Cleo Update - 9/6/2011

First off, I would like to say “THANKS” to everyone for all the nice comments on our post for Power Of The Paw for Cleo.  I am sorry that I was not in a position to give more details that day, but as you read through our update you will find out that we were pretty devastated with the news that we were dealt last Thursday (9/1/2011).  Please bear with me while you read through my post, it was hard to right and sometimes I seemed all over the place but I tried to give you a picture of what happened since her last chiropractor appt and how we got to where we are today.

The week of August 24, Cleo had another Chiropractor appointment and also received Acupuncture as well.  She had held her adjustment from the previous time pretty well but had slipped out alignment in a few places.  She was adjusted then Dr. A thought maybe Acupuncture in the right areas might stimulate her Immune system.  Cleo does so well and just seems to melt in Dr. A.’s arms.  She pretty much rested during the acupuncture treatment.  Here are few pictures that I could snap before the batteries went dead.

You can see the little needles sticking out of her

The little machine that super charged her

Cleo had to lay still for 15 minutes while this treatment was taking place

Cleo held her own, began to eat like a horse (normal for them steroids), happy girl even was getting out for a few short walks on the cooler evenings.  All until Wednesday evening, when she decided to stop eating all together.  I had just gone to the vets on Tuesday and picked up a whole new case of I/D soft dog food for her, told the vet how she was a munch hound and seemed to be doing well. 

I did notice on Sunday/Monday evening when she would lay flat out you could begin to see her belly bulge; well this didn’t appear normal to me since she has lost so much weight.  Also on her left side there appeared to be a very distinct knot and when I would touch it Cleo would get up, like it hurt. As you can see in the pictures below what I am talking about, with the amount of weight Cleo has lost (12 pounds) we had not been seeing the "pot belly" effect until just late last week.

I really could not feel anything in her tummy, but that was just not right looking to me.  She had an appoint already scheduled for Thursday afternoon for blood draws so I thought we will just make sure that Dr. T checks it out.  Wednesday evening she said NO to food, meds, cheese, treats.  I did have some chicken in the freezer so I cooked that up and boiled that for and she did eat that, of course.  Well I went ahead and called Dr. T Wednesday before he closed and informed him I was bringing Cleo in first thing and not waiting till the afternoon.  I told him she wasn’t eating and something just isn’t right. 

Cleo got some very extensive testing done Thursday morning, blood draws, x-rays of her tummy, back, chest, pretty much her entire body was x-rayed Thursday (9/1).  Unfortunately, all these test have finally found the under laying problem to why she has developed the Auto Immune Deficiency.

Our family received the shock of our life Thursday (9/1) and our world was rocked to the core.  Cleo has been diagnosed with a very fast growing CANCER (Metastatic Hemangiosarcoma) that has been found in her Spleen, Liver, Spine and Lungs.  This form of cancer is usually so far advanced before it is detected, that there is little hope for any options after it is found.  We were told on Thursday that we may have 4-6 months left with her IF we removed her Spleen and started Chemo.    We have decided that that is not something we want to put Cleo through just for a few extra months with her.  We feel that her quality of life is more important to us right know then putting her through a surgery and drugs that would make her feel horrible for the remaining time we have with her.  We will have good days and bad days, but will enjoy every one of them to their fullest and we will know in our hearts when the time has come to let Cleo rest.  But for the time being we take it day-by-day and thank God for everyday that we can continue to enjoy her.

We at the The HoundDogs household, appreciate all our thoughts and prayers and continue to send us the Power of the Paw because we sure could use it about know.

Sniffs,
HoundDogMom, HoundDogDad, Cleo, Winston and Amiee

Thankful "Cleo" Thursday

Today is Thankful Thursday at the HoundDogs House

Today, Cleo had a follow up appointment to have her blood rechecked to see if the Predisone (steroids) have jump started her again to rebuild her RBCs.  She is always such a trooper, she is always ready to go for a BUV ride, I can distract the other two hounds where I can just have Cleo walk out the front door with no collar or leash (we live on a dead end road/last house) so this is okay.  She no longer attempts to chase the outdoor cats that are lounging on the porch.  She walks right out to the BUV and waits for you to open the back end and lift her up.  We have a new/used folding ramp coming next week from a friend that is going to be great for her.  She lays down in the BUV so nicely, waits to get out of the BUV, walks with her tail held high as we enter the vet office.  Heck she doesn't even need to have a bandage on any more after her blood draws, such a big girl.

