Update on the GI issue dog...got the test results back.

[BuddyRoo]

Background: Dog began going off food and having diarrhea about 3 mos ago. Thought it was a bad bag of food, bought new, situation resolved temporarily then back to on again/off again eating and loose stools.

Had bloodwork done, fecal, and dental done, all looked good. Switched to I/D, gave metronidazole for 10 days.

No improvement. Went to MSU. Initially thought lymphoma, but blood work didn’t show anything like that. Did ultrasound and rads, ended up redoing the anastimosis from last year as there was some distention in front of the previous surgical site. Had foreign bodies in stomach, removed those( paper products). Biopsied intestine, no indication of a problem.

Recovered well from surgery but diarrhea and decreased appetite persisted. By that time, dog had lost 20 lbs and about 50 cm of small intestine.

Moved to VA. Switched food, more metronidazole. Appetite improved but still liquid stools.

Last week, did another CBC/Chem panel and a malabsorption panel through TX A&M.

Results came back yesterday. CBC/Chem panel looked good. Malabsorption test showed normal B12 levels but low Folic Acid.

Vet suspects either a food allergy or IBD. Switched food again to Z/D. Added Tylan and more metronidazole. And because I’m tired of renting rug doctors, I added some kaopectate last night and this morning. Haven’t seen stools yet.

I’m not a fan of changing multiple variables at one time, but am at the point where the diarrhea has to stop so decided to throw the full arsenal at him and once he’s got solid stools, I can back off things one at a time and figure out what is really helping, if anything.

Many of you have chimed in with ideas so I wanted to give you an update. Right now, I’m almost 24 hours out w/o diarrhea.

Vet got a little snippy/dismissive of me last night, but I’m sure I’m just a pain in her butt with all my questions because I’d really like to understand what is going on and what the plan is.

But we’re essentially throwing out “plans” and just doing whatever we can think of to make him feel better.

If you have any additional thoughts or questions, I will be following along. Else, just wanted to give you all an update. I’m crossing my fingers.

[GraceLikeRain]

Glad you got the results back and I hope the new plan (or lack of plan) works out. Sometimes you hit a point where you need to throw in the kitchen sink for the animal’s health and your sanity.

[jen-s]

I had great luck with the Natural Balance limited ingredient venison kibble calming down my food allergic kitten’s exploding hiney. And it’s not horribly priced (PetCo price matches, so is ~$5 cheaper/bag at Southern States…when it’s in stock).

Good luck!! Jingles!!

[Marshfield]

Fingers crossed that this works out. You can add atopica as well for IBD if you need to.

[eclipse]

Glad you’ve got some answers! I’m dealing with a dog with IBD and it’s up and down a lot of the days! Metronizaprole(sp) is my absolute saviour along with canned “Gastro”…that’s all mine will eat when she’s having an episode!

[oliverreed]

If by IBD you mean inflammatory bowel disease, I have a cat with that. Dunno about dogs, but my cat is perfectly fine as long as he gets his tiny dose of prednisone every morning. I don’t know if dogs tolerate that as well as cats, tho. Good luck!

[BuddyRoo]

Oliverreed–yes, we can move on to pred if needed. Hoping we can solidfy things (pun intended) without that though. We shall see.

[Beckham03]

Is he still loosing weight? Have they ruled out a protein loosing enteropathy? Maybe a trial of pred to see if it helps?

[SquishTheBunny]

Ugh Im so sorry you are having to deal with all this. Yet, it sounds like your dog is relatively happy still Hope the new food works well for your dog. I know lots of people hate it, but I have seen it work well on dogs with IBD.

Pred is also a majikal cheap little pill that can sometimes make all symtoms and their mothers go away. At least you can have that as a backup if all else fails

[tallyho392]

this is from a human perspective…my mom had reconstructive bowel surgery /bypass…and then battled same issues as your doog…docs just sorta shrugged,said oh well, part of aging, part of shortening the bowel…she was litlerally housebound in order to be nearthe bathroom…this went on for years…she couldn’t live alone anymore, i took over her meds,etc, and decided to try immodium and probiotics…go the ok from doc for immodium 2X daily…it took about 8-9 months til i could safely stop immodium,but eventually everything healed enough to perform properly…
so, just saying, the anti -poop meds my need to be taken for long term…and have less side effects than steroids

[BuddyRoo]

I got an email from the doc at MSU yesterday asking about the test results as the local vet didn’t send the results on as we had discussed Tues.

So I sent everything on to him last night.

He said that frankly, all of the tests were within normal limits and that he needed to think about it some more/consult with others.

At this point, dog has been on metronidazole for weeks, is now on Tylan since Tues, and is on Z/D. He is eating like a champ, putting on weight, but is still having the loose stools even though I’ve added the kaopectate. I wasn’t sure how much to give so maybe I haven’t done enough. But anyway…we’re at least making it all the way through the night without an accident or needing to go out which was what I needed to get recharged before I went bat poo for lack of sleep the last 3 mos.

