GI Problems are driving me nuts
 

As you may know my Lola has been very sick since June. Bloody Diarrhea only. Well after her blood work comes back great and no crystals in her urine and her new diet nothing seems to be helping my baby. She is on Predisone one pill a day. My vet has referred me to a specialist in Dallas and I had to wean her off the predisone so that we can take many blood test such as ACTH, TLI/COBALAMIN/FOLATE. I felt like I almost lost her on sunday because she was on half a tab of Predisone and her loose stools where every couple hours full of red blood.The next day I went to my vet for IV fluids and he told me she had gained weight that everything is going to be fine, so long story short, we had the TLI test done today and it will be sent out to A&M and she had a B 12 shot. Tomorrow she will be getting her sonogram with Dr Cole at the Animal Imaging in Irving Tx. I am worn out and hope this will give us a final answer. I will keep you all informed. Please keep my Lola in your Prayer. Thanks Lissette:animal-pa:animal-pa

Lissette, I'm so sorry Lola is still so sick. I will definitely keep you and her in my prayers. Please let us know how the test results are. {hugs}

Oh no Lissette, I am so sorry to read about Lola, I hope things improve for her. I will be keeping Lola in my thoughts and my prayers.
((Hugs))

wow i am so sorry this has been a rough road :( but hopefully you will get some answers from the tests - i feel so bad for you :(

It is so hard when one's baby is sick and no answers can be found. I pray they can find out what is causing her GI problems and get her better.

Lissette,

I'm praying for you and Lola........How soon will you get the test results?

Holding you and your precious Lola in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted when you can.

Im so sorry that she isnt feeling well..:(.. I will keep her in my thoughts and prayers..(hugs)

Thanks so much, I am heading to the Sonogram appointment now and we should have the TLI test back today or Monday. Again thanks so much, I have the best vets in Dallas. Lissette

I hope they finally find the answer for little Lola.
She and you are in my thoughts and prayers, Lissette.

I hope and pray you get the answers needed to get Lola well again.
Yes, I agree, it must be so very frustrating not to get a grip on an
illness after so much testing. Hopefully this one will put her on the
road to recovery.

ACTH? Do you mean ACTH Stim...as in Cushings? What are they all testing her for, btw? Are they thinking EPI too? Gosh I hope they find a cause for all of this :(. You are both in my thoughts...

yeah i think they are thinking epi with the tli as that is what that test is for - i was confused with the acth as well as does not sound like cushings to me and due to protein not being off on blood work have questioned the lymphangastasia as well as epi as epi is a loss of protein as well -Lymphangastasia they have low protein, low cholesterol and low calcium and i think the blood work came back fine. Just seems like a reall bad case of ibd to me with a possible pancreas issue now from it and large intestines are affected as only diarhea with fresh blood it sounds like.

what food are you feeding right now hopefully nothing inflammatory and not a lot of fiber as those two things can be making this worse

are you doing probiotics preferably hypoallergenic ones non dairy that is what i am using for dee dee now and doubled her up for 4 days and she is back so far fingers crossed.

the cpli tests for pancreatitis the tli is going to test for epi

boy i really hope you get to the bottom of this as i know it has to be really frustrating as i know in dealing with health issues it is not fun at all and very heart breaking.

Did the vet do a diarrhea panel by idexx lab as i just had that done and it was $200 but it was very comprehensive one and most expensive just curious

Keep in mind the prednisone can cause ulcers and digestive issues as well if on empty stomach were you giving it mid meal? What dose were you given and weight of your little one? I much prefer prednisolone over prednisone. Steroids can trigger pancreatitis in high doses as well so maybe the steroids have put her in a pancreatic attack so make sure they do the cpli as well so you have the entire pancreas tested.

Just trying to think of anything that may help figure this out

is the blood fresh or dried blood as dried blood specs like coffee grounds are indicative of ulcers

I think you said the blood work has been coming back normal each time is this correct trying to remember?

Somehow I'm not thinking EPI.....my girlfriend just lost her 7 year old Champion to EPI......it hit fast and she went fast. Same vet Lissette has......but, nothing, nothing helped, her girl had diarreah and vomitting, would not eat.......Lissette's lil girl does responds to meds.....and is eating and gaining......same vet Dr. Hawthorne......

By the way you can't compare Texas Vet costs to California costs. Vets here charge about 200% over what vets charge in Texas and Dr Hawthorne's prices are below the average vet in Dallas.

yeah we almost lost an epi dog on my other yorkie group and it hits fast - plasma transfusion saved her the hepastarch did not work. She is working with susan davis now Holistic Veterinarian Pet Nutritionist Holistic Pet Care and thriving but almost lost her and it hit fast and furious - the plasma transfusions are a saviour saved my dog from dying of pancreatitis as the body gets so toxic the plasma flushes the toxins out quickly - I believe ple and epi are very similar in nature.

