Brain Picking for Sick Dog

[Suzon]

HELP!! I'm at my wits end. I have a call into the vet to discuss where we go from here, but in the meantime, I'm throwing this out to the DDBB to see if anyone else has any experience with a similar case:

Border Collie, 12 years old, previous in good health. He was on gabapentin and previcox for arthritis and spinal changes due to age and using himself hard in life.

Last week, he developed diarrhea and progressively went off his food (Blue buffalo). Still accepts biscuits with gusto. I took him to the vet and they said he still had the same slight elevation in his liver that he had last year and one kidney number was abnormal. They waved the results under my nose but did not provide me with a copy. I've got a request for those to be emailed. Haven't seen them otherwise I would be more specific.

They thought Giardia or similar and put him on Metroniddazole, Cerenia and Omeprazole. Took him off Previcox. Nothing. Three days later, they added Carafate and Tylan. Nothing. He will eat small meals of boiled chicken. I've tried cottage cheese, boiled eggs, rice, and pumpkin...no go, even when mixed with no-salt chicken broth. He still wants his cookies (only giving a half once a day).

The diarrhea is liquid, like brown water. No blood. Fecal shows no parasites. Yesterday he had one gelatinous one, but other than that, water. He poor bum is swollen and raw.

I'm running ringer's lactate every evening to keep him hydrated and his electrolytes stable, though he drinking water fine.

He is in good spirits considering and still wants to go outside and play ball.

Impatiently waiting for call back from vet. Any thoughts or suggestions?

ETA: Temp normal. X-rays did not reveal anything abnormal.

[Chancellor]

How about dehydrated sweet potato chips?

[Josette]

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/he ... fiber.aspx

https://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2009/ ... atment.php

My elderly dog had some diarrhea issues due to canned food. It was recommended to try some canned pumpkin which helped as I transitioned him to another food brand. (Wellness canned dog food - turkey and chicken) He recently had an anal tumor removed but is so far doing very well. Maybe something changed in the food ingredients which do not agree with your guy. I would think some chicken soup and pumpkin couldn't hurt as you gtry to sort this out. Best wishes to a speedy recovery.

[Suzon]

Josette, I'm on my way over to read the articles. He hasn't had his regular food for over a week. So I would think if it were food related it would have resolved taking him off the food. He won't eat pumpkin, even when mixed with chicken broth. The only think he will eat is chicken and chicken broth. I'm going to go to the petfood store today and check out what they have for bland diets in cans or frozen stuff.

[Sunshine2Me]

Could he have gotten into something or eaten something dead outside? I had always heard boiled beef and rice for diarrhea, and I've had good luck with it in the past. I hope you find out what's ailing him soon!

[Suzon]

I'm scouring the internet for different illnesses with his symptoms and I'm coming up empty. I just made him "chicken soup" with broth, chicken, rice and a tiny bit of pumpkin all mixed together and heated. He ate the chicken and drank some of the broth and left everything else. Vet is not calling me back.

[khall]

Have you had radiographs run? Tried pepto? I have had similar issues over the years with various dogs, but they are usually sick, not feeling well. Antibiotics and biosponge is what we usually do. Thankfully mine will eat pumpkin.

[Tuffytown]

I had a conversation with a small animal vet recently and she recounted that at a recent vet symposium she was at there was discussion of mounting numbers of Previcox causing ulcers and other organ issues in dogs.

[Suzon]

I had a conversation with a small animal vet recently and she recounted that at a recent vet symposium she was at there was discussion of mounting numbers of Previcox causing ulcers and other organ issues in dogs.

He's been off Previcox for over a week. They did draw blood to see if there were signs of it affecting him. He's on Omeprazole, which is for ulcers.

[quote-khall]Have you had radiographs run? Tried pepto? I have had similar issues over the years with various dogs, but they are usually sick, not feeling well. Antibiotics and biosponge is what we usually do. Thankfully mine will eat pumpkin.[/quote]

Rads did not reveal anything abnormal. A brief ultrasound also revealed nothing. He's on carafate, which is to soothe and coat. I hadn't thought of biosponge. I'll go get some of that this afternoon.

[Quelah]

If it were your horse I'd say get thee to UC Davis, since your vet is being not terribly responsive and UCD also has small animal dept, I think I'm going to say the same thing.

[piedmontfields]

No radiographs? I'm with Quelah. Get a better, second opinion.

[Fatcat]

Has he been checked for pancreatitis? They would look for amylase bloodwork numbers that were high.
If it is pancreatitis, small, low fat meals are required.

[emmalou]

My co-worker emailed me about his dog today with almost the same story. Vet diagnosed IBD.

[Suzon]

No radiographs? I'm with Quelah. Get a better, second opinion.

He had radiographs, they did not reveal anything abnormal. Please see above.

[Suzon]

Biosponge purchased and administered. Here's to crossing fingers. Will call Davis in the morning if no improvement.

[Hoof'n it]

With no improvement and a vet who is unresponsive I would also be taking the dog to another vet.
Fingers crossed that you pup is ok!

[Josette]

Suzon - sending jingles your guy responds to your care. I just learned something new here reading these posts about Biosponge. I too was wondering about a probiotic and this product really good for GI issues.

[Snork]

Has GI lymphoma been ruled out? It's good at hiding, and bloodwork often doesn't show much till the very end.

I'm with Quelah - vet school.

