[ SHOWGSD-L ] Sick Dog

  • From: "The Crystal Crow" <thecrystalcrow@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:49:51 -0400

I'm going to ask the experts.


Has anyone dealt with anything like this in a dog? Eagle will be 8 in
August. Last October he was a rack of bones with diarrhea and covered in hot
spots. He had lost 15 pounds in about a week, and was still eating like a
horse, but wasn't getting any nutrition from it-it wouldn't stay with him
long enough. The vet had him on Metro, but it wasn't helping much, and I
thought I was going to lose him. I switched him to a raw diet and he bounced
back, but his health issues are beginning again.



Before raw diet:



Lethargic, losing weight rapidly.



Dead dog smell: After about 6 months on any type of kibble (Innova, Royal
Canin GSD, Natural Balance, Canidae) he would smell terrible, even after
bathing. This isn't your garden variety dog stink-this was like corpses
rotting in the summer, expressed through his skin.



Hot spots would appear at the same time as "dead dog smell".



Never completely blew coat-was always plushy.



EXPLOSIVE liquid diarrhea-in the house, on the floor, walls, furniture. We
would do a fecal (which would be clear-they tested for worms, coccidia and
giardia). The vet would put him on Metro when this would occur.



Colorless diarrhea-basically water, but smelled very bad.





After raw diet: (mostly chicken and venison, prey model, plus Fish Oil,
diatomaceous earth and Multivitamins)



Energetic, bright eyes.



Smells GREAT.



Only one hot spot since, which I believe was due to an insect bite or
contact allergy.



Two "normal" sheds in the proper seasons, completely blowing coat.



High levels of testosterone shown in bloodwork, enlarged prostate,
uncomfortable, nervous, whiny and humping everything that moved. Resulted in
neutering, which returned him back to his normal laid-back self and
inhibited the prostate problem.



Through elimination diet, found allergies to wheat, corn, rice, and beef.
Feeding these will result in explosive D (see above).



Fecal is clear.



He's still having bouts of liquid diarrhea. Sometimes it's so bad it just
drips out of him as he's walking around. Yesterday I came home to a living
room full of it-textured walls, furniture, TV, fireplace-all the time
cleaning up telling him it was OK-he hates to go in the house, but he can't
help it. He's been very huggy lately and wants to sleep in bed with me,
which he never wanted to do before. Next to the bed was his spot, and he
wasn't comfortable being on the bed for long. He's becoming very
"Velcro-dog", but he doesn't seem to be fading like he was a few weeks ago.
He had another episode of this in April, which was eventually controlled by
the Metro.



His bloodwork was as follows: ALKP 37; ALT 35; BUN 17; CREA 1.0; GLU 81; TP
6.9.



If anyone has experienced anything like this before, please let me know. The
vet and I have been operating under the assumption that it is IBD. I need
some coping strategies or something more proactive-I hate to see him "up and
down" like this. I lost my last GSD to a digestive tract hemorrhage, and he
was only 5 years old. It's killing me to see another dog with this
problem-he just can't seem to keep any food in him long enough for it to do
him any good. The bright side is he acts like he feels fine. His eyes are
clear, gums are pink and he has plenty of energy.



Thanks,

Kristal


-- 
The Crystal Crow
2107 Ginter Street
Richmond, VA 23228


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