# Any experience with digestive cancers in poodles? (stomach cancers specifically)



## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

I have no advice, just sympathy. I very much hope it is something much more benign and treatable. xx


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

I wish I had some answers. My strategy would be to try and find a special diet, if there is one.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Mfmst said:


> I wish I had some answers. My strategy would be to try and find a special diet, if there is one.


Sophie has been eating the most digestion-friendly diet I can get her to eat. That usually consists of some mashed up blend of Honest Kitchen, pureed boiled chicken/turkey/hamburger, sweet potato, rice, cottage cheese, Acana Grasslands, etc... Sometimes she wants dry kibble so she gets Ari's Earthborn Holistic or she just eats the dry Acana Grasslands. Depending on the day or time of day she will be very picky. It's extremely difficult to get the recommended number of calories into her for her activity level and ideal weight!

Sophie has never been a member of the clean plate club, but her appetite has been even less voracious than usual since she's been with me. This is probably partly because she is pretty sedentary and partly because she subsisted on table scraps for at least a month so she is very spoiled and thinks that she doesn't need to eat the same thing twice. I think that they started feeding her the table scraps at home because she was not eating her kibble (which was Iams and she will not touch it for me either). She isn't losing weight enough for me to be able to tell, but I would definitely like to be able to get more down the hatch (and to KEEP what does go down the hatch, down!).

Since she had't had a solid, consistent diet before she came to live with me, it's kind of hard to say how long this has been going on and what came first: the pickiness or the table scraps.

ETA:

The other thing that is giving me a "bad feeling"
Sometimes when Sophie is zoned out she will start to topple over. This has been pretty mild but seems to be a lot worse now that she's vomiting—thinking these things may be related (a benign-ish cause of both the tipping and the vomiting would be idiopathic vestibular disease) but it doesn't explain the blood in her vomit or the bizarre smell of her vomit that is consistently horribly foul but doesn't change depending on what I've fed her. "Normal" bile vomit is perfume compared to this stuff. She almost fell flat on her side on top of Ari today while she was eating and would have gone down if there wasn't a stool next to her that caught her fall.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I am so sorry. Poor Sophie. My Doberman had stomach cancer. I only noticed it on the nearly last minute, it came on so acutely...the symptoms anyhow. He probably had it for longer but it didn't show up markedly. He also had liver disease (two kinds) so he didn't always feel great anyhow but not too bad, as the liver disease was being somewhat managed. Suddenly, one day he started having horrendous diarrhea, over and over. It was black...so that told me he had internal bleeding. His gums looked pale. He was quickly became very weak and I rushed him to the emergency vet, which was an hour drive. (when I lived in Idaho) It was snowing so I couldn't rush too fast. But anyhow, I went home as suggested by the vet while they did their investigating. And upon my return home, I got a phone call that it was stomach cancer and it was all over the place so I should come back. I needed to have him euthanized, as he was very uncomfortable. That was the worst day of my life, driving through a near blizzard by then, to have my heart dog put down. I never saw something come on so quickly before. He was being seen by a vet regularly to check his liver enzymes but no one knew he had cancer until the last. He wasn't throwing up though, that I recall. So maybe Sophie has something else. I hope she'll be okay. But that blood is scary. I assume since she's throwing it up, that it's bright red. 

Hmmm...looking back, I even have photos of Lyric standing with his back sort of humped up, as if he's trying to relieve some of the weight on his stomach. That should have told me something was wrong but it just didn't quite register...I didn't think much of it and otherwise he didn't have any noticeable symptoms until that day when all hell broke loose.

I hope Sophie isn't in terrible pain or too much discomfort. Poor, poor dogs when they get so sick. I'm really sorry.:sad:


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Poodlebeguiled said:


> Hmmm...looking back, I even have photos of Lyric standing with his back sort of humped up, as if he's trying to relieve some of the weight on his stomach. That should have told me something was wrong but it just didn't quite register...I didn't think much of it and otherwise he didn't have any noticeable symptoms until that day when all hell broke loose.
> 
> I hope Sophie isn't in terrible pain or too much discomfort. Poor, poor dogs when they get so sick. I'm really sorry.:sad:


I'm so sorry to hear about your dobe. Sophie has that hunched posture a lot of the time. Initially we thought it was arthritis in her hips but now I'm wondering if it might be stomach pain, since her arthritis really doesn't seem that bad :afraid:

Yes, the blood was bright red. Not enough of it for me to think she's hemorrhaging/take her to the emergency vet, but it's clear that something is bleeding on the "top end" of her digestive tract. It's not like she's been vomiting often enough to irritate her esophagus/make it bleed due to retching. 

