In late April, I cleaned the tub with borax. Really threw it around the tub before wetting it down and scrubbing. I had a nosebleed in 2 hours. A few days later, Chipper, 15+ year old cattledog, appeared to be vomiting blood. Turned out it was a nosebleed. We almost put him down (the vet was convinced it must be a tumor hemoraging in his nose) but the bleeding stopped.
Then I remembered about the borax.. maybe it got splashed on the rug and he snorted it off the carpet a few days later.
Chipper also suffered a stoke a few years ago but recovered very well. He's lost weight since the bleeding incident. He vomits frequently.. anywhere from twice a day to once every few days. (usually more frequently.) I feed him smaller amounts frequently. Right now he's back to rice and burger and doing better with that. We've had xrays done, blood tests done.. has a tiny bit of elevation in liver emzymes. He gets half a pepcid ac an hour before the main 2 meals (he eats more often just limited to 1 pepcid a day).
I know Chippers basically just old and that's how things go towards the end. He sleeps more but when he's up he's still happy and alert.
He's probably lost at least 12 lbs since his normal weight of 47 lbs.
If anyone has had experience with a similar situation and found something that helped, please let me know. We don't want to do anything that would involve surgeries etc due to his age but I'm open to suggestions in things that might help him. He's been on an anti vomiting medication 3 times a day which never really stopped the vomiting.. and 2 non perscription things (from the vet) that were supposed to help his liver functions. Due to the stroke, his face was somewhat paralyzed on the right side.. doens't blink alot there and drools.. he does what the vet calls a reverse sneeze.. kind of a snorkling sound.. I assume due to the stroke. It was my theory that he swallows alot of mucus and that's what keeps his stomache upset. The pepcid ac is for his sensitive stomache.

"llazy1," I wish I had a great idea to "fix" this situation but I don't; I do, however, want to tell you that you're doing the right things.

If it was the Borax, in time, it will work itself out of his system. If it is simply age, that, too, will become apparent. But, in the meantime, just keep on loving him as you have always done.

Chipper is getting up in age but he STILL has a lot of living left to do. Try beating up a raw egg and adding it to his dry food every day or so plus lots of love and attention. I think Chipper will be doing fine; hope the same for you as time goes on. Let us know how things are going....

Thanks.. I don't think the borax was the start of this, just a nearly fatal accident. (nearly fatal if we'd listened to the vet). I'm pretty sure we're just in last days management, tho it could still be another month or so. I haven't weighed him since the last vet visit a few weeks ago but I know he's dropped more lbs.
I'm not really looking for a cure.. but when you put something out there you never know what might turn up.. maybe someone who's had something similar with their dog and found something in particular that was helpful.
I will say that for anyone who's dog has a stroke, don't give up too fast.. give him a few days to see how he goes. Most of the recovery happens in the first few days. Chipper had his on a friday night. I used a towel like a sling, under his chest and held the ends above him to assist him down the front steps to get outside to "go". By Sunday night he was getting up and down them on his own. He had a few minor remnants of the stroke.. aside from what I listed earlier he tends to vear a little as he walks but still gets around fine.
He's a tough old boy.. mostly blind and fairly hard of hearing but he still gets around fine, even at night. He adapts. When I need him to come out from under the bed where he sleeps, I just tap the floor with my foot. He feels it and comes out.
We call him a warrior.
If I can figure out how to post a link to photobucket I'll put one up of him.

llazy, I feel your pain...I was in a similar situation with our beloved pitbull several years ago..... she was only 8...started with the vomiting....everyday, almost at the same time....I wish I had better news....we had xrays, said they didn't "THINK" it was stomach cancer.....but it was....6 months later one day she just couldn't get up, just totally unable to walk....we knew it was 'time'....my husband and I held her all night, giving her what we had hoped would be a fatal dose of sedatives....it wasn't. We had her put down the next morning. That was 4 years ago and I still cry over her...R.I.P. Chance. Love Chipper like crazy as long as you have him.

borax is actually nontoxic to dogs. It is a highly recommended flea killer in and around the house since there is nothing at all harmful in it to animals. They can even lick it and it is like them sitting at a salt lick, They may get dehydrated but lots of water is what helps that. I have been using straight borax like those sprinkle on carpet deoderizing powders and have never in 6 years and 14 dogs later have had any kind of problem with it. I have shelties who are close to the floors, so I needed something they could be around and not have any ill effects

LLazy1,

I am so sorry to hear about your precious furbaby. I can so relate to your story. We had a pekingese for 16 yrs. In his last years he was totally blind & deaf, but he still had his personality & a good appetite. We just couldn't bring ourselves to do what we knew needed to be done, yet lived in constant wonder of if we would one morning wake up & he would be gone. He did end up developing some health problems eventually & then we knew the time had come & it was truly heart breaking. As others here have said, just love him & enjoy him as much as you possibly can & give him all the love & attention he can handle. Give him a great big hug for me. G*od bless you...

quote:

Chipper, 15+ year old cattledog, appeared to be vomiting blood.

Although none of us wants to face reality when it involves our our dogs, IMHO a 15 YO ACD with health issues is not surprising. Passing blood is serious business best left to Chipper's vet to determine why

Give old boy a big hug from us!!

Thanks to everyone who's written in..
Chipper is doing better than I thought. I thought for sure he'd lost more weight but has maintained at 39 for several weeks now. I have him back on burger and rice since Tuesday so that seems to be helping.. no vomiting for a few days now, which is good after a bad day Monday.
Interesting report on the borax.. it sure did a number on me.. I hadn't had a nosebleed in years and then had a huge one about 2 hours after boraxing the tub, then chipper had his nosebleed a few days later. Maybe we're both just more sensitive to it.
Thanks again everybody.