[Yokohama Hounds]

Some of you may remember that when we "rescued" Cassie some 6 weeks ago she was seriously underweight. She had soft business with traces of blood. She has been under the care of our vet since then and he has tried various things but there has been no improvement. In fact she is now 1 kg less than she was when we got her. She has started to do business more often now, but it is sometimes almost liquid and contains traces of blood. My wife and I are really concerned about her. How long can this go on for?

Anyone got any ideas? Short of changing vets (but he is the best around here...supposedly) we really don't know what to do. Tomorrow morning we are taking her in again. We are tempted to tell him to keep her there under observation on an IV drip until he figures out what her problem is....

 

[Basset Momma]

Has he considered irritable bowel disease?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, my advice would be to change vets. Is he/she aggressively testing, following up and prescribing alternatives to what you're doing now?
There are way too many lazy vets out there. I don't know about Yokohama but here in Boston there are a lot of vets who can't be bothered working with challenging dogs. Fortunately, there are a lot of vets who are there to really take care of our pets and we have the luxury of being able to shop around. Good Luck!! Keep us informed.

 

[Yokohama Hounds]

Just got back from the vets and he gave her a blood test, ultrasound and x-ray. He says that there is a slim possibility that it is a blood vessel tumour and he has sent blood to the lab for tests. Should know by the end of the week, but he says that is highly unlikely given the type of dog and her age. Otherwise possibly an intolerance to the food.....

The saga continues!

 

[Mikey T]

Try dramatically increasing fibre content of meals. Right now Toughy is on a perscription fibre additive for a similar problem.

 

[Sadeyes]

Relative's dog had similar symptoms.Turns out the previous owner had fed him any old s#!+ from 6 weeks of age.He had stomach ulcers which were bleeding. After treatment which consisted of pills and a very bland diet for several months he gained weight but still can have upsets if he eats something too rich. Hope Vet gets to the bottom of her problem.

 

[winnieslo]

Reuben also was recently treated for multiple bleeding ulcers (diagnosed by endoscopy)...it took 4 months of aggressive treatment to finally heal them. In that time his weight plummeted from 74 pounds to 50. He never vomited blood but stools were loose and bloody to varying degrees.

 

[CmFairygodmother]

Louie did that alot when he was a pup and I was feeding him food with chicken in it.

Science diet took care of it...it is made to give them nice poops.

 

[Barbara Winters]

Sorry to hear Cassie is still having GI problems.

She has been under the care of our vet since then and he has tried various things but there has been no improvement.

What test and treatments have been tried? I assume Cassie has been tested for giardia. Have they done an endoscopy with biopsy? How about diet, has she been on a prescription diet for food allergies or IBD? Roady was on Iam's Fish & Potato for several years and then that stopped working so switched to IVD Duck & Potato. Once tried the new Hill's Ultra ZD and instant diarrhea. So if a trail with one doesn't work, another might. Ask your vet.

Is hard to come up with ideas unless you give details.

 

[Yokohama Hounds]

Barbara

sorry for not coming back earlier, things have been hectic and I have been away on business for a while.

A short update on Cassie: she pretty definitely has some form of colitis. She was doing ok on Hills wd, but this wasn't giving her enough calories and she was actually losing more weight. This was worrying as she is thin as a rake as it is. She is now on a mixture of Hills wd and id and gradually she is getting more of the latter and it seems to be stable.

However, she started with a vaginal discharge about three weeks ago. We took her to the vet who decided that he would take the opportunity to spay her. It was probably just as well as she had a pre-stage of pyometra (in a nustshell). We would have had her spayed anyway, but just wanted to wait until she had put on more weight.

As it is, she is in great form now. Now, we just need to finish house-training her and get her to sleep a tad longer and we will all be in great shape.

Cassie was a "rescue" and cost us next to nothing, but boy has she made up for it in vet fees!!!

 

[Barbara Winters]

Thanks for the update. Glad things are improving. Keep us posted on Cassie's progress.

 

[Yokohama Hounds]

Cassie is definitely on the right track. Hills i/d really seems to be working out and her tummy seems to have stabilised. Her "business" is still on the soft side, but nothing that is too worrisome. She is certainly energetic and happy enough. She has suffered no after-effects of her spaying and I have to say that the vet did a great job with the incision. Her house-training is improving and the indoor "accidents" are becoming more infrequent. She is also sleeping a little longer.... So, all in all things are improving. Maybe we can go for a week now without visiting the vet with either Cassie, Hana or Abby....