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So, just before Christmas my dog, Molly, started to get a very swollen belly, began to act differently and had room clearing gas/loose stools. I took her to the vet and $1200 later (x ray, blood and ultrasound) they ruled out tumors and stomach twist but said she had a ton of fluid in her that was not blood and it appeared that it was coming from her intestinal tract. Send me home with 2 kinds of steroids, supplements and ultra expensive prescription dog food telling me they are handling it like severe IBS. Now, 2 week later she has lost a ton of weight (I am mixing the Hills food with regular to keep her eating) but he muscles are showing signs of atrophy and the loose stools are still there but belly is more or less normal. I have read the the meds (prednisone in particular) can be harsh and cause some of this but it is killing me to watch her. The good news is that she does not seem to be in pain and her personality is pretty normal. Hoping it gets better | ||
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| Conservative in Nor Cal constantly swimming up stream  |
Hope Molly has a full recovery. ----------------------------------- Get your guns b4 the Dems take them away Sig P-229 Sig P-220 Combat | |||
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Member |
If you are having doubts about the treatment working, you might consider getting a second opinion. Couldn't hurt, and might give you some piece of mind, or other alternative treatments. Whatever you decide, best wishes for Molly's speedy recovery! | |||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
How old is your dog? Any chance that you have a bad bag of food. Maybe check for recalls. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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She is only 6-7 (rescue) and that is something I have considered as I have 2 other dogs and although Molly is the only one that is having issues the other 3 had gotten very weird about eating the last bag of Diamond I bought...I recent changed all their food and the three healthy dogs went from pecking at their bowls to chowing it down. | |||
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Member |
Hoping for the best for your pup. It was painful seeing our Luke when he was sick. He was dropping weight & had no appetite (turned out to be a splenic tumor). Toughest part was that he was still his happy self, just less energy & no appetite. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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Repressed |
Poor puppy - I hope she recovers soon. -ShneaSIG Oh, by the way, which one's "Pink?" | |||
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Might want to get the vet to check for MTC or MTS, I can't remember the exact initials. Sounds sorta what our dog went through. One other symptom was that her platelets were extremely low and she needed a transfusion. Ours was a rescue, too, and boy do they become a part of the family. | |||
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| And say my glory was I had such friends.  |
Have the vet check her pancreas issues. Last spring our 1 and 1/2 year old lab went from fine to having nothing but loose stools. We did blood tests, x-rays, new dog food, non hydrolized dog food ($), more blood tests, ultra sound. We saw a regular vet and finally a internal vet specialist. Probably $2K and three plus months until we found a solution. We have solved the problem with a pancreas powder. It has complicated feeding time process which is way different than just getting two scoops of food out of the bag and setting the bowl down for the dog. The new process to something that takes 20+ minutes. The new process is heat 2/3 cup of water, put two scoops in a bowl, pour the hot water over the food, stir, set the timer for five minutes. At the end of the five minutes, sprinkle one teaspoon of the powder on the food (powder costs $115 for about 40 days), set the time for 15 minutes. About half-way through the 15 minutes stir the food. When the timer goes off, serve. Loose stool is gone. Vet says she’ll need the powder for the rest of her life. "I don't shoot well, but I shoot often." - Pres. T. Roosevelt | |||
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Equal Opportunity Mocker |
Random first thought... Protein losses occur 3 ways: not being made, lost thru kidney, lost thru gut. PLE is protein losing enteropathy, where the gut doesn't "hold in" the proteins like it should, but rather leaks them out into the abdomen. Where proteins go, fluids follow (or to quote an old professor of mine, "Proteins suck!" Management is about all you can do, but it does help. Steroids decrease gut inflammation. Best definitive way to diagnose it is with biopsy of multiple spots in the gut. ________________________________________________ "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers | |||
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| Equal Opportunity Mocker |
Usually GSD have this, not always. Stinky khaki colored stool? Greasy? ________________________________________________ "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers | |||
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| Member |
Some lots of Hill’s dog food had excessive vitamin D which caused kidney damage. You can check their website to make sure you don’t have any of the bad stuff. | |||
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Membership has its privileges |
Claire and I send our best thoughts to Molly, for a full recovery. Niech Zyje P-220 Steve | |||
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| Member |
Not to derail thread- as it may relate.: Hunthelp-my GSD/Great Dane mix has same issue- EPI. Vet tried to sell me the pancreas enzymes that cost that much. On a recommendation of a friend I tried Pan-tenex. Same stuff, a lot cheaper. Works great. My dog went from 110 lbs down to 65 while we tried to figure out what was happening. Now back over 100lbs and full of energy. Kevmo- hope you figure out what's going on and I definitely recommend a second opinion, that's how we got on the right track. | |||
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| Member |
Thanks for all the well wishes...Molly seems to be doing a little better now that she is off one of the steroids and on the down cycle of the other. I did some reading about the Hills food and the "prescription" and was a little alarmed to discover that, while it is a specialty food, the "prescription" is a marketing agreement between Hills and the vet industry. I have started to mix in some regular food which so far is going well. I also am mixing in pure pumpkin in small amounts. Today she actually had her first solid stool in a while and was able ro jump on the bed with assistance! | |||
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Waiting for Hachiko |
Kevmo I just read your thread. Something similar went on with one of my dogs before Christmas. Lollipop, my 13 year old mixed breed started losing weight and not eating. I took her to the vet, and they ran ultrasound, x-ray on her, and kept her two days. $1,100, which I thought was exorbitant. They found she had a lymph infection at her liver. Prescribed antibiotics and predisone to her. I finished the antibiotics and have continued to give her predisone, and she seems to have recovered and is eating and has lots of energy. But I am not sure of the ling term effect of giving her predisone, I only give her one tablet a day. And I am not sure of her long term outlook in terms of her liver. So, I have had some experience with dosing a dog with predisone. I hope your dog gets better. 美しい犬 | |||
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Member |
My dog Spark developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), almost died from it (long expensive story, I attribute his illness to tainted dog treats). In the aftermath Hill's was prescribed. The reason my vet gave was Hill's is a consistent formula. Sounds reasonable. All went well for a while, then we got a batch that was not like the others. Spark wouldn't touch it and it smelled "off". He stopped eating, a very bad thing for him. Fortunately there is store nearby called Healthy Pets, an organic pet food store. I talked to them and they recommended Nature's Logic. It really is a consistent formula and that's what we fed Spark for the remainder of his life, 8 years. I credit it with clearing his IBS but it took a few years for him to be symptom free. Nothing at Healthy Pets is cheap but neither was Hill's. If I am going to pay consistency, I want consistency. Note: Healthy Pets has a variety of foods, Nature's Logic fit the bill for Spark and I don't hesitate to recommend it. http://www.healthypetproducts.net/ Let me help you out. Which way did you come in? | |||
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