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Kramer....(posting for Jean)

61K views 778 replies 144 participants last post by  Kayos and Havoc 
#1 ·
Not sure where to post this. I know where I am refusing to post this. Jean will likely not be online this evening. I am posting this with her permission, and I know this family's show of support fo JeanPakistan will help her through this.
Kramer has acted a little lame the past few days, which Jean chalked up to the cold, ice, snow, hard to get around in/on. Gave him Metacam, seemed ok.
Today he was full of malarky at 7, enjoying Mariele chasing him around. (Only dog to get away with that it her- the dog with a screw loose and "drain bamage." LOL) By 9-ish, he was stumbling. Went to vet. "His" vet on vacation, saw other vet. Anemic, and something else. Got a shot of something, I forget what Jean said. Had abdominal ultrasound late afternoon. (Done at another vet entirely.)

It kills me to write this. Kramer has a liver tumor. Due to location it is inoperable. It is one of 3 things- spawn of the liver tumor he already beat, or hemangiosarcoma, or another type altogether.
She did go back to the other vet, and talked. She had a list of questions, but forgot to bring them in. Vet knows/understands that alot has been thrown at Jean, and is calling her tomorrow to talk more. It could be a day, a month, who knows.
Jean is re-grouping, and will post tomorrow after she speaks with the vet.
Basic plan is, manage any symptoms, and maximize his quality while maintaining his dignity, and position as supreme ruler of JeanPakistan. All plans will be centered around making his time count. Spaghetti and pizza, trips to the cemetary.
 
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#252 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Will be thinking of you and Kramer today at the vets, hope all goes well.....
 
#253 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

<span style="color: #3333FF">
The Robert Frost Poem and picture made me cry too.

My advice for keeping his weight up,without the carbs would be healthy fats. I am not sure what he can tolerate, maybe olive/salmon oil?

I will try to think of more after my coffee!

Praying for a good vet report.
</span>
 
#254 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

It's so nice to hear that HRH King Kramer is doing so well, eating such tasty treats, and being taken on wonderful Royal outings. Kudos to the King's Handmaiden for seeing to his every need and whim!!!

FWIW - When Niki was on Pred, his actupuncturist had me give him human grade Mexican Aloe to cut down on the heat/panting. It seemed to work to some degree. They recently put Honey on Pred, and while she's not panting a lot or as hard as Niki did, I was thinking about giving her some of this Aloe gel. Her Bowen Therapist said I could get it where they sell health foods.

Also Honey's down to 50 lbs - she takes two .50 mg Tramadol twice a day.

HAIL TO THE KING!!!
 
#255 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Jean,

I trust that the vet will find medically what seems to be the case behaviorally-that Kramer is stable. Whatever he finds, Kramer is well in so many respects, there is a lot to be grateful for.

OK, even this forum for linking so many good people and dogs.

take care,
Mary Jane
 
#256 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Just sitting here waiting for today's update.
 
#257 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

I will have to come back later and re-read and respond to interesting information here.

I thought you'd want to know this and I say it with the idea that life is still fragile, etc. but we do have good news on the hematocrit front...

Last week was 25. This week...31.4!

His vet said he was just hoping it wouldn't go down. His goal was for it to stay the same, I thought maybe up a couple of points (because I don't have medical knowledge) but that was pretty darned cool!
<---- Kramer's vet

I have to stop at the store after my meeting and think I will be picking up a few celebratory scallops! And some chocolate pudding for me (why can't I have his food cravings?)!
 
#259 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Yayy!! Choco pudding/scallop parfait!!
Jean this is FANTASTIC news about HRH Kramer's royal hematocrit!! YESSSSS!!
Enjoy your pudding Jean, enjoy your scallops Kramer. We love you BOTH!

((((Hugs)))))
Patti and Grimm
 
#260 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Great news Jean! Way to go, Kramer!!!

