diarrhea/lethargic/muscle loss
Submitted by lpksk on May 15, 2011 - 6:52pmSarge developed staph on his feet (snowy winter/rainy spring)soaked in Epsohm salt whiched helped.Then after about three weeks he started vomiting food and water. I raised his bowls thinking he was taking in too much at one..did not help. Started hand feeding him. Sarge was taking 100 mg Cyclosporin (1yr) for his allergies but I stopped thinking this was making him sick. Does use Cyclosporin drops daily as he has cornea ulce last fall. Took to Vet,blood work good and x-ray good. He was put on Simplicef for one week.Vet took smaple between toes..still staph and some yeast. Paws looking better but he developed diarrhea. Vet put him on Ciprofloxan and Metronidazole. Started him on boiled chicken/rice/organic pumpkin...diarrhea worse. One week later Vet took stool sample (internal exam)another x-ray and blood work. Blood sent to hemotologist. X-ray showed some sort of mass near pancreas and slpeen looked curved. Next day blood work all good but Eosinophi level very high. Sarge suffers from allergies so this could be high from allergies but could be parasite. Vet puzzled as stool sample on slide showed nothing. Vet treating him now with Panacure C (3 days) for worms/parasites and Postura (21 days) (probiotic). Sarge still has diarrhea (2x daily) and does not have too much of an appetite. Still eating chicken/rice/pumpkin if I sit with him. He has not lost any weight (60#'s) but lost muscle mass.Is not as playful as he was, seems depressed at times, lethagic,not himself. Sarge will be 7 this May 25th. Vet would like to do CT scan tomorrow and talk to me about intestional biopsy. Sarge does not do well under anesthesia, so I am very unsure about this procedure. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Priscilla
Food for last year was Natural Balance Venison/sweet potato
Meds for last year..Cylosporin oral 100mg/Cyclosporin eye drop for cornea ulcer in fall/Dasaquin w/MSM 1 daily/neo-polu as needed for green in eyes (allergy seasonal) Malasebb wipes for one wrinkle on face/ Gen One Topical spray for tail sore and lower lip side mouth sore
Priscilla/Sarge
Poor guy...
hopefully he will start getting better. I do know that cipro can cause a lot of stomach distress, maybe some of the problems he's having is from medications. Our Chester was doing the vomiting food and water after drinking and our vet put him on docycyline and it magically went away. I give him a slippery elm every day to help keep his stomach calm. If it were me, I could hold off on the CT scan if he doesn't do well with anesthesia, maybe if they take him off a lot of the meds, he will feel better. Sending good thoughts for your guy.
I agree with Kathy. No CT if he isn't good under anesthesia
For now. I would also ask vet about getting him off of some of his meds and narrowing it down to one or two. Also, Pumpkin can have the reverse affect, it can cause loose stools. I would take him off of that and just do boiled hamburger or chicken with boiled white rice, mix 1 tablespoon of plain, fat free yogurt into the mix and see if that helps him some. It will hopefully increase his appetite anyway and that will only help him.
Are you still on the Natural Balance? I had to take my girl off it all after she started getting yeasty and crusty and I couldn't get it under control on the NB. I put her on Blue Buffalo Basics but then moved her on over to Taste Of The Wild. She is doing well on teh TOTW...not sure what happened with NB but it sure went south there a while ago for my girl.
Best of luck. I hope you can get it resolved soon.
Amy and Sophia
Hi, thanks for your message.
Hi, thanks for your message. As of Wed , Sarge was off meds, put on wormer fri,sat, finished today...still on probiotic since thursday. I will not give him any pumpkin..thanks. He has been eating boiled chicken/rice since last Wed...I did buy ground sirloin (97 % fat free) which I will boil tomorrow and add rice. Do you think Activia yogurt would help or just stick with simple as possibe..plain no fat yogurt? We stopped the Natural Balance about nine days ago. The Vet told me to change over (3 week period) to Purina Turkey and Barley. Could not locate (4 pet stores) except on-line so I purchased Blue Buffalo Basics which he seemed to really enjoy. So Sunday, Monday, Tuesday he had a mix of NB and BBB and diarrhea got worse. I know changing a dogs diet can give them diarrhea so I thought until we get this all figured out I better go back to a bland diet of boiled chick/rice. I will try the boiled sirloin/rice tomorrow and see how he does. Thanks for all the well wishes and help. Priscilla
Priscilla/Sarge
Yea, I would just stay bland until he is feeling better.
You I would even try raw for him. It may well work...but not until he is all better:-) Stay with plain, fat free yogurt...Activia may make it worse. Did they test for Pancreatitis? Just curious.
Amy and Sophia
Yes, blood work showed no
Yes, blood work showed no Pancreatitis.
Priscilla/Sarge
Thank you :) About the
Thank you :) About the slippery elm, what dosage would you give? Sarge is 60 pounds. I think I will hold off with the CT scan, he almost died the last time he was put under! He has been off all meds except the wormer and probiotic since Wed...still diarrhea. He finished the pancure today. I think his system is going to take sometime to get back to normal. I will keep you posted and thank you for all the well wishes.
Priscilla/Sarge
sounds familiar
The vomiting, diarrhea, loss of muscle mass sounds like what my 1st Bulldog had off and on for several years until it was finally correctly diagnosed as Pancreatitis. He stopped the vomiting and diarrhea when he was on Science Diet ID but got skinny, lethargic and had a brittle, dull coat - he looked like a stray. I spent a long time trying different foods he could tolerate that might improve his body/coat condition and finally settled on Solid Gold Holistic Blendz. It really made a big difference for him.
Thank you, I will keep that
Thank you, I will keep that food in mind when I can get him back on regualr food. He was tested (blood work) for Pancreatitis...negative.
Priscilla/Sarge
The slippery elm is 376 mgs...
and about the new food, barley can also cause allergies and stomach problems. I would try to stick with a food that was as grain free as possible. For now the bland diet makes sense until he gets under control.
That is good to know...thanks
That is good to know...thanks for all the info :)
Priscilla/Sarge
Have you tried any Pro Biotic since he has been on AntiBiotics
for so long. I would highly recommend them. Antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria need in the intestin. I used PB 8 made by Nutrition Now green cap no milk product in them. Diarrhea can be caused by low or no Pro Biotics left in the gut. Just make sure you use a good quaility pro biotic with at least 14 Billion Good Bacteria or more in them. Start with two for a week see how that goes. Hugs to your baby
Jo Ann
Sarge was taking Forta Flora
Sarge was taking Forta Flora (1 packet daily) while on the antibiotics...Vet switched him over to Prostora by Iams (2 daily). He has been on these since Thursday. I will look for the PB 8 by Nutrition Now (green cap) as I checked the ingredients of the Prostora and there is skim milk listed. He does not do well w/dairy. Thank you for your help and hugs back from Sarge :)
Priscilla/Sarge