In article montana writes:
Is it too early for a Max update? How's he been doing?

Hi Montana,

I was surpised to see my first name on a subject line and much
appreciate your continued interest in Max.

History: Max, about every 28 days, would vomit and behave
for six to eight hours as if he were in pain. The
behaviors included either not moving (for hours) or moving
again and again as if he could not find a comfortable
position. Additionally, he would sometimes shiver and his
temperature was at the high end of normal.

We had made a number of visits to the veterinarian who had
run a number of blood tests as well as had a sonogram
performed which revealed sludge in Max's gallbladder
(deemed non-significant), a thickened stomach, and some
"hotspot" on Max's pancreas. The veterinary radiologist
recommended biopsies; Max's vet was reluctant to perform
exploratory surgery on a 6 year-old dog that looked fine
for 27 of 28 days.

So what happened?

First we changed Max's diet from a high fat diet of Hill's
Canine U/D (prescribed because Max has had calcium oxalate
bladder stones) to Donald Stromberg's home-cooked
black-eyed pea/brown rice diet for dogs that have had
calcium oxalate stones. Because it is a homemade diet, I
lowered the fat to about 8% of total calories. (The fat
sources are presently: olive oil, salmon oil, and Vitamin
E. Besides 11% of a multiple vitamin for humans, I add
Vitamin B-12 and Taurine. The diet also contains bone meal,
KCl, and NaCl.)

Second the vet put Max on 150 mg of Actigal (Ursodiol) per
day. This is a bile salt that helps the liver drain and
disolves non-calcified gall bladder stones. The drug
is expensive. I've paid $70 for a 40-day supply and Max
is on his second 40-day supply. I purchased the drug
from a "pet apothecary" here in Milwaukee.

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days. (The
shortest inter-episode duration was 7 days and the longest
and most frequent were about 28 days.) It looks like the
combination of changes is associated with the elimination
of the episodes.

My vet wants to keep Max on Actigall for 200 days. He
discounts the diet being responsible for the change.

I've found an online pharmacy that will sell 100 300mg
capsules of Ursodiol for $140. I would have to open
the capsules and sprinkle the bile salt on Max's food.
(Max will eat his food with the salt on it.)

But I have also discovered that 150 mg of this drug
is exactly 1/8 of a teaspoon. So why not see if I
can save money by buying the drug as a powder.

I probably spend 15 min every three days preparing
Max's food but he likes it and I know it tastes
good because I can eat it too! I blend the food
in a food processor and although Max's stool
was initially rather loose on the new diet it
has firmed up.

There is another advantage to the diet. His
stool does not smell offensive and it is now
a rather bright orange which makes it easy
to find at night without using a flashlight! :-)

We are, of course, very happy about Max feeling
better. I would still like to consult with a canine
nutritionist about Max's diet but seems to be
doing very well on it.

Montana, thanks for asking!

I hope this post will help others facing this kind
of problem and I again thank all the rpdh regulars
who offered constructive suggestions.

--Marshall

In article montana writes:
Is it too early for a Max update? How's he been doing?

Hi Montana,

I was surpised to see my first name on a subject line and much
appreciate your continued interest in Max.

History: Max, about every 28 days, would vomit and behave
for six to eight hours as if he were in pain. The
behaviors included either not moving (for hours) or moving
again and again as if he could not find a comfortable
position. Additionally, he would sometimes shiver and his
temperature was at the high end of normal.

We had made a number of visits to the veterinarian who had
run a number of blood tests as well as had a sonogram
performed which revealed sludge in Max's gallbladder
(deemed non-significant), a thickened stomach, and some
"hotspot" on Max's pancreas. The veterinary radiologist
recommended biopsies; Max's vet was reluctant to perform
exploratory surgery on a 6 year-old dog that looked fine
for 27 of 28 days.

So what happened?

First we changed Max's diet from a high fat diet of Hill's
Canine U/D (prescribed because Max has had calcium oxalate
bladder stones) to Donald Stromberg's home-cooked
black-eyed pea/brown rice diet for dogs that have had
calcium oxalate stones. Because it is a homemade diet, I
lowered the fat to about 8% of total calories. (The fat
sources are presently: olive oil, salmon oil, and Vitamin
E. Besides 11% of a multiple vitamin for humans, I add
Vitamin B-12 and Taurine. The diet also contains bone meal,
KCl, and NaCl.)

Second the vet put Max on 150 mg of Actigal (Ursodiol) per
day. This is a bile salt that helps the liver drain and
disolves non-calcified gall bladder stones. The drug
is expensive. I've paid $70 for a 40-day supply and Max
is on his second 40-day supply. I purchased the drug
from a "pet apothecary" here in Milwaukee.

