We were heartily greeted at the vet's office when we went in for the last chemo of the 25 week Wisconsin protocol for lymphosarcoma. The veterinarians and staff had signed a "Congratulations" card for Ozzie; Jenn had made some peanut butter dog biscuit hors d'eouvres; one of the vets made chocolate chip bars for the people to eat. It was a nice party to celebrate Ozzie's success. After testing the dog snacks, Ozzie got the injections of antihistamine and a mild sedative; we waited the 20 or so minutes for the sedative to take effect and then the drip for the Adriamycin began. The injection went well; Ozzie stayed fairly still for the time, but he was happy to get off the table and get more dog hors d'eouvres. We went home with extra dog snacks and people snacks. Yumm.
It took a couple of hours for Ozzie to perk back up after the sedative; his eyes were so very droopy from it. With his gradual weight gain, the vet suggested we cut back 10% on the amount of food we give him each day. That will be a little hard to measure, but we will try it and see if his weight changes. And, we hope the weather starts to get nicer so that afternoon walks can be incorporated into our days; the exercise should help his weight, too.
Ozzie woke me Saturday morning around six o'clock to go outside to go potty; probably all the additional fluids from Friday's chemo meant he had to make an extra bathroom visit. He has seemed pretty normal after the Adriamycin injection, though he was a little quieter than usual on Saturday. We got in a nice walk on Sunday afternoon; the weather was nice, and he enjoyed the smells and sights. We've cut down on his food a little, so maybe some of his extra weight will gradually disappear.
Sometime during Monday night/Tuesday morning Ozzie had diarrhea; now the concern is, why did that happen? Is it a side effect from Friday's chemo, or is he reacting to something he's eating, or something else? Ozzie had a little diarrhea a couple of days after his very first chemo, but not since, until now. I disguised some Kaopectate in some ice cream and in yogurt, but as of Wednesday night, he's not much better. Ozzie did wake me around 4:30 AM Wed morning to go outside; we're being patient to see what happens. I did call the vet Tuesday morning to make sure what I should be doing to help Ozzie; the vet said she could give him some barium if he doesn't get better from the Kaopectate.
On the bright side, the weather on Tuesday was very nice, high 50s, warmer than usual. Ozzie and I got in a nice walk Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday turned cool and rainy, so it's back inside for a while. Ozzie has been waking me in the mornings before I get up so that he can go outside for a bathroom visit. His tummy seems to be getting more settled as the week went on, but that may be because I started feeding him lamb and rice and beef and rice, both of which are gentle on his stomach. Once his stomach seems to be normal, I'll start adding back in the Hill's Prescription diet n/d canned dog food. By Thursday Ozzie was getting kind of stinky, so I gave him a bath; that seemd to have helped with his scent. Maybe the chemo is making his body smell bad.