Conner's Diagnosis

[Guest greytloves]

They will fall into the routine pretty quick as long as you stick to a routine. That is always the biggest issue I have found. Getting people to stick to the routine.

 

Maybe send your neighbor a note that you are sorry for the waking and you have a sick dog that you are trying to get past a health issue?

 

Sending lots of hope your way that Conner will feel better soon.

[Guest shelbygirl07]

Thank you everyone for everything.

 

I just gave Conner is first bowl of ZD allergy free and I was worried that he was not going to like it and be picky with it, well he loved it, he gobbled about 3/4 down, and then I put water in it for him and he gobbled the rest down, fingers crossed this continues, he can be a very picy eater when it comes to dog food.

 

I do have to figure out what I will do with Kool Aid and Oranda. We are used to free feeding and well Conner was trying to take their Nutro food. So I had to put Kool Aid and Orandas food up on the stove for now. I guess try and get them into a routine of eating right away.

 

 

I was just thinking about Conner and wanted to pop and and say "we're thinking of you".

 

Good boy, Conner, eating your nummy new foods!

 

I've known lots of dogs who are on this food and not many of them will turn it down. Did they explain the idea behind the food to you?

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Thank you everyone for everything.

 

I just gave Conner is first bowl of ZD allergy free and I was worried that he was not going to like it and be picky with it, well he loved it, he gobbled about 3/4 down, and then I put water in it for him and he gobbled the rest down, fingers crossed this continues, he can be a very picy eater when it comes to dog food.

 

I do have to figure out what I will do with Kool Aid and Oranda. We are used to free feeding and well Conner was trying to take their Nutro food. So I had to put Kool Aid and Orandas food up on the stove for now. I guess try and get them into a routine of eating right away.

 

 

I was just thinking about Conner and wanted to pop and and say "we're thinking of you".

 

Good boy, Conner, eating your nummy new foods!

 

I've known lots of dogs who are on this food and not many of them will turn it down. Did they explain the idea behind the food to you?

 

She did explain some. I was on my way to work and she couldn't find the pamplet for me to read, but I guess it has particles in it that are completly allergy free and should make his tummy settle down. I meant to look it up on the internet. But any advice, information, please keep it coming....

 

Thank you so much Shelbygirl.

 

Amanda

 

[Guest shelbygirl07]

Hi Amanda,

 

The proteins in the food are Hydrolyzed. That means that they are so finely broken down that it tricks the body into thinking there are no proteins. That way the dog gets the essential nutrients it needs and won't have a reaction to it. Everything that they put into the food is geared towards a low protein diet. That way it won't build up in the body and create a reaction to the food. The canned food has the consistency of Jello, a real smelly jello. I mix the canned with the dry because Shelby eats so fast, she horks her food up and it projectiles out of her mouth, everywhere so the canned food helps her swallow easier. I find that it is easier to give the pills in, too. I just spoon off a chunk and jam the pill into the canned food and mix it in with the rest and she eats the chunk easily.

 

This food is expensive and depending on the weigh, should be eating atleast 6 cups a day for 60-70 pounds. 70-80 pounds should be 6 1/2 -7 cups a day split between 2 feedings. The weights are based on your goal weight. I'm sure your pupper has lost weight due to his IBD. I go through the 40 pound bag once a month and 2 cases of large cans of the food. I pay about $74 a month for Shelby. That is a discounted cost, too.

 

If you stick to a feeding schedule and pick the bowls up after 15 minutes, they will get the point to eat when the food is there. I used to free feed until Shelby came along and now we can't do that since shelby has a meat allergy and I can't risk her getting into Boo's food. So they both eat within 15 minutes and we are good to go. They have never missed a meal..

 

PM if you get stuck or start feeling down about it.

