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11-05-2011, 04:52 AM | #1 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| Cyclical illness... Confused, happening to anyone else? Ok so I've been posting a bunch about Harley lately, as he was really ill last month. He's been sick off and on since August and I've consulted several vets. (sick = throwing up, not eating, lethargic, diarrhoea, and he got fleas). Last month I finally agreed to put him on Science diet (D/D with salmon), after the vet and I got in an argument over his chicken allergy (she wanted him on a medical gastro diet that had chicken in it, and when I put him on it, he got sicker). So he was doing GREAT on the new food, even got a little constipated, which i'd prefer over his past condition. Well I've been tracking exactly how much he eats, when he poops, what it's like, etc. EVERYTHING cause I want to try and figure out wth is wrong with him. Well 2 nights ago he stopped eating again, had a bile throw up and diarrhoea. I let him rest for the two days and cuddled him, gave him electrolytes and hi-cal, and he is now fine. (I can't afford to rush him to the vet every time he does this, as they really don't have much they can do for him except give him a shot to settle his tummy and guess whats wrong). All previous diagnostics came back clear. Again I wanna make it clear he's fine now. Eating running playing, happy. It's so strange. He does not get anything other than this kibble now, he's gained weight (back to normal), he's playful, and I've started slowly walking him again, the fleas are gone, but he still has some hot spots I'm treating. Any ideas why every 2 weeks (give or take a few days) he relapses? And then bounces back to normal again?
__________________ Kendra Harley, you were the light in my life, rest peacefully my love! |
Welcome Guest! | |
11-05-2011, 05:15 AM | #2 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Michigan
Posts: 431
| I just heard my Vet talking yesterday to another patient's mom, asking if the dog was having episodic, cyclic gastrointestinal issues, i.e., every two weeks, once a month, every 3 months, etc., (& she said no) but my Vet said that some types of worms cycle like this. Have all types of worms been ruled out??? Just a thought...... This must be very frustrating & hard to see your baby go through this. I sure hope you find the cause.
__________________ Sandi Yorkies Lexi Riley & Dillon |
11-06-2011, 04:35 AM | #3 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| Originally yes they were ruled out. I've done 2 or 3 fecal tests since then, all clear. He was also on Panacur or whatever that stronger wormer was, just to make sure that he didn't have anything, or if he did it would kill it. It really is odd. I'm wondering if exercising him is throwing his system off, it seems like he just starts to get better and I start exercising him again and then he gets sick, but I haven't really been tracking his walks so I've added that to our chart. He's back to eating like a little glutton now, so I guess that's a good thing. I just hope he gets over this soon so that we can go back to agility classes.
__________________ Kendra Harley, you were the light in my life, rest peacefully my love! |
11-06-2011, 05:39 AM | #4 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Michigan
Posts: 431
| Boy, this is really a mind boggler. I am sure your vets has ruled out other causes that might have a cyclic nature and/or GI conditions (such as pancreatitis, etc.?). This would be so frustrating & I am sure makes you feel helpless. I sure hope this goes away or an answer is found soon. Please keep us posted. Best wishes.
__________________ Sandi Yorkies Lexi Riley & Dillon |
11-06-2011, 05:42 AM | #5 |
Donating YT Addict Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Ft. Wayne, IN, USA
Posts: 522
| How frustrating to keep going through this for you both. Seems like you are monitoring him very well, hopefully you will be able to figure out what is causing his "episodes". Good luck and I hope he gets well very soon.
__________________ Brutus is mommas boy! |
11-06-2011, 05:45 AM | #6 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Posts: 1,795
| Yeah my vet was thinking IBS, and suggested putting him on steriods if we couldn't get a food that would settle. I told her that the D/D was working, and then he had that small relapse, but now is fine. I can't justify putting him on steriods if he's only going to have troubles every 2-3 weeks, it also makes me wonder if its really the food. Now that I think back, all of his little spells were at least a week apart and usually no more than 2, I thought it was the food making him sick so we switched foods and he'd get better for a week or so then get sick again on the new food. So the vet doesn't know my suspicion about the cyclical thing. I'm considering consulting a new vet all together, but really can't afford it (ran out of insurance money and emergency funds trying to diagnose this mess). It's driving me nuts, I'd like to get him to a point that he's been healthy for a month so that I can start his agility training again, but I don't seem to be having any luck on that.
__________________ Kendra Harley, you were the light in my life, rest peacefully my love! |
11-06-2011, 06:10 AM | #7 |
And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI
Posts: 17,928
| It probably keeps happening because even if it is IBD, food is not a cure. It can ehlpe, but there is still underlying disease present that just waits for a bad day to show itself... Almost certainly the right thing to do is to do a biopsy now to rule out the scary things and know for sure what you are dealing with. As time goes on, the dog continues to feel well aside from the GI issues,and the bloodwork stays normal, then we know it probably isn't anything too serious because the dog may not look so good many months after getting a serious disease. Obviously the problem with the wait and see approach is that if it is something serious, it probably too late by the time a biopsy is decided on.. All that said, my dog has the same kinds of issues, just worse. I skipped the biopsy and played with diet for many, many months. After awhile I knew the underlying issue was probably just IBD (and pancreatitis) because her bloodwork still looked good, etc. It took a very, very, very long time to find a food that would work. And it still isn't perfect... Steroids may be an option here although long term in a case like that the biopsy could be pretty important because you need to know that they HAVE to be used.. Using them long-term, necessary or not, will have some very undesirable effects (months to years after starting). Maybe talk about just using them for now to see if they help? Also though, on the off chance that this is lymphoma (not probable but theoretically possible), givving prednisone would make any attempts at chemo later on not as effective. So some vets will recommend the biopsy first... How long has he taken Metro? No effect?
__________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶 |
11-06-2011, 05:24 PM | #8 |
& "The Bunny" Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 806
| For anyone who has had a hard time finding a food for IBS, food intolerance or other tummy problems.. I highly recommend Wellness Simple Solutions..I had issues for a year, and finally found this food..the only down side is the pieces are not tiny, and you may need to crush them to make them a nice eatable size.
__________________ Katy |
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