Diet and pilling advice

Hi,

My 14 year old Sheltie Jake, was diagnosed with Bladder/Prostate/Urethral cancer just a couple of weeks ago.  He presented with drips of blood in his urine. We started Piroxicam and an antibiotic. I have started to change his diet over to no/low carbs and high protein.  My problem is that although he has never been picky about his Science Diet kibble his entire life, he is now starting to not eat on a regular basis.  And when he does eat, he sometimes vomits within five minutes.  Unfortunantly, that means that his medicine comes up too.

He also use to be so easy to pill whenever he did need medicine, but now he is becoming almost impossible. 

Does anyone have any advice on how to easily pill him. Ihave tried putting them in something tasty, but he has gotten wise to that trick.  I tried him on the Science Diet ND, which is their cancer diet and he doesn't like it. He seems to be hesitant whatever I give him to eat.

Thank you in advance for any advice.  I am hoping to have some of the successes that some of you have posted about the longevity of his life.  I just want it to be good for him and not just for me.  My Vet has said he has approx 2-4 months because of the extent of his tumor.

Take care,

Julie, Jakes Mom 

On 8/18/2008 jjpetlovr wrote:

Hi,

My 14 year old Sheltie Jake, was diagnosed with Bladder/Prostate/Urethral cancer just a couple of weeks ago.  He presented with drips of blood in his urine. We started Piroxicam and an antibiotic. I have started to change his diet over to no/low carbs and high protein.  My problem is that although he has never been picky about his Science Diet kibble his entire life, he is now starting to not eat on a regular basis.  And when he does eat, he sometimes vomits within five minutes.  Unfortunantly, that means that his medicine comes up too.

He also use to be so easy to pill whenever he did need medicine, but now he is becoming almost impossible. 

Does anyone have any advice on how to easily pill him. Ihave tried putting them in something tasty, but he has gotten wise to that trick.  I tried him on the Science Diet ND, which is their cancer diet and he doesn't like it. He seems to be hesitant whatever I give him to eat.

Thank you in advance for any advice.  I am hoping to have some of the successes that some of you have posted about the longevity of his life.  I just want it to be good for him and not just for me.  My Vet has said he has approx 2-4 months because of the extent of his tumor.

Take care,

Julie, Jakes Mom 

Hi Julie.  So sorry to hear about Jake & his diagnosis.  My dog also had tcc in prostate & urethra as well as bladder.  Has your vet checked Jake's kidney function by drawing blood & testing BUN & Creatinine levels?  If his kidneys are having trouble, your feeding decisions may need to be based on that issue, rather than on the cancer.  The kidneys not functioning at full capacity could be causing his lack of appetite & vomiting.  When my dog JJ started having kidney issues due to the tcc partially blocking his ureters, my regular vet advised switching him to a diet of 4 parts cooked rice to 1 part meat (like cooked chicken or hamburger.)  You have to mix it up good or he'll just pick out the meat. The oncologist we had last seen agreed with that diet plan when I called her for her opinion.  Both vets agreed, though, that keeping him eating something was more important than sticking to any particular diet.  Hope this helps. 

Good Luck

Joy