Need help!!! Both Yorkies sick with possible parasites

[Wylie's Mom]

Caught up on this thread -- this is all very odd. And very concerning too.

If it were me at this point, I probably would get an ultrasound - but I'd get it on whomever I think is the sickest kiddo or shows the most symptoms. If they think this is contagious, then theoretically - really only 1 ultrasound may be needed - so I'd start with that. If another one really proves necessary, then fine. But if it is a contagious agent that IS diagnosed via ultrasound (??!!?!?) - then the other dog should not need an u/s - the other dog would just be treated accordingly.

Btw, I can't really tell what you're cooking them right now - but I would really back off almost all veg/fruit right now and any complex carbs. The goal is to keep the diet as *simple* (short chains, not long-chains) as possible for them. If it were me, I'd be feeding baked whitefish, mashed white potatoes (or sweet), and canned green beans.

[PILOTthePuppy]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Caught up on this thread -- this is all very odd. And very concerning too.

If it were me at this point, I probably would get an ultrasound - but I'd get it on whomever I think is the sickest kiddo or shows the most symptoms. If they think this is contagious, then theoretically - really only 1 ultrasound may be needed - so I'd start with that. If another one really proves necessary, then fine. But if it is a contagious agent that IS diagnosed via ultrasound (??!!?!?) - then the other dog should not need an u/s - the other dog would just be treated accordingly.

Btw, I can't really tell what you're cooking them right now - but I would really back off almost all veg/fruit right now and any complex carbs. The goal is to keep the diet as *simple* (short chains, not long-chains) as possible for them. If it were me, I'd be feeding baked whitefish, mashed white potatoes (or sweet), and canned green beans.

Pax did not have a good day.

We took him to the emergency vet this afternoon because he vomited up some of the pedialyte from this morning. The vomit also contained a little bit of blood. The vet said this is probably from him retching on a empty stomach. His vitals and hydration levels were OK so we took him back home. She stated we need to run some more tests like a GI panel and ultrasound. Unfortunately, they could not do the ultrasound there. She also gave us like sucralfate and suggested we give him the Tylan powder.

I gave Pax the sucralfate when we got home and then a Cerenia pill. He eventually ate one meal around 7PM and some more at 10PM. We fed him only chicken, boiled rice, and boiled skinless potatoes. I tried to give the Tylan powder but he didn't eat much of it.

Unfortunately, he just had diarrhea again with blood about 15 minutes ago, or a few hours after he ate.

I decided to give him metronidazole again (he hasn't had it for a few days) to see if it will help until we can get more tests done.

Pilot did not have any bowel movements today and ate 3 bland meals. He is also on metronidazole again.

I'm really worried I'm going to lose Pax at this rate. I don't know what damage is being done to him internally.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by PILOTthePuppy

Pax did not have a good day.

We took him to the emergency vet this afternoon because he vomited up some of the pedialyte from this morning. The vomit also contained a little bit of blood. The vet said this is probably from him retching on a empty stomach. His vitals and hydration levels were OK so we took him back home. She stated we need to run some more tests like a GI panel and ultrasound. Unfortunately, they could not do the ultrasound there. She also gave us like sucralfate and suggested we give him the Tylan powder.

I gave Pax the sucralfate when we got home and then a Cerenia pill. He eventually ate one meal around 7PM and some more at 10PM. We fed him only chicken, boiled rice, and boiled skinless potatoes. I tried to give the Tylan powder but he didn't eat much of it.

Unfortunately, he just had diarrhea again with blood about 15 minutes ago, or a few hours after he ate.

I decided to give him metronidazole again (he hasn't had it for a few days) to see if it will help until we can get more tests done.

Pilot did not have any bowel movements today and ate 3 bland meals. He is also on metronidazole again.

I'm really worried I'm going to lose Pax at this rate. I don't know what damage is being done to him internally.

So, for Pax then -- they are clearly suspecting pancreatitis at this point - and he is showing symptoms frankly. Even if whatever he had/has didn't start as that - it can lead to pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and not easy to come back from.

Are you seeing an Internist for all of this...? If not, I'd find one *immediately*!!!

[KatysMom]

Praying for you, Pax and Pilot.

Adding to comments by Wylie's Mom, here's a YorkieTalk thread started by mimimomo, "Pancreatitis," dated 31 March 2016. Post contains links to article and video by a Dr. Becker.

Thank you so much for taking the time to update.

[PILOTthePuppy]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

So, for Pax then -- they are clearly suspecting pancreatitis at this point - and he is showing symptoms frankly. Even if whatever he had/has didn't start as that - it can lead to pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and not easy to come back from.