I don't think that Sophie is in terrible pain most of the time. I would still count today as a "good day" on the calendar I'm keeping to help me know when it's time to let her go. She walked around the yard, chewed a buffalo horn a little bit, snuggled with Ari on the couch, and wagged her tail at dinner and a treat. It sounds like if she does have stomach cancer, this will be a fairly early-stage catch of it so I'll be able to take a targeted approach at keeping her comfortable for however long is possible.

How did the vet diagnose your dobe with stomach cancer?

ETA: Her heart rate is a little higher than average tonight even while she's sleeping on the couch, so something's up for sure.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Poor, sweet Sophie. Dogs are so stoic - it's heartbreaking and awe inspiring. I should have known you already had the best diet figured out. I am going to pray hard that she is purging and will stabilize. Hugs!!!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I too do not have any info on stomach cancer, but a thought occurred to me. What if it is a stomach ulcer? That could cause her symptoms. Is she taking NSAiDs for arthritis?

I hope you get better news tomorrow than you expect.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Could something have poked her in her stomach? Something hard and sharp possibly? I thought of an ulceration too. It's just hard to say. How my Doberman was diagnosed was the vet put a scope down into his stomach....a fiber optic camera I think...something like what I'm going through with my throat. They can really see in there. She said if it were just one or two tumors, they might have been removable and he might be saved. But it was pervasive...all over his stomach. It was devastating and so shocking that it came on so quickly. Yes, they sure are stoic, aren't they. Sometimes I wish they'd get over that and realize they aren't that vulnerable anymore to predators and they don't need to hide things...that they've come a long way since those days. I wish they could tell us better what's troubling them. Maybe some day...

I'm sending lots of healing vibes for Sophie that it's something fixable.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

MiniPoo said:


> I too do not have any info on stomach cancer, but a thought occurred to me. What if it is a stomach ulcer? That could cause her symptoms. Is she taking NSAiDs for arthritis?
> 
> I hope you get better news tomorrow than you expect.


She does take NSAiDs for her arthritis but extremely sparingly because I've worried about an ulcer... only 1/4 dose 3 times in all of the last 2 weeks since they were prescribed. I guess she'll have to be off them completely now to see if that makes a difference which is too bad because even 1/4 dose makes her feel sooooo good.

I've only given her the 1/4 dose when I knew we'd be moving around a lot to keep her from getting stiff or sore.


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

I really hope this turns out to be nothing, or at least nothing serious. She is so lucky to have you and Ari, Sophie is exactly where she wants to be now. Try not to worry too much, hard I know.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I hope it isn't what you are thinking, and you know it really does not have to be - dogs with sensitive digestion can have hemorrhagic vomiting and or diarrhea, without it being indicative of anything more serious. Have you tried a course of metronidazole with her? I would.


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## TrixieTreasure (May 24, 2015)

Awww, poor sweet girl. Sorry, I don't have any advice, but Sophie is so lucky to have you, and I'll be thinking of her and pray that it's nothing serious. {{hugs}} to you both.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Any news? Just checking in. I hope she's okay. And you too.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Poodlebeguiled said:


> Any news? Just checking in. I hope she's okay. And you too.


Last night was an incredibly long night as expected. She threw up a couple more times and pooped in her bed (which she hasn't done in 2 weeks) but fortunately I was mostly prepared so the cleanup didn't take tooo long. She kept standing up like her stomach hurt, though, so I didn't get much sleep because I feel a compulsive need to keep an eye on her if she's not sleeping herself.

In the midst of all of this craziness, Ari peed in my bed!!! I was NOT prepared for that, so I had to strip the whole bed and bag up the sheets and comforter with some Nature's Miracle to take to the laundromat this morning. We finished the night/morning on the couch under some towels and a throw blanket because that's all I had that wasn't filthy with poop, vomit, pee, or some combination thereof. :argh:

I brought her in to the vet in the early morning and she got a shot to help with her nausea and I have some pills to add in to keep her from throwing up so I can get some food going through her for a couple days. How well she does with that once we wean her back off of the anti-nausea pills will determine whether we try more invasive (and expensive) diagnostics. 

