honestly do not think blood can determine food issues only elimination diet :(

update- tapering the prednisone
 

Saturday was her first day off prednisone; to begin the tapering to every other day.
She usually begs for food; however Sunday morning she smelled the food and pulled away; she didn’t want to eat and seamed nauseated. I was concerned because that’s what she used to do before she got sick.

i am thinking maybe It’s a bit early to taper to every other day;

i called the vet today to ask if we should go back to once daily; or at least one dose one day and half dose the next. Maybe she needs a longer treatment; i am scared she will relapse.
he said it's only been one day she didn't eat; he said to continue one dose every other day and wait to see if she vomits few times before i call him.
i wasnt happy with his answer, because i dont want to wait until she gets sick again and vomit before i call him.
i think it will be better to give her one dose one day and 1/2 dose the next; before i start the one dose every other day. not sure what to do.
anyone had similar experience.



(Just a reminder she was on it twice daily for 2 weeks; then once daily for 2 weeks; and now we are trying to taper to every other day)

what internal medicine told me with dd allergies is doing in am one day and pm the next day to spread it out further than every day in am just a though you could ask him as that way the adrenals are working still as it is safest to do every other day is why your vet wants this done as derm told me it is not safe to do daily as i asked her again this last time due to dd being so itchy still on every other day but we are waiting to see if staph being gone will help before deciding on shots or more steroids. She preferred i did 3/4 every other day to doing daily but internal medicine i thought had a great idea by the am pm idea

My prayers go out to Ally for a full recovery.

thanks :)

back to her anorexic old self; tapering prednisone :(
 

i was so happy for the past month because she was begging for food and eating so good, while she was on prednisone for her IBD.
now that her prednisone is being tapered to every other day; she won't eat on the day she doesnt get it and i am very concerned.
i get anxious because she might be getting sick again; or it could be another issue or she can just be just anorexic. either way not wanting to eat makes me very nervous and worried. i am not sure what to do.
the vet said to keep her on every other day and wait until she vomits few times before calling him. but do i really want to wait until it gets this bad again. i really need some advice. anyone had this problem with the appetite?
thanks

the itching and licking is back
 

now that we are tapering the prednisone; not only i see a decrease in her appetite; but the itching of the ear, face and body and the licking of the paws is back. the food has corn, so i believe she has allergies to the food but can't switch her food right now. we really wont know how bad it is until we stop the prednisone completely.
currently she's on prednisone every other day; and in 2 weeks she will be on it every 2 days for another month.
i havent mentioned to the vet about the recent itching and licking; because he's only concerned about the vomiting with her.
i thought i would post here for some feedback?
thanks

Did you ask your vet about mirtazapine?

no because she's eating her food; if she wasnt eating at all then i will; i just dont want to give her more meds. for now the food is ok; it's just the itching, licking and the eye boogers (green).
when i talked to him he seems only concerned about the vomiting for now. he doesnt want us to worry about anything else.

Thats what saved Lola's life. Why cant you start switching her food.

i agree with him for now you need to give her intestinal tract time to heal before messing with a food change. This happened to dexter on ultra z/d and i was frustrated but stuck it out for 2 months before making a change and then i made the change to salmon and potato and what a mistake it was as after 30 days he was back in the hospital for vomitting from ibd so sometimes the itching can be better as long as it is not like dd where she is bloodying herself but i do know how frustrating the itching can be :( so sorry you are going through all this she is a very tough case of ibd sadly :( have you gotten any insight on the ibd group ? I am on k9kitchen K9Kitchen : dog diets raw cooked allergies disease - you may want to go on there and learn from her as she is a board certified nutritionist from GUELPH university which is a top vet school in canada - i am just trying to learn.

they did dispute the fact of white potato lolll although i have seen all three of my dogs vomit on white potato diet but susan davis feeds white potato to ibd dogs too -- they are not on board with the nightshade family theory between sweet potato and white potato but i still feel strongly having seen it in 3 dogs healthy and unhealthy

the pancreatitis group is good too as many dogs that have ibd have episodes of pancreatitis

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/dogpancreatitis/

I agree. While I would not like to see her suffering from allergies, it beats vomiting blood. You definitely don't want that starting up again.

I only suggested mirtazapine because you said when you taper the prednisone her appetite is bad.

As for Z/D Ultra....I put my foster on it and it is amazing the difference. He is doing so well...but, every pup is different. Actually, that one is a good one with dogs with allergies as well I believe??? Am I misinformed on that??

nah our dermatologist will not sell it because she does not like it for allergy dogs but some allergy dogs on my allerdog group do well on it so it depends on the dog. It made dex and demi itch lol and they do not have allergies as i made the mistake back then of switching everyone to what one eats and will not do that again as then you run the risk of the others getting messed up lollll

It is a hydrolized diet but it has chicken and rice in it so i recommend for ibd dogs but not usually for allergy dogs and my vet fed it to her dog as well for ibd and her dog was itching on it so she believed me lol but ims thought i was crazy as she said it is for allergy dogs until my dermatologist and vet said they have seen the same thing :( so we went to the purina ha after the dd salmon and potato made him sick

Yep...it really did help Rookie. His stools were icky about once/week and he was always passing foul gas; and we suspected ibd. He is fine now!

It is true though that every pup is different. I suppose if a pup had both ibd and allergies it might be worth trying? There are so many other foods for a pup with just allergies. Thankfully, this guy does not have allergies that I am aware of.

i have no more energy to try anything anymore; i give up.
it\'s been such a long journey with this little one. if the vet can\'t figure it out, then i dont know who will.
it\'s always something; either ibd or allergies or not eating......