Hi All,
About 2 years ago, a scrawny (now 40-ish pound) black dog with short hair and those half-flop, puppy-like ears came wandering the fence line towards our house out in very rural eastern WV. By the time I'd called animal control, she'd left, apparently scared of my movement through the window. After many bowls of canned dog food, lots of patience, various interesting and difficult episodes and a whole lot of patience, Magic became our dog. We learned she was actually between 5 and 7 years old (now 7 to 9 years old), that she'd been on the road at least 6 weeks, but probably a lot longer, that she was already spayed, and that she didn't grow up much around people (she didn't even understand "no", and she didn't respond to the high voice generally used with praise).
She's had digestive issues the entire time we've had her. She's got lipomas in several spots; she eats dirt daily; she loves 'dead things' (carrion); her bottom front teeth are worn to nubbins; and she's had multiple bouts of stool with blood -- the blood always comes at the end of the 2nd (or 3rd) bowel movement, and it's always just several dark drops -- and then it resolves. In May she had an episode that lasted longer than 24 hrs, so I took her to the vet, who diagnosed her with a bowel irritation and gave her an antibiotic and a probiotic. That resolved things until I ran out of both, at which point I added grapefruit seed extract (125 mg per day) to her diet, and that seemed to do the trick. Since many (all?) of the episodes of blood seemed to be after an 'indiscretion' of one sort or another (chewing up ancient deer carcasses or other sorts of bones, usually), I thought maybe her intestine was physically being irritated. Indeed, with the recent diagnosis of a mass seen on her spleen, it seems physical irritation through eating things without thoroughly chewing them could be contributing to the bleeding.
In any event, she's got low platelets (probably due to bleeding), low red blood cells, high neutrophils, and high lymphocytes, as well as a 'raging' heart murmur, all of which means she isn't a good candidate for surgery. She is now on Yunnan Baiyao, but the bleeding at the end of bowel movements hasn't stopped. It has changed, though. Now it is bright red and mixed with mucous. I'll be adding I'm-Yunity to the mix as soon as I get it (hopefully tomorrow).
Has anyone used the 'red pill' in the Yunnan Baiyao package? And if so, at what point is it a good idea to do so? On the one hand, Magic isn't completely lethargic, nor is she in shock. Nor is she needing to go outside constantly to expel blood. On a 40 minute walk, she pooped twice, the first with some blood and mucous, the second all blood. (This morning, her first BM was normal, and the second had blood mixed with mucous.) On the other hand, she is still bleeding -- maybe a couple Tbsps per day, and the Yunnan Baiyao doesn't seem to be stopping that.
FYI, we initially named her Li'l Bit, but then we found we were using that phrase a lot in conversation, so we renamed her Magic, due to her calming effect on our rambunctious shepherd/husky mix, Merlin. Hence the full name 'Li'l Bit o' Magic'.
Suggestions always welcome. This is the 5th dog I've had with cancer -- all of them different. I sure am tired of cancer....
Alyson Reeves
Levels, WV
About 2 years ago, a scrawny (now 40-ish pound) black dog with short hair and those half-flop, puppy-like ears came wandering the fence line towards our house out in very rural eastern WV. By the time I'd called animal control, she'd left, apparently scared of my movement through the window. After many bowls of canned dog food, lots of patience, various interesting and difficult episodes and a whole lot of patience, Magic became our dog. We learned she was actually between 5 and 7 years old (now 7 to 9 years old), that she'd been on the road at least 6 weeks, but probably a lot longer, that she was already spayed, and that she didn't grow up much around people (she didn't even understand "no", and she didn't respond to the high voice generally used with praise).
She's had digestive issues the entire time we've had her. She's got lipomas in several spots; she eats dirt daily; she loves 'dead things' (carrion); her bottom front teeth are worn to nubbins; and she's had multiple bouts of stool with blood -- the blood always comes at the end of the 2nd (or 3rd) bowel movement, and it's always just several dark drops -- and then it resolves. In May she had an episode that lasted longer than 24 hrs, so I took her to the vet, who diagnosed her with a bowel irritation and gave her an antibiotic and a probiotic. That resolved things until I ran out of both, at which point I added grapefruit seed extract (125 mg per day) to her diet, and that seemed to do the trick. Since many (all?) of the episodes of blood seemed to be after an 'indiscretion' of one sort or another (chewing up ancient deer carcasses or other sorts of bones, usually), I thought maybe her intestine was physically being irritated. Indeed, with the recent diagnosis of a mass seen on her spleen, it seems physical irritation through eating things without thoroughly chewing them could be contributing to the bleeding.
In any event, she's got low platelets (probably due to bleeding), low red blood cells, high neutrophils, and high lymphocytes, as well as a 'raging' heart murmur, all of which means she isn't a good candidate for surgery. She is now on Yunnan Baiyao, but the bleeding at the end of bowel movements hasn't stopped. It has changed, though. Now it is bright red and mixed with mucous. I'll be adding I'm-Yunity to the mix as soon as I get it (hopefully tomorrow).
Has anyone used the 'red pill' in the Yunnan Baiyao package? And if so, at what point is it a good idea to do so? On the one hand, Magic isn't completely lethargic, nor is she in shock. Nor is she needing to go outside constantly to expel blood. On a 40 minute walk, she pooped twice, the first with some blood and mucous, the second all blood. (This morning, her first BM was normal, and the second had blood mixed with mucous.) On the other hand, she is still bleeding -- maybe a couple Tbsps per day, and the Yunnan Baiyao doesn't seem to be stopping that.
FYI, we initially named her Li'l Bit, but then we found we were using that phrase a lot in conversation, so we renamed her Magic, due to her calming effect on our rambunctious shepherd/husky mix, Merlin. Hence the full name 'Li'l Bit o' Magic'.
Suggestions always welcome. This is the 5th dog I've had with cancer -- all of them different. I sure am tired of cancer....
Alyson Reeves
Levels, WV
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