Persistent Intestinal Bleeding

[Guest jlmcgowan]

Help! Our two-year old greyhound is currently experiencing her 3rd episode of serious intestinal bleeding in the 6 months since we've had her. When the last bout started, our vet consulted with others and came up with "extreme food allergy" as the cause. We've had her on a hypoallergenic diet but today the bleeding, nausea, etc. started again. The poor girl has almost died twice, and we are at our wits' end. Does anyone have any experience with something that might be causing this?

[Guest Judynyc]

Help! Our two-year old greyhound is currently experiencing her 3rd episode of serious intestinal bleeding in the 6 months since we've had her. When the last bout started, our vet consulted with others and came up with "extreme food allergy" as the cause. We've had her on a hypoallergenic diet but today the bleeding, nausea, etc. started again. The poor girl has almost died twice, and we are at our wits' end. Does anyone have any experience with something that might be causing this?

I'm so sorry that you and your dog are going through this.

Did your vet do an endoscope and biopsy yet? If not, that is your next step.....no xrays or ultrasound...you need to get a biopsy.

What meds are you giving her? antibiotics? antacids?

What are you feeding her? if its rice, you really should stop all grains and start to feed her sweet potato and lean protein like poached chicken breast.

 

I'm going to watch for your reply.

I've had a dog that was an IBD dog and the only way I can say that definitively is because I had her endoscoped. I've done a lot of research into how to feed these dogs so what I told you has merit.

[RobinM]

What meds is she on? Have you seen a board certified internist? If not, I would do that immediately with all her labs, clincial notes, x-rays etc.

 

Beau was diagnosed with IBD after an open abdominal exploratory surgery. We opted for that over the endo scope as it is more accurate and we needed a definitive diagnosis and quick. We had been going through it for close to 2 months.

 

He is now on pred and imuran as well as the hills ultra hypo allergenic food.

 

Chicken is one food that is usually a food they are allergic too.

[Guest jlmcgowan]

I'm not sure whether I'm doing this reply thing correctly, but here's the additional information. We have not had an endoscopy yet - the next recommendation from our vet was to see an internist and go from there. Up to about two weeks ago they were just trying to get her stable, so they didn't want to go further with procedures (particularly in the event that the food could resolve the issue). She is currently on Purina hypoallergenic food (we went with Purina over Hills because she has tolerated their gastro-enteric food well after each episode), as well as FortiFlora supplements and the occasional Pepcid if she starts showing signs of nausea. Once that bloody diarrhea has started each time, though, she has been on antibiotics, sucralfate, various painkillers, fluids, etc. I hope this helps, and we just want to see her get better!

[RobinM]

Yes, she definitely needs a specialist. The sooner the better. Please keep us updated. I know how scary this is. Beau who normally weighs 64 pounds went down to52.4 in 10 days. It was terrifying.

 

He is back up to 63.4 and now without the muscle due to the pred, he looks chunky so we are actually backing off the food!

 

Once they determine what is going on and getting her the right meds, she will be fine. I will keep you all in my prayers.

 

[Guest Judynyc]

I'm not sure whether I'm doing this reply thing correctly, but here's the additional information. We have not had an endoscopy yet - the next recommendation from our vet was to see an internist and go from there. Up to about two weeks ago they were just trying to get her stable, so they didn't want to go further with procedures (particularly in the event that the food could resolve the issue). She is currently on Purina hypoallergenic food (we went with Purina over Hills because she has tolerated their gastro-enteric food well after each episode), as well as FortiFlora supplements and the occasional Pepcid if she starts showing signs of nausea. Once that bloody diarrhea has started each time, though, she has been on antibiotics, sucralfate, various painkillers, fluids, etc. I hope this helps, and we just want to see her get better!

Yes, I agree with Robin...the sooner the better to a specialist for this.

I also tink that you need to discuss with your vet about giving your dog the Pepcid AC 2 times a day, everyday as it will help with the acid. IMO, she also needs to be on antibiotics still.

These Rx hypoallergenic foods are not necessarily your best choice in these situations though. Unfortunately, vets don't know a lot about nutrition and rely way too heavily on these Rx foods.

There is a good group on Yahoo groups called IBD Dogs...they will give you lots of good info on how best to feed. If this were my dog, I'd be cooking lean protein and sweet potatoes and thats it...no more ingredients.

 

There is also a very good book written by Dr Martin Goldstein called "The Nature of Animal healing". He is a leading holisitic vet in the country. Oprah and Marth Stewart both take their dogs to him. Its a very good book and he's a wonderful vet.

 

I don't know where you are located but if you have a vet school or an ER hospital, they can get you to a specialist.

Hope this helps!!

 

Robin, yes some dogs can have an allergic reaction to chicken but not most.

Edited March 30, 2009 by Judynyc

[Guest SoulsMom]

Soul has had it twice, both times he was treated with Flagyl and a special diet. The first bout landed him in ICU on fluids for the night. I started keeping Flagyl on hand at all times and keeping a 'diary' of his daily life to try and get to the bottom of it. So far, still do not know the cause, but he's stablized on the Hills Science Diet I/D. If she is still bleeding on the Purinia, I would recommend trying this food and ONLY this food. No other treats or anything else.

 

Soul had an unltrasound after the first really bad episode, and all his insides looked good (except for a slight thickening of the intestional wall, to be expected after a tummy upset like that). My vet and I both dislike invasive procedures unless absolutely necessary, so we decided to give him a couple of months on the food first.

 

Again, the key is ONLY the special diet, no other foods or treats. I'm really very surprised that your vet hasn't put her on this or one of the other prescription I/D diets yet.

 

ETA: When Soul relapsed the second time I had been trying to transistion him back to his regular kibble. He'd started getting gassy so I stopped the transistion, but a few weeks later he started bleeding anyway.

Edited March 30, 2009 by SoulsMom

[Burpdog]

Where are you located?

 

Sending prayers!

[Guest Judynyc]

My dog was diagnosed with IBD only after having had 3 episodes where she was very sick. It was the 3rd episode when my vet and I said it was time to do the endoscope to get a definitive diagnosis once and for all, get her on the right meds and feed her the right diet.

 

She ate IVD venison/potato diet for several years and was just fine. When she was 15 yrs old, she got sick with something else entirely ( Vestibular syndrome) and I began cooking for her and did so until I lost her 9 months later. I was able to manage her and her IBD for 6 years with the right diet. I lost her when she was 16 yrs old last summer.

 

I cooked her a root veggie mash white and sweet potatoes( taken from the Nature of Animal Healing by Dr Martin Goldstein) mixed with canned turkey by Wysong...its only got meat in it, no other ingredients. The ratio I gave her was 2:1 and sometimes 3:1, mash to protein. She was a 60 lb chow/mix so I had a lot of cooking to do each week.