Hmmm, chocolate pudding - Swiss Miss, Triple Chocolate - love it! If I ate as well as I make my animals eat, I would be in great shape! And when I'm stressed, I give myself permission to eat junk food - comfort food always make me think and feel better...
 
#262 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

<span style="color: #3333FF"> Wooohooo!


Please pass the scallops!
</span>
 
#265 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Great news on the hematocrit (sp?) -- you and Kramer are absolutetly doing something right!! (guess some kudos have to go the vet too
) I think that it is a combination of all the things that you are doing, and very likely not just one thing.

Originally Posted By: JeanKBBMMMAANI think I am holding my breath all the time-but it will be two weeks tomorrow since that hysterical Tuesday
Maybe, just maybe, Kramer will get stable enough so that you can take a breath


Quote:
1. Can you have too much B?
In general, no. Or better, I think you have to work pretty hard for this to happen. A bigger problem I believe is when you are supplementing with one of the B's and they become unbalanced. Well, except for B-12 (as posted above) -- seems that you can take an incredibly high amount of B-12 alone and there are no effects from that.

Quote:2. The prednisilone seems to make him panty-I know when I have taken it I do get agitated-and if I were going to be on it long-term I would want another med to calm me down. I was thinking of asking about elavil for him-he was on it before and did well-but I need to check it with his other meds. Any thoughts on this?
Very likely is the pred. It made Indy pant when she had it briefly after her cancer surgery, and Indy almost never pants.

Quote:3. Are there any foods that don't feed cancer, but help him keep his weight up/on? He's starting to look like he's losing weight-will know tomorrow. Like he's an Atkin's success story! He ate THREE suppers last night! One sandwich steak, one pork, one ground beef and salmon. Two breakfasts today and had his first supper tonight of sandwich steak (what is the real name for that I wonder?) and eggs.

By switching to the type of diet you have switched to, his body composition will be changing -- he won't carry around that "kibble weight" any more...it is precisely the Atkins phenomena (sp?), and he's probably losing a lot of bulk. Tough under the circumstances since it's not clear why he's changing, with everything going on.

I keep wondering about this iron thing -- are giving an iron supplement? I keep reading about no iron supps for cancer.
 
#267 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

YAY!!!!!!! Kramer = Energizer Bunny!

Kramer says if you fed him this good all the time he would never have been "ill".
 
#269 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Thanks for the update - great to read!!
 
#270 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Excellent news !

Mya sends kisses


(LJsmom - Mya is 9.....it's Ava who's the immature one...lol)
 
#271 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

I am back and have re-read all the information. This is great. I agree-that we are lucky and that "there is a lot to be grateful for. OK, even this forum for linking so many good people and dogs."

I hope I don't miss anything. Thanks Gayle for coming back to check on Kramer. It means a lot. I am looking into that Aloe.

1. On the B-he is just getting his food, and those Hi Vite drops: http://www.healthypets.com/hivitedrops.html 2x a day. I had him on the VetriScience chew vitamin: http://www.vetriscience.com/canine-plus-senior.php but we ran out and I wasn't sure if it was too much...or just right, but will reorder it.

He is not getting any extra Iron other than the above. He did have sardines last night.
And it's funny to see the different breed mixes respond to those-the Chow mixes and Schipperke mix-very interested! I will have to get some for them.

2. The panting and possible agitation (which could also be pain or hunger-and frankly, it seems related to hunger! because "real" food doesn't seem to stick with him that long) is most likely the pred. His vet said dogs don't typically have some of the reactions we do but that Kramer would be the type of dog who would be more sensitive to it. He didn't say partly because his owner watches his every twitch, but he didn't need to.


