Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! What an ordeal you and your dog have been through! I’m a little surprised that the surgery you did had little effect, as I’ve been told that if anything can do the trick it is that. I just could not do it financially and then just didn’t have much faith in any surgery. Very risky, expensive, life threatening, difficult recoveryand a guarded solution at best……also my vets were not too optimistic.
In my case, maybe I’ve been lucky. Time will tell. To date, the fluid that is there is minimal (since last having it drained in late September) and has not increased any. My dog acts as normal as ever and for the most part, I can’t tell there’s anything wrong. For how long, is pure guesswork. So for the time being, I am extremely happy!
This is what I have done, as far as diet and supplementation. Keep in mind though, that at the onset of this, the first specialist I saw, put him on high doses of prednisone, which after almost 2 weeks I ended up weaning him off of…..while it may have helped with the inflammation of the chyle, it gave him high blood pressure. So, I felt it was counter-productive, plus the frequent urination was very difficult to manage. So, I’m not sure if this had anything to do with the improvement I’m seeing right now or not. He has also continued taking a low dose of Benazipril, for the entire circulatory system.
Since his diagnosis, he has been on the Hill’s I/D, Low-fat Residue formula. I feed him the dry, mainly, with a little bit of the canned in with it. I have also used in place of their canned food, the canned formula made by Purina; EN Gastroenteric, also available through my vet(black can). Occasionally, I will top off his dry food with various canned meat formulas; not much, but just a little for variety. I’ve never been a fan of the Hill’s or Science Diet in general, but at this point, I’m using what they tell me. If it helps, so be it, whatever is in it.
Finally, I have, since day of diagnosis, given 500 mg. of the Rutin, (I’m using the NOW brand capsules right now, which really only have 450 mg. each), at least twice a day, sometimes 3. I have recently added the recommended dose of Solid Gold’s Sealmeal, just to give his entire system some extra support. So, that’s about it. Along with some help from above, I’m hoping for a miracle, as I’m sure you are. It is a very frustrating and unpredictable situation, to say the least.
With all you and your dog have been through, with such disappointment and probably having such a feeling of helplessness, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I wish you the very best. If I can help in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact me again.