Are you seeing an Internist for all of this...? If not, I'd find one *immediately*!!!

I think they just want to rule it out. He's not in any sign of pain. I also want to mention Pax and Pilot were coming off antibiotics late last week.

To recap, Friday afternoon Pax had loose stools and yesterday it progressed into the cowpie with some blood. He also would not eat much all day. We gave him sucraflate an hour before administrating metronidazole, cerenia, and a pinch of tylan powder yesterday with his dinner. Pax ate breakfast this morning, was picky at lunch but ate a few hours later, and ate all his dinner. He also has not had a bowel movement in 24 hours. I assume this means he'll have a normal bowel movement soon. We gave him the sucraflate, metronidazole, and tylan powder twice today.

Pilot also had loose stools Friday. We gave him metronidazole on Friday night and he had a normal bowel movement this morning.

Could they be fighting some infection if they did have hookworms? It's weird that going back on antibiotics seems to stop the diarrhea.

I'm calling my vet tomorrow morning about the ultrasound and IM vet which I think requires a referral.

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by PILOTthePuppy

We gave him sucraflate an hour before administrating metronidazole, cerenia, and a pinch of tylan powder yesterday with his dinner...Pilot also had loose stools Friday. We gave him metronidazole on Friday night and he had a normal bowel movement this morning...It's weird that going back on antibiotics seems to stop the diarrhea....I'm calling my vet tomorrow morning about the ultrasound and IM vet which I think requires a referral.

I have not had experience with metronidazole or [sucralfate]/metronidazole. Metronidazole sounds like its pretty potent.

AKC, "Metronidazole for dogs," 04 Jan 2016.

Hopeful you and Pax will get the referral and see the internist. Probably already in your plans, I generally took all of Katy's medicine bottles with us to the vets office. (More than once, the vet commented that is was helpful. They already had everything listed in their records; I suspect it saved them some time.)

Prayers in action.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by PILOTthePuppy

I think they just want to rule it out. He's not in any sign of pain. I also want to mention Pax and Pilot were coming off antibiotics late last week.

To recap, Friday afternoon Pax had loose stools and yesterday it progressed into the cowpie with some blood. He also would not eat much all day. We gave him sucraflate an hour before administrating metronidazole, cerenia, and a pinch of tylan powder yesterday with his dinner. Pax ate breakfast this morning, was picky at lunch but ate a few hours later, and ate all his dinner. He also has not had a bowel movement in 24 hours. I assume this means he'll have a normal bowel movement soon. We gave him the sucraflate, metronidazole, and tylan powder twice today.

Pilot also had loose stools Friday. We gave him metronidazole on Friday night and he had a normal bowel movement this morning.

Could they be fighting some infection if they did have hookworms? It's weird that going back on antibiotics seems to stop the diarrhea.

I'm calling my vet tomorrow morning about the ultrasound and IM vet which I think requires a referral.

You don't need a referral to see an Internist - you just call them yourself. However, it would be good to for the Internist to see the records from the generalist. Get the ultrasound done WITH the Internist - not with your general vet!!!

Has giardia and c.diff been ruled out....?!

Btw, if it's pancreatitis - you may not see the pain they're in - in many pancreatitis dogs, you won't -- they're just too debilitated.

I'm SUPER confused as to why/how they're on/off Metronizadole here...? It seems like they are on it at times for 1 day, or 2days or...? This makes no clinical or logical sense to me. Is this something you're electing to do yourself..? If so, pleeeeeaaase stop *immediately*! Because what you're actually doing here is creating the perfect storm for antibiotic-resistant bugs to develop and grow stronger inside your dogs' bodies each and every time you give an antibiotic for *shorter* than the normal prescribed duration (10-14 days). THAT is a main reason we now have antibiotic-resistant germs/bugs/strains in our lifetime. SO, if it turns out that this entire sickness IS indeed a bug -- you've been dosing that bug w/ short bursts of antibiotics - not actually killing it with them - just giving the bug the opportunity to grow more and more resistant to that particular antibiotic bc it was only given in short duration - so bug survived, and evolved with some drug-resistance now too.

I would really get to an Internist ASAP -- even if you just take 1 dog first.

[PILOTthePuppy]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

You don't need a referral to see an Internist - you just call them yourself. However, it would be good to for the Internist to see the records from the generalist. Get the ultrasound done WITH the Internist - not with your general vet!!!

Has giardia and c.diff been ruled out....?!

Btw, if it's pancreatitis - you may not see the pain they're in - in many pancreatitis dogs, you won't -- they're just too debilitated.

