The Dog Cancer Survival Guide (84 page)

Keep your journal in a way that makes sense to you. Some guardians already have a daily journal; they just add this information to it. Others get a special notebook or binder or a bound journal. There are computer tools available, too, and even Smartphone applications. You can also use the companion book to this one:
The Dog Cancer Survival Guide Companion Journal.

The best time to write in the journal is usually at the end of the day, when you have a full day’s worth of information to enter. You may not be able to journal every day; every two to three days is still helpful.

This handy journal is a great place to record your insights. It helps you to analyse and plan your dog’s cancer treatments. It also features journal pages formatted with Full Spectrum cancer care in mind, so you can track your dog’s health.

You may have already started your journal as you worked through your treatment plan
analysis. In addition to those notes, it is also helpful to record a general description of your dog when she is healthy. How much does she eat and when? How often does she drink? Take a walk? Sleep? Add as many details as you can about her normal play habits, attitude, personality, likes and dislikes. You will find this very helpful later, when you want to chart her progress. Reading through this description, and comparing it to her current condition, can really help you to understand her world.

Here is a list of things for you to track in your journal, on an ongoing basis. Not all of these items are necessary to note all the time, of course, and some may be totally unnecessary for your dog’s case.

• Mealtimes: including what she ate, new foods or changes to her diet, any positive effects (for example, did she like it? Did she perk up afterward?) and any problems, like digestive upset. Was anything turned away? Was her appetite good?
  
• What medications were given, how much and when. Make a note of any good effects (for example, increased energy, pain relief) and bad effects (vomiting, diarrhea, etc.).
  
• How did you manage side effects? Did you have to call your veterinarian or oncologist? What did he do?
  
• Thirst: was more water gone from the bowl? Less?
  
• Temperature (you do not need to take your dog’s temperature unless she is feeling poorly, especially in the days following a chemotherapy treatment): any change?
  
• Energy Level: Alert? Tired? Spunky? Really low?
  
• Weight (weighing your dog every five to ten days is recommended): Gain? Loss?
  
• Vomiting: When? Color? How often? How did you manage it? Did you need to call your vet or oncologist for help?
  
• Stools: Diarrhea? Mucus? Blood? Amount of stool? Straining? Color?
  
• Coughing: When? Moist? Dry?
  
• Sneezing: Nasal discharge? Clear or yellow/ green? Any blood?
  
• Panting: When? For how long?
  
• Labored breathing: When? For how long?
  
• Vocalizations: Was she barking? Whining? Moaning?
  
• Coat quality: hair loss? Sores or ulcers?
  
• Mobility: Any limping or reluctance to move around?
  
• Color of gums: Salmon pink (normal)? Pale? White? Yellowish?
  
• Changes in cancer (if visible): Measure the size of any visible tumors, or compare to another object, like a pea or a golf ball. Any surface changes?
  
• Surgical site: is the incision healing well?
  
• Mind-body: What is your read on your dog’s overall feeling? What is the look in your dog’s eyes? What do you think she’s going through today? What steps have you taken to improve her life quality?
  
• Self-Care: Did you take care of your dog’s guardian today? Did you meditate with your dog, or exercise? Talk to a counselor, get a massage?
  

Dogs with cancer have a suppressed immune system, which leaves them at risk for infections. Infections tend to raise the body temperature, so knowing how to take your dog’s temperature can alert you to the presence of a problem in time to address it quickly.

It is not necessary to take your dog’s temperature unless she seems depressed or lethargic, and especially if she has recently had chemotherapy. A normal resting temperature is 100.5° - 102.5°. If your dog is panting, excited or has just come in from a run, her temperature can go up to 103.5°. If your dog’s resting temperature is over 102.5°, or over 103.5° when excited, contact your veterinarian or oncologist.

You have to take your dog’s temperature in the rectum. It sounds worse than it is, I promise, but you may want to use disposable gloves.

The best thermometers to use are the flexible, digital thermometers that get readings in seconds, rather than old-fashioned glass thermometers, which tend to break and are very slow. Smear the thermometer generously with lubricating jelly, which you can get at the drugstore.

Just as most people would, your dog will almost always react when you insert the thermometer. Most will automatically sit, look back at you, or turn their butt away from you, but more aggressive dogs may even snap at you.

To avoid this, you have to hold her in place. If you are right-handed and your dog is small enough to sit on your lap, the easiest way to take her temperature is by putting her rear end to your right and tucking her head under your armpit, with your left hand palm up, underneath her belly. From there you can access the rectum and insert the lubricated thermometer. Lefties with small dogs can do the same thing in the opposite direction, facing her to the right, rear end to the left.

If your dog is larger, it’s a little more difficult to do this by yourself. I do it in the corner of a room. I put my dog’s head into the corner with his right side against the wall. I crouch down and slide my left knee under his abdomen, holding him to the wall with the left side of my body, his head behind me. Then I lift up his tail with my left hand, lubricate the rectum, and insert the thermometer with my right hand.

As soon as it’s in, I cradle his body with my left hand, like I’m hugging him, until the reading is over. Lefties can put the dog’s left side against the wall and reverse all the other directions. It can be really helpful for someone else to hold the front end, especially while you practice.

Of course, if you think your dog may react badly and bite you, seek help with a vet or a vet tech.