We’re in our final week of radiation treatment for nasal chondrosarcoma and there’s one noticeable side effect: BAD BREATH!
Eating a whole litter box bad. Smell it ten feet away bad. Wake you up in the middle of the night bad. Even Sophie seems to notice and be distressed by it.
There are many reasons for this. We’ve stopped brushing her teeth to cut down on the risk of gum infection. Also, the vet feeds her canned food after radiation each day. But most of all, I blame the prednisone. One of the side effects of the drug is increased appetite; the vet warned that dogs will do bad things to get more food, like go through the trash or jump up on counters, even if they’ve never done it before.
Sophie’s bad behavior involves horses. She has been sneaking under the fence to eat the horse manure in the green space behind our house. We’ve lived here four years and she’s never shown the slightest interest in horses but now they produce such a delicious delicacy that she simply can’t resist.
I can’t wait until the prednisone bottle is empty.
