ScoreWin

Thanks all for your suggestions. We went to the vet on Tuesday and he exhibited signs of pain in his abdomen. Also, he had lost another 3 pounds (which brings our total to 8 in the last month). Rather than do further tests there, they recommended that we get an ultrasound ASAP. We did so on Wednesday, and our worst possible fears came true. There was a large cancerous mass wrapped around his colon (7x9 cm) and enlarged lymph nodes. The doctors said we could do further exploratory tests and consider chemo...but in the best case scenario it would buy us a few months... and he is already so weak. We had to say goodbye to our baby yesterday and we are totally and completely heartbroken / devastated. He was only 7 years old...and it all happened so suddenly. I never thought at the beginning of this week that we wouldn't have him by Friday. Give your houndies an extra hug today.

Thanks all! We are headed to the vet this afternoon. At our very first visit about a month ago, I brought a stool sample but was told it was unlikely to be worms, since they don't have hookworm in California. I am new to the area, so I believed them at the time and they didn't test it. He's been on the bland diet for nearly five days (mostly just overcooked white rice, plus probiotics once a day) and his stool is coming out bright orange and the consistency of hot coffee. Generally has an appetite, but is a little lethargic and still has some urgency to go to the bathroom. We live in an apartment building, but thankfully he is good about letting us know when he needs to go out. While it may have started as anxiety, it is unlikely that he is still experiencing it. He's been resilient with changes before and I work from home so he is rarely alone (a trigger for him in the past). Will see what the vet says today. Very appreciative of all of the suggestions here!

Thanks all! I did bring a stool sample to my first vet visit but he said it wasn’t necessary to test it at the time. I should have pushed harder then. Think I may need to go to a different vet at this point- as our current one doesn’t seem as concerned as I am.

I’m worried about my 7 year old Winston! In early July, he started having frequent diarrhea - including lots of panting, decreased interest in food, middle of the night emergencies, etc. We started giving him a little pumpkin and monitoring his food closely. He has a history of anxiety and we had just moved- so attributed to that. After about 3 weeks of this, we took him in to the vet. They did blood work (normal) and sent us home with Flagyl. He completed the full course of those meds and nothing changed- in fact things started to get worse with pure liquid coming out (rather than the loose soft serve he had before). We returned to to the vet, and they did x-rays (which appeared normal.) He lost 5 pounds in 3 weeks. Sent us home with probiotics and told me to feed him a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice. It’s been 3 days of that and we haven’t seen any improvements. Have others gone through something like this? What else can I do? I’m really worried about his weight loss especially. He is looking VERY skinny.