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days. (The
shortest inter-episode duration was 7 days and the longest
and most frequent were about 28 days.) It looks like the
combination of changes is associated with the elimination
of the episodes.

My vet wants to keep Max on Actigall for 200 days. He
discounts the diet being responsible for the change.

I've found an online pharmacy that will sell 100 300mg
capsules of Ursodiol for $140. I would have to open
the capsules and sprinkle the bile salt on Max's food.
(Max will eat his food with the salt on it.)

But I have also discovered that 150 mg of this drug
is exactly 1/8 of a teaspoon. So why not see if I
can save money by buying the drug as a powder.

I probably spend 15 min every three days preparing
Max's food but he likes it and I know it tastes
good because I can eat it too! I blend the food
in a food processor and although Max's stool
was initially rather loose on the new diet it
has firmed up.

There is another advantage to the diet. His
stool does not smell offensive and it is now
a rather bright orange which makes it easy
to find at night without using a flashlight! :-)

We are, of course, very happy about Max feeling
better. I would still like to consult with a canine
nutritionist about Max's diet but seems to be
doing very well on it.

Montana, thanks for asking!

I hope this post will help others facing this kind
of problem and I again thank all the rpdh regulars
who offered constructive suggestions.

--Marshall

Of course the vet would discount the diet. Nutrition is really not one of
the bigger classes in any med school.

I like the idea of the bright orange poo. Anything to make The golden
shovel job a little easier!

"Marshall Dermer" wrote in message
...
In article
montana writes:
Is it too early for a Max update? How's he been doing?

Hi Montana,

I was surpised to see my first name on a subject line and much
appreciate your continued interest in Max.

History: Max, about every 28 days, would vomit and behave
for six to eight hours as if he were in pain. The
behaviors included either not moving (for hours) or moving
again and again as if he could not find a comfortable
position. Additionally, he would sometimes shiver and his
temperature was at the high end of normal.

We had made a number of visits to the veterinarian who had
run a number of blood tests as well as had a sonogram
performed which revealed sludge in Max's gallbladder
(deemed non-significant), a thickened stomach, and some
"hotspot" on Max's pancreas. The veterinary radiologist
recommended biopsies; Max's vet was reluctant to perform
exploratory surgery on a 6 year-old dog that looked fine
for 27 of 28 days.

So what happened?

First we changed Max's diet from a high fat diet of Hill's
Canine U/D (prescribed because Max has had calcium oxalate
bladder stones) to Donald Stromberg's home-cooked
black-eyed pea/brown rice diet for dogs that have had
calcium oxalate stones. Because it is a homemade diet, I
lowered the fat to about 8% of total calories. (The fat
sources are presently: olive oil, salmon oil, and Vitamin
E. Besides 11% of a multiple vitamin for humans, I add
Vitamin B-12 and Taurine. The diet also contains bone meal,
KCl, and NaCl.)

Second the vet put Max on 150 mg of Actigal (Ursodiol) per
day. This is a bile salt that helps the liver drain and
disolves non-calcified gall bladder stones. The drug
is expensive. I've paid $70 for a 40-day supply and Max
is on his second 40-day supply. I purchased the drug
from a "pet apothecary" here in Milwaukee.

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days. (The
shortest inter-episode duration was 7 days and the longest
and most frequent were about 28 days.) It looks like the
combination of changes is associated with the elimination
of the episodes.

My vet wants to keep Max on Actigall for 200 days. He
discounts the diet being responsible for the change.

I've found an online pharmacy that will sell 100 300mg
capsules of Ursodiol for $140. I would have to open
the capsules and sprinkle the bile salt on Max's food.
(Max will eat his food with the salt on it.)

But I have also discovered that 150 mg of this drug
is exactly 1/8 of a teaspoon. So why not see if I
can save money by buying the drug as a powder.

I probably spend 15 min every three days preparing
Max's food but he likes it and I know it tastes
good because I can eat it too! I blend the food
in a food processor and although Max's stool
was initially rather loose on the new diet it
has firmed up.

There is another advantage to the diet. His
stool does not smell offensive and it is now
a rather bright orange which makes it easy
to find at night without using a flashlight! :-)

We are, of course, very happy about Max feeling
better. I would still like to consult with a canine
nutritionist about Max's diet but seems to be
doing very well on it.

Montana, thanks for asking!

I hope this post will help others facing this kind
of problem and I again thank all the rpdh regulars
who offered constructive suggestions.

--Marshall

Of course the vet would discount the diet. Nutrition is really not one of
the bigger classes in any med school.

I like the idea of the bright orange poo. Anything to make The golden
shovel job a little easier!

"Marshall Dermer" wrote in message
...
In article
montana writes:
Is it too early for a Max update? How's he been doing?