 

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Hi Amanda,

 

The proteins in the food are Hydrolyzed. That means that they are so finely broken down that it tricks the body into thinking there are no proteins. That way the dog gets the essential nutrients it needs and won't have a reaction to it. Everything that they put into the food is geared towards a low protein diet. That way it won't build up in the body and create a reaction to the food. The canned food has the consistency of Jello, a real smelly jello. I mix the canned with the dry because Shelby eats so fast, she horks her food up and it projectiles out of her mouth, everywhere so the canned food helps her swallow easier. I find that it is easier to give the pills in, too. I just spoon off a chunk and jam the pill into the canned food and mix it in with the rest and she eats the chunk easily.

 

This food is expensive and depending on the weigh, should be eating atleast 6 cups a day for 60-70 pounds. 70-80 pounds should be 6 1/2 -7 cups a day split between 2 feedings. The weights are based on your goal weight. I'm sure your pupper has lost weight due to his IBD. I go through the 40 pound bag once a month and 2 cases of large cans of the food. I pay about $74 a month for Shelby. That is a discounted cost, too.

 

If you stick to a feeding schedule and pick the bowls up after 15 minutes, they will get the point to eat when the food is there. I used to free feed until Shelby came along and now we can't do that since shelby has a meat allergy and I can't risk her getting into Boo's food. So they both eat within 15 minutes and we are good to go. They have never missed a meal..

 

PM if you get stuck or start feeling down about it.

 

Thank you so much, and I will definitly take you up on that. I did bring home 2 soft cans of dog food to give him his pills with, there was no way I was going to try and shove those suckers down his throat, especially with his neck hurting. He seemed to really like that wet food.

 

Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you.....Oh since eating he hasn't asked to go out to the bathroom yet....I am going to take this as a good sign as he usually asks with in about 20 minutes of eating....YEAH!

 

[Jackandgrey]

for Connor Amanda. What did I tell you? This is a good place or what?

[Guest shelbygirl07]

hi again amanda,

 

When he is stabilized on the food, his body will digest most of the food. He will only end up pooping once, maybe twice a day. Shelby only has to poop once a day and it is usually 2 hours after breakfast. If you take the wet food and smash it into a paste and add a little water (maybe 1/4 cup warm tap water), add dry and then mix together, he should really suck the food down. You will find, though that he will pee a couple times more a day then usual but that helps keep him hydrated to counteract the chronic diarhea.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Regards,

Sam

 

[Guest koolaidnconner]

for Connor Amanda. What did I tell you? This is a good place or what?

 

Yes it is, very fun, a little additive. You start reading threads and low and behold its hours later...lol....Thank you Susan

[ozgirl2]

Just a note - Cody always had GI problems. She was allergic to several things - soy and RICE!!! I found this one out when I was doing the boiled chicken & rice & she didn't get any better - she was hunching & screaming like your pup. Called vet - she said - it's the RICE - switch to chicken & pasta. That helped a lot!! So just be aware that some dogs are sensitive to rice (which is in almost EVERYTHING!)

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Just a note - Cody always had GI problems. She was allergic to several things - soy and RICE!!! I found this one out when I was doing the boiled chicken & rice & she didn't get any better - she was hunching & screaming like your pup. Called vet - she said - it's the RICE - switch to chicken & pasta. That helped a lot!! So just be aware that some dogs are sensitive to rice (which is in almost EVERYTHING!)

 

Yes we did the rice and hamburgar and he just got worse and we tried the pasta and chicken, just got worse. So no more people food for the hounds for quite sometime. Kool Aid is already pouting....He is a real mooch and so food motivated.

[Guest koolaidnconner]

So we just had a greyt night. He never woke up once, I got up checking on him and I would pet him and ask him if he was ok and he looked at me like go back to bed mom I'am ok now......He is so cute my little Conner Bonner. Still knocking on wood that this is it. We found the right stuff.

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Well someone is feeling better. He has been caught in the garbage 3x this morning. He has not done this in a very long time. Time to get locking garbage cans for the house. He was caught running away with a sandwich bag with the sandwich in it(my daughter did not eat her lunch yesterday and it was thrown out). Luckily one of the girls saw him and yelled at me right away to come get it. The kids have all been told NO people food for any of the dogs andymore, that it has made Conner very sick, so they all understand.

 

He continues to eat his food that he has and I see a huge differance in him already. Hoping it will continue.

