Guest newmama4Cooper Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Cooper has been battling the diet for a while now, and we are starting to think that maybe he isn't digesting his food properly. I was wondering if there are any people out there that may have had this happen to their Grey. He was doing fine, then one batch made him sick and he has been on rice diet ever since. Please help as he is loosing so much weight it makes me nervous. The vet took some blood, but takes forever to get back to me, so I thought I would reach out to you for help!! His food just seems to be coming out the other end, same as it went in. Then he goes and eats his poop! This is all new, and never happened when his food was fine. I am at a loss here! Help!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 When did the vet take blood? I'd think you'd have your results back in a day or two ..... How long has he been having problems? What was he eating before? What is he eating now besides rice? How old is he? Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemycoffee Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I don't understand your reference to a bad batch, so I may be completely off base. I adopted a dog who had pancreatic enzyme insufficiency. She couldn't process food on her own. The vet put her on a pork based pancreatic enzyme, which I mixed into her food. It would actually start digesting the food before she ate it. You might want to call the vet back and ask for suggestions as to what you should do for him until you get the test results back. I hope you get some answers and he's feeling better and gaining weight soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest newmama4Cooper Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I forget some of that important info sometimes... He was eating Nutro, Lamb/Rice, then a batch of it made both of my dogs sick, so we tried to switch, slowly (VanPattens Natural Choice)! Didn't go so well.... I have had him since October, he is Six years old, and the problem is passing a month now, or even six weeks. The blood tests were last Wednesday, so I know I should have heard from her by now. It's hard to find a good vet out here!! The diet now consists of rice, ground turkey and scrambled eggs, and a few pieces of the ID diet kibble in with it, but no more than a tablespoon. Thanks for all the help!! Megan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemycoffee Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 If the blood was taken last Wednesday, I would definitely call the vet and ask about the results. My vet told me the most easily digestible proteins are lamb, then chicken. You might want to replace the turkey with chicken. And take off the skin and any fat. If it's a problem with the pancreas, fat will aggravate it. I hope the vet will figure it out soon. Let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hopefully your vet ran a basic blood chemistry(to check the blood proteins-rule out IBD/PLE) and a test to check for pancreatic insufficiency. The test is called TLI and it really needs to be run on a fasted dog. I would D/C the turkey--too hard to digest, a lot of dogs have a hard time with turkey. Call the vet--your blood work is back and he/she should have called you by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandm Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 The TLI is generally sent to Texas A&M, so it may take a while for the results to come back. I had similar problems a while back with my greyhound and found that it was carbs & fat that he had trouble digesting. So I fed him only lean meat, cooked, with bone meal added for calcium. I eventually switched to a raw diet and now he is doing fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHNora Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Is it possible your dog has colitis? My DH has ulcerative colitis, which is classified as an autoimmune disease, but is barely understood in human patients, let alone pets yet. I have known 2 dogs with this, and both ended up with slightly different diets, b/c it seems to affect each person/dog a little differently. The biggest issue is grains--some people can tolerate certain grains, and some people can tolerate none at all. If your vet doesn't have any leads with the bloodwork, maybe ask about colitis and doing a colonoscopy. Get well soon, pups! Quote "Mrs. Bass was a poor teacher, a phrase which here does not mean "a teacher who doesn't have a lot of money" but "a teacher who is obsessed with the metric system." --Lemony Snicket "Do you want to convert from the hydrocarbon economy to the carbohydrate economy?" --Rep. Jim Oberstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest newmama4Cooper Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Update: The TLI came back, nothing of too much worry there. She said his B12 was low, so we are going to give him a supplement of that. Now we are going back to the blood chemistry to look at all options. He goes in tomorrow morning to give more blood if they need it and get the B12 shot. He has been going better, but then he will loose control and have an accident at work. It's really odd. He pottied outside, then less than an hour later went on the floor here at work. No crying to go out, no warning of nothing. I don't get it!! He has soft stools in between the hard ones, and it just doesn't seem to want to regulate. I am able to add a few more pieces of kibble a day and not seem to bother him yet, so hopefully we can get back to dog food soon, get the weight back on! Thanks again for all the help. I hope we get this figured out. I feel like such a bad mom! Megan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandm Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Bringing up his B12 might make a real difference. I was able to bring my greyhound's level up with oral supplementation alone (Thorne Research B Complex#12), but that was unusual. You'll get faster results from B12 injections. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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