Hill I/D Gastrointestinal Health - opinions?

[danniko]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

What a precious sweetheart! I wanted to grab her off the screen and just hold her close for as long as she'd let me. Poor baby - she's been through a lot lately but at least she's got something you can manage, thank goodness, and will be feeling better.

And she would be more than willing to be cuddled for as long as you wanted! The tech at the vet said that the entire time she was there they had to go back and forth between cuddling her and doing their work as she was only content if someone was paying attention to her!

In other news, the vet called tonight with the results and they were negative for Addison's Disease. They called right at closing time and my husband didn't get to the phone in time so by the time he got the message they were closed so we couldn't ask any questions. We have to go get her some more canned food tomorrow, but she has been eating today - both the kibble and the wet food and she has had a couple of bowel movements and they firmed up as the day went on.

I am hoping she continues to eat tomorrow as she usually went a day and a half with eating and then no eating for another day.

Last week the vet had mentioned that some dogs need to follow a round of clavaseptin with a round of metronidazole, so I want to ask if she thinks that maybe that was the case with her this time around. She did 10 days of clavaseptin when they found pus in her anal gland and she had the fever.

They put her on metronidazole on Wednesday and they said she would like it because it is chicken flavoured - she has another opinion! She jerked away from me and got it in her beard and spent the next 30mins licking her beard and doing what we call her "Elvis lip".

I am still worried about her, but my husband keeps reminding me that the vet basically said yesterday the only thing they were concerned with was testing for Addison's Disease. In the last 2 weeks she has had two full blood panels that were both perfectly normal, nothing out of range and were done before all of this and a week after she had been throwing up, tested her pancreas, had an x-ray and noted a few things (thicker instestine and small intestine kind of hanging out lower than it should), followed up with an ultrasound to check for any masses, cancers or organ enlargement and noted a recovering kidney infection and small adrenal glands and that was followed up with the test for Addison's Disease - I don't remember the test name but there was an option for screening or a definitive answer and we had the one that would give the definite answer.

So I am going to try and take a deep breath and just keep an eye on her, as we have ruled out major things and I know there can be side effects from the antibiotic she is currently on.

We are going to keep her on this diet of dry and canned (the chicken stew) I/D and keep her treats to a minimum, most likely just her Benny Bully's for now to see if keeping her belly calm helps her out.

I can't wait to take her in tomorrow to have her groomed!

[ladyjane]

Be careful with the bully sticks! I have heard of quite a few pups who had GI issues because of them.

[danniko]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Be careful with the bully sticks! I have heard of quite a few pups who had GI issues because of them.

Thank you. We stopped giving her those about a month ago as we noticed she wasn't feeling well the next day. The Benny Bully's are just freeze dried liver and we are also going to grab a bag of freeze dried Trail Mix which is liver, green beans and sweet potato. I am still slightly put off by the ingredients in her food (but if it works, it works and I will give her whatever is best for her despite my feelings) so we want to keep her treats as plain and as few ingredients as possible.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Glad she is home and doing a little better. Hopefully the ID will work for you. I know when Rosie has an upset tummy she will refuse to eat. Maybe hers will settle down and she will be all better. She's an adorable little girl.

[dottiesyrky]

Thank you for the wonderful news that she does not have Addison's. You and hubby must be overjoyed and happy after all the waiting and stress this week.
Please relax and know that every test has been good and every disease possibility has been ruled out. I guess you can't believe she is ok after all the suggestions for disease, but it it true.......she is well and just taking a little time to get over her gastric upset, the medications, and all the vet visits and tests. She just needs lots of love and cuddles now to make her forget all the trauma.
I don't know if the vet might think probiotics may help her as the GI system flora have been messed up by the antibiotics? Just a thought
So give her a little time and I am sure she will get her appetite back and you will find a food that suits her.
So sorry you have been so concerned and stressed about her health, but that is how loving pet moms are. But all's well that ends well.
Hope she looks and feels good after the groomer visit, no more stinkies, LOL!
Have a wonderful and peaceful weekend and please keep in touch.
Hugs

[yorkietalkjilly]

Not Addison's!?!? Has she had a Bile Acids Test to rule-out liver dysfunction? With ongoing, occas. N&V, eventually they usually get around to that, even with normal liver studies on blood panels. Tibbe's got MVD and his twice yearly blood panels were always normal except for once his amylase I think I was was high but later returned to normal. But he still from tie to time - every few days - got nauseated, lay around sick, not eating and would spit up foamy bile. When his Bile Acids were found to be high, a nuclear scintigraphy ruled out liver shunt so the default differential diagnosis was Microvascular Dysplasia. He was begun on the hepatic diet(about 1/4 of his meal - more than that made him itch badly) mixed with his Hill's GI and now is eating about half and half the mixture with no itching, to which I added probiotics and coconut oil a few months ago. Thankfully, no N&V or refusing to eat for months now!!! I'm so happy for him.

[danniko]

Thanks!

