Well, Leland saw our local vet on Friday. The vet is concerned with the amount of weight he’s lost. He’s lost a lot of muscle in his head to the point where the skull structure is visible. He took him off the Thyrozine and ran a full body function panel of blood work. We should have the results tomorrow. We also took in a sample of urine and the dip stick indicated blood in the urine but when the vet viewed the sample under a microscope he could not see any red blood cells. Leland has been through the ringer and I’m surprised how he keeps on going. The vet gave us some medication to try and stimulate his appetite which I can’t say I’ve seen any change. He barely ate much yesterday. This morning he did eat some bacon and egg but it’s still not enough to help him get his strength up. He ate some pork chop this evening but not all of it. On a positive note he has figured out how to get himself up off the floor and he’s getting around on his own much better. We just need to get this eating thing under control and stop all this weight loss…(he weighed approximately 76 lbs. Friday down from 86.5 lbs on 6/11/14). Here are some pics of him enjoying some time outside yesterday…it was unusually cool for June.
Hey there…
My goodness he is a handsome boy! Once you get the weight loss thing under control, that would be better for him! Good to hear that he is figuring out how to get up too!!
My Franklin also lost alot of weight.. and they do burn off more energy as a tripaw getting around.. after all.. they don’t walk slow anymore..
I ended up changing his food and giving him a higher protien, more calorie food. That seems to help him stop losing wieght as quickly.
I used to entice Frnaklin to eat more by adding gravy… after all.. who can refuse gravy???
Crossing fingers and paws for Leland….
Christine… with Franklin in her heart♥
Is Leland taking Prednisone? I am just asking because it can cause the muscle wasting and weight loss you are describing. It usually causes an increase in thirst and appetite also. Ty got what I called his ” Dinosaur head” within weeks of starting his higher doses. Thinner in hindquarters also. But…… We needed it to keep his immune system from attacking himself, the great catch 22. We tried Mirtzapine for appetite, it takes a few days to work and it is fairly minimal. Hope he gets his appetite back. Also, for some reason, when Ty was feeling less hungry, he ate better off of a paper plate. Less work maybe? I actually feed one of my pups that way always, he is afraid of the noise his tags make on the bowl. LOL keep us posted on how he is doing. Love from, Lori and Ty
Christine,
I did pick up a small bag of Blue Buffalo Wilderness formula (higher protein) but got the Healthy Weight formula so he didn’t start putting on too much weight. He hasn’t been too interested in eating. I’ve even crushed up the kibble to mix with the rice and whatever meat I’m giving him. I haven’t tried the gravy yet…I used to put just a little bacon grease in and heat it up to entice him to eat the kibble along with the meat but he’s just been out of sorts since coming home from the amp. Hopefully he’ll get back on track soon.
Lori,
He wasn’t on Prednisone until yesterday evening when he got his first dose. I hope Leland doesn’t drop anymore weight after starting the Prednisone as you described with Ty. Our vet also thinks we may be dealing with an auto-immune disorder and that’s the cause of Leland’s weight loss and the reason for prescribing the Prednisone.