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My girl is sick... again.

I'm sorry I had to laugh a little at that wendy! I wanted to "agree" that it's the perfect christmas gift, "like" that she's doing so much better, but I laughed most of the way reading it so "funny" won! So glad to hear she's getting back to herself!
Haha! I was in the same dilemma! Funny when you can't pick which one to choose! But I did think it was a perfect Christmas gift, Wendy! There is nothing better than when our children mature enough to have an awakening like that! ;)
 
Merry Christmas All!! She is steadily improving daily. Still literally a bag of bones as her muscles have all atrophied but hopefully as she moves more and eats she will put it back on. She has bouts of shivering [not the tremors like in the video] but her choppers actually chatter!! Its just so weird!! Anyway, so far so good... and thank you all SOOOO much for continuing to keep her in your thoughts!!:love: :ty:
 
My Gracie would do the shiver and teeth chattering, especially when we baby talked to her. Lol

Its so funny.. when i am close enough to hear it its happening in anticipation of her meals!!
I'm worried that she was having trouble regulating her core temp because of her having zero fat and having lost majority of her muscle mass (which really freaks me out). But she is moving much more evenly even tries to chase trucks though she knows she cant and stops her awkward speedwalk soon after she starts.

A huge issue we are having is her potty habits. I am literally taking her out every half hour [unless she's zonked out - understandable because of the steroids] and at night, i'm getting up at least three times. I think i wrote her tentative schedule in here earlier but im beginning to think there is a behavioral component here too.

Either Hubs or i will let her out last between 11p-12am. She then will climb up the stairs to get me sometime between 1:3-3am -- this may be before or after she pees some on the floor. It's really a craps shoot if there will be a puddle on the floor or not. I let her out and then back in for a small piece of ground turkey and back to the couch. IF i don't lay on the couch with her until she falls asleep, she will follow me up the stairs and sit there scratching at the gate. If i ignore her, she'll go back down but she might pee again to spite me it feels like. If i lay on the couch with her, she'll fall asleep, and i sort of light sleep and wake up around 3 and go back up stairs. Between 4-5:45 she will get me up again... again, 50/50 if there will be some pee on the ground as if she peed some, came up stairs to get me and let out to pee the rest. I lay back down with her until between 5-6am [depending on when she had initially woken] and let her out again, give her her pepcid and ABs. 6-7am i will give her her breakfast and steroids. During the day she is fine because i let her out every time she goes to the door.

I WISH i could re-crate train her... i wish i could go back in time and powered through and been more strict. We just cannot have her barking all night long.. its not just an inconvenience.. the sleep deprivation has really impacted all of our lives not just emotionally, but our health too. And with hubs working in LE, we cannot risk him being sleep deprived.
 
I worried about Gracie being chilled when she did her chattering because she did not have sufficient hair with the color dilute alopecia but she would do it when it was 90 outside and it was almost always in anticipation of something and me baby talking. She suffered terrible anxiety during storms, loud noises, etc. and literally injured her mouth when we tried to board her at the vets and would whine and bark incessantly. I couldn't take her to anyone's house because after 15min she was insistant that we go home.
She was better about being home alone if it wasn't storming and formed a bond with the birds and would stay next to them when I left for work.
I was never able to crate train her because she would injure herself.
When she had to have all her various surgeries, the vets would send her home a day or two after surgery because of her anxiety barking and whining whereas she would have normally had to stay for at least 5-7 days given the scope and seriousness of the surgery.
I had her house trained within a week as a pup and very very seldom did she ever have an accident.
You could see how much it upset her when she developed urinary incontinence, but that only occurred when she was sleeping.
 
Do you think she would do better if you put a second crate upstairs in your bedroom and have her sleep there? We had to do that with Shadow. She is able to sleep better being in our room knowing that we are there with her. I don't know how that would work out in your situation but maybe it would cut down on the amount of times she interrupts your sleep.
 
Before IMPA [~67-70lbs]
IMG_0984.webp IMG_0833.webp IMG_0835.webp

After IMPA [~58lbs]

IMG_1031.webp IMG_1033.webp IMG_1029.webp
This last one is of her horribly concave shoulders- those protrusions are just skin and bone. Her neck is just a thin slip of muscle around her c-spine.
We are well into transition to new food - day 5 of ~10. I don't want to over feed her as her stool has been consistently good since a few days after starting steroids. I don't know how much i should ultimately be feeding her but as of now we are at:

6am/6pm: [~1600-1800kcal/day]
1 Can Science Diet Turkey&Barley Entree 7+ [355kcal/can] AND
1 Cup Natural Balance Potato& Duck [375kcal/cup]
Plus at least a cup or two of ground turkey throughout the day as a treat after going potty outside.

