Mo will be 11 in May

[mosmama]

Yes, how the time flies.

We could use some prayers. For those of you who remember us..Mo and Tam. Mo Man has a strain of Lepto and Hepatitis (inflammation of the liver). From 3/14-4/10 he lost 6 pounds. He's very skinny and not eating much. He's been on a bland diet and lots of antibiotics, which the vets aren't sure if it will cure him. His attitude has gotten much better, but I sure would love to see him eat more. He had laprascopic surgery last Tuesday to have his liver and spleen biopsied and that's how we found what all is going on. He's been a pretty healthy little man, until now. PLEASE say a prayer for my baby, my companion and my bestest friend in the entire world that he gets better!

He had been on Meloxicam for pain/arthritis which really helped, but it DOES affect their liver. With all of Mo's liver problems, I have not, per the vet, given him any more!!! I don't know if it contributed to his issues, but it really upsets me. The vet told me I could give it to him every day. It's kind of a no win situation...either our babies are in pain or you give them something to help, and it could still have consequences.

[talleyJudy]

If Mo it taking "lots of antibiotics", one might consider giving him a pro-biotic too; possibly something like an acidophilus/bifidus combination. That might really help his appetite and digestion as all the good intestinal bugs are killed off by the atnibiotics. Good quality pro-biotics can usually be found in a 'natural foods' store in a refrigerator case.

My Auggie was on doxycycline for over two years and I supplemented her with pro-biotics at each meal by opening the capsule and sprinkling 1/2 of the contents over her morning meal and the other half over her evening meal.
Just speaking from experience here, just a thought...........

[Emma the Lab]

Oh no! Good healing thoughts for precious Mo man. Hoping for a full and speedy recovery. Please keep us posted.

[patm]

Hope he feels even better soon and starts gaining some weight for you. The seniors are just so precious...

[mosmama]

Thank you talleyJudy for that info. I had no idea. Now why wouldn't my vet recommend that? Do they not believe it works? I could use all the help I can get to revive his appetite! He's a bag of bones, but his attitude is OK. Could be better, but you can't have it all at once

Thank you everyone else for the happy thoughts. I want my baby to get better!!!!!!

[talleyJudy]

Now why wouldn't my vet recommend that? Do they not believe it works?

Actually, they probably never really think about it... and have had no exposure to that concept in their formal veterinary education.

Don't be too hard on your "conventional" veterinarian. Even M.D. type Dr.s for people do not take the gut into consideration when prescribing antibiotics for something else.

Back in '99, I had consulted with an alternative medicine/western medicine WI licensed veterinarian about my Pharaoh Hound that was being treated at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Clinic for a rare type of cancer. The alternative vet. took all the information and suggested adding a course of supplements to complement/support the PH's chemo regimen. Most of the supplements were vitamin/mineral types that could be bought over the counter at any drug store or even grocery store - among his suggestions was a pro-biotic to help "optimize" her nutrition because she was on long term antibiotics.

[mosmama]

That's true. Now why was your baby on the Doxy for so long?

[talleyJudy]

That's true. Now why was your baby on the Doxy for so long?

Well, it's a long story. Early Oct. of '06 Auggie underwent exploratory abdominal surgery at the University of Minnesota, where they removed her spleen (no cancer there) and removed a tennis ball sized tumor from the left lobe of her liver. The pathology report of the tumor was "hepatocellular carcinoma"

I had heard something about Doxy and liver cancer, so I 'googled' 'Doxy + liver cancer' and was surprised at all the research going on. My local vet allowed me to put her on Doxy as sort of a casual experiment.

Long story short, Auggie was Put to Sleep due to a mast cell tumor on her chest that very suddenly became invasive and extremely aggressive. My local vet is sure that the invasive tendrils of that mast cell tumor compromised her heart function. The last two weeks of her life she was suffering congestive heart failure and has essentially quit eating - fluid build up in her lungs and fluid under the skin of her ventral line. She was working so hard just to stay alive and really could not breath well enough at the end to sleep restfully. Lasex helped for about 5 days but then it quit working/helping. And so we had to make the decision to ease her struggle.

http://forum.justlabradors.com/showthread.php?t=15

But, but, AUGGIE DID NOT DIE OF LIVER CANCER !!! She never vomited, was never nauseous and her liver panel numbers were just a little bit high and not unusual for a dog of her age.


I hope Mo gets to feeling better soon. It gets tough when they get old and begin to eventually decline toward the inevitable.... as we all will too someday.

[Samson]

Good thoughts on their way for that appetite

[lablover]

Hi Tam. Sorry to hear Mo is not feeling well. 2 years ago Nutmeg had a liver panel done when she was sick. Her levels were very elevated ... some of the highest they have ever seen. I did some research on my own and found two natural products that helps with liver problems.

Milk Thistle ... Just search the internet for Milk Thistle + liver. You will find all kinds of info. Also SAMe. I started her on these supplements and she lived for 2 more years. They had told us she would not make it for 6 months.

You can find both of these in any drug store.