 Note:  This is a re-enactment from a previous vet visit. :)

We are not out of the woods yet, but we have poked our head around a bush

and

we can see a few flowers

between the weeds today

Oh, ya'll are going ya come on HDM tell us the results....

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Cleo's blood work from today

Has you can see we are ready to call "Houston" and let them know we are moving closer to the launching pad.

I am sure all are blog friends have seen a blood test or two on our fur-kids.  Well as you can see last Saturday (8-13-11), Cleo almost crashed due to her low, low RBC.  As you can see from today's (8-18-11) Cleo has increased her RBC by several percentages.  The numbers you are seeing are a percentage of the RBCs that are in her system, today Cleo is at 27.5%.  A normal range for a dog is 37-50%, Cleo has a long way to go to "normal" range but we are so "Thankful" for the gain she made to day.  Dr. T was quite impressed with her gains, but said she is still considered an "Acute" case at this point and we may see the numbers go back down again.  She will remain on the same amount of Steroids she has been on for the last week and we will recheck her blood in 10 days.

And also, Dr. T said that after this weekend we can begin to take Cleo on short little walks when it is cool in the evenings.  Cleo wants to let the vet know that is all fine and dandy, but she will prefer to stick to the golf cart rides.

We want to say "Thanks" to everyone for all the wonderful comments, POTP and good healing vibes.  We know they are doing their work on Cleo for sure.

Cleo and HoundDogmom

Cleo Update (An Adjustment Doesn’t Fix It All) New Diagnosis

Well once again here I sit typing and reaching out to my blogging friends in blogville for some much needed Power Of The Paw and some words of advice for Miss Cleo and myself. I believe I “jinxed” myself and got way too excited about the great improvements that happened with Cleo. I guess this time I may have counted my chickens before they hatched.


For starters my husband and I hardly ever go out and do things, but this past weekend was his birthday so I splurged for a movie and hopefully dinner for us. Our fur-kids eat supper between 5-6pm every night. Well we decided to go to a movie at 5:00pm so I decided to wait and feed the dogs after the movie was over. I gave Cleo her meds for her tummy acid, thinking this would keep her tummy calm so she would be ready to eat when we got home. It was only going to be like 45 mins after their normal feeding time that they would eat, I felt this was not a big deal.


Well, we received a very frantic call from our son around 6:30 just as the movie was getting over. He stopped out at the house to pick up his laundry and found Cleo laying there unable to get up and move. He is total panic which places me in total panic and we rush home, to find Cleo barking, jumping and running around like hey what is all the fuss about. She is still pretty wobbly in the back leg area, so I pretty much decide she must have twisted herself or just had a little spasm or something. Just must be getting time for another adjustment or something. So I went ahead and feed them and she seemed to be okay, just moving slow and not much energy. I did notice that her gums were a very light pink color, which I know is not a good sign. Of course, I didn’t sleep hardly at all Friday night worrying about her and how many hours till the vet opened so I could call.


Saturday morning came and Cleo seemed to be a little perky and ate well, but I still called the vet. After talking with Dr. T. and telling him what I was seeing he had me bring her back in for an EKG and more blood work. Cleo’s EKG came back great (thank you GOD), but her blood counts were not so good. Cleo’s RBC has dropped again after rebounding just a few days prior. Instead of 2 points up she was 3 points down from where the blood work on Tuesday was. Dr. T has always shown concern and has been trying to fully understand why Cleo’s RBC is so low but shows that she is trying to make little baby RBCs.


Well it was today, Saturday August 13th, my husband’s birthday that we have found out that Cleo has Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) formally known as Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia or AIHA. There is no explanation has to how or why one animal will get this over another.