Just a disclaimer : I know Hills/SD is not the "best" food. I also know that Hill's Rx products work for the medical issues they are prescribed for. So for those who have to occasionally use i/d for GI issues but absolutely HATE paying the ridiculous amount of money they charge for it - the closest OTC food i have found to it is the Science Diet Turkey & Barley Entree 7+ [Mature]. The main difference is the switch of rice for cracked pearled barley [plus the exlusion of some other binding agents like rice starch and powdered cellulose]. Miesha doesn't have any issues with barley so it was an easy switch. It is also HALF the price! And it's working which is at this point is all i care about. :thumbsup:
 
Before IMPA [~67-70lbs]
View attachment 68821 View attachment 68822 View attachment 68823

After IMPA [~58lbs]

View attachment 68824 View attachment 68825 View attachment 68827
This last one is of her horribly concave shoulders- those protrusions are just skin and bone. Her neck is just a thin slip of muscle around her c-spine.
We are well into transition to new food - day 5 of ~10. I don't want to over feed her as her stool has been consistently good since a few days after starting steroids. I don't know how much i should ultimately be feeding her but as of now we are at:

6am/6pm: [~1600-1800kcal/day]
1 Can Science Diet Turkey&Barley Entree 7+ [355kcal/can] AND
1 Cup Natural Balance Potato& Duck [375kcal/cup]
Plus at least a cup or two of ground turkey throughout the day as a treat after going potty outside.

Just a disclaimer : I know Hills/SD is not the "best" food. I also know that Hill's Rx products work for the medical issues they are prescribed for. So for those who have to occasionally use i/d for GI issues but absolutely HATE paying the ridiculous amount of money they charge for it - the closest OTC food i have found to it is the Science Diet Turkey & Barley Entree 7+ [Mature]. The main difference is the switch of rice for cracked pearled barley [plus the exlusion of some other binding agents like rice starch and powdered cellulose]. Miesha doesn't have any issues with barley so it was an easy switch. It is also HALF the price! And it's working which is at this point is all i care about. :thumbsup:

You can try adding in a bit more ground turkey in the meal during the day. And even adding one more teaspoon of the canned at each meal.
At this point its what she will eat. Even though that food is not the best. If she has no problem eating it. She needs to get nutrition in her. And stick with the canned food. Since it has more moisture in it. Kibble will use moisture from the body to digest. And if she is not drinking a lot of water which she should be with the steroids, you don't want her to dehydrate.
 
Before IMPA [~67-70lbs]
View attachment 68821 View attachment 68822 View attachment 68823

After IMPA [~58lbs]

View attachment 68824 View attachment 68825 View attachment 68827
This last one is of her horribly concave shoulders- those protrusions are just skin and bone. Her neck is just a thin slip of muscle around her c-spine.
We are well into transition to new food - day 5 of ~10. I don't want to over feed her as her stool has been consistently good since a few days after starting steroids. I don't know how much i should ultimately be feeding her but as of now we are at:

6am/6pm: [~1600-1800kcal/day]
1 Can Science Diet Turkey&Barley Entree 7+ [355kcal/can] AND
1 Cup Natural Balance Potato& Duck [375kcal/cup]
Plus at least a cup or two of ground turkey throughout the day as a treat after going potty outside.

Just a disclaimer : I know Hills/SD is not the "best" food. I also know that Hill's Rx products work for the medical issues they are prescribed for. So for those who have to occasionally use i/d for GI issues but absolutely HATE paying the ridiculous amount of money they charge for it - the closest OTC food i have found to it is the Science Diet Turkey & Barley Entree 7+ [Mature]. The main difference is the switch of rice for cracked pearled barley [plus the exlusion of some other binding agents like rice starch and powdered cellulose]. Miesha doesn't have any issues with barley so it was an easy switch. It is also HALF the price! And it's working which is at this point is all i care about. :thumbsup:

I think you are EXACTLY right on that last point...It is WORKING, and that is ALL that matters. I hate seeing how thin she looks, but slow and steady (like you did before when she was really skinny) will get the weight back on.
What do you think about what someone above mentioned re. a crate in your room?
YOU have GOT to get some sleep! (I know I sound like a broken record, because I've been telling you this for weeks now.)
I love you guys, and am SO happy she is getting around so much better.
 
Glad to see her moving more and barking. That is a good sign! I hope you see continued improvement from her.

You can always always crate train her if you want to. Its never too late. My girls came to me at a year old, not crate trained and one had separation anxiety and would bust out of the crate. Go about it like you would a puppy, in baby steps. Crate her during the day for a few minutes at a time with you in sight. Don't let her out until she's relaxed and quiet. Gradually work your way up to longer periods, periods of being out of sight, etc. Of course don't go day 1 trying to have her in her crate at night, cause you need sleep! But eventually you'd get there.
 
Little update:
My baby girl ran (albeit slowly) but she chased her beloved garbage truck today along the fence! It was definitely a gentle gallop that only lasted half the fence-line and she started it off with a ill-planned jump from the deck skipping over 3 steps!
Her coat and skin are looking better... as a bonus, the steroids have done wonders for her GI tract and she is absorbing all the nutrients in her new food! Though she is still all bones... i feel like i am seeing some change in her condition - if merely in her coat quality... but i do think new muscle is building in there somewhere! :love:
We are also moving up the scale on the food transition, tomorrow she'll be on 1 can + 1.5 cups of new kibble am/pm plus the matching treats [35kcal ea] which she inhales!
I also want to thank my dear friend Brandee @bomary for a for a beautiful gift i gift received today!!!:love:
IMG_1034.webp
 

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