Frodo

[Lori]

Maybe worth asking the vet to 'pop outside' to your car & take the sample whilst Frodo sits on your lap.

That is such a GREAT suggestion. I hope the Vet will consider this. Best wishes to Frodo.

[Veem]

I was put off the vet, who I have never seen before, when she rather gruffly refused to come out to the car to take the blood sample. But, in fact she turned out to be very approachable and quite charming. Their blood analyser was playing up so she suggested we should go home and she would email the result. We were so pleased to be given the chance to get away with Frodo still in the car.

The results were worse than when we first arrived there last Tuesday or any taken whilst he was on the drip. I suspect that is down to the stress and fear he felt shut in a cage for 5 days. Can that still be less than a week? She didn't think further perfusions would make a great difference and he may well respond better at home on the new feed regime that I've put in place. So he's got time to get used to the new regime and medications and we have to return in 3-4 weeks for a further blood test. Phew

[Lori]

Well let's hope the diet and medications will bring him to better health. One day at a time with lots of love and hugs.

[Char]

Thinking of you all and sending positive thoughts, poor little mite.

[Veem]

Frodo's treatment, especially the last visit on Monday, left us feeling very uneasy. The duty vet had sent the higher-than-ever creatinine and urea scores by email with no mention of concerns or suggestions as to further treatment. Last Tuesday's results caused our usual vet to admit Frodo and have him in a metal cage on a permanent drip for almost 4 days. Monday's values were almost double and we got not so much as a phone call. By yesterday I was beginning to doubt the integrity of their analysing machine and everything else. We decided to have a second opinion and called a lovely small animal vet (also a top ophthalmologist) who had come to treat one of our horses for an eye condition. He was away and so we saw his partner at 6.30 yesterday. He did an independent diagnosis and the results were similar. When he prescribed him as needing to go on a drip our hearts sank. I asked if there was any chance he could go on a drip at home to avoid the stress of a cage Yes, that could happen. So he inserted the catheter, kitted us up with the paraphernalia and 4 daily bottles of 250ml saline and carefully showed us, with full explanation, how to set up each session. The 250ml has to be infused in 3-4 sessions during the day. So Frodo can have long periods of no treatment, including all night. Whilst he's on the drip we have to watch him like a hawk because he's not restrained and must not go beyond the length of the tubing. The vet maintained 24-hour drips overly stress the dog and cause too much strain on the heart.

Connecting all the kit is not without its worries for us, but Frodo remains completely stress free. Until I'm more confident about setting it all up I feel as though I have two left hands and 10 thumbs (apologies to left handers) and enough breath to last about 10 seconds. Miraculously my BP is the lowest today than it's been for about a month!!!!!

So very pleased we went for the second opinion. I think we found a gem.

[Lori]

That is good news about the new Vet. He sounds like a much gentler doctor.

As stressful as the drip may be, I am so glad Frodo can try to cope with it all at home. A challenge, I'm sure but so much better than the prison at the vet.

Best wishes for a good outcome.

[Veem]

Today Frodo saw his new vet for the second time. Jean-Pierre tried to infuse through the catheter and couldn't, so the trouble we've had for the past few days has not been of our making, though has led to unbelievable stress. More blood tests showed lower creatinine and urea levels which was great to hear and means he can come off the drip for a week to see what will be the results again next Friday.

Now we have to find something he will eat. Evidently, kidney problems like he has make him feel nauseous and yucky to the degree that he won't feel like eating anything. He used to eat voraciously but not now. We are trying to tempt him with treat types of food like chicken, tuna, pork cooked carrot, broccoli and so on. Once in a while he'll pick at it, others he won't even consider that. But we have to get vital medicines into him - in food.

Any suggestions?

[Polly]

Poor little Frodo.

Would a little bit of fresh salmon work or maybe some banana?

[Lori]

Is this pill form medication, powder or liquid ?

When our collie needed medication, I found it amazing how he could sniff out any medication and shove it aside, not willing to eat it. I learned how to pop a pill down his throat as gently as possible. It usually worked, however he learned what I was up to and would try to get away from me to avoid the process.

I found that things with a strong smell were more likely to hide medications. I don't know what limits Frodo has on what he can eat. We had good luck with any type of paté - I think there is a chicken one. I know there are fish patés on the market. If he will eat tuna or fish rillette, that might work. Our dog did not like tuna. He also would not eat banana. Cream cheese would work frequently as would those Baby Bell cheeses. And he always went for cooked ground beef with the pill stuck in it (cooked like in meatloaf or beef patty).

Continued well wishes for Frodo and thanks for the update. I had been thinking of him/you guys.

[Loup-garou]

Firstly, best wishes to Frodo - come on wee fella!

Our boy with the hepatic diet should eat only that and nothing else. However, he has to take two "Hepatiale Forte Advanced" pills each day so we roll them in pate/mousse de foie (the smooth Brussels type) which he will take but can tire of. An alternative we found is poulet rôti which you buy in pots (like rillettes de mans) but he will only take the Bordeau Chesnel make - he turns his nose up at all other makes.