She ate well once she'd had the anti-nausea shot and kept it down. She hasn't thrown up since before the vet appointment this morning. Fingers crossed that she just ate something she shouldn't have and that she needed this little nudge to get back on track!

One possibility is the chives that are growing off of my apartment's patio. Ari compulsively grabs mouthfuls of them and swallows a small bit (I know, chives are not good for dogs, but I can't very well mow down my landlord's garden because of my crazy little dog! Now that I know she's doing it I'm making sure she stays out of there). Every time, it makes her puke a nice chives-scented puddle on my floor when we come inside. I'm wondering if Sophie might have gotten into them at some point but this seems a little far-fetched to be the entire reason for her gastrointestinal distress.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh gee!! What a night! I'm really sorry. Those chives can cause more than a digestive upset. They are really dangerous, like onions...can cause red blood cell destruction. (anemia) Oh dear. Well, I hope she's on the mend. Keep us posted. I really worry.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Poodlebeguiled said:


> Oh gee!! What a night! I'm really sorry. Those chives can cause more than a digestive upset. They are really dangerous, like onions...can cause red blood cell destruction. (anemia) Oh dear. Well, I hope she's on the mend. Keep us posted. I really worry.


Yeah I know! Ari is such a dummy. Fortunately she doesn't really eat much (or any) on purpose, just the little bits that probably get stuck in her mouth when she bites them. This has only happened twice which is how long it took me to figure out why her puke smelled like onions!! d'oh :act-up:

From what I can tell she'd have to eat quite a bit more than a few bits and pieces to get the really bad/toxic effects AND she'd have to not puke it back up. Either way, Ari is fine and won't be going anywhere near those chives ever again so that was a near miss!

ETA that I checked all the plants and there are no big bunches missing, just some broken leaves, so I'm pretty sure that the chives can't be responsible for Sophie's symptoms.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Oh whew! Glad she didn't eat much. I guess it wouldn't have been that or the vet would have noticed a more rapid heart and respiration rate probably and some other signs. Dogs can be so dopey sometimes, huh. 

Well, I sure hope she feels better. There was a reason that she was sick like that...so much vomiting and with blood to boot! I worry that the meds the vet gave her, though they make her feel better, might mask something else. Was there any talk of putting a scope down her or taking an ultra sound or something? Or just waiting to see if she stayed better? Is there any reason he gave you as to why there might be blood in her vomit?


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Poodlebeguiled said:


> Oh whew! Glad she didn't eat much. I guess it wouldn't have been that or the vet would have noticed a more rapid heart and respiration rate probably and some other signs. Dogs can be so dopey sometimes, huh.
> 
> Well, I sure hope she feels better. There was a reason that she was sick like that...so much vomiting and with blood to boot! I worry that the meds the vet gave her, though they make her feel better, might mask something else. Was there any talk of putting a scope down her or taking an ultra sound or something? Or just waiting to see if she stayed better? Is there any reason he gave you as to why there might be blood in her vomit?


I know that the anti-nausea will be masking other things. Since Sophie doesn't have other issues/alarming symptoms besides the vomiting and elevated heart rate when (I think) she is having stomach pains and the small amount of blood in her vomit with no blood in her stool, it's not a big emergency to scope her like if she was bleeding a lot.

The most obvious reason and benign that there might be blood in her vomit would be an ulcer. Since the famotidine helped for a couple weeks it could still be that. But it could also be a tumor or other problem with her stomach/upper digestive tract. Like Tiny Poodles said, dogs can have blood in their vomit with nothing more than stomach upset.

Hard to say without scoping.

The idea with the anti-nausea is to get her eating again, wean her back off, and see if it was just one of those mysterious gastric upsets that we all have. If it comes back the same or worse once she's off the anti-nausea, it's time to scope.


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

Tough night for everyone, glad to hear thing have settled down with the medication. Hopefully it was just one of those bugs.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

If the blood was bright red I think maybe not from the stomach since the acid would be likely to denature the hemoglobin (think blood agar vs. chocolate agar colors). Does she have a roached back? That would indicate gastric or other abdominal pain.

I hope this is an easy to manage thing. I want her to have lovely months and months with you, not just weeks.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

lily cd re said:


> If the blood was bright red I think maybe not from the stomach since the acid would be likely to denature the hemoglobin (think blood agar vs. chocolate agar colors). Does she have a roached back? That would indicate gastric or other abdominal pain.
> 
> I hope this is an easy to manage thing. I want her to have lovely months and months with you, not just weeks.



