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[Sandra63]

My 9yo Whippet Beulah has been diagnosed with Blasto in her stomach, it was not found to be in her lungs at the time of diagnosis (thru endoscopy & biopsies). She has been on 60 mg Itraconazole capsules 2x daily, short of 2 weeks. She has gone thru the barely eating (one small taste & no more) to not wanting to taste food, started 2 days ago.  She is still willing to take Nutrical on her own..heading to buy 2 more tubes.  This morning I force fed her small amounts of peanut butter and some chicken broth in order to give the medication.  I know I have to worry about loss of appetite and liver failure while on this medication so I am struggling right now - vet appt. is Thursday and I predict the Vet will do liver enzyme test to make sure liver failure hasn't happened.  I imagine she may suggest switching medication since Beulah has to eat in order to fight this. Friday I picked up something at the natural herb store called, Silver Biotics. The man couldn't say enough about how great this product cures without side affects.  I bought it and immediately started her on 1 tsp. every 4 hours.  Anyone ever heard of this? Desperate times.  Anyway, I have seen other posts about giving supplements..what should I give? Beulah is also on Enalapril (for losing protein in urine - been on for awhile & stable). What is the vet wants to do intravenous feeding? Do I do that and is it hard on my Beulah? This website is what I have been needing. Thanks to anyone who can offer help.

[evayola]

I am so sorry that your Beulah has been diagnosed with blasto. I am not sure if I have heard of anyone here having it in the stomach. I am sure that this causes much more nausea than just having blasto in the lungs. I do not have any experience with the Silver Biotics. The only supplements that my dogs have been on have been in the recent past. There are many here that have given supplements so hopefully somebody will be able to answer that question. Maybe you can bump your appt with the vet to the next couple of days. With blasto, timing is key. Sorry I couldnt be of much help but I just wanted to let you know that we are all here for you. You will be in my thoughts.

Eva

[Rudy]

I just realized I could put this message on your message site where you'll find it more readily vs. ours (Rudy's) like I've just done:

To Sandy (Beulah’s owner):  This is my first message board experience; I’ve never gone on facebook, chat rooms etc so I’m not sure how to sent/reply from message board via email but wanted to thank you for your encouragement and wish you the same. You’re definitely in our thoughts and prayers and we’ll keep track of Beulah’s progress/improvement from your messages. This site is not only extremely helpful but also the best place I’ve found where people really understand what you’re going through. 

Perhaps this will work for you with feeding Beulah:  We’ve learned that some foods are easier to feed when Rudy wouldn’t eat.  We discovered when our neighbor gave us special liver pâté that when we put some inside Rudy’s cheek, he couldn’t spit it out but would lick it.  The wet dog food we have now has a similar paste-like consistency so easier & more effective to use the same method than forcing food down his throat.  I’ve also used syringes (the larger the better: easier to fill and serve) with more liquid-like foods we’ve pureed. I soak puppy kibble (I think it has more calories?) and include some in the puree.  And every time before and in-between feedings, we offer him whole foods and surprisingly every other day or so, he’ll eat it on his own.  He’s always liked Dental Sticks so we start him with that.  It is true that different things work for different dogs and sometime Rudy will eat one thing one day and not the next, at different times he’ll eat something he never would have before.  Sometimes we found someone else offering Rudy food has helped too.  We just have to keep trying and not give up. All the best and good luck; we’ll all be thinking about you.

Sheila & Paul

[Sandra63]

Thanks so much for your words and your help... I am going to try the pastey food inside her mouth.

From reading others posts I think we caught this strange case of Blasto early as Beulah is still
eager enough to want to go to Petsmart to smell the dog food aisle. You're so right about other people
giving her food - a rep from Nutro was at the store and had a sample bag of kibble, I asked to try and
and see if she could get Beulah to eat a piece (of course people don't realize what many of us are
going thru with the eating-thing)...she thought for sure she was going to just
gobble it up.  1 piece in and half of it out...many attempts and i think she managed to eat 2 pieces, HURRAY! Then at the checkout line she took a small biscuit from the cashier and ate that - again HURRAY!
We'll take those small miracles.

[Rudy]

Re Getting Beulah to eat:

Have you tried Benny Bully's Liver Chops from Pet Value (similar kind at PetSmart too)?  They are pure natural beef liver treats that have sort of a cardboard/chalk-like dry texture that can easily be broken into pieces or powder form so they can be sprinkled over food.  We tried these with Rudy and he gobbled them up!  They are low in calories though, but it was helpful for us when we accidentally on purpose dropped pieces in his food so that he would eat the higher-calorie puppy dog food along with the treat (much more enjoyable experience for both of us than force-feeding).

We were so thrilled that he loved these, we bought several bags & now he's not eating them.  But we'll keep trying; even if it works some of the time, it's worth it.

