Gastroenteritis Can you help us??

[kjc]

Yay! on the good poopie! Lol! Yorkie Moms always seem to be on 'Poop Watch'! So glad she's doing better!

[Hinknet]

No treats for Mischa. She is on a very rigid diet. We give her some of her food in between feedings as a treat. Yorkies have very good communications skills. When they go off to an unusual space, it may be because they think what they are about to do is wrong or where they usually go is no longer acceptable. I'd be careful what you encourage because she is still young and trying to figure out what pleases you. They also figure things out for themselves quite well. When Mischa wants to go out she points her nose up at the back door. If no one is in the room she starts mumbling and progressively turns it in to a bark until someone comes. We can no longer say the words food, eat, what time is it, feed her, hungry and a few more, without her interpreting it as time to eat and she runs to her dish. When it is time to eat, she has a very accurate internal clock, she goes to the kitchen counter where we prepare her food and bobs her head upward at the counter as if saying "hey, it's time for me to eat". Crazy but it's true. Yorkies are ground sniffers. Watch her outside. Don't let her eat grass or whatever. If something disrupts their intestinal tract they will probably throw it up which not only scares you and stains the rug but can trigger other conditions your dog may be dealing with. Also be on the lookout for Coprophagia (eating poops). It's not unusual but can lead to a myriad of issues.

[Tricepextension]

Originally Posted by Hinknet

I am submitting this to you in the event that these bouts start to reoccur. They generally take a week or two to subside but can worsen in time. I have a soon to be 7 year old Yorkie named Mischa. Previously I owned a male Yorkie who has passed. My male Yorkie, Miles, did not have any intestinal problems. Mischa, however, is a different story. She has had gastrointestinal issues since she was one year old. The symptoms, somewhat common in this breed, should be evaluated to find a possible trigger or root cause. These symptoms can include, vomiting, loose stool, diarrhea, refusal to eat or drink, excessive drinking, constant sleeping, lethargy, blood in stool, bleeding from rectum. We have made many trips to our very competent vet as well as several to a veterinary emergency hospital for specialized treatment. These bouts would occur once or twice a year. It breaks your heart. The diagnoses over the first years were food allergy, gastroenteritis and possible pancreatitis. The last bout which took place in December 2013 was the most serious so far and more extensive testing was conducted by specialists at the veterinary hospital where she was admitted for three days. The final diagnosis was inflammatory bowel disease, IBD (common to Yorkies) this resulted in the bleeding and triggered pancreatitis or vice-versa. Testing over the years included specialized blood tests, stool analysis, ultrasound, endoscopy and biopsy. Treatment during recovery at the vet's office or in the hospital is too lengthy to post here but diet is very very important. Mischa has been on a veterinary diet for years and will continue a veterinary guided diet of very low fat food. Currently, Royal Canin Hypoallergenic PV(venison and potato). Preventive meds are famotidine (pepsid) and prednisone. Regular checkups and blood-work to track certain levels is also very important. Mischa is fine now but the bouts may return.With proper treatment and diet they should be much lower in intensity and more easily controlled. There you have it. Hopefully, this was a one-time thing for Kiki. However, should it return in the future, you are now better armed to identify symptoms and have more in depth discussions with your vet.

Just went through the same thing with my 3yr old, Allie. Diet seems to be the key!