Ava is sick and in hospital again; GI problems
 

she relapsed again; after few months
vomiting with blood clots
so i took her to a new vet and she stayed overnight on IV and meds

today he did an endoscopy with biopsies
Her stomach had red spots; but no ulcers.
Her small intestine was very inflamed, that suggested IBD he said
The biopsie will show what type of IBD hopefully

He also wants to do a bile acid test and ACTH test soon to rule out liver shunts and addison's disease (during the procedure she vomited and her heart rate went down)
first we are going to wait on the pancreatic and other blood tests, and on the biopsy results to see if they are needed.
i might do the bile acid test; and wait on the ACTH

he said most likely its IBD; he's going to get her dewormed (just in case); he will put her on low residue diet, metronidazole for 6 weeks, and prednisone.

he mentioned eukanuba or iams low residue. i read the ingredients and they don't look so good; not sure what to do; do i have another choice.


any advice from anyone with similar experience.
thanks

Sorry to here Ava is sick again. Sounds like the new vet is being very thorough. I hope she is feeling better soon.

I just went back and looked through some threads ... dwerten has her ibd pup on Purina HA .. he also has had pancreatitis.

Maybe she will be online to give you more information, but in the meantime, ask this new vet about it.

I am so sorry that Ava is sick.....very happy that you seem to have found a vet that is thorough! I hope that this will be the answer to her continued problems.

tomorrow they will try to feed her the low residue wet diet (which has chicken) to see if she can keep it down; which i think she will for tomorrow; my only concern is after i bring her home; she might relapse after few days if it's not the right food. like last november the vet put her on RC low fat and she relapsed. so tomorrow i have no say on what they feed her; and i know he's going to sell me that food. i will see if he has purina ha; but i feel like i have to take his recommendation at this time. i am really confused

Don't get confused.....just follow his recommendations. I am sure it is not going to be a problem.

Talk to him about your fears and how she has relapsed so many times...and ask him what he thinks will be different this time. At least NOW if she does relapse, he is close by and can help! He is just starting with her so let him try to figure it out. He sounds very thorough!

oh poor Ava:( I am so sorry she is sick. My prayers are with you. It has got to be so stressful for you. Especially when they have to stay overnight. That is so scary.I hope she is better soon and back in your arms to snuggle:)

I'm sorry Ava is sick again:( Poor lil girl. I hope this is her last relapse. I agree with a previous poster, and this vet seems like he's doing a very thorough job!

thanks everyone for your support.

Healing prayers for your precious Ava.

I will keep Ava and you in my prayers, I hope she feels better really soon.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I'm so sorry Ava is sick again. I'm keeping you both in my prayers. It sounds like you have a wonderful new doctor for her, just give him a chance.

Really sorry to hear about your relapse. I hope you guys get it under control quickly.

Sending get well wishes for your little one.:getwellso
Hope this vet get her on the road to a speedy recovery.

i called the vet; she's doing well.
he only got part of the blood results; no pancreatitis. so he said he's going to start her on cortizone injection today.
she ate this morning and no vomiting so far.
she will stay overnight and all day tomorrow on IV.

thanks for the prayers and good wishes.

Here is the info about VSL#3 for IBD in Humans.
VSL#3 - The probiotic medical food for the dietary management of ulcerative colitis or an ileal pouch.

I would suggest speaking with your Vet about giving this to Ava.

It is working very well for TJ who has IBD. The folks on my yahoo group for Liver Disease Dogs give this to them as well, as it helps to rid the bad bacteria.

I just ordered a new box. If you and your Vet feel it is worth a shot, I will mail you a packet to try out. You are in NJ and me in NY, so you would get it rather quickly...Just let me know ;)

i will ask the vet and will let you know; i really appreciate your help. thanks
what type of IBD TJ has; small (vomiting) or large intestine (diaherea)?

i am trying to get people to share their experience and story with IBD; because Ava is my first and only dog; and i have no idea where i stand. i would like to know how other people are managing the IBD in their dogs. please share stories.

thanks much everyone!

When he was a pup, it was bad episodes of diaherea, but quickly turned to both vomit and diaherea. His folate levels were high and Vet said Bacteria Overgrowth. Tylan Powder is what finally calmed him down. Until this past summer. Our neighbor dog was sick with diaherea in our yard, and I think my caught that bug. TJ immediately started with diaherea for about a week straight, really, really bad, and he was vomiting here and there as well. Then Roxy caught the "squirts". Finally got them both on the Metro, and after 2 weeks they were better. And then a month later, TJ started to have mucus encased poop. Tried to resolve with pumpkin, and it would work, but then start to make the poop to hard, so I would cut back, but then the mucus encased poop would start again. I just couldn't get the cycle to break to normal. Brought him back to the Vet, and decided that before we put him back on the Tylan, that since the diet (more fiber) would work, that I would try to fix with diet and probiotic first. VSL#3 was recommended from my Yahoo Group. He gets that in the AM with a little pumpkin and a little white rice added into his food. All is working well.

thanks for sharing; what type of food is he on.
so pumpkin is ok to give for dogs with ibd? if i were to use little to give the probiotic

I home cook for him. Yes. :)

went to see her yesterday and she's doing well.
her GI panel came back clean; no problem
still waiting for biopsy results.
she ate and drank; so far so good.
i walked her for few minutes outside and she was happy to see me. but she didn't want to stay there.
will be picking her up today and hoping for the best.

