Problems (Long) - Page 1

Sorry in advance if this is too long

As some of you know my dog has had digestive problems for basically his whole life. He never seems to do good on a food for more than 2 or 3 months. Took him to the vet a while ago for suspected girradia and coccidia they were going to do the antigen but in the mean time perscribed him Metronidazole 250 mg, Sucralfate 1gm, and Loperamide 2mg all for 5 days. Antigen test came back neg so i kept him on those perscriptions until termination.

Had him on Orijen at the time and he was constantly itchy and had a couple of hot spots along with the loose stools and before i switched him to a different food had the explosive poop which prompted the first vet visit. So after the meds where done he was still on Orijen when i started noticing the itchiness and hotspots so i switched suspecting allergies to Natural Balance Lamb and Brown Rice.

Well the itchiness and hotspots went away and his poop was good so i figured great i found a food that works. Well on friday (been about 2 months of him on it) my wife calls me at work to tell me he has explosive poop again so i waited until today to see if it would go away figuring he could have ate something or had a little bug in the meantime i switched food to INNOVA EVO (yesterday) for the fact that he has done good on that food before he was just too young at  the time to be eating it (which i didnt know at the time).

So today i was fed up with not knowing why my dog is constantly like this. Went to the vet got a full blood panel done and having the TLI/ B-12 Folate test sent to Texas A&M for possible EPI/SIBO. Also he perscribed him Predisone 250mg 1 1/2 tablets twice daily for 10 days. The vet also mentioned the possibility of a Hypoallergenic diet but im waiting until I get the test results back. My dog seems to be fine other than his poops In the last month he has gained 10lbs which puts him at 60lbs and energy and stuff seems to be good so im just at a loss. He was born 4-29-2008.

Your dog sounds very much like mine before he was eventually diagnosed with IBD. If his bloodwork comes back normal, I would try a hydrolysed protein food(only available through vet) I feed Purina HA, but Hills and Royal Canin do one too. It would rule out a food allergy at least.  Good luck, and please let us know blood results.

I tried the whole raw route when i first got him but i was doing it all wrong and didnt have a freezer to buy things in bulk so it was getting quite expensive.

Brady bee the vet suggested the HA diet if the test comes back neg. So i guess i will have to just wait and see what Texas says and go from there. At this point EPI would be step up ( i know that sounds horrible) but at least i know what he has and would be able to deal with it with Prozyme.

I would strongly consider sticking with the raw diet.  If you are having that many problems the expense should be worth it in the end.  How much are you spending in vet bills with no solution?

I can totally relate to your frustration and what you are experiencing with your dog's digestive problems! I too, have experienced exactely what you are going thru. My GSD Gretta, Has had Digestive problems that developed severley around her first birthday. It went downhill from there. We had all kinds of Fecal tests done "Negative"/Switched Foods etc. and then.......

We has Blood tests done for EPI and it came back normal!.....However her Folate level was very High and reavled she had a B-12 Defincincey. She was diagnosed with IBD and SIBO with a B-12 Defincincey. After $$$$ in Vet Bills We FINALLY got to the Root of the Problem and she is now on 1/4 Teaspoon of Tylan Powder and Metronidazale 250 MG once a day. She is also on Iams Intestial Low Residue Food. Maybe your dog has SIBO/ B-12 Deficiancy? Your describing the same Scenario I went thru with my Dog. It is SO Frustrating! Please hang in there! Their is a light at the end of the tunnel with the right Medication and food. My Dog feels so much better and is so Happy now that her Stool is so much better! See if your Vet can rule out if your dog has SIBO/ IBD/ B-12 Deficinacey. I hope this info. helps. Good Luck to you!

Apart from IBD my dog also has SIBO and B12 deficiency. He is on an anti-inflammatroy dose of Prednisilone for the IBD, metronidazole for SIBO and the HA. He also was having weekly B12 injections which have brought the level up from,100 to 231. He now has them monthly.  I tried many different foods, including raw, but the Purina HA is the only one that works for him because it doesnt incite an immune response.  Good luck with the blood results.

I guess all we can do is wait for the results to come back from Texas A&M. I will update the thread when i get the results. Wish us luck.

I have noticed with my daughters bitch, if she is fed to much she will have to explosions. We have issues with keeping weight on her, so feeding her a little extra does not work with her. I always feel so sorry for her when this happens, I have clean dogs, but not like her, she is A. D.D. about being clean.

It sounds like you are going through similar to what I went through with my male (I posted about him on here asking for advice earlier as well).

Before testing for EPI since my dog didn't really fit the profile of an EPI dog, I asked around here, vet's offices, and elsewhere trying to find ideas of what was wrong with my poor dog.  Had tons of stools samples done, all were negative, tried different antibiotics, treated for Giardia and such (even though he tested negative).  On EVO Red Meat, we finally got him down to just having diarrhea about once a week.  I still wasn't happy and that's when I started taking in a stool sample of every time he had diarrhea.  All were negative.  Someone on here suggested Tylan and I asked my vet about it.  He was not familar with it so I asked him to research it and get me some if it seemed like it might remotely help.   The Tylan has been a miracle for us.  A few days after I got the Tylan (but was not giving it to him until he had problems), he had an bad episode of the explosive poop and I thought things had totally bad and we were right back where we started at months before.  I got some Tylan in him and it cut the episode short, almost immediate results.  That's been a month or so ago and he's only had one loose stool since.  Tylan is our miracle cure.  He also used to have horrible gas but a after the one round of Tylan, his gas problem is gone.  Vet suspects IBD but since everything is controlled now, we have no plans for further testing.  Besides coming to me emaciated, my poor boy spent the better part of his first two months with me in and out of the vet's office and since the Tylan is working, I can't see a reason to make him undergo anymore testing unless something changes.

Good luck to you!  I know it's scary and very frustration.  I was actually begging for advice before we found Tylan and am extremely glad it's working for him