State of the Cone
And alas, he's still coned when we can't supervise him, because the last thing we need is an opportunistic infection on his leg, and he's still in the habit of licking it.
Today was his best day yet since he first got sick. He wanted to go on a walk, doing an "I'm tired" version of his normal pre-walk dance routine. When we went by the turn-off to his normal long route, he wanted to go down that way, and then tried another alternate direction instead of heading back home. (We only walked him a block; we don't want to tire him out.)
When bryant and michele_blue came over (and how completely WONDERFUL is it that they are now living close enough to come by?) he barked and presented a toy and there was even toy tugging! There has been some squeaking and a little toy-playing and presentation, but not a lot of tugging up to now.
He's still eating the same food, a big win since he's gone "off" several foods since he got sick, and I was really worried we were going to run out of anything he would eat. I'm using jook to give him a nice bland base of starch, thinning it even farther than usual, and adding boiled chicken breast. Just boiled up a new batch of that today. I mix everything 50/50 with water, as while he's awfully skinny the more pressing concern is keeping him hydrated and he's still not drinking. We have a variety of other proteins in the house as he is really only interested in tasty proteins right now, mostly eating the water and rice only because it's in the way of the yummy, so I am hoping I can always get him to eat when he needs to. (Very important on NSAID days; he needs something on his stomach to buffer it.)
Was able to give him his anti-nausea pill in food today. (The oncologist taught us the baby food trick; it is the perfect texture and stickiness for hiding a pill.) I still had to use a syringe for the NSAID as while I'm told you can hide it in food with a tolerant dog, he's so prone to go off food I don't want to present him with any funny flavors that will put him off yet another food. I'll use the same trick tomorrow on his pills, when he gets the anti-cancer pills; we're on a staggered schedule that alternates the NSAID with the cancer-killers, so we'll see how he feels on those days.
He's moving around more than he has been, too, and he has an easier time getting up and down the porch stairs than he did yesterday. (And that was better than the day before, etc.)
He's panting after any real effort (an odd sort of closed-mouth panting where he uses his mouth as a bellows) but then he lies down and feels better. He's more interested in standing and being petted, too, and he's responsive and interested when people come by to give him drive-by pettings. And he's still guarding the door, of course. That's his job! He won't give himself sick time on that, but he can sleep cozily by the door and get a lot of rest.
Today was his best day yet since he first got sick. He wanted to go on a walk, doing an "I'm tired" version of his normal pre-walk dance routine. When we went by the turn-off to his normal long route, he wanted to go down that way, and then tried another alternate direction instead of heading back home. (We only walked him a block; we don't want to tire him out.)
When bryant and michele_blue came over (and how completely WONDERFUL is it that they are now living close enough to come by?) he barked and presented a toy and there was even toy tugging! There has been some squeaking and a little toy-playing and presentation, but not a lot of tugging up to now.
He's still eating the same food, a big win since he's gone "off" several foods since he got sick, and I was really worried we were going to run out of anything he would eat. I'm using jook to give him a nice bland base of starch, thinning it even farther than usual, and adding boiled chicken breast. Just boiled up a new batch of that today. I mix everything 50/50 with water, as while he's awfully skinny the more pressing concern is keeping him hydrated and he's still not drinking. We have a variety of other proteins in the house as he is really only interested in tasty proteins right now, mostly eating the water and rice only because it's in the way of the yummy, so I am hoping I can always get him to eat when he needs to. (Very important on NSAID days; he needs something on his stomach to buffer it.)
Was able to give him his anti-nausea pill in food today. (The oncologist taught us the baby food trick; it is the perfect texture and stickiness for hiding a pill.) I still had to use a syringe for the NSAID as while I'm told you can hide it in food with a tolerant dog, he's so prone to go off food I don't want to present him with any funny flavors that will put him off yet another food. I'll use the same trick tomorrow on his pills, when he gets the anti-cancer pills; we're on a staggered schedule that alternates the NSAID with the cancer-killers, so we'll see how he feels on those days.
He's moving around more than he has been, too, and he has an easier time getting up and down the porch stairs than he did yesterday. (And that was better than the day before, etc.)
He's panting after any real effort (an odd sort of closed-mouth panting where he uses his mouth as a bellows) but then he lies down and feels better. He's more interested in standing and being petted, too, and he's responsive and interested when people come by to give him drive-by pettings. And he's still guarding the door, of course. That's his job! He won't give himself sick time on that, but he can sleep cozily by the door and get a lot of rest.