH has just had his second serve of Maggie Beers scrambled eggs and loved it. He was definitely hungry. So I'll give him his final serve in an hour or two. Then he'll have had the equivalent of a 4 egg serve of scrambled eggs. I'm about to stoke up the slow cooker and cook a duck bone broth. I couldn't get turkey and Sarah can't eat chicken without getting very itchy. So duck it is - and I'll skim the fat. Mac could really do with the calories anyway - he's got a bit thin of late.

For dinner I'll cut him up some finely diced chicken and put it in some gravy.

The good thing is he seems to be holding down his food today whereas yesterday he threw absolutely everything up.

Thanks very much everyone - you're help has been just amazing.

Now off to try out this slow cooker... will report back later...

[bianca.a]

Oh Westie, sending so many good thoughts your way ((hugs))

[VizslaMomma]

I have also used the food rations from CFA!!!! There was a fab chicken,rice & vegetables that were so easy to swallow for Gabor.

What is CFA, VM?

Country Fire Assocation ( from Victoria). We did big swopsies with rations.

[Boronia]

Try him on Woollies home brand mackerel in spring water WM.

It looks like this but is in spring water not oil

My lot would walk across sharp burrs to eat it!

[westiemum]

Good idea B - thanks - I think I already have some somewhere - I'll see how he goes on it.

[MadWoofter]

No real suggestions from me in terms of food, as Tess had so many tummy troubles I couldn't spoil her with food. What I will say is I spent at least 6 months doing the "is it time" thing with her, to the point I'd be OK that's it she's going tomorrow, and then she'd rally and be fine for another few weeks.

It's a really really tough time WM. You want to make sure that you make the right decision at the right time, but at the same time your heart is breaking. I remember someone said to me it's better to send them over the bridge too early, than too late. That's the thing I hung on to.

Nearly 8 months later, and I still get the odd moment of thinking I made the decision to early, and if I was a better mother she'd still be here, and if I worked harder on making her comfortable she'd be OK, and if I didn't do this, and if I did do that... but ultimately I know I made the right decision at the right time.

Sorry I've waffled too much about myself, but hopefully you can find something in this to help you. Sending loads of hugs to you, and gentle pats to Mac.

[westiemum]

Mad Woofy thank you - you've summed it up perfectly - it's a form of dithering decision-making so it's really hard to know what to do. And to make things worse he's bounced back in the last 24 hours - possibly a little slower and wobblier - but much brighter. Too late tonight but I'll try and post some photos tomorrow night.