I'm SUPER confused as to why/how they're on/off Metronizadole here...? It seems like they are on it at times for 1 day, or 2days or...? This makes no clinical or logical sense to me. Is this something you're electing to do yourself..? If so, pleeeeeaaase stop *immediately*! Because what you're actually doing here is creating the perfect storm for antibiotic-resistant bugs to develop and grow stronger inside your dogs' bodies each and every time you give an antibiotic for *shorter* than the normal prescribed duration (10-14 days). THAT is a main reason we now have antibiotic-resistant germs/bugs/strains in our lifetime. SO, if it turns out that this entire sickness IS indeed a bug -- you've been dosing that bug w/ short bursts of antibiotics - not actually killing it with them - just giving the bug the opportunity to grow more and more resistant to that particular antibiotic bc it was only given in short duration - so bug survived, and evolved with some drug-resistance now too.

I would really get to an Internist ASAP -- even if you just take 1 dog first.

Thanks for this information. I called the IM vet in my area yesterday afternoon but they did not return my call yet. Our vet brings in specialists for the ultrasounds, so I have elected to get that done on Wednesday morning since the IM vet did not respond yesterday.

We originally gave Metronidazole for 5 days to both of them (that's what our vet typically does.) Pax was also skipping many meals/not eating and I thought it has to be given with food.

We restarted Pilot on Metronidazole for 10 days as of Friday. He has had normal stools since being put back on it.

We restarted Pax back on Metronizadole, a smidgen of Tylan powder, and sucraflate before meals on Saturday. We'll continue this for another 10 days as well.

UPDATE: Pax finally had a normal bowl movement last night after not having one since 12 AM Sunday morning. His appetite is also improving as he's ate breakfast for the last 3 days.

We're also giving them some non fat yogurt mixed with probiotics (Proviable) in between their antibiotic dosing.

They are still on the bland diet as well, chicken and boiled skinless potatoes. I gave them a little bit of 25mg vitamin b complex last night with their dinner.

Since they both have normal bowel movements at the moment, I'm continuing the treatment stated above, while we get the ultrasound done and get with the IM vet.

[KatysMom]

Thank you for the update. Again sending blessings to all of you.

[PILOTthePuppy]

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Pax had the ultrasound done which showed his small intestines mildly inflamed and pancreas enlarged. His spec cPL was less than 30 in the Texas GI and the other values were within or very close to reference range.

Pax was doing ok all of last week until Friday. He wouldn’t eat dinner and skipped breakfast on Saturday. We made him ground turkey, potatoes, and a small amount of puréed peas/carrots. He ate that Saturday afternoon through today for lunch, however he would not eat dinner tonight.

We gave Pilot and Pax another dewormer Friday night (after Pax wouldn’t eat), and this morning close to 24 hours later he had bad diarrhea and cowpies. I think it may attributed to the Drontal Plus. He is still on the metronidazole as is Pilot. Though the 10 days will soon be up.

The IM vet I called never returned my call, so I’m going to call more places tomorrow and get him seen ASAP.

I can’t ignore the fact that Pilot had the same type of liquid diarrhea as Pax.

I really hope we can figure this out soon. Pilot seems to be doing ok for now.

Does anyone know if the had coccidia if metronidazole would still stop the diarrhea even though it’s not the drug to treat it? We did test Pax for all the protozoa but it came back negative. We’ve dewormed the boy a couple times now within the last month.

[KatysMom]

Thank you for the update.

I have not had experience with hookworms or coccidia, nor the antibiotic, metronidazole.

After Pax's ultrasound, did the vet update the treatment plan?

So keeping you and your pups in our thoughts and prayers.

[PILOTthePuppy]

The vet said the next steps were to rule out IBD, a food trial, and biopsy. I don't want to put Pax through a biopsy just yet.

Pax had more diarrhea overnight and this morning. He did not eat dinner or breakfast this morning.

I was able to get through to our internal medicine vet and they will see him this afternoon.

I hope they can help!!!!

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by PILOTthePuppy

T...was able to get through to our internal medicine vet and they will see him this afternoon.

[PILOTthePuppy]

We took Pax to the internal medicine vet today. We did not learn anything new.

She's putting him on an appetite stimulant, compounded metronidazole, and compounded anti nausea meds.

He will undergo a biopsy on Thursday.

I think this is my only option at this point since he refuses to eat for periods of 24 hours and then has really bad diarrhea.

I'm getting bad anxiety over the direction this is heading.

[KatysMom]

Thank you for the update.

Seems the internist updated or tweaked Pax's drug protocol. Here's to some a positive turn--you guys deserve it.

You wrote, "I'm getting ... anxiety..." Every day is a new day with these little ones. Hope you find the strength to relax, knowing that you are providing Pax with both love and care.