[greenhorse]

Be careful with the Blue Buffalo. My girl got quite sick eating it (after eating it for several years with no issue). Her stool and urine smelled awful, and half way through the bag, she stopped eating. However, she was quite hungry. She would eat anything but the BB. I changed her food and within a couple of days her stool and urine was back to normal. She also ended up with a kidney infection that made her quite sick. Can't say if that was related to the BB or not.

[Quelah]

Checking in and jingling for your old pup.

[Rhianon]

Biosponge pretty much save the orphaned kittens I was fostering when they all went sideways with the trots at once.

Jingle for you pup. I'd also get a second opinion.

[Suzon]

BioSponge to the rescue! Holding my breath, but it seems to be working. He's in a really good mood this morning, almost bouncy. And he hasn't had the trots since yesterday (hasn't pooped since mid-day...hoping the next one will be much improved). He's also HUNGRY. Feeding him only little bits at a time, but he wants more, more, more.


Oh and greenhorse, when we start re-feeding kibble, it won't be Blue Buffalo. Probably Wellness, haven't decided yet.

[piedmontfields]

Glad he's improving!!

[Sunshine2Me]

Off to Google this majikal BioSponge of which I know nothing about......

[Quelah]

Wonderful news!!

[khall]

Yeah!! Hope all is on the mend.

[fergusnc]

Yay! great news!

[Suzon]

Yeah!! Hope all is on the mend.

Getting there. Still a little loose, but I'm seeing improvement every day. He's definitely happy, playing, drinking, eating (except rice. He hates rice).

[Josette]

Sending more jingles your way. My chihuahua just had his diet/food switched to Hills Metabolic dry food diet because he gained too much weight. So far, he won't eat it (preferred his Wellness small breed food). My old dog and cat are eating it instead to make me crazy. I'm trying to be a food monitor to track who is eating what food now.....

[Suzon]

I'm off to food shop today. Have been researching on-line for something other than SD and RC. Several possibilities. I will need to check who has what in stock. Hopefully he'll eat it. I need to get something into him other than boiled chicken.

[no.stirrups]

Yay! for Suzon's dog! The wisdom of the DDBB wins another one!

[greenhorse]

How is your dog doing?

[Suzon]

How is your dog doing?

He's doing pretty well, all things considered. He's now off all meds except his gabapentin. Still getting BioSponge and ProBios every day. Still making pudding with oatmeal instead of tootsie rolls, but is in fine spirits...and I'll take pudding with oatmeal instead of projectile brown water. Still only eating chicken (because he doesn't want anything else that he's allowed to have). I've been researching limited ingredient dog foods; I think that's the next step.

[greenhorse]

Good! I hope you soon have tootsie rolls!

[Suzon]

We have a diagnosis. After he went off his meds, he was improved for a day or two and then backslid. I called Davis and they couldn't get him in until next Tuesday. Then I remembered the vet I took Scrunchy to when she dislocated her shoulder. She is a Davis grad and comes highly recommended by them. So I made an appointment. She looked at his treatment and couldn't believe they only prescribed Tylan for five days. He should have been on it for two months.

So she pulled more blood and explained it could be this, this, or this and we could do this, this and/or this. So we decided to treat as though it was clostridium until the tests came back. Tylan for 60 days. This would also cover a few other bases. She approved the Kangaroo and Potato food I had researched for him. Well, today, he had a completely NORMAL dog log. I'm so proud.

She got some of the test results back today and it's looking like a)he has pancreatitis and b) a bacterial overgrowth, which may be primary or secondary to the pancreatitis. Either way, Tylan seems to be improving things so we're leaving him on that and adding injectible B vitamins.

[Josette]

Very glad to hear to made appt with this awesome - knowledgeable vet. I'm learning so much from your posts for symptoms and treatments. Funny how sometimes the highlight of our day can be about "poo".

[Suzon]

Heath is doing Super Duper!!! He even went for a hike with his donkey yesterday...DH hooks the donkey to Heath's backpack with a stiff bungie and then it's Heath's job to lead her on the trails. Border Collie = Needs Job). He had a great time. He's now weaned off Chicken onto a limited ingredient dry food. Eating his meds and BioSponge. Pooping normally.

[Sunshine2Me]

Great news! I hope his good health continues!

[Code3]

Yay!!!

[klark_kent07]

Dog log

[WheresMyWhite]

Suzon, I had a Bouvier that ended up being diagnosed with clostridium perfringens (sp?) after many bouts of very audible gut rumbles followed by, bless his heart, racing out side.

He spent his entire life on Tylan. Got gel caps from the health food store and made our own "pills" (Tylan is vile tasting IMO ).

Every time we tried taking him off Tylan, the rumbles came back. He lived to a good age for a Bouv.

I hope it continues to work for your pup.

[Suzon]

WMW...interesting. Heath is 12 this year and definitely slowing down. If he does have to live on it for the rest of his life, at least it's cheap. Right now I'm going broke on pill pockets...his dosage requires three pockets full (1/4 teaspoon). I tried to get it put into capsules but the compounding pharmacy won't take it once it's already been dispensed.

[WheresMyWhite]

Suzon, I used to go to a small farm supply place and they would sell it OTC with no scrip, paid cash . Then fill the capsules at home - got a cheapie capsule "holder" that holds half the capsule while you fill it.

We started my dog on it at about age 2-3 and he lived until he was 11 (which was about the age almost of all of my Bouvs lived).

IMO, if the Tylan is working (and this is anecdotal only), I wouldn't worry about long term treatment. My vet at the time didn't seem to be overly concerned about it either. Wasn't thrilled with the long term aspect but the alternative wasn't good either.