Actually no - Tangee once and Teaka at another time threw up bright red blood - it was just a GI upset, nothing serious.
Bloody diarrhea is usually from higher up and blackish in color.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Hugs to you! 

I wonder what her belly would do with something highly digestible like hills i/d? Despite how everyone feels about science diet, it really is designed to be extra easy to digest. 

Most of the foods you've listed above have given my Jack (super extra sensitive belly) terrible belly issues, refusing to eat it, diarrhea. He now eats canned adult science diet, and finally, finally has a quiet tummy, no anorexia, vomiting or diarrhea. I don't know if it would help or not, just throwing that out there. 

Hugs to you all!


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

lily cd re said:


> If the blood was bright red I think maybe not from the stomach since the acid would be likely to denature the hemoglobin (think blood agar vs. chocolate agar colors). Does she have a roached back? That would indicate gastric or other abdominal pain.
> 
> I hope this is an easy to manage thing. I want her to have lovely months and months with you, not just weeks.


Sophie does sometimes have a roached back. At first the vet and I thought it was due to her arthritis, but now I can tell that it's from pain because it comes and goes between mealtimes.



Tiny Poodles said:


> Actually no - Tangee once and Teaka at another time threw up bright red blood - it was just a GI upset, nothing serious.
> Bloody diarrhea is usually from higher up and blackish in color.


I had the recent and unfortunate experience of having my own bleeding stomach ulcer so I got a crash course in all of the different symptoms and what they mean.

Red blood in vomit- very fresh bleeding in the stomach, duodenum, or esophagus
"Coffee grounds" in vomit or stool- older blood from bleeding in the stomach, duodenum or esophagus, if it's in the stool that means there's been a substantial amount of bleeding in the upper GI tract
Red blood in stool- lower digestive tract bleeding from HGE or hemorrhoids etc.

Of these coffee grounds from either end is the most sinister symptom. Red blood is not good, but also not an urgent emergency. Both TP and Lily cd re are correct—the blood will turn black/dark if it has much time to interact with the digestive juices, but stomach bleeding can also be red if there isn't much of it and it's getting "ejected" quickly.

I had the vet check Sophie's stool sample for occult (invisible) blood and it came back negative. So whatever's bleeding in there is not bleeding a lot and it is on the top end of her stomach/duodenum/esophagus.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Shamrockmommy said:


> Hugs to you!
> 
> I wonder what her belly would do with something highly digestible like hills i/d? Despite how everyone feels about science diet, it really is designed to be extra easy to digest.
> 
> ...


The thing with Sophie is that she will NOT eat the same thing twice— she has spoiled-dog-who-ate-human-food syndrome. I'll see if I can get some samples of Science Diet from the vet but I'm not too inclined to buy a lot of it if she'll stop eating it after one or two meals. If she were otherwise perfectly healthy, I'd have no problem waiting her out till she gave up and agreed to eat the same food for every meal, but since she's already iffy I keep trying to get whatever I can into her.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Just wanted to say I'm thinking of you and Sophie. What a hard time. She is so lucky to have you.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Yes, blood from the stomach if it's thrown up can be bright red and could be serious. Usually, with it coming out the other end, blood from the stomach will look brown or black because it's been there for while. When it comes out in the stools or diarrhea and looks like coffee grounds, the medical term is _coffee ground emesis_ and it's partially digested. If it's diarrhea and bright red it likely came from the colon. If it's dark and sticky looking, it came from further up in the intestines or stomach. Blood in vomit or diarrhea could be something very serious indeed. In my Dobe's case, the black diarrhea was internal bleeding from his tumors up in his stomach. 

If Sophy's blood in her vomit is bright red, she may have swallowed something sharp. I remember Chulita...my little girl Chi, when I first got her having bloody diarrhea after eating a pig's ear. A sharp shard must have scratched her up inside. She got better within a day, but boy, was that ever scary. 

It could possibly be a tumor in Sophie's case. It could be a lot of things. Like I said, Lyric would get that roached back look at times, which really didn't have time to register before he started having some real symptoms and signs of something seriously wrong. I sure hope Sophie doesn't have something bad and that she gets well.

See how he's sort of trying to keep the weight off his stomach? I wonder if I had noticed this sooner, if he could have been saved. It only really clicked later...looking back.




