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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

    Loose Stool on Rice and Boiled Chicken?

    Oban is still not better, not completely. The Flagyl and Vet canned food are not working. I misunderstood dosing instructions and gave the four Flagyl a day in four separate meals but we started on Thursday and the slight improvement noticed on Friday has not gotten any better.

    Vet is thinking Inflammatory Bowel Disease which can be a factor of low blood albumin. Usually low blood albumin would be discovered after symptoms of IBD. In Oban's case it's just a fluke I took advantage of a price break on a wellness panel a year ago and we found it then. Then it did us no good to know that as he was a perfectly healthy dog. And was still perfectly healthy again this April when we repeated the wellness test and got a low blood albumin again. Symptoms didn't start till May.

    OH just ran to the store for hamburger as I ran out of the Vet food. And I'm not trying chicken again. I'm to check back with the Vet on Thursday. In the meantime, I think some here have dogs with IBD. Is anybody successfully controlling it with diet? I was just reading up on IBD and using Prednisone short term is ok but it might be long term. And even short term use, just to rid the gut of inflammation, (since the Flagyl isn't doing it) can apparently make subsequent treatment by diet alone difficult. And it can interfere with treatment for cancer which could also be a cause of this trouble.

    If I'm not very coherent, sorry. My mind is in a whirl.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    No experience but sending some good thoughts for Oban. Poor boy. I really hope the issues will be resolved soon.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  3. #3
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    No experience, sorry, but sending good thoughts and prayers for Oban. I am so sorry you are having such a tough time and he is feeling so poorly.
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    Maxx and Emma Jean

    Ozzy - 10/2002 - 06/2011 - Rest well my sweet boy. You are forever remembered, forever missed, forever in my heart.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    My daughter's 6 year old dog was diagnosed with IBD after several years of loose stools and being on prescription food without total control. Years. Before the prescription food, they'd tried limited ingredient diets and novel proteins, under the guidance of a general vet. She's taken tylan and metronidazole over the years without lasting improvement. They finally went through an extensive GI work up with a specialist, tested for Addison's, abdominal ultrasound, colonoscopy, biopsy, etc, and had the diagnosis confirmed. They tried beclomethasone (I think) without improvement and then switched to prednisone. You might have read my posts back in March about their experience with a skin infection that started within less than a week of beginning the prednisone. The prednisone gave her the best stools in many years but probably also allowed a serious opportunistic infection to set up shop pretty quickly. They all agreed to stop steroids.

    So now Ellie is still eating prescription food for inflammatory bowel issues that by itself does not produce normal stools. After all that she's been through, they have found that Metamucil sprinkled on her food has normalized her stools more than anything they have tried in a long, long time, except for the prednisone that was a near disaster for her. She is not on any medications right now aside from the Metamucil, about 4 tsp a day for a 70 lb pup, and she's still on prescription food. I guess in larger amounts it can work as a laxative. In the smaller dose, it helps absorb enough of the excess water in her gut to firm things up. So, they're probably treating the symptoms but it's not really treating the underlying cause.

    None of the vets have ever proposed trying a raw diet. I know there are several proponents of that on here but I don't feed raw either and don't know enough about it to even know if it would help.

    I hope you find a solution for Oban soon. It's so frustrating.
    Sue

    Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
    Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
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    Joey 5/14/2022

    “Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

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  5. #5
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    No experience. Sending Oban good thoughts and mojo.

    Hopefully Smartrock's solution with Metamucil will be the answer. It certainly is easier than prescription drugs.

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Thanks all. I had to shut the computer down. We've had tornado warnings and watches all day and a big thunderstorm just rolled through. A possible touchdown in a community nearby, yikes.

    Metamucil, ok, Oban likes oranges. Will ask the Vet. I was using pumpkin when this started but it didn't help. BAck to reading up on this stuff. One weird thing, Oban is now off every med, supplement, heck, even his regular food and he is not itchy. No, wait, he is getting Otomax in his ears and that seemed to make him worse at first but now he is much better. Two more doses of that. But he's not itchy, no itchy allergies. That's good but I hate not knowing why things happen.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Sandra's Avatar
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    Oh, no, sorry to hear that Oban still isn't better. I can tell how worried you are. You and Oban are in my thoughts and prayers.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Just an idea, did you test for giardia? (I don't remember whether you did)
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  9. #9
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    Lots of good info on IBD here: Canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease IBD - Chronic Diarrhea and Vomiting in Your Dog

    Diet is being addressed too.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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  10. #10
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    Poor Oban. Such a sensitive system. Hoping you find the right combination. Sending good thoughts for Oban.

    KAZ

 



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