Yorkie with newly discovered servere IBD

[Emmar]

Hi all,

Our little man, Diesel, has had problems with vomiting and diarrhoea for some months now together with large amounts of food going undigested through his system. I originally thought he had something wrong with his pancrease as his stools were bright yellow, and he kept throwing up bile. After several visits to the vet's, he finally had a blood test which ruled out any pancrease problems, but lead the vet to believe he had IBD. The vet took a biopsy from his stomach and intestines last Thursday and he had a full scan just to be sure. The scan showed there was no tumors growing (thank god!) and my vet could see through the endoscope that there was a problem in his small intestines which he feels is caused by a hyposensitive stomach. Unfortunately, my vet didn't have the food he wanted to give Diesel, so we continued him on boiled chicken and rice. Since Thursday he has regained most of his energy back. However, I picked up his prescription food today, gave him two portions, and he has took a step backwards. While out on his walk he had a really bad case of diarrhoea, it was like yellow milkshake. I'm not sure what to do now? The vet has put him on purina HA. Is this a normal reaction? Do I continue feeding him with the same food or should I call the vet?
I would be so grateful if anyone had any advice.

Many thanks,

Emma x x

[Emmar]

Diesel has also started to be sick again? He keeps throwing up into his mouth and swallowing it, he's done it about 7 times in the last 15 minutes. Is there anything I can do to help him?

Many thanks,

Emma x x

[Wylie's Mom]

How old is he? Did he have giardia or anything as a pup?

If he has thrown up 7 times, I'd check his gums immed. and be sure that they are pink - if not, get some water in him right away. Can you call your vet and discuss? Bc also w/ that much vomiting, you could be in an emergency here depending on his age, weight etcetera.

I have some other thoughts on the ibd - but want to post quickly about the dehydration first. If you have nutrical on hand - you may want give him some.

[Emmar]

Thanks for your reply Ann,

Diesel's 14 months old, he's still a baby really. He weighs 3kg, which I think is about 7lbs. He is, however, extremely skinny. It was only in the last 2 visits to the vet that he finally took my concerns about his weight seriously. I've been telling the vet for over 2 months that he was too skinny, but he just said I was being a bit neurotic?

He's calmed down a bit now. I've been using a syringe to ensure he gets enough water for a couple of weeks now, as I was worried about him getting dehydrated, and have continued to do so. Although he was being sick, it was like he was regurgitating his food into his mouth and then swallowing it back down. As this is his first day on his new food I'm not sure if this is normal? I live in London and it's now gone past midnight, he's managed to fall asleepand I'm hoping he won't have a bad night. I'll call the vet first thing in the morning. What I don't want is for Diesel to go through any unessesary pain or discomfort.

Thanks,

Emma x x

[Wylie's Mom]

Hi Emma - glad he calmed down, poor fella.

Here are the ingredients in the Purina HA:

Starch, hydrolyzed soy protein isolate, vegetable oil, calcium phosphate, partially hydrogenated canola oil preserved with TBHQ, powdered cellulose, corn oil, potassium chloride, vegetable gums (gum arabic, guar gum), choline chloride, DL-Methionine, salt, magnesium oxide, lecithin, taurine, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, garlic oil, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite

I wonder what they mean by "starch" - weird. The ingredients in bold can be problematic for dogs. The one is red can actually be toxic and is a real concern, in my opinion.

It's so tough to say why your baby was throwing up yesterday after eating this food. However, if this were me and my dog had that kind of reaction to a food -- I just would not feed it again. It sounds possible that an ingredient could have been causing severe reflux too. Is he on anything to heal his tummy? Were ulcers ruled out?

Since he has shown sm. intestine issues and undigested food in his stool - were probiotics and digestive enzymes discussed? It may be something to consider here.

What types of foods (and proteins) have you tried in his past?

One other thing I can recommend is that you consult w/ a Canine Nutritionist. Susan Davis has been used by many here, with wonderful results - she does phone consults regarding this very thing.

[Wylie's Mom]

Also, take a look at this -- bc of the weight loss you mentioned, does EPI sound possible?

EPI in Dogs

[TLC]

Ahhh...I am so sorry he's sick...I remember these days with my TJ

We tried many, many things for TJ's IBD - In the end the only thing that worked for him was Tylan Powder that the Vet gave to me to try.
This sometimes does work for some dogs with these IBD issues (and it doesn't work for all dogs).

But if you do a search here on YT for: Tylan Powder
You see all my odd threads from 2005

It might be worth a shot to ask your Vet about it. It is pretty safe, even if it has to be used long term. My current Vet had his own dog on it for life

...TJ is now free of those horrible episodes.

[Wylie's Mom]

I agree w/ Nicole - Tylan can work very well for some dogs.

And btw, Elliemay told me that the "Starch" in the HA food is Corn Starch - so that could also be irritating. When telling me about that, she also mentioned Metronidazole (can work for some) and Prednisone. Which begs the question, why didn't the vet put him on Pred. after doing a biopsy?

You might also consider a 2nd opinion.

[Emmar]

Thanks for your replies.

Diesel is still no better, he's stopped being sick but still has bad diarrhoea. The vet has adviced to change his food again, this time we're to try white fish and potatoes, hopefully it will work? Diesel's biopsy results came back and it showed that he has helicobacter? I'm totally confused with all what's wrong with him, he starts a course of medication on Monday. The worst thing is that the vet has said if he doesn't show an improvment then he may need another biopsy, this time from his bowel. Fingers crossed he will make an improvment.

Thanks Ann for the EPI advice. Initally I thought Diesel had EPI, but when his blood tests came back, TLI came back at 17.9. The pathologist's report said his results were Consistent with malabsorption associated with IBD.

The strange thing is, he seems quite happy in himself, most of the time, and hasn't lost his appetite at all.

If anyone has had a similar experience, would love to hear how you and your baby coped.

Many thanks,
Diesel's mum, Emma

[TLC]

Any suggestions of Bacteria Overgrowth???

When w had blood work done on TJ his Folate levels were sky high.

You may want to ask your vet about the Tylan Powder as it may help him...

Do you hear any girgirling noises coming from him

[Ellie May]

The problem with endoscopic biopsy is that they can't get a full thickness sample, so it isn't really conclusive. If cancer, lymphangiectasia and Protein Losing Enteropathy need to be ruled out, you may consider talking about a full thickness intestinal biopsy.

Isn't Helio... related to ulcers?
If he has IBD and Tylan, Metro and a diet change are not helping, you may have to go to prednizone or prednisolone. Sometimes it is the only thing that will help. It isn't optimal though and I'm not sure if it is okay with an ulcer.

If the vet isn't talking about all of this (and even trying things like Tylan before surgery), I would get a second opinion.

A fish and potato diet sounds good...

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

Isn't Helio... related to ulcers?

Yes, completely!!! If he showed helio, didn't the vet want to treat for ulcers? He should be on an antiobiotic (there are ones spec. for ulcers), maybe sucralfate, or omeprazole - I mean, even pepto helps w/ ulcers. Did the vet talk to you about ulcers?