Snickers has been sick off and on nearly all month.

[gaijingirl]

I've had my little dog since the first of February and been a frequent reader on the boards....I think I definately need to start posting now and need some thoughts about this little guy's recent illnesses.

Snickers is approx. 8-10 months, I don't know any of his prior history before February, because I got him after he was rescued off the streets, found wandering as a stray. I was able to adopt him and love him dearly, of course. When he came to me, I had all his vaccinations done and he was neutered.

I took him to the vet around the 5th of April because he seemed to be having some environmental allergies and I also thought he had got an eye infection. Two days later, he suddenly got a fever and so I took him to a different vet (was not really happy with the way they had lost paperwork of his heartworm test at the old one and lost some trust there) and his new and current vet figured he had come down with some sort of virus and was able to get his fever down and then sent me home with some prednisone to keep it down as well as about a two week course of antibiotics.
He seemed fine again after this first episode got out of the way, but, about 4 or 5 days after he finished his meds, he threw up on me. He had never vomited before. He ran around in his normal craziness most of the day, but very late that night, he had a fever again. When I took him out for his potty break early that next morning, he had greenish colored diarrhea with some spots of bloody mucous in it. I took him in for an emergency Sunday morning visit and although he fecal test turned up negative, his vet gave him a shot to lower his fever and decided to treat him for parasites - giardia and coccidiosis and gave him a week of antibiotics and again he was fine after the fever went away.

He just finished his last antibiotics this past Sunday and had been fine for nearly a week. I took him in on Monday to get another fecal test done and make sure he was OK, because, I found out my grandpa passed away and we needed to go up to Canada to go to the funeral. The vet felt that he was fine, would be OK to fly and told me I didn't need to worry about it.

Tuesday night, my husband took him out to the bathroom and as the were walking to the door, he tried to pick up a bug (just an itty bitty one) and my husband yelled at him to drop it from the other side of the yard and he did and immediately started vomiting. He threw up constantly after that until he didn't have anything left in him. He developed another fever later on. I called my vet right away and as soon as we could, got him to a vet up here in Canada. (Of course, there ends up being a BLIZZARD up here, if you can imagine, this time of year, and we got stuck at my sister's....oh my gosh....a disaster. It was not safe). The Canadian vet did a blood test and said everything came back normal, including anything that would cause concern for his liver, kidneys or pancreas. They said the only thing that was abnormal were his white blood cells...apparently really high and they said from the type, he is trying to fight off infection.
I was worried maybe he had a blockage of some sort, but they said that since he seems to be passing things through and she felt around him and he doesn't seem to be in any terrible pain when she pressed him, they are thinking Inflammatory Bowel Disease and are treating him with another round of antibiotics: Metronidazole and NoroClav. They said that as far as more in depth testing, I should wait until we are back with our regular vet in TN to determine if it is something like IBD that will require lifetime treatment.

My husband said that he wonders if this diagnosis is correct, because, why did Snickers not have these problems prior to 3 weeks ago? And, I am extremely upset that he is still running a fever. This vet did not give him anything to try and immediately bring his fever down. She thought it was low enough that it was not a huge concern. It's at 104 though, and my other vet thought that was high enough to bring him in for treatment. I don't know what to do. Do I just wait to see if the antibiotics help? What if that takes a few days!? It's killing me to see him like this: so lethargic, and shivering from the fever. He stopped the shivers about an hour ago, but his temperature is still pretty high.

They did give him some hypoallergenic food to eat for the next little while, but he does not seem to be at all interested in it and is refusing it. I'm almost wondering if I should go ahead and give him some regular Blue Buffalo, just so I can make sure he has SOME nourishment in him. I have been able to keep him eating and drinking (although very reluctantly) through this. He'll mostly just take it if I offer it directly from my hand.

Has anyone else had an experience like this...either with what they think it is (IBD) or similar symptoms that keep re-appearing over and over like this? I don't know what else to do for him! Please help with any thoughts or suggestions. I'm so very sad.

[FL Tink]

FIRST, i would like to say sorry for all these troubles and sorry to hear about your grandpa. I know this is frustrating not knowing for sure what is making snickers sick!

One thing to consider is, you have no idea how long he was out on the streets and what he picked up.

Did they xray his belly to make sure he didnt have a foreign object in his belly/intestines?

I would remove him from ALL grains. If he does Have IBS, the last thing he needs in an inflamatory causing food!
The fevers worry me. his body is raising its temp in effort to fight off something.
There is definately something they are missing..and hope you find out soon
Good luck. Bella and Piper send Snickers many healing and sweet kisses!

[Ellie May]

Is there any way to get a copy of the blood work that they did in Canada? Just wanting to see exactly what tests they did because there are a few that could fit the description...

Also, before the hypoallergenic food, was he just getting Blue Buffalo or was he getting table food too? What kind?

[107barney]

Originally Posted by gaijingirl

I've had my little dog since the first of February and been a frequent reader on the boards....I think I definately need to start posting now and need some thoughts about this little guy's recent illnesses.

Snickers is approx. 8-10 months, I don't know any of his prior history before February, because I got him after he was rescued off the streets, found wandering as a stray. I was able to adopt him and love him dearly, of course. When he came to me, I had all his vaccinations done and he was neutered.

