[desertangel]

Hi, This is my first post. I am sorry if I missed posting an introductory post first. I signed up on the forum when I first got my Yorkie-Poo Jessica, but have not posted because we've just had such a host of problems!

I adopted Jessica from the Humane Society almost 6 years ago when she was 2 years old. She was malnourished and very sick. I got her over the hump and gaining weight within a few months by putting her on grain-free limited ingredient diet (Natural Balance.) We also had several behavioral things to overcome and some that I decided were okay to just leave alone because she was starting to have too many digestive problems. Her surrender application from her previous owner said she needed someone to be with her most of the time and that she needs to be the center of attention and gets nervous in the car. I found all of this to be true, so that I work 8 hours a day is a miracle for her to endure. I drive 10 miles each day to spend 15 minutes with her at lunch and I work from home one day a week. Otherwise, I'm a complete homebody.

Over the years we've been to the vet 6 or 8 times for bad bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. She always gets metronizidole and some other antibiotic, this last time it's Orbax. On top of that, she developed a flea bite allergy that required a shot of Prednisone to overcome itchiness. Anyway, I thought I was doing an okay job of controlling the tummy flare ups by switching her food to a different LID formula every time she started exhibiting symptoms; gagging and the occasional vomit of bile early in the morning. Then rotating stopped working. We've tried California Natural kangaroo until it got recalled, but she was getting gassy from that anyway. Also tried a "raw" freeze dried diet that didn't even last a week before she got diarrhea. (I usually transition for a full week using the 25% method.) She doesn't get treats, no people food, no bones, nothing but dry food and white rice during flare ups and whatever medicines. Sometimes a drop or two of olive oil because she doesn't tolerate fish oils. She's also been on Forti Flora for several months which I thought was helping for a bit, and also the hydrolyzed diet which gave her constipation. She gets 6 small meals during the day starting at 6:30 a.m., 9:30, 12:30, 3:30, 5:30, 8pm. More often than not, she vomits bile at 3 or 4 a.m. Otherwise, it's white foamy stuff with undigested food and diarrhea which happens at any time of day or night. We've tried Pepcid but that doesn't seem to help, not sure if it's because by the time I give it to her it's too late or what. The flare ups don't seem to happen at any particular time of year although they seem to occur more often in the fall. I don't know what caused this last flare up, but I did notice some tiny shreds of paper towel on the floor a few days. She used to eat the carpet off the stairs until I got double sided sticky paws tape and taped all around the outside edges of the carpet, so she definitely gets Pica as a precursor to many flare ups of IBD because she has eaten something bad. In the fall the Canadian Geese come to our area. I'm pretty careful about watching her so she doesn't eat anything on walks, but she's gotten good about pretty much not eating things off the ground so sometimes I'm kind of lax. I have taken to washing her feet when we come in from potty just in case she's walked in any bird poop.

The Humane Society labeled her as "hyper" and her vet says her temperament has a lot to do with her IBD. I've tried Thunder Shirt, DAP, plenty of exercise, lots of socialization, little socialization, I groom her myself so she doesn't have to go to the groomer, we've tried dog parks, dog day care, soothing music, multiple small meals per day, I don't know what all else - seems like the range of everything. Her vet calls her a "medical nightmare." She's 8 years old now. She had her first dental this year, gets yearly vaccinations because we live in an area with a lot of dogs that are out walking all the time and we have no back yard. I use Advantage or Frontline for fleas. She really doesn't like to be brushed, groomed or fussed over. I've only been able to get her to let me hold her within the last couple of years. Before that, she wouldn't let me hold her for long before she'd jump out of my arms. She's not like any dog I've ever met or owned before. I feel bad and those that know us well have suggested and even offered to take her "away" for me. It's just heartbreaking. I love her to pieces, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what I could do differently so she'll quit getting sick so often. It's about 4 times a year, which isn't too much in the grand scheme, but when she does get sick, it usually takes weeks and weeks to clear up and costs a lot of money. I'm afraid for what the future holds, when she gets old and really has serious age-related issues. I'm also afraid her vet is going to put her on prednisone permanently. She doesn't behave very well on that stuff. Her white blood cell count was up and so was her esophilis (sp?) although her pancreatic and liver function have been fine. I'm at a loss, but not ready to give up at all because I just couldn't do that to her, or me. I'm too deeply committed.

Sorry this is more of a rant for the first post, but if anyone can offer some suggestions that I haven't already tried, I would sure appreciate it. Maybe it's just me that needs to come to some sort of peace with this. Sometimes I wonder if Caesar Milan could help. I've toyed with the idea of sending his organization an email just to see if they think they could help her overcome her hyper temperament. It seems I've tried everything and I feel I've run out of options.

Sorry so long. Thanks for reading my first post "book" and thank you to all for any input.

Laura and Jessie