Still Doing Awesome!

Yes, it has been a few weeks since the last posting but, in this case, no news is good news!

Addie has really adapted well to the new diet and medication and she seems to be doing great.

Her energy level is good and she still enjoys our weekend hikes. We haven't done anything too strenuous (just 2-3 hours one day each weekend). The leaves are really starting to change here in Colorado and it was a gorgeous day for our latest hike.

I had a comment last week from someone asking about Addie's diet. I did respond directly but realized that we have tweaked her diet over the past few weeks. So, it probably would be helpful to post the entire diet plan again - just in case anyone was interested.

2 Times per day:
1/2 C. cottage cheese 15-20 minutes prior to items below (to coat stomach from Neoplasene)

1 C. cooked meat
1/2 C. cooked green veggies
1 scoop Fractionated Pectin (Thorne)
1 capsule Hepagen-C (Thorne)
2 cc Neoplasene (Buck Mountain Botanicals)
Krill Oil (1000mg)

1 Time per day:
CoQ10 (100mg)
Chondroitin(1500mg)
Glucosamine (1200mg)
1 Vitamin B complex tablet (not within 2 hours of the Neoplasene as it can counteract effectiveness)

Although I know others with Hemangiosarcoma use Yunnan Baiyao every day, we only use it when we notice cold paws, pale gums, etc. It has only happened once since her diagnosis, but we keep a supply on hand.

Until next time!

Week 9 Update

This was Addie's first week back on the Neoplasene after her break last week. Early in the week, she did have an upset stomach. We backed off the morning dosage from 2cc to 1.8cc and left the evening dosage at 2cc. That seemed to help. Her stomach calmed down and seems to be doing better.

This weekend she definitely acted like her old self. We split wood for about 5 hours on Saturday and she played with her ball outside the entire time, chasing it up and down the mountain. Sunday we did a short 1.5 hour hike and she did wonderfully. She seems a bit tired today, but it was an active weekend for her, so not unexpected. It was great to see her playing so much this weekend!

Week 8 Update

It is now week 8 of Addie's 6-10 week life expectancy diagnosis.

We decided to go on vacation (planned about 6 months ago) and left both Addie and Shep with Aunt Janet and Uncle Jeff. I did feel pretty guilty for the first few days because this would be the first time we had left Addie overnight since she was diagnosed. Plus, we would be gone for a total of 13 days. It is a lot to ask of someone to take on the supplements, meal plans, and a dog diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma- especially when they have 2 dogs of their own (one being a puppy!).

Everyone did excellent! After a few days, everyone got into a routine and things ran smoothly. Addie did get the nickname Emo (short for Emotional), but she always is that way when we leave her, so nothing new there. Janet came up with some great shortcuts in the feeding method that we plan to steal.

We decided ahead of time to go ahead with the holistic veterinarian's recommendation of stopping the neoplasene for 1 week after 6 weeks on the medicine. So, on day 6 of her stay, Addie was able to come off of the Neoplasene for the following week. Janet told us that she seemed a bit brighter during that time, but still moody and slow due to being away from home.

We returned home this morning and she is happy to be in her comfort zone. We did feel like bad parents as we forgot we didn't have any cottage cheese for her and forgot to have a meal prepared for her... amazing what 13 days away will do to your memory!

Thanks again to Janet and Jeff for letting us relax on vacation and taking awesome care of our two babies!