My very best wishes that Sophie is going to be all right and it's nothing serious.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I have had issues with my PWD Neeka having loose stools and we tried everything to improve it. When I finally gave in and fed her ID canned food, her stools improved overnight. I now do a mix of homecooking and ID canned food. I keep trying to wean her off ID, but then her stools get worse.

So in spite of how everyone feels about ID, for some reason, it DOES help dogs with sensitive tummies.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Thinking of you and Sophie all the time, Sophie Anne. I hope she had a comfortable night and you did as well.


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## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

I'm thinking good thoughts for you guys! I hope she starts to feel better soon!

Would she eat more consistently if you mixed in stuff to her food? Draco is a very picky poodle, and he has bad acid reflux problems. He frequently won't eat breakfast because of nausea. I have for awhile been adding a home cooked mixture into his breakfast to help him eat. He loves it unless he is too sick feeling to eat. 
I have to frequently rotate his food brands/protein to keep him eating as well. I can't just tough him out until he eats either. We are actually currently on a food brand that he really likes for several bags when he is feeling well enough to eat. 

I know that Sophie is on famotidine, but I can't remember if she has carafate as well. We keep carafate on hand for acid flair ups. It really helps coat and sooth him. This morning he was having a huffy acid attack so I gave him some and it helped right away. You can't give it at the same time as the other meds as it will block their absorption.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Just a thought - Teaka was having messy stools after trying a new food last week, so I pulled out some Prostora, which had worked very well for Tangee in her last months, and two doses and she is completely back to normal - it is by far the most effective probiotic that I have ever seen for dogs - it might be worth a try! Your Vet might carry it, or you can get it on Amazon.


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## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

I lost my last dane to lymphoma, but by the time it was caught he had a large mass in his small intestine and it had spread to his spleen, liver and probably stomach. He was passing almost raspberry jelly looking poops (sorry for the image) but this started after he bloated so my vets thought it was related to the stress of being tubed and the bloat so it went on longer than any I would have usually let something go. When he stopped eating even his favourite foods I knew there was a problem so we went to emergency and X-rays showed the 5"x3" mass. They also suspect the pressure of the mass on his stomach may have caused his bloat the month before. 
He had always been roach backed, but I have no idea how long he was sick before I noticed something wrong. I lost him a month after diagnoses, a month before his third birthday. 
This was a week after he bloated, three weeks before his cancer diagnoses. He had already lost about 10lbs at this point even though his appetite was still voracious. 










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Sorry I have neglected this thread. I was traveling this weekend for a conference and Sophie and Ari were staying with my landlords. They did well and were happy to see me when I got back!

I saw Ari do the sweetest, most generous thing I've ever seen a dog do last night:

I was boiling chicken for Sophie's dinner, and after I drained all the fat off I was pouring it into the storage container and missed, making a splat of chicken all over the kitchen floor. I called Ari over and told her to clean it up, and she excitedly stuffed as much as she could fit into her mouth and ran out of the kitchen.

I followed her to make sure that she wasn't going to stash it in my curtains or between the couch cushions (she is a scoundrel sometimes...) and watched as Ari walked up to Sophie who was sleeping on the couch. Ari gently woke her up by poking her with her nose and then spat out all or most of her chicken prize on the couch and wagged her tail while Sophie ate it!!!

I could NOT believe it! So, so sweet! 

Watching this also made me glad that I put a cover over my couch. :lol:



Tiny Poodles said:


> Just a thought - Teaka was having messy stools after trying a new food last week, so I pulled out some Prostora, which had worked very well for Tangee in her last months, and two doses and she is completely back to normal - it is by far the most effective probiotic that I have ever seen for dogs - it might be worth a try! Your Vet might carry it, or you can get it on Amazon.


Sophie's been on FortiFlora since she's been with me which has helped somewhat. But FortiFlora's a different type of bacteria than Prostora, so maybe it'll be worth trying Prostora now too. Thanks for the tip!



kayla_baxter said:


> I lost my last dane to lymphoma, but by the time it was caught he had a large mass in his small intestine and it had spread to his spleen, liver and probably stomach. He was passing almost raspberry jelly looking poops (sorry for the image) but this started after he bloated so my vets thought it was related to the stress of being tubed and the bloat so it went on longer than any I would have usually let something go. When he stopped eating even his favourite foods I knew there was a problem so we went to emergency and X-rays showed the 5"x3" mass. They also suspect the pressure of the mass on his stomach may have caused his bloat the month before.
> He had always been roach backed, but I have no idea how long he was sick before I noticed something wrong. I lost him a month after diagnoses, a month before his third birthday.
> This was a week after he bloated, three weeks before his cancer diagnoses. He had already lost about 10lbs at this point even though his appetite was still voracious.