Hi Montana,

I was surpised to see my first name on a subject line and much
appreciate your continued interest in Max.

History: Max, about every 28 days, would vomit and behave
for six to eight hours as if he were in pain. The
behaviors included either not moving (for hours) or moving
again and again as if he could not find a comfortable
position. Additionally, he would sometimes shiver and his
temperature was at the high end of normal.

We had made a number of visits to the veterinarian who had
run a number of blood tests as well as had a sonogram
performed which revealed sludge in Max's gallbladder
(deemed non-significant), a thickened stomach, and some
"hotspot" on Max's pancreas. The veterinary radiologist
recommended biopsies; Max's vet was reluctant to perform
exploratory surgery on a 6 year-old dog that looked fine
for 27 of 28 days.

So what happened?

First we changed Max's diet from a high fat diet of Hill's
Canine U/D (prescribed because Max has had calcium oxalate
bladder stones) to Donald Stromberg's home-cooked
black-eyed pea/brown rice diet for dogs that have had
calcium oxalate stones. Because it is a homemade diet, I
lowered the fat to about 8% of total calories. (The fat
sources are presently: olive oil, salmon oil, and Vitamin
E. Besides 11% of a multiple vitamin for humans, I add
Vitamin B-12 and Taurine. The diet also contains bone meal,
KCl, and NaCl.)

Second the vet put Max on 150 mg of Actigal (Ursodiol) per
day. This is a bile salt that helps the liver drain and
disolves non-calcified gall bladder stones. The drug
is expensive. I've paid $70 for a 40-day supply and Max
is on his second 40-day supply. I purchased the drug
from a "pet apothecary" here in Milwaukee.

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days. (The
shortest inter-episode duration was 7 days and the longest
and most frequent were about 28 days.) It looks like the
combination of changes is associated with the elimination
of the episodes.

My vet wants to keep Max on Actigall for 200 days. He
discounts the diet being responsible for the change.

I've found an online pharmacy that will sell 100 300mg
capsules of Ursodiol for $140. I would have to open
the capsules and sprinkle the bile salt on Max's food.
(Max will eat his food with the salt on it.)

But I have also discovered that 150 mg of this drug
is exactly 1/8 of a teaspoon. So why not see if I
can save money by buying the drug as a powder.

I probably spend 15 min every three days preparing
Max's food but he likes it and I know it tastes
good because I can eat it too! I blend the food
in a food processor and although Max's stool
was initially rather loose on the new diet it
has firmed up.

There is another advantage to the diet. His
stool does not smell offensive and it is now
a rather bright orange which makes it easy
to find at night without using a flashlight! :-)

We are, of course, very happy about Max feeling
better. I would still like to consult with a canine
nutritionist about Max's diet but seems to be
doing very well on it.

Montana, thanks for asking!

I hope this post will help others facing this kind
of problem and I again thank all the rpdh regulars
who offered constructive suggestions.

--Marshall

In article "ZPL" writes:
Of course the vet would discount the diet. Nutrition is really not one of
the bigger classes in any med school.

I like the idea of the bright orange poo. Anything to make The golden
shovel job a little easier!

Yes!

--Marshall

In article "ZPL" writes:
Of course the vet would discount the diet. Nutrition is really not one of
the bigger classes in any med school.

I like the idea of the bright orange poo. Anything to make The golden
shovel job a little easier!

Yes!

--Marshall

In article ,
(Marshall Dermer) wrote:

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days.

Thanks; I'm glad things are better. I'd be interested in an update every
now & again, if you feel like it.

As for the orange poop, our Tracy knows all about that from all the
carrots he gets to eat, but seeing it in the dark is a real plus!

In article ,
(Marshall Dermer) wrote:

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days.

Thanks; I'm glad things are better. I'd be interested in an update every
now & again, if you feel like it.

As for the orange poop, our Tracy knows all about that from all the
carrots he gets to eat, but seeing it in the dark is a real plus!

In article montana writes:
In article ,
(Marshall Dermer) wrote:

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days.

Thanks; I'm glad things are better. I'd be interested in an update every
now & again, if you feel like it.

This is a good idea. It helps resisting taking good health for granted!


As for the orange poop, our Tracy knows all about that from all the
carrots he gets to eat, but seeing it in the dark is a real plus!

Yes!

--Marshall

In article montana writes:
In article ,
(Marshall Dermer) wrote:

Result: Max has not had an episode in 62 days.

Thanks; I'm glad things are better. I'd be interested in an update every
now & again, if you feel like it.

This is a good idea. It helps resisting taking good health for granted!


As for the orange poop, our Tracy knows all about that from all the
carrots he gets to eat, but seeing it in the dark is a real plus!

Yes!

--Marshall