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Dakota's Daily Schedule
I thought it may be helpful to let you know what works for us. My husband and I both work full-time and in the beginning it was a HUGE challenge to find the time to get Dakota's daily calories down him - he just kept losing weight until we made some adjustments.
This is what we determined:
Feeding him Natural Balance canned Venison & Sweet Potatoes 13 oz cans, Dakota would need 4 cans per day to maintain a weight of about 75 lbs (he was 78 before ME and down to 66 upon diagnosis). Since Dakota can't have any water, we have to mix the water with his food to make it a shake consistency so we mix 2 13 oz cans of food with 1 13 oz can of water. So 4 13oz cans food + 2 13oz cans of water = 78 oz or 6.5 cups of gruel! We have to get all 6.5 cups down him per day or he will lose weight, we usually get 7 cups down him.
Here's the schedule with meds:
5 am - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT (vertical time) Meds: Metoclopramide 5 mg
5:20 am - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT - Meds: Thyro-tabs .2 mg, Cimetidine 200 mg, Ciproflaxin 500 mg
7 am - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT (No Meds)
7:20 - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT (No Meds)
5:30 pm - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT - Meds: Metoclopramide 5 mg, Thyro-tabs .2 mg, Ciproflaxin 500
5:50 pm - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT- Meds: Omeprazole (prilosec) 20 mg
In between his first 2 and last 2 feedings Dakota gets a nebulizer treatment. This is 1.5 cc Albuterol followed by 2cc Gentamicin+2cc Saline Solution
If we follow this schedule Dakota is a normal, healthy, hydrated dog. If we take him off his antibiotics or slack on the nebulizer treatments, he starts coughing within 24-48 hours and has gotten pneumonia several times.
If we feed him later in the evening, he has acid reflux issues at night. It is key to have his last feeding as early as possible!
Dakota also sleeps on an elevated bed. You can find those pictures in my photos section. This helps to keep his overnight saliva and acid reflux DOWN.
Hope that this helps someone else. It took us months to perfect this schedule and get stabilized. Now we're old pros! I now that not every dog is the same - I'm just letting you know what works for us!
This is what we determined:
Feeding him Natural Balance canned Venison & Sweet Potatoes 13 oz cans, Dakota would need 4 cans per day to maintain a weight of about 75 lbs (he was 78 before ME and down to 66 upon diagnosis). Since Dakota can't have any water, we have to mix the water with his food to make it a shake consistency so we mix 2 13 oz cans of food with 1 13 oz can of water. So 4 13oz cans food + 2 13oz cans of water = 78 oz or 6.5 cups of gruel! We have to get all 6.5 cups down him per day or he will lose weight, we usually get 7 cups down him.
Here's the schedule with meds:
5 am - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT (vertical time) Meds: Metoclopramide 5 mg
5:20 am - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT - Meds: Thyro-tabs .2 mg, Cimetidine 200 mg, Ciproflaxin 500 mg
7 am - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT (No Meds)
7:20 - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT (No Meds)
5:30 pm - 1 1/4 cup followed by 20 min. VT - Meds: Metoclopramide 5 mg, Thyro-tabs .2 mg, Ciproflaxin 500
5:50 pm - 1 1/4 cup food followed by 30 min. VT- Meds: Omeprazole (prilosec) 20 mg
In between his first 2 and last 2 feedings Dakota gets a nebulizer treatment. This is 1.5 cc Albuterol followed by 2cc Gentamicin+2cc Saline Solution
If we follow this schedule Dakota is a normal, healthy, hydrated dog. If we take him off his antibiotics or slack on the nebulizer treatments, he starts coughing within 24-48 hours and has gotten pneumonia several times.
If we feed him later in the evening, he has acid reflux issues at night. It is key to have his last feeding as early as possible!
Dakota also sleeps on an elevated bed. You can find those pictures in my photos section. This helps to keep his overnight saliva and acid reflux DOWN.
Hope that this helps someone else. It took us months to perfect this schedule and get stabilized. Now we're old pros! I now that not every dog is the same - I'm just letting you know what works for us!
Comment
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Comment by Lara Kretler on December 5, 2008 at 10:37pm
- This is wonderful, thank you so much for sharing. Jack was only diagnosed this week, and so far I've been coming home from work every single day to feed him a lunchtime feeding, but I have been wondering how long I can keep that up. It's hard to do! I think we will try two morning and two evening feedings like you are doing. You guys definitely sound like you have this down to a science! Thank you for the tips! :)
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