Cleo was given an injection of “happy juice” steroids and sent back home with her anti-acid, amoxcillian, and predisone again. From all the information that I have read, the heavy dose of steroids is the only way to begin to fight this and get it under control. There is known cure for IMHA at this time, you can only manage it and “pray” that it goes into some sort of remission to where she can maintain a good quality of life. We are NOT giving up on Cleo, and Cleo continues to fight so we will do whatever we can to help maintain this disease. We will continue to work Dr. T and Dr. A Cleo’s Canine Chiropractor to determine the best course of treatment for her and hopefully move to reducing her steroid intake. The main thing we must do right now is get her body to reproduce RBCs and keep them. Unfortunately, the only way is for to take heavy doses of Steriods.  She tires very easy, has a slight cough from the acids in her tummy. She is weak at times, but then has a burst of energy at times as well. Her gums are very pale, but the white of her eyes look good. We are just taking it one day at a time and we will have her RBC retested at the end of the week to see if it has come up. We are feeding her small amounts of ID food every two hours to help keep the acid in her tummy under control. This also seems to help her keep her energy levels up and keep her gums a little pinker.


Here are a few websites if you would like to have some more information on this disease.


http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1390&S=1&SourceID=42
http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/index.html
http://www.peppypaws.com/LillisLegacy.html


So needless to say, we are asking for some more Power of the Paw for Cleo and reaching out to anyone of our blogville friends to see if they have ever dealt with this disease.


Sniffs, HoundDogMom and Cleo

Cleo’s Update

Well yesterday was the big day for Cleo to have a second opinion for her back issues.  I have to tell you that I have had myself way too worked about this and what her outcome was going to be.  Of course, I was thinking way too much about the worst case scenario and actually made myself sick before heading up there.  I want to warn you this is going to be a long post with even some pictures that I tried to snap while Cleo was adjusted.

Our appointment was for 2:00pm so we left Bloomington around 1:20 since it is about a 20 minute drive to Chenoa from our house.

Cleo about to begin her journey.  Hey Mom turn the air on

Oh, ya Mom that is correct point those air vents right at me

Oh, thanks Mom so much better

We arrived around 1:55pm for our appointment

Cleo very excited to meet her new Vet

The assistant came in first and weighed Cleo who is now at 57.4 pounds, gave her a good look over and checked her teeth.  She said that Cleo has lots of tarter on her teeth and wanted to know if we gave her bones.  I told her NO because previous experience with our other dogs resulted in a total dog fight.  She strongly encouraged me to stop by our local Meat Market and purchase some knuckle bones and give to the dogs for about 15 minutes a day.  She said that this will be best natural way to remove the tarter.  She said hopefully by our next appointment the tarter will mostly gone, except for a few spots that may need scraped.  Of course, the local Meat Market was out of knuckle bones till this Friday.  So they will be getting some knuckle bones as a special treat this weekend.

Dr. A also explained the importance of keeping the nails very short on your fur-kid.  She informed me that they are taught to walk on their pads and if their nails get overgrown their feet (toes) will spread out as they compensate to try to find their pads on their feet.  Cleo has always had a problem with her nails since she came from the shelter.  She trimmed Cleo's nails very short, even taking some of them to the wick (a few bleed).  She said sometimes you really have to go supper short to get control of them again.  They laid Cleo on her side for this and I have never seen Cleo lay so still, like she was in a trance or something.  She never even whimpered or moved when she got a few really short.  Overall Cleo is very health, needs to lose a few more pounds (5-6 more).

Cleo smiling after her nails were trimmed

Dr. A reviewed all the x-rays and records and we talked in detail for some time on how/when I thought all this started. She had Cleo walk up and down the hallway, watching her walk, trot, etc.  She laid Cleo’s back legs behind her, her response was improved on her rear legs.  The most trouble was still with her left shoulder and leg, when this leg is placed behind her Cleo will not make any attempt to pick it up and lay it down flat to balance herself.  She just lets it lay there without trying to pick it up and place it down.  Once we worked through these details, Dr. A told me that she didn’t think acupuncture was necessary for Cleo at this point, but she definitely would benefit from a chiropractor adjustment.  She does not have a herniated disk, thank you GOD.  So off to the adjustment room we went.