Sophie will be going in for a follow up in a week or so (unless she stops eating again - then she will go that day!) and I will ask the vet about a Bile Acid Test. Honestly, after the week we had I just want to take a few days and keep her stress free. We will definitely pursue more testing though if these symptoms continue or she gets worse before she is seen next. I am so happy for your litle guy that he has been doing so well!

She is groomed and adorable right now so we are going to have some more cuddles and spend Saturday night watching movies and hanging out at home with her tonight!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by danniko

Thanks!

Sophie will be going in for a follow up in a week or so (unless she stops eating again - then she will go that day!) and I will ask the vet about a Bile Acid Test. Honestly, after the week we had I just want to take a few days and keep her stress free. We will definitely pursue more testing though if these symptoms continue or she gets worse before she is seen next. I am so happy for your litle guy that he has been doing so well!

She is groomed and adorable right now so we are going to have some more cuddles and spend Saturday night watching movies and hanging out at home with her tonight!

I'm so glad she's doing better. I remember how happy I was when Tibbe had a few good days in a row and how depressed I would get when he refused his treats or meals or I heard him retching. All I could do was give him Cerenia and wait it out until he was feeling well enough to eat again and then we'd have a few good days, sometimes just one or two but sometimes up to 4, before he was sick again. I couldn't believe it when all his blood tests kept being normal and Ellie May(Crystal) here mentioned to me that dogs can still have liver dysfunction even with normal blood panel liver studies and a BAT was usually required to tell how the liver was processing proteins. So I asked for a BAT, got it and we were on our way to a dog on the mend. It makes such a difference to wake up every day knowing your dog is more than likely going to have a good day vs. the days you just hoped he'd not refuse his breakfast, retched and lie about looking unhappy.

But it was Crystal, a member here who is studying for her vet license, not my vet, who prompted the Bile Acids Test that led to us finding his ultimate diagnosis and treatment, though when I mentioned it to the vet, she said that was next on their protocol. Still, she hadn't mentioned it yet at that point. Others have helped with tips and suggestions about his diet and meal additives suggestions, with lisaly/Lisa, another member, sending me the probiotics and virgin coconut oil to try. I've since ordered more of the probiotic from Amazon so I won't run out, though the jar of coconut oil Lisa sent is barely down 1/4 - I used so small an amount at first - scared it would upset his tummy. But it's done just the opposite - one of them or both have apparently allowed me to increase his hepatic portion to one-half and seem to have calmed his GI tract down even more. This forum has made all the whole difference in his life.

[107barney]

I am just now reading your thread. It sounds like you've been through a lot but now have a lot of answers and ruled out lots of bad stuff.

I would be not necessarily be put off by the ingredients listed on the Hill's diet. But, if I was, I would opt to home cook or look into another similar option. It looks like the Hill's formula is a 50% carb diet, low residue/low fiber, moderate protein and fat diet. If your dog happened to have a liver issue (someone suggested to run a Bile Acids test), then this diet would likely be decent for that problem too unless the dog needed more fiber or a greater fat restriction or had an intolerance to one of the ingredients. If you didn't like Hills, someone pointed out Purina EN. You could also call Royal Canin and see if they have a comparable food. I've used the gastrointestinal low fat but it is very fat restricted and lower protein than the EN or I/D and is usually used for dogs w/ repeat or chronic pancreatitis or other serious chronic problems. But, RC does make a moderate calorie gastrointestinal that I have not used but it might work.

I would scrap the treats. I think you should lay off this dog's GI system and just use the food you've been told to use until the dog really has had a chance to recover and rest the GI tract for a few months. Then you can slowly see what treats are tolerated. I like to use Fruitables, all my dogs do very well on the apple flavor crunchy treats.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I agree about leaving off treats for dogs with tummy troubles. I've fed Tibbe only treats I've made soaking and baking or microwaving hard his GI/liver-friendly kibble and he thinks they are tops as they are usually crunchy and a different consistency from his meal-time food. Occasionally, I've sprinkled a puff of Butter Buds on his treats before cooking. He works hard for one of those treats - acts like they are freshly boiled chicken breast, poor baby.

[danniko]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Our vet did okay freeze dried liver for her as long as we keep the pieces very small and only give them to her occasionally. We have put off giving the freeze dried veggies for now though. I will definitely try to soak and bake some of her kibbles though, I never thought of doing that!

I have started looking into home cooking for her, I just don't want to switch things around right now as she has been eating this diet and hasn't been sick or had diarrhea - so don't want to mess around right now.

She accidentally got to sleep in the bed last night as we fell asleep before putting her in her pen...what I shock I had when I woke up to her puffing in my face to be taken down to pee! And here is her after grooming picture from last night. Her face had to go shorter than normal but she had crusties from all the wet food she used her head to bury and the medicine getting crusty on her beard. After a long winter of no grooming, she always looks like a different dog!

[dottiesyrky]

What a cute little girl she is, and always looks so comfortable amongst her pillows The hair cut suits her well.
My did she luck out last night, sleeping on your bed!! Smart Yorkie, LOL!
You are right to keep her on the same food until she is over all she has been through this past week. I bet she loves the freeze dried liver though. Yum!

[ladyjane]

She is a little doll!!!