So, our boy Snoopy has now decided that he no longer likes Liverwurst.
HUGE PROBLEM.
I now find myself looking for things to bury his pills in.
Cheese?
Nope. Walked away from it.
Canned Dog Food with special gravy mixed in?
Nope. Ate most of the food, licked the gravy and left all the pills.
Hot Dogs?
Nope. Ate the meat and left the pills.
Sushi?
Don’t ask.
Frozen Cocktail Meatballs?
Sometimes, but he usually ends up spitting out a few of the pills and I have to manually get them down his gullet.
Its been huge fun.
NOT.

Snoopy had his annual visit to the vet this morning……he got his shots, heartworm check, urine check, etc….was talking to the Doctor about his Fanconi Syndrome and how he seems to be handling the treatment (wonder if I can get him one of those medical jewelry tags to hang on his collar?!), and the vet was nice enough to ask how I was handling all of it. I kind of looked at him like..”Huh?”…and he said that some people may not handle being able to care for an animal like that and would just give them up or put them down…..(I must have had a shocked look on my face)…I told him that it never occured to me how I was handling it, my concern is for Snoopy and how his health is and how he is doing on the treatment program…and doing everything I could to ensure he had a healthy and happy life.
Period.
While it was a major shock when he was first diagnosed, and it took me a while to get used to the treatment - he is my dog, part of my family and I love him unconditionally - taking care of him is my job as his Mom.
Period.
The Doctor told me he admired my committment to Snoopy, which was very nice - even though I never thought about it that way.

Snoopy has another UTI. This time the vet gave us a 12 day round of Clavamox! Poor poocher, I may have to put him in drug rehab when this is over! I am lucky though, as all I have to do is call my vet’s office when I see the signs of a UTI, and they order me up a round of antibiotic, I drop off a urine sample and pick up the meds! The vet will call me on Monday with the results, which I am sure will come back positive. He has all the signs, frequent unquenchable thirst, and frequent urination. He was trying to drink out of puddles on our walk this morning! With the Fanconi affecting his kidneys, when he drinks the water does not filter through them and into the rest of his body, it spills right over into his bladder. So, when he empties a bowl, he has to relieve himself immediately.
I was already going by the vet this morning to pick up his food, so I just had them add it to our order. I’m thnking I am going to have to start up a “Snoopy Fund”, as these little bouts with infection are getting costly at $90 a pop, and I just got him over one at Christmas, so this one came pretty quick! But, this is the route we have been put on with Fanconi Syndrome, and I’d rather spend the extra money to keep my boy happy and healthy.
I got an email from my Yahoo Basenji Group I belong to, there is a Basenji outing next Saturday at a local dog park! We are going to attend, it will give Snoopy a chance to romp with other Basenji’s, and maybe I can meet some other’s dealing with Fanconi and exchange ideas.

It’s been a while since I have posted an update on how Snoopy is doing with his Fanconi, and he’s doing very well on the treatment, thank you for asking! We have his pilling down to a routine - with the 5 liverwurst balls in the morning and evening (containing the sodium bicarbs), and the other stuff I mix in with his food. He is playful and happy, and other than an occasional “leaking” accident due to not being able to hold his urine in, he’s great. I can always tell when he’s going to leak, as he will jump up and start licking his private part …that’s my cue to get the leash and take him out to empty his bladder!
He just got over a UTI, he seems to bounce back nicely after 10 days of the antibiotic. I did have to train him off of my bed due to all of this, I could not risk him leaking while he was sleeping at night up there with me…! And, I close the bedroom door during the day to keep that from happening as well. I have a neighbor that I pay to walk him twice a day, and it seems to work out nicely for all of us.

Nice title, huh?

If you’ve been reading the blog, then you know that my Snoopy has Fanconi Syndrome, a kidney disease fairly common to his breed. Along with the frequent blood tests, prescription diet food and 13 vitamins & supplements a day that go with managing it….it also brings with it, incontinence! Yay! He has to go outside and tinkle A LOT. When he was first diagnosed, he was getting me up 4-5 times a night….it was exhausting! Now that we are 3 months in, and managing the disease with the treatment protocol, we only go out one time a night. While I would like to not get up at all in the middle of the night, I can handle one. The Vet had given me something that was supposed to help with his incontinence, a PPA pill…..supposedly stregthens the urinary sphincter muscle….yeah. NOT. That did not work at all. Not only was he still getting up, but there was leakage sometimes…..not fun.
So, I was browsing in PetsMart last week, and found something on the vitamin aisel called “Nutri Vet Bladder Control”….I read the label, it was created for elderly or recently spayed dogs, it had natural ingredients such as Vitamin C, Saw Palmetto, Pumpkin Seed, and Wild Yam Extract…I’m all for treating him in a non chemical manner! So, I dropped $10 and brought them home.
First night - he did not get up.
Night 2 - He did not get up.

Maybe we have something??

I think Snoopy may have a UTI. The Fanconi Syndrome makes him prone to it….and while there is not test we can do to check, due to his kidney issues the urine culture already has things in it, so it’s hard for them to determine if it’s a bladder infection or just the Fanconi. So, there are signs that you look for in a Fanconi dog…and I have become quite good at picking up on them! One of the signs is his increased thirst, which he has had lately…the other is leakage. Yes. I said it. Leakage from his little manhood. When he’s in a certain spot for a while, he can leave a small wet spot (STOP right there with whatever sick thing you are thinking when we are talking about my sick baby!)..which causes him to want to lick it up. He’s a DOG people, it’s what they do.
I emailed both Vets, ours and Dr Gonto, and am awaiting further instructions on whether we are going to treat it with an antiobiotic.

I e-mailed all of Snoopy’s blood work results to Dr Steve Gonto, the vet who created the Fanconi Syndrome Treatment Protocol,  to get his opinion and see if we needed to tweak his treatment, here is his response:  

Snoopy had his follow up Venous Blood Gas test this morning, awaiting an email from Dr Gonto advising if we need to tweak his pill dosage.

Since I was already late for work, and it was very out of my way to go all the way back home, I brought him to work with me! After sniffing out every corner of the office, and visting with everyone….he is now napping in his bed just outside my cubicle. Funny how bringing an animal to work brightens up everyone’s attitude…..you should be able to bring a pet in every week!

So, I have been running around to various pharmacies buying up their Sodium Bicarb Pills. It seems there is a backlog at the warehouse or some such nonsense..all the pharmacies I called could not order them, and would not sell me the open bottles they had on hand because, well…they were open! So, knowing Snoopy is going to have to take TWELVE of these pills a day, for the REST of his life…..I had to do something! Upon further investigation, they would sell me the partial bottles with our Doctors approval. So, I called the vet, had him call the pharmacy…and WALA! We have pills! Lots of pills! Well, we have 1314 pills for now….we’ll need more.

The girl at Wal Mart pharmacy asked me how many I wanted to buy. I asked her “how many do you have”…