Hi! So sorry to hear Ava is having problems again. Mine were having recurring bouts of diarrhea every other month or so... finally even the Metronidazole didn't help. My vet switched to a sulfa drug and also prescribed Probiotics. When I researched it online, it stated that it could cure diarrhea! When the intestines become inflamed, blood will begin to show up in the diarrhea. Probiotics work by flooding the intestines with good bacteria, making it impossible for the bad bacteria to get a hold on their system. Mine have had good poops for 8 months or more now, and no squirts! I never thought I'd see the day! I think the Probiotics (I get the kind with prebiotics (special fiber that gives the good bacteria from the probiotics a place to live and be happy) and enzymes (Proteins that help break down food quicker making it more readily available to the body) also help with improving the appetite of picky eaters, and helps to put weight on chronically thin dogs, by improving their digestion. Mine are on it for life!

Praying and sending positive thoughts for a speedy diagnosis and recovery for sweet Ava... and prayers and blessings to you to have strength, courage, and determination in getting this illness resolved.

all that money for nothing;
they couldnt locate the reason or what type of ibd; so they only stated chronic ibd; which already was suspected; so thousands of dollars later to tell me the same thing. i am really upset, because i wanted a diagnosis.
so now he said she might have food allergy. we need to try different food until we get right. do u think i can keep letting her get sick like this and spend more money everytime.
seriously what is wrong with these people.
so now what; i am back at square one.

What kind of food did they suggest? I just picked up Z/D Ultra for one of my fosters who has IBD. That is what my vet recommended.

Elly, you do have a diagnosis! The biopsy needed to be done to rule out something that needed to be treated separately.

You did not waste money! Talk to this vet and ask him what you should do in the future when/if she starts this vomiting. At least you will not have to do a bunch of tests! It all comes down to learning how best to manage it!

he's putting her on iams low residue wet diet for now; he also wants me to buy RX Zyme to help with digestion. and prednisone

he suggested to do the allergy test that cost $200
i dont know but he's starting to sound that he's all about the money
maybe it's me; or maybe he's really thorough
but knowing i am low on money; he should have done blood tests first then endoscopy. her GI panel was clean, her blood tests were clean; and i knew she had IBD
the point of the endoscopy was to find out what type of IBD; and they couldnt' even do that.

i am going to take you up on your offer.
do you mind sending me a packet to try on Ava.
i tried sending you a PM with my adress but ur mailbox is full :)
let me know when you have room

sorry...I just cleaned it out. send me your addy ;)

I will mail it to you first thing on Monday morning, as it need to be in the fridge asap, and since no mail on sunday, i don't want it to get stuck sitting around...

just sent it; thanks for ur help

He would have to do a lot of convincing for me to do an allergy test. I really don't see how that is going to help.
Personally, I would probably just go with the treatment plan he has outlined.
And, of course, the probiotics will also help.

he believes the ibd is caused by a food allergy; to what is unknown.
do maybe that test should have be done first; it makes sense if she's allergic to grains, corn or chicken.. then most food has that
i think it does make sense to do this test to avoid the allergen
however he will be putting her on low residue which has all the above including corn grits; so i am sure her GI tract will react;
we'll just have to wait and see; the next food will be ultra Z/D
by the way linda how does ur dog like to Z/D; is he eating it fine?

He is one of my fosters. He has been exhibiting signs of IBD and a fecal showed nothing; so we are trying food to see if it helps. If it does not then we will get into further testing. Maybe once/week or every 2 weeks he will have a bout of loose yellow stools....and sometimes a stool with gelly like, blood. It only lasts for a day when it happens. SO....this is a guess. He has never eaten this food before today, so i cannot give you a review on it.

I had looked at some threads here and saw that many do use it with success and since it also was the one my vet suggested we start with, that is what I did.

I agree with you....and I would NOT use a food that had corn in it...no way. No matter what the vet said. (I would definitely ask him why he is suggesting corn....and ask him about Z/D....I don't like to tell people not to listen to their vet...he would have to give me a good reason for that food...and I doubt he really could) That was the first thing I looked at with the Z/D...if it had corn.