GreyPoopon

I'm sorry. Godspeed Thunder.

I'm so very sorry. What a handsome boy he was. Godspeed Jack.

I'm so very sorry. Your beautiful girl left much too soon. Godspeed Brook.

I'm so sorry.

I sure hope that it turns out to be something you can control through diet or a not-too-expensive drug.

Here at GITroubles R Us, we specialize in bloody diarrhea and vomiting. There have been a couple of bouts this fall, and at least half the pack has been in trouble at one time or another. It isn't always labelled HGE, and we often don't identify the trigger. Our "best" HGE story stars Minnie, a standard poodle. It started almost 7 years ago, so some of the details are hazy. Minnie had always had a bit of a queasy stomach: she was prone to vomiting. Diarrhea was rare, especially after the first few months that she was here, but the vomiting increased in frequency. I was able to identify--and avoid--some triggers, and so reduce the frequency. But we all thought she was a perfectly healthy 2 yr old dog. Then on Christmas morning 2001--it was a Tuesday--she insisted that we get up at some unmentionable hour so she could poop. This was unprecedented and so upsetting, but the poop was diarrhea without blood. On Boxing Day, she threw up in the middle of a family party. She seemed fine for the rest of the week. On Saturday during our morning walk (from about 7:10-7:35), there was blood in her stool. I decided to make an appointment at our clinic. I walked her over just before 11. On the way, she pooped blood. A lot of it. I managed to scrape/scoop much of it (more than a large double handful) into a bag to show the vet. The vet would have checked her right into the hospital, but she knew that I hate leaving a dog, especially one who gets as upset as Minnie. So she gave her a bunch of injections (flagyl, tylocine, and I don't recall what else), and sent her home. I think I took her in later for another round of injections, and promised to go in on Sunday too. But on a short walk at 11pm, she not only pooped more blood, she started vomiting gobs of it. So off we went to the e-vet. He repeated the injections, and gave her some sub-q fluids. She had more injections on Sunday. I think it was Monday or Tuesday before she could keep down her meds and some rice (and perhaps id or something). Over the next week or so, we kept up the meds and gradually re-introduced exercise and her own food. At about the 2 week mark, she had a relapse. This, of course, happened at 5am on Sunday, so we ended up back at the e-vet. The second trip was much less successful, since we were seen by a vet who wanted to run a bunch of expensive tests instead of repeating the meds. We started all over with the meds and exercise restrictions, and gradually built back toward her regular routine. In less than two weeks--one, I think--she had another relapse. I don't recall if there was a fourth round or not. What I do know is that we had agreed during one of the rounds that if she had another relapse, we were going to scope her and find out what was going on. She had that relapse, and we did scope her. The lab tests showed two different types of inflammatory bowel disease (eosinophilic gastroenteritis and ulcerative colitis) related in part to food allergies. We continued the flagyl and one or two other things. She was also put on the maximum dose of prednisone. In addition, she was put on a novel diet--in her case, both the protein and the carb were novel. Despite the aggressive treatment, it was weeks before she finally started to regain some of the weight she lost, and much longer before her stool was firm. We gradually weaned her off the pred. She started in early February; I think it was October when we stopped. She remained fairly stable for quite a while. For the next few years, she had a relapse every spring. Heaven only knows why. After a couple of years, the food was discontinued here. I almost had a heart attack. I finally found an alternative that kept her fairly stable--albeit with soft stool--for a couple of years. Then we found out about an improved blood test for food allergies. A lot of vets still don't like it, but my vet wanted to try it. We ran it, and found out that she was sensitive to some of the ingredients in the food she was on. I picked a different food, and her stool quality improved. I've changed a few times since (usually because the food has been reformulated). I use the same allergy info to select treats--for a long long time the only "treat" she had was her own kibble, but now I know what I can safely try. After so much experience with her, I can usually tell when things are going sour well before the symptoms appear--sometimes months before. Often the first bad sign is loss of appetite--not showing up for breakfast, or not finishing a meal. Then occasional vomiting and/or soft stool. When this happens, I do two things: 1. put her on misoprostal (stomach protection) and/or tylocine (intestinal tract health), and 2. start looking for possible triggers: has the food been reformulated, could she be getting crumbs from another dog's treat, is she under more stress? For Minnie, the most important variable is her diet, which must be strictly controlled. Because of Minnie, I'm inclined to see food--or, at least, ingestion--issues everywhere. But I am fairly sure that much of the blood I've seen even from the others has been related to food, or to eating a weed or (in once recent case) cat poop. Also, because of Minnie and that first horrible Saturday morning, when I see blood I almost always take the dog to the vet. She went from apparently healthy to nearly bleeding to death in four days; from a bit of blood to copious amounts in four hours. I don't want to run the risk of waiting too long.

I'm so sorry. I'm glad she got to spend her last few years with you. Godspeed Stella.

Me too, but my first thought was: Oh no! They shouldn't have to deal with this again. I have everything crossed that the treatment is a success, and that Maggie-Mae has many many more happy years with you.

I'm so sorry.

I am so very sorry. He left far too soon. What a horrible shock. Godspeed Loki.

I'm sorry.

OMG. What a horrible shock. For all of you. I don't know what to say. Except that from what I've heard, the human has more trouble adjusting than the dog. and

I am so very sorry. She left way too soon. Godspeed Penny.

I'm so sorry. Godspeed Deuce.

I'm so very sorry. Godspeed Bodie.

I'm so sorry.

Oh no! I'm so very sorry. I'll miss Gumby too, even though I have her whining, toy-throwing, lap-running look-alike Edie. Godspeed Gumby.

Just and

I am so glad to hear that he's not ready; neither are we. Get better soon Hobbes--an awful lot of people are counting on you.

Please get better soon Soul. And stay better.

C'mon Hobbes, you have to get better.

I am so very sorry. Godspeed Mac.

I'm so sorry. I hope you get a diagnosis and treatment soon. FWIW (not much, but...) when Minnie's inflammatory bowel disease became apparent, it presented the same way--bouts of bloody diarrhea. One of the e-vets we saw suggested Addisons, which can occur in poodles, and which must cause similar symptoms. Another possibility was pancreatitis. We eventually confirmed the IBD by scoping her. It is now controlled (fingers crossed) by diet.

I'm so very sorry.