We shall see.

Right now, it’s being treated as a food allergy but I don’t really buy it.

[LexInVA]

:grief::grief::grief::grief::grief:

[Crackerdog]

All night without any accidents? That’s wonderful! I really hope you guys are finally turning a corner with this poo issue.

[BuddyRoo]

Hey Lex…my bro just left late last night, I’ve got about 2 weeks til more company so hoping to hit the dog park, trails, etc more. Hope to see you. I think we’ll take the pooches to the park tomorrow so they can play a bit. Hope to see you soon. Want to come for an “unorthodox” Xmas dinner? LOL I don’t know WHAT I’m going to make, but it is likely going to involve ceviche something or other.

Who knows. I’m taking request apparently. I was just informed today that I’m not making a turkey but something else…just not sure what.

Cross fingers on dog though.

[BuddyRoo]

[QUOTE=Crackerdog;6707300]
All night without any accidents? That’s wonderful! I really hope you guys are finally turning a corner with this poo issue. :)[/QUOTE]

Yeah with kaopectate on board but that’s not a fix. Le sigh. And it’s not something that was prescribed. It’s just me trying to buy some sleep. I feel like a bad dog owner throwing that in.

I skipped it tonight so we’ll see what I wake up to. I’m planning on buying a carpet steamer the weekend anyway. To heck with it. As much as I’m renting them, I might as well buy.

[Crackerdog]

You are not a bad dog owner for giving him kaopectate, you both need to sleep. I have a dog that can’t hold it all night and I was getting seriously cranky to everyone because of night after night of broken sleep. I finally started leaving the dog door open all night and hope like crazy that a raccoon or possum doesn’t find out. Now I can sleep and she can let herself out and we are both much happier. So, do what you can to keep yourself sane.

[LexInVA]

[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;6707305]
Hey Lex…my bro just left late last night, I’ve got about 2 weeks til more company so hoping to hit the dog park, trails, etc more. Hope to see you. I think we’ll take the pooches to the park tomorrow so they can play a bit. Hope to see you soon. Want to come for an “unorthodox” Xmas dinner? LOL I don’t know WHAT I’m going to make, but it is likely going to involve ceviche something or other.

Who knows. I’m taking request apparently. I was just informed today that I’m not making a turkey but something else…just not sure what.

Cross fingers on dog though.[/QUOTE]

You know I’m only a Bat-Signal away. Remember that my offer for lunch still stands and I promise that you won’t have to go far from your dog. I don’t know what to tell you about making dinner, but you’d better do your shopping for the ingredients in the next two weeks. Christmas is far bigger than Thanksgiving here and people are already frothy at the grocery stores. If you want to see the weekly ads, I’ve got them all via the newspaper deliveries, or I can show you where to view them online. Also, review the stuff I sent to you via PM as that will be helpful to you as you prepare.

[BuddyRoo]

[QUOTE=Crackerdog;6707325]
You are not a bad dog owner for giving him kaopectate, you both need to sleep. I have a dog that can’t hold it all night and I was getting seriously cranky to everyone because of night after night of broken sleep. I finally started leaving the dog door open all night and hope like crazy that a raccoon or possum doesn’t find out. Now I can sleep and she can let herself out and we are both much happier. So, do what you can to keep yourself sane.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I’ve had a dog door for the last 8 years and LOVED IT. But we all got accustomed so in the new digs w/o one (and no real good way to do one) we’re challenged right now. So I cheated with the Kao. I hope you get some rest. It’s hard if you get too sleep deprived. I’m lucky right now in that I’m not working. So I can kind of “rest” during the day–and by that I mean, not think too hard. But everyone needs sleep.

I actually had to hire a dog walker this week so I could entertain a guest for a day. Being tied to a pee/poop schedule that is 2-3 hours is hard.

And Lex…well shoot, my spotlight is packed up somewhere!!!

I’ll touch base w/ you. Maybe Wed would work? My mare isn’t looking so hot where she’s at now so I’m going to try to go barn hunting on Monday and Tuesday. But my Wed is wide open. You’ve got my email, right? I may not be on COTH a whole lot in the next few days. So email or text/call. Talk to you soon.

[LexInVA]

That works fine for me BRoo and we’ll hammer out the details over e-mail. We can also do brunch sometime if you want. I’ve got several places in mind and none of them are far from your home so you won’t have to worry about leaving your dog by himself for too long.

[IFG]

I just saw this. Ask your vet about Addison’s disease. It is often called the great pretender. Our dog presented with waxing and waning symptoms, including lack of appetite and diarrhea.

The ACTH test is definitive. If the dog has been on steroids, it can alter the results. You can get more information here:

http://www.addisondogs.com/

There is a yahoo list that is wonderful with moderators that are very well informed.

You can also ask questions on the facebook page for the group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2347518387/

You can also PM me with questions. If it is Addison’s, it is very treatable.