Once we were in the adjustment room (just a room with carpet).  Dr. A began to feel around Cleo's back, neck and shoulder area.  Dr. A looked at me and Cleo and said that she hated to be blunt with me but she said that according to her poor Miss Cleo just doesn't have her head screwed on straight.  So here is a list of all the mis-alignments Miss Cleo was found to have.

• Her butt tail-bone was titled upward (causing her butt muscles to not work properly, this may also fix her anal gland problem that she has as well)
• Pelvis was twisted sideways
• 4/5/6/7th Vertebra out of alignment (Wobbler's Syndrome)
• Left Shoulder out of alignment (jammed)
• Head was sitting about 1/4 of an inch of her neck (spine).  This is actually what Dr. A meant when she said that her head was not screwed on straight.

Dr. A and her assistant worked on Cleo adjusting her, the only one that I actually heard pop into place was her shoulder and it was loud.  Not sure how many of you have ever had any adjustments by a chiropractor, but you could see some of the same process take place with a fur-kid as with a human.  Here are a some pictures that I snapped as Cleo was being adjusted.

Cleo getting her butt adjusted.  Dr. A is in the light blue shirt and her assistant is in purple

 In this picture her assistant had a pressure point on Cleo's neck, had her arm out and Dr. A would apply pressure to Cleo's butt and at the same time pull down on her assistance's arm.  Not sure how it all worked, but it worked.

 Cleo getting her upper body adjusted

 

 Here she is about ready to adjust Cleo's shoulder and neck

 

 Cleo after her adjustment was complete

Dr. A also is a huge believer in Chinese Herbs/Meds, and this is something I just wasn’t sure I wanted to try at all.  After listening to her explain the importance of them and how they worked, I agreed to try to Chinese Oils/Herbs (Valor and Copaiba). 

Valor is an empowering combination of therapeutic-grade essential oils that works with both the physical and spiritual aspects of the body to increase feelings of strength, courage, and self-esteem in the face of adversity.  Renowned for its strengthening qualities, Valor enhances an individuals internal resources.  It has also been found to help energy alignment in the body.

Dr. A basically told me that she feels that Valor is Chiropractor Care in a bottle.

Copaiba is a powerful essential oil from South America that has traditionally been used to aid digestion and support the body's natural response to injury or irritation.  Capaiba contains the highest amounts of beta caryophyllene (55 percent) of any known essential oil.

Three times a day I take a few drops of the Valor and place on Cleo's tail bone (butt), behind her ears and her shoulder.  I massage these in for a few minutes, then just go about your every day activities.  We have not started the Copaiba has Dr. A was currently out of it and we should receive it in the mail next week.  We will add this oil to the same spots that we placed the Valor on. This will enhance the process of the Valor.  Cleo will also get Copaiba by mouth twice a day working up to 5 times a day. 

We also will be giving her Clycoflex III Canine for her joints and Duralactin Canine to help with some of her tummy issues. 

She also told me that giving these items to Winston and Amiee will not cause any problems, but enhance their health as well.  What I have found pretty amazing about this Valor oil is that, since I have been applying to Cleo I have noticed improvements with my own hand.  I have arthritis in it and the swelling has gone down and it feels 75% better.

Here is Cleo leaving after her adjustment last night

Cleo last night after she came home and had supper.  She was actually rolling around and being silly.  Something she hasn't done for a month.

We want to thank everyone for their well wishes, the power of the paw and good drooling vibes.  I strongly believe they helped us get through this last month of unknowns.  But the unknowns have been answered and Cleo is well on her way to a new lease on life. 

I have learned through this experience that I am going to leave reading the X-rays to the professionals, stop reading the Internet for information and always trust your heart and your blogging buddies to go get a second opinion.

This morning Cleo was the first one up out of bed, tail waggin and trotting out to the kitchen for breakfast.  When I went home at lunch today, Cleo greeted me at the door with a happy bark and prance around the living room.  PRAISE GOD MY GIRL IS BACK.

Sniffs,

Cleo and HoundDogMom