christinepi

Even if his stool consistency is deteriorating? It's sometimes greenish now, and feels like goo, or is very very soft... "Reliable" being the key word. I mostly trust this vet who put him on the z/d diet, but not completely. Another vet (whom I don't know personally) claims that there are still regular proteins (non-hydrolized ones) in the z/d diet because otherwise there'd be no nutrition at all. So what's the point of this diet then? This is so confusing. I just know that things aren't improving, rather getting worse. He's been on z/d 100% only for 4 days after the transition of about a week. So am I overreacting, maybe? He also had a bout of coccidiosis 5 weeks ago which was treated with Albon, but things never fully cleared up, even though a second stool test came back negative. I'm going to drop off another sample tomorrow.

I adjusted the amounts of cups upwards so the caloric content would match what he ate before, and still the poops are small and few. Weird. He had bloodwork done just 3-4 weeks ago, and he is on thyroid meds and gets checked every year or more. Maybe I should get it checked more often. Where do I get clay? Even if that were to firm up the poop, wouldn't the underlying issues still need to be addressed? He's not itching, it's all intestinal. How do I find out whether it's just old age and age related intestinal idiosyncrasies or something in need of addressing? He did get an abdominal ultrasound 4 weeks ago, all normal. It's maddening to figure out what's best for the dog. But one thing I know is I loathe that z/d stuff.

He'll be 12 in December.

Wow, thanks for all that. The amount of time I already spend in my kitchen because of a particular diet I myself need to keep is exorbitant and the idea of spending ever more time in it makes me go dizzy, but I'll do it if the vegetarian/quail combo doesn't work for Tracker. I hear you on companies changing formulas. That's really good to know.

Not a test that works, apparently. It all seems to be just a rip-off. I fell for it and did a saliva test with Tracker, and according to that he's reactive to 24 out of 24 tested foods, but I'm not sure I believe it, after everything I've read. It would be so nice. Now none of the ingredients he was tested for are in the suggested foods I mentioned above, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't trigger him, too.

Unfortunately I have no clue where to begin, other that a suggestion Dr Dodds at Hemopet gave me, which is to try a particular high quality brand's two meat-free dehydrated pre-mixes, and add some canned pure quail (nothing else in it other than quail liver and guar gum) from another company. She claims it works for her food sensitive Greyhounds. We'll see. Speaking of treats: I bought the z/d treats, which he likes, but if there's a chance that even the z/d contains ingredients that could trigger him I really don't know what to do. While we humans think these vet diets are really bad nutrition, at least MY dog begs to differ on the likeability of the stuff. He LOVES all the z/d variations (canned, dry, treats). He'll probably loathe the one I'll try on him next, which is oh so healthy and nutritious...

Since I've transitioned Tracker over to Hill's z/d diet (food sensitivities) his stools have been fewer and much smaller. Has anyone else had the same experience?

Tracker never lost weight nor gained weight in any significant way, so I'll leave things as they are. Besides, he may have food sensitivities to something as of yet unknown, so I'll stay on the hydro diet only.

He's 3 lbs less than his race track weight (according to Greyhound-Data). He's 73 lbs. He'll be 12 in December. Not sure about his size. I never keep the feed bags, so I don't know about calories. Yes, your comment makes sense. For what it's worth, since I've been tapering off the Olewo carrots, his pm poops have been getting softer, bordering runny-ness on the last walk at 9pm. In order to transition him to the hydrolized diet, I have to taper him off everything else. This just will take time and patience. But I feel I should give the possibility of a food sensitivity a chance, even though I'm not so sure this is what's causing the problem. At the same time, it won't hurt him.

I reduced his diet by 1/2 cup maybe a year ago or so, but not since, and he's ultimately kept his weight at where it was before I started giving him less, so yes, he needed less then, but not sure why I'd do that now. Anyway, I feed him 3x per day because he's got laryngeal paralysis and started regurgitating his food right after eating 3 times so far, though over the course of 3 weeks. I figured (and the vet concurred) that wetting the food and giving smaller portions may help with the larynx issues. So far, so good.

Wise advice. Funny you should add beet pulp--I added Olewo carrots to his diet for exactly that reason and they helped a lot, but never cleared up the softness entirely. He's been on them for two weeks now. I'm actually in the process of slowly weaning him off them to see what this hydro-diet will do on its own. But I hear you on this just being old age creating changes; maybe his intestines also just take a long time recovering from the effects of the coccidia? I'm hoping very much he'll clear up fully on this new diet and then we can re-introduce a few items. It's heartbreaking to see his expectant face when I come back from the chickens and he can't have his daily egg, or no more gullet strips to chew on, just this gross cornstarch/chicken liver stinky stuff all day long...

Initially after diagnosis of coccidia, 3 days of Metronizadole made things worse. Then we switched him to 6 days of Albon. Things mildly improved, but didn't clear up. He's quite a bit better than he has been at its worst, but the soft stool in the pm is still there. First stool sample: negative. Didn't trust that, did another: Coccidia. After two weeks incl those 6 days of Albon: re-test: negative, incl. a full diarrhea panel that looks for 14 pathogens. he's only been seen by a general vet, not a specialist. But yes, I'll seek a second opinion if this hydrolized protein diet doesn't clear up things. He's at a great weight, never put on any, so I'm not sure why he should be eating less?