I still think this is ibd case that has spun out of control :( since blood work is not showing any signs of any other diseases and the blood work should show signs if some of these other things but if this were mine i would have that pancreas cpli and tli done as ibd can trigger the pancreas and per our internal medicine specialist dogs will test high on cpli and tli with ibd and no pancreatitis symptoms. Also several vets on my vet groups have stated yorkies are notorious for skin and digestive issues sadly :(

Transfusions, everything was tried.....it didn't work.

The only other thing and I'm sure knowing Dr. he's probably thought of it too.....intestinal cancer......but, I'm sure he's already hit on this too, since he sent her to a Specialist.

Yep! Their intestinal tract happens to be one of their downfalls.

How did her appointment go, any updates?

Thanks so much everyone who responded. Just want to give you all an update on what is happening. Well, took her in to the Animal Imaging center in Irving Tx, gotta tell ya, I have a top knotch radiologist that spent one hour giving her a complete sonogram. He would not stop until he gave my vet an answer, As a matter of fact he was consulting my vet when he found her swollen Lymphs. Her Lymph nodes are swollen and the lining of her Colen is thining. He did a fine needle aspirate on her Lymph nodes and is sending it to A&M for evaluation, I should have the answer by monday. He thinks she may have a fungus growth. The Prednisone will only make it grow faster. We will find out for sure on monday. Lola will not have the ATCH blood test after all, they thought maybe Addisons but thats out of the question. I never really take my dogs out. I do have a garden. Dr Cole, Radiologist, said they can get a fungus from anything in your yard. Hope this info will help someone in the future with the same symtoms. Thanks everyone.....I will let you know. Now, I need a glass of wine....

WOW! So, it's treatable..........hurray.............

Mary this team of Doctors have been great. I hope this is the answer, but for sure I will find out on Monday. Thanks for all your support. Please keep notes incase your babies dig in your garden. I Love YTERS.......

So, Monday will there be a plan of attack.......will you go in to see Dr. Hawthorne or the Specialist?

wow that is wild well coconut oil is a natural antifungal and antibacterial so i would definitely be supplementing her with coconut oil and it does wonders for the coat - my dd was on it for a year and no bacterial issues along with the probiotics and since yours was prone once you get this all cleared up with vet I would recommend those two things

Ketaconazole is an antifungal drug see below
Ketoconazole: Antifungal Medication For Cats & Dogs - 1800PetMeds

Be very careful if they prescribe this drug and make sure they do not mix it EVER WITH IVERMECTIN. I just want to share this with you as a dermatologist had my friends yorkie on those two drugs and her dog went into a coma so NEVER mix ivermectin and ketoconozole and not alot of vets know this so i am sharing it as I learned this and what happens is with ketaconazole is it breaks the blood barrier wall allowing other drugs to shoot to the brain so you have to be very careful if this is the drug they give as this is the only drug i know of for yeast infections. The above is how it kills the mites as they do not have a strong blood barrier wall like dogs. Do you give your dog Heartguard for heart work if so that has ivermectin in it - not a large dose like off label ivermectin but it is still in the drug so discuss it with them.

The reason your dog got worse on pred is because pred breaks down the immune system allowing infections like bacteria and fungal to get worse as the body does not fight it off like it normally would without it. This is why dd has spun out of control as i have for 2 years supplemented with coconut oil and probiotics and no issues then i stopped and she has been a mess with diarhea and staph infection so i know it works for sure now.

This is a sign of a compromised immune system as she could not fight this thing on her own prior to the pred and then suppressing the immune system made it multiply - yeast and bacteria are nasty and they grow in sugar and everything you eat turns to sugar so it just keeps manifesting itself making things worse - dogs with a healthy immune system are equipped to fight this stuff off though but dogs who do not cannot just like a dog with a healthy immune system can fight off inbalance of mites in skin and dogs with a compromised immune system cannot and why demodex is such a tough thing to get rid off for dogs with a poor immune system.

I hope you are enjoying your glass of wine and i hope it is WHITE lollll have a good night

The specialist will contact Dr Hawthorne and he will have her plan of action.

I for the life of me have never heard of such a thing......get all the info from doc.....besides plan of action, is there a preventative.....how she could have picked it up......Inquiring minds want to know.

But, besides that......I'm so glad you're on the home stretch.........give my best to Doc Hawthorne.

SMILE,,,,Yes I am enjoying my Cabernet..Red......

All I want to understand is how no one knew she had enlarged nodes.

more info

Dog Health | Nzymes.com

Thanks Mary, I will tell him you said Hello. I think they are all working on this together. Lola has shocked them with her perfect CBC 2 times. I hope its something simple.

Germs: Viruses, Bacteria, and Fungi

MORE INFO

Is this what he diagnosed ? as it is tied to lymph nodes

Blastomycosis in Dogs & Humans