[bentley2004]

Your post concerned me and I want to share my experience with recurrent diarrhea. Bentley was 2 1/2 years old and always suffered bouts of diarrhea. From time to time they would be mucousy and eventually very watery. I would always bring him to the vet complaining of this, as well as his finicky eating habits. He was always struggling to keep on weight. The vet changed his food to Prescription ID and for the most part he was fine. When I would go on vacation, my mom would babysit and when I'd pick him up, I was always relieved to see him a little bit fuller. I would never feed him anything other than his food, because there was always a pattern. If I deviated in any way, he would have a bout of diarrhea. Late October his diarrhea got real bad and on his last visit to the vet he was given a prescription for Centrine. This time though, it didn't go away and one night he woke me up from a deep sleep. I knew he wasn't feeling well so I immediately took him to an Emergency Center. He was stable and had had a bout of diarrhea while there, but no one seemed alarmed. The night vet suggested that since I'd had problems with this in the past, it might be a good idea to have him tested further. Since it was 2am on Friday morning, she suggested that I bring him to my own vet on Monday to get some additional tests done. That following day Bentley was back to his normal self and I was relieved. I scheduled to bring him to the vet on Monday morning. Late that Saturday night Bentley was very lethargic and had a distended belly. I was very concerned and again, took him to the Emergency Center where he was immediately given a blood test and it was discovered that his protein levels were very low. He was admitted and his preliminary diagnosis was Irritable Bowel Disease. After four heartwrenching days and a series of tests...Bentley passed away.

Bentley was eventually diagnosed was Lymphangiectasia, one of many diseases realated to the small intestines. A biopsy would have eventually confired the diagnosis, but he was not well enough to undergo the procedure. IBD and many related illnesses (Protein losing enteropathy, Lympangiestacia, etc) are not curable, but manageable. With the right medication and food therapy, yorkies can live very long lives. The trick is to get the proper diagnosis. In my case, a simple blood test and subsequent biopsy could have pointed them in the right direction. At this late stage, Bentley's illness was very severe and had been diagnosed too late for successful treatment. He had probably been living with this disease for some time and it had never been properly diagnosed.

I took my vet's word that he was fine - and I never questioned his treatment. I only wish now that I had been better educated about this group of diseases, and challenged his decision. I don't want to scare you, but it surprises me how few people know about this disease. I have beat myself up over and over at how I never insisted he be further tested and am furious that no one brought it to my attention sooner. I relied on his expertise and feel very let down.

Please do monitor Chalupa closely and I encourage further testing if you have to. I would have done anything I could have to save Bentley, and am sorry I wasn't given that opportunity earlier. Hopefully Chalupa can get the treatment she requires and live a very long and healthy life.