Perplexed... what's making her sick?

MissPhoebe · 08-26-2007, 03:29 PM

Hi all- Phoebe is nearly a year old. She has been to the vet at least 6 times in the last 6 mos for diarrhea (sometimes bloody-sorry to be graphic), sometimes with vomitting. When I got her, she came on "Nutro" puppy food. She seemed ok on it, however, there was a lot of bulk stool and I knew it had to be grain/filler stuff. I progressively swited her to Inova Evo and she did ok with that for a while and then came the gastintestinal bouts and trips to the vet. They have tested her for giardarella (sp?) and parasites and that was negative. Yesterday they did xrays (negative with exception of a gas pattern), and ran blood tests which will come back in two days. Every time she sees the vet, she get Flagyl and put on Pepcid AC or some other stomach pill and a bland diet. Her fur is really thinning under her kneck on her chest, her legs and inner loins. Sometimes she is itchy but she has no fleas. Prior trip to vet was told could be food allergy and to start feeding - rabbit, vennison, fish, duck etc. So I did that...while on the meds she seems to improve but everytime the flagyl is finished and we try to merge from bland diet to food, she starts having a problem again. I am soooo frustrated and concerned all this upset is bad for her in the long term. Any ideas? I am thinking of taking her to a dog allergist if the labs prove to be normal. Thanks!

dobes4us · 08-26-2007, 03:38 PM

I had a similar issue years ago and was one step away from a colon biopsy. I was talking to the breeder and she remembered Malley was obsessed with tennis balls. She had a new one about every day. Even though I washed them in the washer, there must have been something on or maybe the air in the ball that was making her sick. The breeder remembered reading an article about such a thing years back. Is there something constant, treats, rawhide, chews, toys she may eat in her diet/lifestyle that may be setting her off? Just a thought. Once we took tennis balls away from Malley she was 100% better after minor tennis ball withdrawals LOL

alwayshadpets · 08-26-2007, 04:06 PM

Can you list what you are feeding (including treats)?
Your pup sounds like a canidate for raw or home-cooked. If its food--it can be many things. The grains, the preservitives, additives, some meats,
the chicken can be, its a big one for us. It can also be dairy products. Even peanut butter.
You ar probably going to have to start with a single protein.

**Luvbirds59** · 08-26-2007, 04:08 PM

I think Petey was on the same road your girl is on. He had major problems with the runs and would vomit on occasion too, until I switched him to a RAW diet 5 months ago. He is doing fantastic on it, it is easy and he has no bowel issues any more. You could give it a try and see what happens.

Carol

doberboy · 08-27-2007, 01:23 PM

Could be many things but when you have diarrhea and vomiting together I would want to rule out an intestinal blockage...due to a toy or swallowed object or to a condition called Intussusception where a portion of the intestines slide or telescope into another section and thereby restrict the flow and cause diarrhea and vomiting (and death if blockage is complete). The condition can be intermittent (come and go). An ultrasound can be used to diagnose and corrective surgery can be performed. If your dog has Intussusception and your vet wants an astronomical amount of money to perform the surgery...call around and get a few estimates from other vets. I have found that vets in upscale neighborhoods charge many times what their no less qualified counterparts in more rural areas charge.

Dobemom2b · 08-27-2007, 08:11 PM

This sounds very similar to my story with lestat only his started with bloody stool a half hour after I got him home from the breeders (6 hr drive each way) This has been going on 6 weeks now. They have tried amoxi, didn't help, panacur 2 rounds of 5 days each, flagyl 2 rounds of 10 then 14 days and had upped the dosage of flagyl to 12mg/lb, scary because its close to the level that can cause neurological damage. The flagyl will almost work (have stools with form but still very soft) work for a few days then it gradually gets worse again even while still on meds. He is now on tylan and upped the dosage today to 500mg 2x day. (44lbs). We have also done all of the elimination diet stuff and added fiber to his food. Nothing seems to help. All stool is picked up dirt and all as soon as it hits the ground and completely removed from the yard. He also brought in kennel cough which hit my shepherd very hard and last night she started having true watery stools. The pups tends to be more like a cow patty. We have cut him from 3 meals a day to two and also tried fasting 24 hours to let his stomach rest. I have allmost spent in 6 weeks of vet fees than I paid for the pup originally.

Any of these you have not tried you might ask your vet about trying. Best of luck.

Edit we also added a probiotic, didnt help but it might help you.

doberboy · 08-28-2007, 04:26 PM

Did your vet rule out Coccidiosis? Coccidia is a common cause of diarrhea, sometimes hard to see in a fecal, and can cause all the symptoms you mention. There is a new drug being used that clears Coccidia from the dog in 48 hours...a bit expensive but well worth it.

Codysmom · 08-28-2007, 08:25 PM

also to help with the diarrhea is canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling) a tablespoon in his food will help firm up stool if he has the runs and conversely will help if he is bound up. but is does sound like a food allergy.

as someone mentioned earlier, also keep an eye on the treats you give him. the meals can be bland, but if he has issues with the treats, you are still at square one

good luck and keep us posted
cc

doberboy · 08-30-2007, 10:58 AM

BTW...the drug is called Ponazuril.

poconogal · 08-30-2007, 01:49 PM

I had a GSD with a severe diarrhea problem, blood in the stool too. After we tried Eukanuba, which gave him severe itching too, and raw, the vet put him on Hills Prescription Diet kibble, mixed with with some prescription canned, and flagyl. That did the trick, his stools firmed up and after the flagyl was finished, the diarrhea did not return. We kept him on the prescription food for the next two years. We then were able to slowly switch him to regular kibble for sensitive stomachs. It seems that his stomach was so inflamed that all of the dog foods, with the exception of the prescription stuff, reacted negatively in his system.

My 11 mo. old adopted dobie, Duke, who we have for almost 3 weeks, is now having bouts of diarrhea too. His vet appt. is tomorrow and I suspect we'll probably be going a similar route with prescription food for him too.