He gets fed the same stuff 3 times a day... and he doesn't exercise any longer, he just doesn't have the energy; he just putters. He is on Fortiflora and has been for 4 weeks. This is all bizarre. I'm pondering a second opinion, but he's already had blood samples, urine samples, stool samples, abdominal ultrasounds taken and all returned normal, so I'm worried a second opinion would just subject him to more testing and being away from home (the specialists are 45 minutes away), which he now HATES (he's going on 12). But I'll go, if things don't get better on this hypoallergenic diet.

Apparently Tracker has some kind of food sensitivities. He's been having mild diarrhea for over 4 weeks now. An abdominal ultrasound came back negative (save some slight thickening in the cecum and proximal colon wall, as well as the urinary bladder wall); he was initially diagnosed with coccidia and treated with Albon, which cleared up the parasite. No fever, vomiting, and the vet says he feels totally normal. But his diarrhea continues. What strikes me as so odd, but what do I know, is that his stool 99% of the time is perfectly firm in the morning; any poop after, say, 2 pm turns soft. Not runny, but soft, and occasionally sort of soupy. Is this morning firmness vs afternoon/evening softness indicative of anything in particular? If he indeed had a food sensitivity, wouldn't he always be soft, not just in the afternoon? Or is this just Tracker's "personal style" of dealing with food sensitivity? We put him on a hypoallergenic kibble two days ago to see what that'll do. I'm hoping that it'll clear the soft stool up.

Forgot to mention I switched to feeding him 3x/day, breaking the portions into thirds. He gets 2/3 kibble (soaked) and 1/3 wet.

Not right after exercise. Just resting. I fed him twice a day and it was always half kibble, half wet. Then he recently refused the wet so I gave him only kibble and maybe that is the problem? Yesterday I started soaking the kibble and adding some wet food again. So far so good. I have this hunch this is connected to his laryngeal paralysis. I googled that and regurgitation, and that's a common symptom. He's had LP for over a year now. It's become a tiny bit more prominent lately in terms of his breathing getting a bit louder, so maybe the regurgitation is also a sign of things slowly worsening.

Tracker's now regurgitated right after his meals on three different occasions during a 2.5 to 3 week span. He also has diarrhea issues which is why he got an ultrasound yesterday, and everything, incl. the stomach, looks normal. He has had laryngeal paralysis for over a year that seems to be getting worse only very very slowly. When his vet felt him up thoroughly ca one week or ten days ago she felt nothing worrisome in his throat area. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Officially 5 days, so 5 times at 7ml, and there was some left in the bottle which amounted to another 5ml on the 6th day. Maybe this was too short? As of today, for the first time, his morning stools were as runny as the afternoon ones. I'm quite worried.

Tracker has had loose stool in the afternoon and evening for the last three weeks or so. Morning stools are pretty well formed. A stool test revealed coccidia; before the vet got the results, they started him on metronidazole which seemed to make things runnier in the afternoon/eve. After three days, the results came in and the vet put him on Albon. The stool started firming up some, but not completely. He had the last dose yesterday at 5pm, and 24 hours later, his stool is back to runny. I'm at a loss. The vet suggested an abdominal ultrasound, which seems to make sense. But I just don't understand why he wouldn't respond to the drug appropriate for his parasite--it would seem strange that there's something else going on at the exact same time, but who knows. Has anyone had a similar experience with Albon or some other drug not helping with a parasite?

Tracker's been on 60mg of Galliprant for a year or so and now the vet suggested to give him Gabapentin, since he's still quite stiff. She said depending on how he does on it, I can reduce or stop the Galliprant since both drugs together can be taxing on the kidney. We'll see how it goes. My question is this: since Gabapentin is an NSAID, and can be good for inflammation, would it be a good thing to just continue to keep him on a lower dose, like 30mg, together with the Gabapentin?

I started him on twice 100mg per day. It seems it's a see-how-it-goes kind of approach, since nobody can say exactly what an individual dog might need? I'll stay on the 2x/100mg for 2-3 days. If there's no change, should I up it, say, by 100mg every few days (or more slowly)? Should I go to 3 times a day in a few days? I just don't want to give him too much... the vet is clearly struggling also to give me clear instructions. It may not be possible, maybe? How do people give pills every 6 hours? How does that work at night? I'm in bed trying to sleep from 9:15pm until 6:30am...

That's very helpful, thanks.

Next question, and I will ask the vet this question, too: what's a safe amount of gabapentin for a 73 lb dog?

Yeah, that all doesn't sound very good, does it.

I came across that very dermatologist yesterday, from Nutriscan's website: One veterinary dermatologist performed a double-blinded study at no charge, but then revealed afterwards that the samples included human saliva, street water, and vodka along with some healthy and suspected food intolerant dog salivas. These non-saliva samples interfered with the pH of the 47-sample immunoassay plate as well as results for the other clinical client samples on the plate. This colleague, without our knowledge, then stated that Nutriscan testing did not work and apparently also informed the other members of the veterinary dermatology board (ACVD). Once we explained how this trial of “fake” saliva ruined the assay results, this fact was acknowledged but apparently has never been explained to other ACVD members, clinical veterinarians and clients interested in this testing. That's from this page: http://www.hemopet.org/hemolife/dog-and-cat-nutriscan/results.html Of course, all of this could have been made up. I'm not at all wed to Nutriscan, but the alternative to find out about food sensitivities seems incredibly SLOW (several months) and not necessarily all that cheap either, depending. So a simple 2 minute rope-chew-test sounds very tempting. It doesn't seem anyone has ever done the test? With good or bad results?