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......

hang in their gf it was a rough year when dex went through this but once that year was over and he was on the right diet it has been pretty smooth for 4 years now - couple bumps but pretty good now i need to go knock on some wood - many times dogs that have ibd also have allergies as they are tied together :( it stinks but hang in there she is doing much better so hopefully this new vet will get it all under control - at some point you have to trust someone even though it is hard to do sometimes :(

If the vomiting and itching were controlled on steroids, why are they being reduced (or is it just the obvious....not healthy long term)?

yeah i was freaking out as dex never itched and he was like dd on that food i was so frustrated and dh said why is he itching so much and then demi too chewing and licking her paws loll ughhh that was not a fun year it was either hives or vomitting and always seemed to happen on a holiday ughhhh I am so glad purina ha worked as i was so frustrated after a year and 10k i wanted to scream so i totally know how she feels :(

I am so sorry. I know it has been a very long journey for both of you and I wish I had the answer. It is so difficult to have a sick pupster. I pray for both of you often.

:thumbup::thumbup:

exactly; plus he said if she has to be on it; then he wants to find out the lowest effective dose.

thank you linda; much appreciated.

i do trust him, i guess i have no choice; he's good; but sometimes can cope an attitude. i think he's busy and doesnt want to be bothered by small things. like last time when i told him she didnt want to eat; he said only to call him if she threw up few times. so i feel like i have to walk on eggshells when i have to ask questions.
he didnt seem like this in the begining; day 1 he was great and he spent few hrs with me and answered all questions; but after $3300 and all tests were done; it's like he changed- bipolar or something.
what can i do. like i said i am drained and have no energy to even think anymore.

I dont think he probably means to be harsh. My son's pediatrician was like that. I actually appreciated him in time.....he was smart and a great doc...he trained his moms well about when to call him! He wanted us to only call when it was an emergency. They are busy and just cannot always answer what they don't see as emergent...even though WE do! That is all it sounds like he is doing....trying to help you calm down a bit. Even though things are not perfect, she is not sick and out of control like she was before. I do believe he is getting to the bottom of it all.

hey girl that is a MAN for you lollll jk trying to make you laugh. Our man vet is like that and the woman vet is too actually as she is slamming busy i just have the techs ask and say call back when they can but they can call vet does not have to so that way they can ask the questions when the vet is not busy and call you back with answer. I think the busy ones prefer to do it that way which i prefer too. The derm does this her asst type it up in computer and she types the answer and they call me with it - it works pretty good. I just wish more of them had email as i prefer that and a couple specialists do that which is nice then they can respond in between clients. Doesn't your guy have a website where you can email it in as i thought i saw that ?

ava is back at the vet; sick again
 

i just dropped off ava at the vet; she's sick again
loose stool with mucus and vomiting with blood; and stomach rumbling

the vet had decreased the prednisone dose to every 2 days for the past 2 weeks; and she hasn't been eating much; yesterday she barely ate; and today she didnt want to eat at all and then she vomited..
so i am guessing he will increase the dose to every other day; she might need to be on it for a very long time if not her life.
do u think it will be ok; right now i think the benefits outweight the risks. what do u think?

i think it might be the food she's on ; the iams low residue. she might be allergic to corn and chicken; so not sure what food is best for her case.

so sorry :( some dogs have to be on pred and you just have to know there are side effects but the risk in some dogs out weighs what they are going through now. I have dd on steroids - if you can get them to every other day that is the safest way to dose steroids but that is not always possible for all dogs.

Have you ever done the tylan powder as safer and there is an anti-inflammatory in it and some dogs are on that daily for maintenance - sorry cannot remember if you have done this or not

I agree the food is probably the issue as if on the right diet like dex is the ibd is under control and sometimes it takes a few months for a food to set them off after a food change. Our vet said sometimes ibd dogs will do good for a few months then get sick and you have to switch etc. Thank goodness with dex we have been good for almost 5 years now.

You may want to consult with susan davis Holistic Veterinarian Pet Nutritionist Holistic Pet Care. I just met her saturday and she seems very nice and caring or join k9kitchen on yahoogroups.com and start asking questions about home cooking as this may help her and you can make a batch for months at a time and freeze. k9kitchen owner monica segal is a nutritionist from guelph university but the people that have worked with susan swear by her.

I got a coupon for a lower price as i was going to consult her myself but i know money is tight as you have been through so much lately so if you want my coupon i will be happy to give it to you to use so just pm me. It cannot hurt to get more info from a nutritionist at this point.

so sorry again :(

just picked her up, he gave her sub q fluids, pepcid injec, antiinflamtory inj and dexamethasone inj
i will try to feed her in few hrs and hope she keeps it down
she has to be back on prednisone once daily for 2 weeks and then every other day until advised; maybe 6 months or more
every 3 to 6 months she has to get boold test for the organs to make sure everything is ok
he's ordering purina EN for me to switch her to that food; to give it a try
he wants to do acth test to rule out addison disease but that's over 500; i am going to wait on that since the treatment is prednisone anyway
he also wanted to put her on fortiflora from purina; but i still have benebac pet gel; he said to stay on that.
does anyone know if fortiflora is better then benebac?
thanks

wow i am so sorry you really have been through so much :( I feel so bad for you.

Make sure you do some reading on addisons as my friends dog Tank a bull mastiff has addisons disease and that is much different that what you are going through so do your homework.

Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison's Disease) in Dogs

Addison basically means their adrenals stop working so you have to give steroids to keep them functioning. It is really hard to diagnose in dogs unless they have an addsonian crisis which my friends dog did. I can try to find the info on my vet group as we discussed this in great depth when my friends dog did get this but it does show up in blood work as well and the first sign is they start losing weight which is opposite of cushings where they gain weight. Addisons is the opposite disease of cushings.

I hope it is not addisons but if it is it is treated with steroids which is what she is on.

The prob with steroids used daily is eventually the adrenals stop working and why every other day steroid use is safest because it allows the adrenals to still function on off day to keep side effects less likely. This is why derm, dr dodds and ims do not want my dd on steroids every day but every other day for this reason.

she's going to be on it only for 2 weeks once daily; then every other day to be safe; and i think that dose might be effective. if she has another episode then we have to consider daily. but hopefully that wont happen. she relapsed quickly so i think it must be something in the food. since they have to order the EN i am not sure if i should continue feeding the iams low residue until i switch. should i give her some boiled chicken and rice instead. not sure what to do for the next few days