3. He didn't really have that kind of kibble weight to lose which is where my worry came in. He was on a grain free food, fish based (the Orijen 6 Fish) that had some taters, but he was lean already. He is down to 52# (from 54#) which is starting to get to the point where he won't have body fat (which is what he's losing-which is better than losing muscle right?) to eat up. He had some canned dog food last night and this morning-it's fatty, I figure it might help. And I bought some brown rice for him to mix in with his steak and eggs today. I hope he'll eat it. Not a huge fan though he does like potatoes! His vet said he would be more concerned with him losing too much weight.
I do cook his food in butter, ya'll (Paula Dean!) to give it a little more fat and do use olive oil on things that butter doesn't work for. And of course his beloved poundcake....which MUST be a heme food! Any thoughts on this rice thing?

4. So, wow, he isn't getting much tramadol at all. That's good to know. Also good to know is that there are other higher level pills to go to, though he may need to go on Intervention. I am guessing there is not a lot of pain (knock wood) because I realized he is very vocal about pain. The day we went to the vet when this happened-he was crying in the car. Also cried (loudly) when he was bloating (understandable) and will scream if anything hurts him (also partly a learned behavior-he learned I'll stop doing something to him if he screams because he freaks me out). So far (knock wood) I am still able to lift him into the car and stuff without either getting a piece taken out of me, or a yelp. I am guessing that the tramadol is doing enough for that reason.

We were both in a good mood last night-and I realize how much that plays a part in how he acts-I was applauding him for trotting and he was eating that up, and am trying to go back to the normal "before I knew" kind of behavior on my part and we are both enjoying that much more. I was afraid to push him-make him feel like he had to do more than he could-but I forget his nature and how he likes to do, do, do. It's FREEZING here today but I think we are going to go to a park for a quick trot. Very quick!

And he sends his love to his girlfriend!
He appreciates the kisses being sent to him by these relatively young sweeties!

Thank you all!
 
#272 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

<span style="color: #3333FF">Hi Jean,

It sounds like Kramer is doing pretty well (you too
)

Maybe he can have sweet potatoes? Loaded with good things. Maybe someone on here knows if this would be good (?)

Your braver than I, going in this cold! </span>
 
#274 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Jean, I wish I had informative vitamin, med and food info, but I don't. What I have been thinking is about what you said-- that you wish that you could go back to before you knew, as you both chill out best with that. Consider this: Kramer's had, and known he has had, this for a long, long time. From a dog's perspective, even a week is long. So basicly what I am getting at is, KRAMER feels emotionally good about things.. HE feels like everything is okay... and he just lets this whole situation just roll right off his back. He feels he has everything under control. This isn't new and scary to HIM. Know? He leads by a great example. Isn't that what a top-notch king does, anyway? Gotta admire him!!


Steak and eggs.. poundcake... yummy life there, King Kramer! I am betting that he enjoy being in control, scarfing down gourmet foods, and running the show. The rides to the park are probably high on his royal list of fun things, too.


I think on some level Kramer knows why you are worried. He just doesn't share those feelings, and probably wishes that you wouldn't worry. He has everything under control, and will do things his way, as he always has. This is a rich and sweet time, and Kramer seems to find humor in it, too-- look at his face in those pictures! I bet he was planning to run down a hill, just to hear you holler again.


Prayers and good vibes being sent for Kramer with the royal hematocrit level to be doing just super, and for Jean to be good to herself right now. Kramer needs his assistant to be in tiptop shape for future perambulations at the park, restaurant trips, and greeting any fans at any royal venue that HRH may deign to attend.
Enjoy the sardines, JeansPackistan!
 
#275 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Jean the panting will burn energy more than normal breathing so that may account for the weight loss. As long as he is handling your wonderful homecooking and he is hungry I would go ahead and give him more to eat. I am not sure about rice or potatoes if those make his arthritis worse then you don't want to use those. Not sure what Oatmeal would do.

Last night when I took the dogs out it was minus 14 deg without the wind chill.

Val
 
#276 ·
Re: Kramer....road trip pictures

Jean can the Paq and I come for dinner??? Kramer is eatting better than I am! I agree with Patti that Kramer knows what is going on and just letting it roll off his back. Everything on his terms!
 
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