 

 

[Guest shelbygirl07]

:clap :confetti :yay

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Another greyt night happened. He slept all night and is still sleeping, now I ahve to get into the routine of sleeping all night...lol...He still has the diaherra and cries but I am hoping that with not going as much now that it will slowly stop hurting as much to go.....

 

Kepp it up Conner Bonner....momma loves you!

[Batmom]

Amongst all the other things going on, have his anal glands been checked?

 

Sending lots of hugs and hopes he continues to improve.

[Guest koolaidnconner]

So I have been noticing a great deal of improvement in the fact that bathroom breaks are getting much furthur in between, he still has diaherra but he is getting up more for attention. I have noticed though he is a little unstable on his feet, he tends to sometimes trip on his own back feet, they tend to cross and he doesn't fall all the way down just stumbles, and his face when he looks at me, he sometimes has this drugged up face on him and he stares at me for minutes at a time. Just things I noticed that he never did before.

 

Not sure if this is because he has no energy from being so sick for so long?? I just don't know....I talk to his doctor every morning for updates so I will ask tommorrow....

Edited June 6, 2008 by koolaidnconner

[maximum]

Just wondering how Conner is doing these day's? How did the last visit go?

[Guest koolaidnconner]

He is doing much better. He is on that allergy free diet, no people food, not even milk bones, so I made some cookies out of his own food, which he loves.....He is even calling us to the kitchen to give him one...lol...He has us trained well. His poops have also looking like they are getting much much better. I have not heard him scream in a few days. SO looks like we are looking up here.

[Guest JasnJack]

I just finished reading this thread and I had to write to say I'm so glad to read this happy ending

I pray Conner continues to improve!

[Guest MZH]

You might want to ask your vet about Entocort (budesonide), a steroid that works only in the gut. It stops diarrhea caused by gut inflammation. I've taken it so I know it can sometimes be a "miracle drug".

 

Incidentally, a friend has a greyhound with the same thing, although her stomach is worse than the gut. She's currently eating ZD food -- and I'm almost positive ZD biscuits (maybe you don't have to make your own!), as well as Prilosec and a low dose of pred every other day and a couple of other things as needed. This combo has finally made her quit being sick almost constantly. It's really a juggling act to figure out what works for the individual.

 

IBD is tough.

 

Marcia

[Guest koolaidnconner]

Conner is eating the ZD food. I will just make the cookies, the biscuits are probably just as expensive as the food...lol...53.00 for a small bag, last one week....lol...It has een a real juggling act, we have been on prednisone, antibiotic, lots of stuff, right now we are doing the ZD allergy free and the sulfasizine, I don't want to change anything right now cause he is slowly getting better. I don't want to rock the apple cart if you know what I mean.

[ahicks51]

Sulfasalazine is a derivative of 5-ASA (Pentasa, among many other names). I was on 5-ASA as well as Pentasa, mentioned above, for Crohn's.

 

The way I got off the drugs for Crohn's was by eliminating sugars and oligosaccharides from my diet- no wheat (among other things). There's also no dairy, unless it's fermented.

 

The more I hear about IBD in dogs, the more I think it may be related to a bacterium called MAP that causes what's known as Johne's disease in ruminants (mainly cattle); people have suspected the same with Crohn's in humans since it was first identified- experts are split as to whether it's an autoimmune disease or infectious. But nobody can explain to me why, if it is autoimmune, I can make the symptoms disappear by eating a diet that eliminates most sugars and oligosaccharides.

 

I passed along this information to Dr. Cuoto at the recommendation of Dr. Feeman; turns out OSU has a group that works with MAP. It would be easy enough to test fecal samples for MAP using a test that is already used in cattle- check 10-20 dogs with IBD for the presence of MAP and see if it's there.

 

Anyway- my thinking is that if it's MAP, that explains why the diet works: eat the opposite of what a cow eats, in effect. The vegetable matter in the diet of a facultative carnivore doesn't go over well in some individual animals; get the corn out, get the wheat out.

 

Just my $0.02.