greyhead

I'm so sorry your well-loved lad had to go. He had a fine life with you. Go find lots of PB, Freddy.

First, you have my most sincere sympathies! Having a C. perfringens infection (though not as severe as what you describe) is what led to our Spencer's intestinal malabsorption and IBD, both permanent conditions. It took weeks to get my vet to do a culture and sensitivity on his poop, which smelled so vile that I knew it had a story to tell. The problem was, as your link mentions, it's a germ that is expected to be present normally at a non-pathological level. However, I disagree that expensive testing is required to determine if it's a problem, which the article you linked to and other articles all suggest. There is an expected range within which the number of those bacteria should fall. In Spencer's case the number was, as the tech who gave me the news after talking to the lab put it, "way, way, way, way beyond" what was expected. At that level, and given the extent of his illness, it is obvious that toxin is being produced, and you don't need a PCR to tell you so! I say this just to encourage people whose dogs are having persistent diarrhea, weight loss, inappetance, etc., to *order* that a C&S be done on the poop, and sooner rather than later. While not entirely cheap (over $100), it's a lot less expensive than the other tests and can probably tell you everything you need to know. But Clostridium is not routinely part of the standard C&S test panel, and we had to request that they specifically include it for our test. Further, it is usually assumed that Clostridium difficile will be the culprit, so they're not looking for perfringens. Thanks for bringing this up. It's something people need to be aware of. Vets have traditionally only expected C. perfringens problems in German Shepherds, which is one reason our vet was so resistant to considering it. But this is now the fourth time I've heard of greyhounds having it.

Our raw food is kept frozen and fed within two days of thawing. Doggfather recommended zapping for 30 seconds in the microwave to kill any surface beasties without cooking or destroying the meat's beneficial enzymes. ETA: Where are you getting your raw food? There was a long, scary piece in the Seattle Times a couple days ago about the high percentage of grocery store meats that tested as contaminated, even from the best stores. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014816296_chicken20m.html?prmid=obinsource (about chicken in Seattle area) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014783983_apusmedtaintedmeat.html (about supermarket meat everywhere)

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Hope the tests lead to answers for Kila. It took me a while to learn to use this website too, but it was worth it!

If she's having liver difficulty, it's even more important that she eat. But don't panic. The chiropractor vet may be of good guidance on the subject of helpful supplements, and I think you should ask him. But from what I know, milk thistle and CQ10 are very helpful. We've used both when one of our guys was on long-term antibiotics. We've also used them when his liver values were inexplicably iffy, and it (or something) brought them back to the normal range. Our IBD dog has intermittent appetite problems. Pepcid or Zantac have worked well, but I've found that it takes longer than 10 minutes to be effective. I believe the time range on this stuff is 10 to 60 minutes, and something closer to 60 minutes is what it takes for us. Also I've found that sometimes it takes him longer to get started on food and that if I leave it down for a while, he'll get to it in his own time. And as someone else said, hand-feeding a couple bites sometimes gets him started enough that he'll go ahead and eat on his own. Oh, and also as Kudzu and others said, smelly food may be a turn-off, and bland things may work better. Hugs and scritches to you and Ruby. I know it's a bumpy road, but you're both doing greyt even if it doesn't feel that way. ETA: Isn't ginger supposed to help with nausea and digestion? Interesting that Ruby likes ginger snaps right now!

Sometimes "no news" is good news! So is the interpretation that Merlin has some kind of inflammation of undetermined origin? In any case, I hope the Flagyl does the trick and that you and Merlin can get rested up!

That was a rough year all around, Mary Pat. We're missing them with you. Thanks for sharing the memories and great pictures, especially the eyes.

I'm so sorry she couldn't stay longer.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Go find your friends at the Bridge, Kevin.

She's lucky to have such a smart mom! So sorry you and she are going through this.

We wasted a lot of time changing foods, protein sources, home cooking, etc. Then we tried raw and the stools became logs the next day! But that quickly passed. Finally we did a poop culture and found a massive bacterial infection in the small intestine. Now, this was preceded by hookworm, which had taken months to return a positive culture fecal test; and it was followed, alas, by the discovery of IBD. So I just can't keep myself from suggesting that you have a poop culture done and perhaps do another fecal for worms, because a dog that has had diarrhea and soft serve for months on end probably has more than a food problem. (And btw, a negative fecal culture does not mean that a dog does not have worms.) Indeed, food choice still becomes critically important if they have intestines that have been compromised by any of these causes. But trying to fight these problems with food alone does not work, in my experience, and can cost a lot of precious time. I DO hope your dog has none of these things I've mentioned, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't mention them. Edited cuz I goofed!

The cheapest, fastest approach at this point would be to go ahead and try the thyroid, I'd think. You'll see results fairly fast, and it may help her wean off the Prozac more easily. Just my opinion, but I have two hypothyroid greyhounds, I'm hypothyroid myself, and I've spent a lot of time studying up on it. No sense having you and your girl going nuts together! You could call your vet and see if he's willing to give it a shot now.

Your vet already suggested thyroid supplementation, IIRC. Did it ever get done? I remember you checked here on GT for opinions about it.

You and gorgeous Linus had a lovely time together. I'm so sorry he couldn't stay.

You and Alan are both well-remembered and much missed.

Hope you get some news from Dr. Couto that you can work with. Lots of prayers for Ozzy and your family!

What a BEAUTIFUL girl! Far too young to go. I'm so very sorry for your loss.

What a beauty!

I had thought about a necropsy, but I'm just going to accept that it was just a complication of IBD (e.g. malnutrition). I know it's nothing that could hurt my other dog. I took him to be cremated last night, and I'll just use the money for a nice urn instead. Another dog died in November (cancer), and I'm too emotionally exhausted at this point to want to wait around for the results of a necropsy, only to find out there was some thing that could have been prevented "if we only knew." Totally understandable, and I think you're right about the cause. I hope when you feel like it, you'll post in Remembrance and share your thoughts and feelings about Batou. That's where people look for this kind of news, and it helps people work through their losses. Just know that those of us who learn of this are heartsick right along with you. You can tell by all the OMG's that we were all hoping for a good outcome for you and Batou. Thank you for allowing us to try to help.

What an awful shock, hon! I'm so very very sorry.

Well, there's only one way to find out! And I hope you're just over-thinking things, but there are people out there who take offense easily. But ask them. The can only say no, not execute you! Oh, and good luck! (I think it speaks well of you that you did what you had to do for the animal you already had.)

What Stripeyfan said! I'll just add that if hookworms aren't usually a problem in Vermont, as they didn't used to be in our state, your vet may not know a lot about treating them aggressively. Let us know if you need help getting educated about treatment so you can be sure it's being done right. (Or just use "hookworm" as a search term in H&M and learn plenty.) Hooks can do a ton of damage to the intestines and set him up for infection and IBD, as Stripeyfan and I and others have experienced, to our sorry. The good news is that they found them, though!

Just caught up to this yesterday. Prayers that Merlin's recovery will continue smoothly and that you can become fully rested again.