That's so young to lose your dane to cancer! What a beautiful dog, too. :crying:

Sophie is about where your dane looked in that picture weight-wise. Lighter than I want her to be, and clearly not "well" to me, but not underweight enough for strangers on the street or even the vet techs to gasp and wonder what's going on.

Another weird thing that I've noticed from Sophie is that she'll pass these really bizarre jelly poops once in a while. Clear, not "raspberry" though. I'll definitely mention it when I bring her back to the vet tomorrow.

She has this dry, unproductive cough that she has been doing since she was 12-ish and I wonder if that could also be related.

Sophie has been doing OK and is no longer vomiting, but she's still not eating enough. I think I might be able to afford an X-ray, although she is so full of lumps and bumps I wonder if that might be inconclusive. Anything where she is going to have to go under anesthesia is unfortunately out of reach right now and maybe not worth the stress to her anyway. I talked to my parents and they are definitely not going to pitch anything in to help, so I am limited to seeing what I can do to make whatever time Sophie has left comfortable rather than treating an expensive illness. I'd like a general diagnosis to make pain relief and other measures as targeted as possible though.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

sophie anne said:


> Sorry I have neglected this thread. I was traveling this weekend for a conference and Sophie and Ari were staying with my landlords. They did well and were happy to see me when I got back!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Oh my gosh, that brought tears to my eyes!


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## TrixieTreasure (May 24, 2015)

sophie anne said:


> Sorry I have neglected this thread. I was traveling this weekend for a conference and Sophie and Ari were staying with my landlords. They did well and were happy to see me when I got back!
> 
> I saw Ari do the sweetest, most generous thing I've ever seen a dog do last night:
> 
> ...




Ohhh, sweet Sophie. ❤ Even though she's still not eating enough, it's good to hear the positive things about her in your posts. You and Ari are definitely Sophie's Angels. She's really lucky to have you both.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Tiny Poodles said:


> Oh my gosh, that brought tears to my eyes!


Me too, TP.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

And you know what I realized today - after those two doses of Prostora, Teaka's poop has remained better than it has been in years! I mean it was always ok, but "moist" enough to leave a stain on the wee wee pad, and often necessitate butt cleaning. She has been like that so long, I just thought it was her normal, but nope - since those two does, her poops are just totally dry - the kind that make a little noise when they drop on the pad and don't leave a trace on her butt! I kind of feel bad because now I realize that that she always had a little in balance in her digestive tract, I just did not know it - but now that I do, I will always give her some prostora if goes back to the way it was! I would highly recommend giving it a try! It is expensive, but if you are lucky it could be a one shot deal like it seems to have been for Teaka, rather than something that is needed daily like it was in Tangee's final months.
Yup, that stuff is going to stay with my poodle supplies right next to the metronidazole!


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Took Sophie back into the vet this morning. She's lost 3 pounds in the last week despite my trying to spoon-feed her anything and everything she will eat.

Now that she is getting very lean/underweight, the vet was able to really palpate her abdomen and stomach. Unfortunately, he thinks that he can feel an abnormal mass right under her ribcage around her stomach. When he applied pressure to it while feeling it, Sophie did her dry cough that usually precedes vomiting and retched a little, so I think whatever that lump is, is the cause of her symptoms.

We discussed options for Sophie. We came to the conclusion that even if this lump is a benign/not invasive tumor, X-rays and endoscopy under anesthesia will only confirm what we know already—that she has a mass pressing on her stomach or in her stomach—and not really change the fact that she is a 15-year-old-dog who has a very questionable chance of recovering from a surgery to remove the tumor. The vet will come, for free, to my apartment or wherever I want him to meet us if Sophie's time comes before I move and she needs some help, which is so kind of him.

I've received awesome advice in this thread for Sophie's symptomatic treatment that was seconded by the vet once we decided to take a palliative route rather than one of aggressive (and painful) treatment.

She's been prescribed a more aggressive antacid regime of carafate and omeprazole, plus some antibiotics just in case she's got some bacterial infection going on. The vet agreed that it couldn't hurt to try Prostora (especially since she'll be on antibiotics), so I've ordered some from Amazon.

