Rosco Update

[Adina P]

I posted on the DK Facebook page a few weeks ago about Rosco going in for surgery for his giant lipoma.  3-ish years ago he started growing a lipoma on his chest that grew to the size of a baseball by 2016.  It was only cosmetic, not in the way so we chose to watch and wait.  Fast forward to this year and it was HUGE.  Hair couldn't even grow to cover it anymore.  And our vet wouldn't tell me what to do--I like to have a clear direction for big decisions.  So I decided to leave it be.

Well...it was just so huge!  But I really wrestled with this decision.  He was (is) 12.  In my opinion, wasn't likely to have more than a year.  He has laryngeal paralysis, his back legs are getting weaker and he often stumbles.  Is it right to put him through surgery?

But at the same time I felt a strong sense of shame.  Am I being a cheapskate?  Shouldn't I do everything to make his life comfy?  Wouldn't my fellow DK'ers do it all?   I was really torn.

So I took him in for a second opinion.  This other vet seemed to think he was in great shape for his age, which surprised me, but it made me think perhaps I had been a little catastrophizing his condition.  

Okay, then, this vet thinks he can handle it and he's a healthy guy...let's do it.  

So we are 3ish weeks out of surgery and his surgical scars are nicely healed (took off the other two smaller lipomas too).  But after surgery, his seizures came back...and got WORSE, both during the seizure and in the aftermath.  

Now Rosco's always been the poster child for opportunistic eater.  As he's gotten older he also has no shame about it.  He'll climb up on a chair to steal what you didn't immediately put away with you 2 feet away. Just a week out of surgery I caught him trying to finish someone's breakfast.  He was struggling to climb up and down stairs but was willing to work for food.

As of this week, though he is starting to leave kibble in his bowl.

Yesterday we started him on seizure meds and by dinner I couldn't even get him to finish his kibble with a fried egg mixed in <-- NOT Rosco at all.  So if anyone has brilliant ideas for stimulating an appetite...hit me with them!

He continues to randomly fall (could be seizure meds, but also what was starting to happen anyway).  He goes between restlessness and wandering the yard aimlessly to being zonked out.  He had a surprising moment of almost a play bow with Boca, but then realized he can't actually do more.

As I told a few of you privately, I feel like I am NOT cut out for coping with a senior dog.  I feel so helpless and unsure and of course second guessing the whole decision for surgery.  But there's no right answer.  

Thanks for reading my rambling.

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

Liverwurst (one of my absolutely least favorite foods) was a life-saver when my lab, Ellie, had her pacemaker surgery.  Like Rosco, Ellie was normally a dedicated and indiscriminate eater until her post-surgery period.  After she rejected even my mother's pot roast (on occasion she used to grab it off my daughter's fork between plate and mouth), I was seriously worried.  I bought some liverwurst, smooshed it up, and spread a little bit on my fingers.  Ellie licked it off, and after she figured out it didn't disagree with her, she ate some more off my fingers a few times, then consented to eat small chunks of it, first from my hand and eventually from her dish.  It took a good few weeks before she returned to her omniverous self.

I'm sorry you and Rosco are have such a difficult time, and hope you are both in better spirits soon.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Hooray for beef baby food. 

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

If he really likes beef, then Stella & Chewys has a frozen raw beef option that my Zoey loves. Kind of expensive, but might get him over the hump!

[Adina P]

Thank you.  Right now he's only up for licking food not chewing.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe Honest Kitchen's Love formula. You mix it with water and he can just slurp it up, like soup. You can adjust the consistency to make it thicker or thinner. And it smells wonderful, BTW. Like vegetable soup mix. 

https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dehydrated-grain-free-beef-dog-foo...

[Barbara, Zoey and Zeke]

You don't serve it frozen. It thaws overnight in the frig..  Ends up being consistency of pate.  No chewing necessary.  Yeah!  If it gets to the point where you think he needs better nutrition, then it would be great.  

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Adina ~ I am sorry to hear about Rosco not feeling well after the surgery.  I hope he turns around soon and feels better and starts eating like normal.  It is a given that you will do the right thing for him so please do not second guess any decisions you make for him. He certainly is a handsome doodle. Recently I found a marble size lipoma on Charlie Brown's chest and we are monitoring to see if there is any change. The vet seems to think it will be slow growing, but I would rather have removed sooner rather than later, so at the moment we are in the waiting game.  I think the idea of anesthesia worries me more than the lipoma at this point.  

P.S. - hope to see you in Walla Walla sometime.

[Adina P]

Those lipomas are funny things.  He's had one on his belly for YEARS that essentially stayed the same size.  You never know.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I sorry to hear about Rosco and I hope he starts eating again soon. We do the best we can and I know you had his best interests at heart! 

[Stella]

I know you said his appetite was reducing before the surgery, but it sounds like it is much worse since. Will he let you look inside his mouth at all?  I wonder if he is sore in there somewhere - his teeth, or if he is sore from being intubated for the surgery?  I'd go with palatable, soft, easy to digest foods. If you are desperate to get something in him, if he needs to take his meds with food for example, I've seen the vet techs mix canned dog food with water, pull it into a large syringe and syringe it into the dogs mouth. Sorry he is having a rough recovery, hugs to you guys. 

[BG and Gavin]

I thought of something else last night as I was drifting off. Is it possible that Rosco has a fever? That would explain the low interest in food. Maybe some infection snuck in?

[Adina P]

He's been on antibiotics this past week, so I'm guessing no.  See our new theory below...