Hi Shele,
The thing we've found to be true is: we know are dog. Just like you know you're dog.
We're lucky in that our vet and the emergency vet center we use trust that we know are dog and what signs and symptoms happen when and why. If I ask for an antibiotic they give it to us, I guess they figure at this point it really can't hurt anything. I think some vets or owners may have seen the last 2 "blockage" episodes we saw as the end for their pet, but I just knew that each time the atibiotic stopped she got blocked up. The vets all listened to that, thankfully. And each time she bounced back within a day, now she's on them for good at a lower dose and if she becomes resistant to one there's another we can try.
I won't put her through chemo or a stint or a urine bag (can't think of the technical word for that one). Our goal is to make her happy and comfortable for as long as we can. As long as she wants to play ball, walk outside and eat her homemade chow, I'll do what it takes. It's an aggressive cancer, but my vet is really amazed at how well Shelby's done so far and how this Proxicam is working. A few years back this was not possible and a few weeks was all people were told afer diagnosis.
About the cytotec... Shelby was on 10 mg of proxicam originally at diagnosis and then within a week we special ordered it at 7 mg from a pharmacy. After a blockage episode we thought we'd try the higher dose of piroxicam again (we really thought we were at the last effort point). She's been on the higher dose each day now for a month. Without the cytotec that would not be possible. And if we have to we can go back to the 7mg.
When we first brought her home in May she was on pepcid and sulcrafate alone and after only 7 days of the proxicam her stools got dark. I found a website online that stressed the importance of the cytotec and called the emergency vet center immediatly. Since then her stools have been very normal. It's taken away that one anxiety of seeing dark or tary stools (we still check, but it's been just fine).
I feel for everything that you and everyone is going through, it's horrible. But we're lucky in that these drugs and herbal items can prolong a quality of life for our pets and give us all a little extra time to spoil and love them.
Let me know what your vet says about the cytotec.
(The one vet who perscribed the cytotec said not to handle it if you're pregnant. It's can cause uterine contractions and some other things when taken orally. She said it probaly wouldn't do anything just by handling alone but she didn't want to take any chances, so she put that out there. Just wanted anyone else to be aware as well, and the drug store info packets go further into all of that.)
~Chrissi & Shelby(LaLa)