I also got a couple cans of the critical care formulas that they feed dogs and cats when they are very sick, which are high calorie and low bulk (science diet a/d and i/d). I topped her food with some before heading back to work and she thought it was delicious, so hopefully that will help slow her weight loss if not stop it.

*Minipoo,* how much does Neeka eat of the ID food per day? Is that her only food or are you using it as a topper?

We can't know how rapidly the lump will grow without a biopsy to figure out what it is, but the vet showed me how to feel it (it felt about the size of a golf ball eta maybe Ping pong ball is a better descriptor) so I can check it if her symptoms worsen to see if enlargement of the lump=more vomiting etc.

Sophie has had a wonderful life and we've had countless adventures together. She's climbed mountains, paddled rivers in a kayak, gone fishing, chased all manner of wild and domestic animals, sampled countless exotic flavors of poop and other gross things, jumped off docks, bounded over fences, run with me while I rode my horse, trained seeing eye dogs, caught billions of thrown balls, and raised Ari... Sophie and I grew up together in many ways and I would not be the person I am today if it was not for her. In some ways, you could say that Sophie raised me. There has never been and never will be another dog quite like Sophie; Ari is a great dog but she is not quite so _human_ (for lack of a better word) as Sophie.

I look forward to topping off Sophie's incredibly wonderful life with plenty of beach visits, ice cream and happiness, but I wish I could keep her around forever. I'm so grateful that she will be with me for the end of her story, just like she was at the beginning when she was a tiny little black pup that fit in the palms of my 8-year-old hands. :love2:


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I'm so sorry for poor Sophie. It's such a hopeless feeling, isn't it when you want to be able to do something to make them better, but there isn't anything...or it's not practical at all...like when they're old like Sophie and the treatment might be worse than just letting them go free. I'm so very sorry things aren't looking good.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Aww I am sorry the news doesn't look great. We always hope for the best even when we know we are unlikely to hear something miraculous. I think the best part of things is that you have such a beautiful mental picture of the balance of her life and your role in it along with how special and important she is in your life (and always will be even when she is separated from you by her passing).

You have been a generous, loving and realistic advocate for Sophie to have a graceful ending.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Neeka's eats almost a can of ID food each day, divided up into 3 meals. I mix in some rice and cooked turkey and give her supplements like Prozyme to help her digest her meal.

I had her on Fortiflora and it actually made her stools worse, I mean, right away and it never got better. So I eliminated the probiotics and just stuck with the digestive enzymes. I do give her some yogurt and once in a while Propectin with is for loose stools and has a probiotic in it. 

I also feed Rabbit and Potato kibble on the floor to all 3 dogs, but that is their treat, not their main meals.

I have been trying to substitute other types of canned food for ID for Neeka and so far I have been able to do that for one meal of the 3 a day before she has worse stools. So I am still trying to find other alternatives. 

Remember that Neeka has mild Addison's disease which also could be a factor in all of this.

I am so sorry to hear about Sophie's mass on her stomach. My older dog Phoenix has a mass in her mammary glands, which at 14.5 years, we are not doing anything about. I am just trying to deal with her issues and give her pain pills when she seems more off. So I can certainly sympathize with your problems with Sophie.


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## bigpoodleperson (Jul 14, 2009)

Awww man, I was hoping for better news and outcome for Miss Sophie! I hope that she stays comfortable throughout her last great journey with you! Hugs!!


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

It will do you all good to spend this time together, you painted a perfect picture of your adventures together and the ones yet to come. It made me both sad and happy. I hope Sophie will have a wonderful summer with you and Ari, her best one ever! She's where she belongs. Hugs all around from Abbey and I.


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## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

I am so sorry to hear about Sophie's mass but the rest of your message made me so happy. You've both had such a beautiful life together and I know this last part will be hard but lovely as well. Thinking of you all.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Ari's kindness to Sophy made me a little tearful, too - a genuine example of altruism between dogs. And your determination to make her last months as happy as possible is a lesson to us all. May there be more good days than bad ones, much love, some laughter, and when the time comes may the tears be sweetened by the many, many good memories.


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## Beaches (Jan 25, 2014)

Sophie Anne,
There's not much I can say except I am following Sophy's story with love and concern and happiness that whatever happens, she has you! Hugs!


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