Potentially ill dog with no real diagnosis, looking for ideas/help *updated info* - Page 4

+1 on Hexe's suggestions.  In particular, I'd suggest the tick panel be run, as the symptoms you describe could result from non-Lyme tick-borne illnesses like ehrlichiosis  or anaplasmosis.

Kelly, have them call the Veterinary Specialty Clinic in Buffalo Grove.  They only take hard to diagnose problems.  He needs a vet referral but I'm sure he can get that.

One of my best friends interned there as a tech.

Test for Lyme.

I had to ASK my vet to run a TLI (is a fasting blood test).  She didn't think it was EPI, but I DID.  I WAS RIGHT, and my vet was thankful that I ASKED for the test.  You have to help these vets out sometimes.  :)

I  had to ask my vet to perform the fasting TL1 as I had suspected Molly had EPI for more than 10 months before it was diagnosed.  In addition she had SIBO and low B12.  When she has a SIBO flare up the enzymes are no good and she loses weight fast.  During the last flare up when my vet told me he didn't need to run any more tests as all it would do was say the same thing, I took her to a gastro specialist at the local ER vet.  The Vet there was great and came up with a defined game plan on how we were going to make her better and gain weight.  She did gain 10 lbs in 2 weeks and is back to her old happy self.  I also know another gsd that has sibo (no epi) and he lost alot of weight recently to.  He is back to getting b12 shots every week and is indefinately on Tylan powder.  He has also begun to improve, so even if this dog does not  test positve for epi - could be a sibo problem, and that does not always show positve in the testing.  I know it did not for my Molly and it did not for my friends dog.  Once I started using the Tylan, Molly improved.  She has her follow up with the specialist next week so hoping her heart rate has increased as well.

After just going thru this I sympathize with the owners.  My feeling is this dog has an issue with its pancrease and or Sibo, with low b12.

Hopefully they can find out form their specialist what is wrong.  It was not cheap at the specialist, but worth every penny to start seeing Molly begin to improve.