Sheila & Paul

PS  We booked an appt for this Friday specifically with the vet that originally diagnosed Rudy with Blasto over three weeks ago. She seemed to know the most about this disease.  Rudy has lost more weight and we could tell he felt really sick last night: not eating at all again, his eyes had a lot of pus/mucous in them too; and his breathing was loud and sounded like groaning.  We opened all the windows to let the cool breeze in and that seemed to help and this morning he seemed better.  It's difficult to determine when it is urgent to take him for medical help and when we need to just wait it out, make him as comfortable as possible and not panic or despair. I sure hope we can learn more ways to help Rudy get better & that soon we’ll see significant progress.

 

[Sandra63]

Thanks for the tips Sheila, Paul & Rudy --- unfortunately Beulah isn't eating anything at all. I started force feeding Ensure.

Went to Vet yesterday. Bloodwork shows that her liver had no damage due to being on the Itraconazole, TG.
We switched her to fluconazole once a day in hopes that she gets her appetite back.  She is still throwing up, every night (bile). Best guess is that it is the Blasto in her stomach causing this. Vet didn't like how Beulah looked, tired and down. I think she really wanted to tell me it was time.  I only was given a 10 day supply of the fluconazole, scheduled to go back next week and have bloodwork done again. My hope is that my feeding her will give her strength enough until the fluconazole kicks in and hopefully she'll begin to eat on her own. If not depending on the next round of bloodwork the next step would be a feeding tube in her neck.

I hope Rudy is feeling better.  What did your vet say today?     

[Rudy]

Sorry to hear about Beulah not eating. Do you have the Ensure Plus vs. regular?  It has about 105 calories more/can and as we know every bit helps.

There's a puppy paste in a tube (can't remember the name off-hand; Nurti-cal maybe?); you could probably squirt that into her mouth or rub it on her gums or the roof of her mouth for added calories and nutrition.

The liver pâté or other pasty type of dog food like the a/d worked for us to smear along the inside of Rudy's cheek so he would lick it vs. spit it out; it seemed to work when he was fighting us on the force-feedings. And I learned to feed him just a little bit more than I felt comfortable (still it was a lot less than a regular feeding) and to try frequently.

We also found he's more accepting of feedings at weird times in the day like around 11:30 p.m. (like a midnight snack) which also helped me sleep better knowing he ate something.  And I've found that when Rudy slows down in his accepting food when we're hand-feeding him or when he resists the force feedings, I often give him some water from a large syringe/vial (2-3 of them) & then we'll eat a little more, plus I think it helps wash the food down and provide some moisture in his mouth. 

We gave him blue Gatorate when he was at his worst. Our vet recommended the blue flavor since it appears to be the only flavor most dogs will drink and even then we had to force/squirt it in his mouth sometimes.

Don't give up!  It's such a devastating & intense disease with many bleak and discouraging times, especially the first 2-3 weeks and now at least 2-3 times a day where it looks like we're not going to make it and then strangely, just as we're thinking the worst, there is a glimmer of some signs of improvement i.e. Rudy's tail is not between his legs, he makes one small bark at someone at the door, or his head and nose are cooler for a change and we see that small flicker of some inner strength still left in him that we latch onto to keep going. 

I think, for us anyway, I’ve realized progress can be painfully slow with a lot of set-backs as the natural course of this disease so I’m choosing as much as humanly possible to focus on his care and comfort and not let  the things that I have no control overwhelm me. It's really difficult at times but we need to focus our energy on what we can do.   

Your care & love go a long way to helping Beulah.  Keep up the good fight.  We’re thinking of you and send all our love and support your way.

Sheila & Paul

[Sandra63]

Thanks for your email, it has been the worst 2 days yet. I am very discouraged, the new meds have not made a difference yet, the throwing up is worse. She is getting weaker by the day. Won't even take the nutrical anymore. Looking at me very sad, closing her eyes, I am afraid she is hurting. I don't know what to do and wish I had someone to help me.  I hope Rudy had a good day.

[Wilson3]

I am so sorry to hear Beulah is having such a hard time with fighting... Stay strong!And Positive! She will need all your strength you have to give her! Sit with her and talk to her about the great times of the past and to come. The new adventures you want to have with her and show her . (things you have not done with her yet) picture them in your mind also I know I tell everyone to do this ...it does help really feel it with your whole heart and soul,
your energy will give her strength
when you sit with her massage her body not to hard ,gentle every part of her body it will relax her tell her just how proud you are of her for fighting so hard and that you know it is not easy ,look right into her eyes and tell her from your heart she will feel this and give more strength to fight.

