Reoccurring loose stools and diarrhea and bloodwork

[Namor]

Deuce is nearly 8 years old. Since he was a puppy he's had colon issues which included very soft stools, diarrhea, mucus, gas, and red blood. With each episode we gave him metronidazole to calm down his intestinal tract and that worked. Initially diet appeared to be the culprit so we put him on Hills ID prescription diet and he did well for at least 5 years. He would have an episode or two annually but we suspected it was a treat that did it or someone visiting may have given him food off the table. In the last two years he has had several episodes with this year having about 5 or 6. He is on Hills ID Canned food only. I'm done with the guessing game. After the last time we saw the vet she suggested doing "bloodwork" that includes fasting to look a little deeper the next time it occurs. Does anyone know what kind of Blood Panel I should expect he get done? I have read about several different tests being done (on here) when a dog has this type of problem which include bile acid testing and or liver enzymes. Your input would be helpful before I see the Vet.

[Britster]

I think you would want the full "GI panel" -- but hopefully someone more knowledgable comes and chimes in!

Does Deuce have pancreatitis? or something else?

If you think it's potential pancreatitis flare ups, maybe you could try even lower fat with the Royal Canin GI Low Fat formula? I/D is known to work well for pups with tummy issues but just wondering if he'd ever tried anything different by chance.

I'm sorry he's feeling ill

[Namor]

Good thought about the fat. We did have him on RC Low Fat at one time but that actually was just prior to going with the Hills wet. The progression was RC Yorkshire Terrier, Hills ID dry (good for a few years) then RC Low Fat (good for a few years), then to Hills ID Wet for the last year. Hills ID Wet is very low in protein and fat and the source is Turkey so it meets all our criteria. During the good years I did give him treats - not many but cut that out when he had frequent episodes. Always watching fat content. Some of the suspects over the years were Chicken, anything high fat, and high protein. In April (when he had an episode) we discussed trying a different Prescription Diet but at the moment I forgot the name. The protein was not from meat and it claims to be much more digestible.

I'm hoping someone sees this and recognizes something.

Let me explain what I mean by an episode. Deuce usually poops 2 times a day. In the morning and at about 3:30. He eats two times a day at about 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. When he's having a problem Gradually his poop gets softer until its difficult to pick it up in the grass. Then it appears it's normal again. Then he has occasional mucus in the poop and then he poops squiggly. Then he's off his poop schedule. That's when house accidents begin to occur and usually with blood. Then he scoots on the living room rug. This progression can take from 1 to 3 weeks with intermittent normal ones. His last two episodes I caught early and medicated before the total progression took hold. Going on the poop hunt is not fun for me or him. He doesn't want to poop in the house.

[Namor]

Had the full panel done today. Waiting for the results. Will update.

Right now he's doing very well. Had some very soft small stools yesterday so now I'm wondering if its brought on by separation anxiety. My husband and I went for a little boat ride and did not take him. I thought it would be too hot for him on the boat and we did not have the top up. When we came home 45 minutes later I found his soft droppings. He was fine all evening and had a normal bm this morning. He must have been barking because I found quite of bit of new drool on the glass doors.

[Britster]

Hi, did you ever get the results from the panel? Going through similar stuff with Jackson and just wondering what ever came of this for Deuce.

[Namor]

His blood panel came back with B-12 being low which would somewhat explain the problem with the intestinal tract. We went on 6 weeks of weekly B-12 shots along with a change in his food to Purina Veterinary Diet HA Vegetarian. (I had expressed my suspicion of an allergy to chicken so we went Vegetarian. It took me about a week to transition him to the new food and by the second week we saw improvement in his stools. Now we are on monthly B12 shots and still on the HA food and he is still doing great. I monitor his weight- since he is only 5.5 lbs - and he has not lost nor gained any from this food change. I was curious to see if the household chaos of Christmas would trigger a problem but there was no problem so it was definitely related to the processing of foods in his intestinal tract and not stress. He does not get anything other than the HA dry dog food. I even use it as his treats. So far so good. Good luck with getting Jackson on track.

PS. The blood panel was expensive about $350 and it was taken while he was fasting.

[Rachael1983]

I’m glad Deuce is doing better .

[ladyjane]

The hydrolyzed diets are always a good thing to try when there are issues like this. That is a very inexpensive way of ruling out IBD which is very common in yorkies. I actually did that with one of my pups....I used Hill's Ultra ZD which I have two others on now. Years later he ended up being scoped when he started having some other issues and he did indeed have IBD but also had lymphangectasia.
So glad your little Deuce is feeling better!!

[Namor]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

The hydrolyzed diets are always a good thing to try when there are issues like this. That is a very inexpensive way of ruling out IBD which is very common in yorkies. I actually did that with one of my pups....I used Hill's Ultra ZD which I have two others on now. Years later he ended up being scoped when he started having some other issues and he did indeed have IBD but also had lymphangectasia.
So glad your little Deuce is feeling better!!

OMG! We're hoping for the best with this.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Namor

OMG! We're hoping for the best with this.

Hope so as well! Keep us posted!