I took him to the vet around the 5th of April because he seemed to be having some environmental allergies and I also thought he had got an eye infection. Two days later, he suddenly got a fever and so I took him to a different vet (was not really happy with the way they had lost paperwork of his heartworm test at the old one and lost some trust there) and his new and current vet figured he had come down with some sort of virus and was able to get his fever down and then sent me home with some prednisone to keep it down as well as about a two week course of antibiotics.
He seemed fine again after this first episode got out of the way, but, about 4 or 5 days after he finished his meds, he threw up on me. He had never vomited before. He ran around in his normal craziness most of the day, but very late that night, he had a fever again. When I took him out for his potty break early that next morning, he had greenish colored diarrhea with some spots of bloody mucous in it. I took him in for an emergency Sunday morning visit and although he fecal test turned up negative, his vet gave him a shot to lower his fever and decided to treat him for parasites - giardia and coccidiosis and gave him a week of antibiotics and again he was fine after the fever went away.

He just finished his last antibiotics this past Sunday and had been fine for nearly a week. I took him in on Monday to get another fecal test done and make sure he was OK, because, I found out my grandpa passed away and we needed to go up to Canada to go to the funeral. The vet felt that he was fine, would be OK to fly and told me I didn't need to worry about it.

Tuesday night, my husband took him out to the bathroom and as the were walking to the door, he tried to pick up a bug (just an itty bitty one) and my husband yelled at him to drop it from the other side of the yard and he did and immediately started vomiting. He threw up constantly after that until he didn't have anything left in him. He developed another fever later on. I called my vet right away and as soon as we could, got him to a vet up here in Canada. (Of course, there ends up being a BLIZZARD up here, if you can imagine, this time of year, and we got stuck at my sister's....oh my gosh....a disaster. It was not safe). The Canadian vet did a blood test and said everything came back normal, including anything that would cause concern for his liver, kidneys or pancreas. They said the only thing that was abnormal were his white blood cells...apparently really high and they said from the type, he is trying to fight off infection.
I was worried maybe he had a blockage of some sort, but they said that since he seems to be passing things through and she felt around him and he doesn't seem to be in any terrible pain when she pressed him, they are thinking Inflammatory Bowel Disease and are treating him with another round of antibiotics: Metronidazole and NoroClav. They said that as far as more in depth testing, I should wait until we are back with our regular vet in TN to determine if it is something like IBD that will require lifetime treatment.

My husband said that he wonders if this diagnosis is correct, because, why did Snickers not have these problems prior to 3 weeks ago? And, I am extremely upset that he is still running a fever. This vet did not give him anything to try and immediately bring his fever down. She thought it was low enough that it was not a huge concern. It's at 104 though, and my other vet thought that was high enough to bring him in for treatment. I don't know what to do. Do I just wait to see if the antibiotics help? What if that takes a few days!? It's killing me to see him like this: so lethargic, and shivering from the fever. He stopped the shivers about an hour ago, but his temperature is still pretty high.

They did give him some hypoallergenic food to eat for the next little while, but he does not seem to be at all interested in it and is refusing it. I'm almost wondering if I should go ahead and give him some regular Blue Buffalo, just so I can make sure he has SOME nourishment in him. I have been able to keep him eating and drinking (although very reluctantly) through this. He'll mostly just take it if I offer it directly from my hand.

Has anyone else had an experience like this...either with what they think it is (IBD) or similar symptoms that keep re-appearing over and over like this? I don't know what else to do for him! Please help with any thoughts or suggestions. I'm so very sad.

If this were my dog, I'd take him to a board certified internist to review the symptoms and blood work. My dog Daisy has IBD and does not have the symptoms you are mentioning (vomiting, fevers) although I'm sure that could happen. The vomiting is of concern.

What is the hypoallergenic food you were given? I would feed a bland diet. My Daisy who has IBD, Liver disease, and severe allergies does very well on a sweet potato and chick pea diet. Some dogs with IBD, liver disease and allergies do well on vegetarian and no grain diets with low to moderate protein. Each dog is an individual, but for now, feeding something bland may help.

I think an internist is your best bet. There must be one down at UT if you are nearby. I find that my specialists get right to the bottom of things much faster than my regular vet.

[gaijingirl]

Thank you all for your comments. I also appreciate the condolences about my grandpa. I will try to get a copy of his blood work as soon as I can. He has been on Blue Buffalo since the beginning of March. My husband does sometimes give him a little bit of human food, but it's mostly just a shred of cheese here and there or a little tiny bit of meat. He doesn't get a whole lot. He does get small treats for training and things like peanut butter and his Blue Buffalo kibble in a Kong or maybe Kong brand treat inside of his Kong also.

The food that the vet gave him that is the hypoallergenic stuff is called Medi Cal. It seems to be exclusively Canadian though, from what I can tell. Says it is only sold through veterinarians. It apparently does not taste very good!

When the vet called to check up on Snickers yesterday, I asked her if there was something I could give him to bring his fever down, or, if they could give him a shot like he normally has got from his TN vet that brings his fever down. She seemed to not know what I was talking about with the shot, but ended up giving me some metacam to give him and when I did, his temperature finally dropped back down near normal and he seems to be feeling much more like himself. He's running around some now and becoming obnoxious again. haha. But thank goodness for that!

So, for now, he seems fine, but the problem still is figuring out why he is getting sick repeatedly. I will look into the internist. I wonder if I will be able to find one here though...this is a relatively small place and I'm thinking I might need to wait until we get back to TN. I'm in the Nashville area. But, if there is someone near UT who might be able to help, I would be willing to travel there. A specialist might be the way to go and might save time and money in the long run, I'm starting to think.

[TLC]

hmmm...the fever is odd

I think if you can maintain a normal temp, then I would wait until you get back to TN and if your near U of Tenn, maybe you should go there.

My TJ has IBD. His issues are mucus poops. When he was young he would also vomit. Anyway, the Metro doesn't really work for TJ, so we are on Tylan Powder again

Please keep us posted