I am kind of surprised the switch of the meds though I know the Fluconazole is harder on the stomach and has more side effects then the itra does but all dogs react differently to the meds. some do,do better on the fluconazole. I guess I wonder only because her stomach is already bothering her so bad

Plant enzymes and probiotics are great for helping the stomach and digesting things

try bacon but having more on the softer side not real crunchy
eggs are great full of protein they need lots of this stuff (the proteins) did you try the Evo at all?
try Evo dry soaked in warm water add steak with garlic on it with eggs add some canned food also sit with her and feed it to her with a spoon
sit on the floor with her food in a bowl that you would eat out of and act like you are eating it going mmmmm...this is soooo good close the eyes and all when you go mmmmm lick your lips act like it tastes sooo good but do it like you mean it you can leave out the dog food and just use human food that is VERY taste yes steak with garlic the garlic has a strong smell they like  with it being only people food you can really eat it a few spoonfuls then offer it to her sitting right next to her of course after she has eaten off the spoon you still should act like you are also eating it I know my sound gross but I still ate off the same spoon it makes it more appealing to them

i will be thinking of you guys and so hope for better days to soon come blasto is a nightmare and very hard to fight (a very long haul) as my vet told me (8 long months for us) but well worth it the first month is the worse it very slowly will get better but very slow
remember stay strong and positive even when you talk with her crying is good it lets out the pain and we have all been there
wilson3

are you giving anything for pain right now? It does help them a lot!  if given right they way the dr.says to give it

[Rudy]

So sorry to hear that you & Beulah are going through such a difficult time.  I haven’t had much experience as many on site have with Blasto but if there’s anything this last month has taught us is that it does get worse before it gets better. It has to be one of the hardest things to go through but keep trying and don’t give up.  Just when we’ve been our wit’s end & it looks like it’s time to let Rudy go (which has happened several times), something small yet miraculous happens to give us hope to continue.  Look for those signs in Beulah’s eyes or any small communicative gestures that show she still has life in her, no mater how subtle it seems…anything to keep you going until the meds kick in & your efforts result in improvement.  We were told by our vet that the fact Rudy survived that first week is a significant milestone.  So the way I’m looking at this is- the longer we survive this, the better our chances are.  The first 3-4 weeks have been really tough & although we still face challenges every day, it is getting better in so many other ways.

Something for pain would probably help a lot; it didn’t dawn on us when we were overwhelmed with Rudy’s care & it wasn’t offered either.  But I’ve also learned to ask; you would know Beulah more intimately than anyone and know what she needs. 

I’ve also learned to be more diligent in the frequency of feedings.  I’ve had to take short breaks when some of the forced-feeding are going very poorly where he’s resisting and spitting out the food and it looks more like a food fight than an actual feeding, but I’ll go back 10-15 minutes later with renewed purpose and with 2-3 options from real food, mush and liquid, determined that this time, Rudy will eat or be fed. Perhaps Beulah, since she seems to be throwing up a lot, may benefit from smaller, more frequent feedings so there’s more of a chance that some of it will stay down? What about Gastro dog food or something similar that’s supposed to be easier on the stomach?

Do you have to feed Beulah with a syringe?  Can you force-feed her some of the high-calorie dog food by opening her jaw and placing small amounts at the back of her tongue that she has to swallow it? I'm not sure if this is too hard on her stomach. (If it is possible, just have to be careful not to put it too far back so she doesn’t choke.)  Or if you’re more comfortable, apply/stick some to the inner cheek or roof of her mouth so she has to lick it. We found blowing on Rudy’s mouth and lately I’ve discovered holding the food directly in front of his nose, for some unknown reason, seems to make his jaw relax just a little & make it easier to open.

During the worst times, I desperately called other vets in areas where I heard Blasto was more common and got additional info; some of which we put into action immediately i.e. Milk Thistle to protect the liver; and other advice on treatment that we discussed with our vet.  I was surprised how generous they were with their time to discuss my concerns.  Maybe there are some vets that you might be able to find online that you can call that have had more experience with Blasto in the stomach & may have other/additional treatment ideas including what medication they have found to be most successful?  I found it was encouraging & refreshing to talk with others and learn from their experience and expertise & I felt useful and more confident working with all the resources I could. 

Take care of yourself too.  This disease is exhausting for everyone.  Know that you are doing all that you can and your caring and nurturing makes all the difference.

Sheila & Paul

[jefndebbacon]

Hi so sorry to hear about Bealah's illness. You are in my thoughts and prayers. It is a roller coaster ride so keep your chin up - will be praying for Beaulah's recovery. Let us know how you guys are doing. Deb

[Sandra63]

My sweet Beulah crossed Rainbow Bridge this morning.
Thank you to everyone that offered advice and support to us both.
I hope all of you going through this with your dogs can win your battle.
take care,
Sandy & Beulah

[evayola]

I am so sorry for your loss Sandy.  I wish there was more that we could have helped you with.

Hugs,

Eva

[Cathy, Bailey and Duke]

I'm so sorry to hear about Beulah!!! My thoughts are with you!♥♥

[jefndebbacon]

Hi Sandy,

So sorry to hear about Beaulah.  My heart goes out to you - so difficult to face such a devastating disease - been there.... Glad that you could join us in the search for a cure, and thank you for sharing the journey.  Not gone, but waiting at the end of the trail (for you).  You have were blessed with a friend and companion - how lucky you were and how lucky Beaulah was to have you!  Hugs, Deb