9 Month Old GSD with Weak Hindlegs - Page 14

I would imagine the amoxocillin was NOT to treat the coccidia, but to treat any secondary issues associated with the problem.I have heard of on more then one occassion, pups that were left with untreated coccidia can get some pretty severe intestinal damage. A friend of mine that breeds Huskies, is now in the process of trying to correct irritable bowel syndrome "she herself caused" by repeatedly trying to correct diareha with panacur. Now the poor dog is on sterroids and several other medications. I myself have never had a dog with any of the issues that require enzymes and the like, but I really can't see that adding them to the diet would cause bloody diareha. I too would go with feeding the chicken and rice, maybe add. A scoop of pumpkin in there. A couple scrambled eggs a day couldn't hurt either, but I would not pump day after day of panacur blindly into an already upset intestinal tract.

Is coccidia for dogs the same as what reptiles get?  If so, that is a nasty parasite and a royal pain in the rump to get rid of.  It was hard enough to keep everything sterile for a reptile for 3 weeks; I could not imagine having to do that for a dog.

Oops Maywood, I guess you again forgot the part where the vet diagnosed malnutrition and anaemia ? ? ?

Fawndallas, I think part of the problem is obtaining the level of veterinary care that we take for granted,  nor does he have a range of vets on his doorstep to choose from as we have. I think Gautam is right about the vet suggestion for Eukanuba, and going into why he might suggest that over say TOTW is really a side issue.

Overall this is how I currently see it

If the pup has EPI and isn't treated with pancreatic enzymes (which are not chemicals) he will ultimately starve to death. If he has enzymes added but doesn't have EPI, it will not cause any issues if given correctly with his food.  A grain free food would also help if he had EPI. He cannot get a TLI test to definitely diagnose this

If it is a dietary intolerance, a wholly novel food would need to be tried like salmon and potato, and there are others.

If he has a food intolerance (to kibble for example) like mollyandjack's example, switching to a canned or raw diet will solve the problem.

If it is a case of coccidia or giardia that hasn't been correctly treated, it may still be persisting. As Sitasmom said it would help if Gautam can identify what exactly the treatment given for this was and if he was given the all clear.

Many possibilities that everyone is trying to help Gautam with.  None of the suggestions offered will do any harm and may ultimately help find the solution, but I am sure it must be somewhat overwhelming for Gautam.  Firstly I would try the chicken and rice to see how he reacts and take it from there. Don't make too many changes at once, so that he can identify what is making a difference.

I didn't even know what it was.  By that point I was so desperate to hear something that it could be I would do anything. I read on another site what a vet said when someone asked them is it ok if my other non EPI dog eats the enzymed food. The vet's answer was no problem, just means your other dogs pancreas doesn't have to go to work that day. I thought that was a pretty good answer.

 

 

 

  

Ah.  Is there any way he can have a stool and blood sample sent to the US for eval?

That is a good thought fawndallas, I wonder if it is even possible.  Maywood I really shouldn't call anyone's statements stupid. When I saw the video I could tell the whole dog looked run down not just the rear but the whole muscular system seemed very weak and he appeared emaciated. Mervin's coat probably misled some as it appeared alright. The big part is most of us were able to look beyond his genetics and were not in a rush to condemn him as just another show dog.

Wow!  Excellent posts!  Thank you fawndallas for saving this thread.  Once again the voice of reason has spoken.  I envy your thought process.

abby normal - if a dog has lost weight and is bleeding on the inside, and its gone on for a while - it would be animic and malnurished.

Coccidia, intestinal worms and Giardia all cause malnurishment and animia.......

Has anyone ever dealt with Inflammatory Bowel Disease?  The symptoms are very similar to EPI.

Whoa...

"Bleeding on the inside"--let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Blood in stool is one sign used in a diagnosis and is NOT necessarily a cause for alarm. The dog has only had blood in his stool for a few days, according to gautam's posts, unless the stools have been black or tarry in consistency which would indicate upper GI/small intestinal bleed. A few drops of red or a few smears of blood mean exactly what gautam's vet said: rectal bleeding. With the fever, the vet decided to treat for infection...rectal bleeding is also caused by irritation from chronic intestinal upset. Anemia, as the vet pointed out, can be caused by chronic diarrhea and the malnutrition that results from it. Think horses, not zebras.

Also...there are many, many causes of malabsorption (see Merck link) that all have similar symptoms so I'm not sure how helpful it's going to be to list them all here for the OP to freak out over. I strongly agree with other posters that have said: that the OP should start back at square one with a bland diet and go from there in consultation with the city vet. I can't speak to whether or not enzymes should be used, but it looks like they don't cause harm to try.

Key issues first and foremost are getting the dog some food it can digest, even a little bit, and making sure the dog stays hydrated.