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The Big D That Won't Stop - Help Help Help!


Guest brahmafear324

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Guest FastDogsOwnMe

I 100% am with BatMom. I would be treating this dog immediately for coccidia and giardia after ruling out blockages. I really hope he is feeling better soon.

 

If you are in Southern Florida, it's even more important to treat for coccidia if it doesn't improve. It does NOT always show up in fecals.

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Guest johnandheidi

So sorry to hear this. You've gotten some great advice already and we hope that Charley is starting to feel better.

 

We recently experienced the exact same thing with one of our greys, Walter. After 2 sleepless nights of getting up every hour to take Walter out, and after having tried every home remedy under the sun (bland diet, rice, immodium) we took Walter to the vet. The vet immediately diagnosed Walter's mucousy diarrhea as a symptom of colitis. He put Walter on Metronidazole, which worked within 1 day. He explained that the mucous is a strong indicator of colitis and that in the future we should give Walter a 1.5 tablespoons of Metamucil after the 1st sign of diarrhea. It's counter to everything you think you should do with the Big D, but the psyllium fiber in the Metamucil absorbs and holds moisture and really does firm things up.

 

Charley's problems could be brought on by something else, but you might want to discuss the possibility of colitis with your vet. It's actually quite common in greyhounds. We've switched both dogs to Holistic Select, which is formulated for sensitive tummies, and have had very good results.

 

Please let us know how Charley is doing. We're all thinking of him.

heidi

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Guest brahmafear324

We all got some more sleep last night however we are now having trouble with giving him is meds, any suggestions? We've tried putting it in a meatball of the I/D but he keeps spitting it out. I only hope he got his first dose. He also has turned his nose up at the I/D so he's not getting the probiotic that we sprinked on it....He had liquid D at 11PM and 630AM this morning. He didn't eat at all yesterday....we finally resorted to a small finger ful of peanut butter just to get the pills down. Any other thoughts?

 

I hope Charley is feeling better tonight. It was certainly nice meeting him and you at the vet's office today. Sure is a small world! I wish I had some advice but I have none. Just hopes that Charley is better soon. He sure is a cutie!

 

Nice to meet you as well.....wish it was under different circumstances...

 

So sorry to hear this. You've gotten some great advice already and we hope that Charley is starting to feel better.

 

We recently experienced the exact same thing with one of our greys, Walter. After 2 sleepless nights of getting up every hour to take Walter out, and after having tried every home remedy under the sun (bland diet, rice, immodium) we took Walter to the vet. The vet immediately diagnosed Walter's mucousy diarrhea as a symptom of colitis. He put Walter on Metronidazole, which worked within 1 day. He explained that the mucous is a strong indicator of colitis and that in the future we should give Walter a 1.5 tablespoons of Metamucil after the 1st sign of diarrhea. It's counter to everything you think you should do with the Big D, but the psyllium fiber in the Metamucil absorbs and holds moisture and really does firm things up.

 

Charley's problems could be brought on by something else, but you might want to discuss the possibility of colitis with your vet. It's actually quite common in greyhounds. We've switched both dogs to Holistic Select, which is formulated for sensitive tummies, and have had very good results.

 

Please let us know how Charley is doing. We're all thinking of him.

heidi

 

Hi Heidi, we had tried Metamucil as well b/c we had utilized that in the past when Charley had diarrhea, but this time it just wouldn't work....Thank you for your story about Walter....I hope Charley sees similar success....I hadn't heard of HOlistic Select, where do you find that?

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Guest brahmafear324

How is Charley today ?? Sending some more Prayers and ahhhh some Hugs for that Boy :grouphug:hope:grouphug

 

 

Hi Erika...he's refusing to eat his food and I just know we stressed him out getting his meds into him. They put him on the Hill's I/D. I'm concerned b/c than he won't get the probiotics that we sprinkled on it....keep those prayers and hugs coming we sure can use them!!

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dogfoodanalysis.com is just another opinion website. The I/D is a therapeutic low-residue food. If he won't eat it, might try one of the other prescrip low-residue foods such as Purina EN or Eukanuba? Low-Res. Could also try drizzling it with just a little warmed honey if you have some.

 

The probiotics aren't likely to do much good while he's on antibiotics -- I'd leave them off for now.

 

For pilling, I tilt dog's head back, stuff pill waaaaaaaaaaay down throat, close mouth, hold mouth shut and stroke throat till dog swallows. To open mouth, grasp upper jaw and kinda wrap his lips around his teeth so he won't bite down.

 

Hugs and hopes today is a better day.

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 Illinois
We 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.

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Guest johnandheidi

We all got some more sleep last night however we are now having trouble with giving him is meds, any suggestions? We've tried putting it in a meatball of the I/D but he keeps spitting it out. I only hope he got his first dose. He also has turned his nose up at the I/D so he's not getting the probiotic that we sprinked on it....He had liquid D at 11PM and 630AM this morning. He didn't eat at all yesterday....we finally resorted to a small finger ful of peanut butter just to get the pills down. Any other thoughts?

 

I hope Charley is feeling better tonight. It was certainly nice meeting him and you at the vet's office today. Sure is a small world! I wish I had some advice but I have none. Just hopes that Charley is better soon. He sure is a cutie!

 

Nice to meet you as well.....wish it was under different circumstances...

 

So sorry to hear this. You've gotten some great advice already and we hope that Charley is starting to feel better.

 

We recently experienced the exact same thing with one of our greys, Walter. After 2 sleepless nights of getting up every hour to take Walter out, and after having tried every home remedy under the sun (bland diet, rice, immodium) we took Walter to the vet. The vet immediately diagnosed Walter's mucousy diarrhea as a symptom of colitis. He put Walter on Metronidazole, which worked within 1 day. He explained that the mucous is a strong indicator of colitis and that in the future we should give Walter a 1.5 tablespoons of Metamucil after the 1st sign of diarrhea. It's counter to everything you think you should do with the Big D, but the psyllium fiber in the Metamucil absorbs and holds moisture and really does firm things up.

 

Charley's problems could be brought on by something else, but you might want to discuss the possibility of colitis with your vet. It's actually quite common in greyhounds. We've switched both dogs to Holistic Select, which is formulated for sensitive tummies, and have had very good results.

 

Please let us know how Charley is doing. We're all thinking of him.

heidi

 

Hi Heidi, we had tried Metamucil as well b/c we had utilized that in the past when Charley had diarrhea, but this time it just wouldn't work....Thank you for your story about Walter....I hope Charley sees similar success....I hadn't heard of HOlistic Select, where do you find that?

 

It sounds like Charley is starting to come around. Glad to hear it.

 

Holistic Select has been really good to our boys since we fully transitioned - no need for Metamucil, yet, not to mention good poos and zero gas. We buy it from a local pet boutique. It's made by Eagle Pack. Their website has a store locator: http://www.holisticselect.com/store-locator.aspx .

 

When we were giving Walter the Metronidazole we literally just put the pill on top of his dry food; he eats so fast he didn't even notice the pill. But, if Charley has no appetite, that won't work. I have put other pills in a piece of baked potato before or a bit of mashed up potato with a tiny bit of chicken broth. (Chicken broth is also my favorite delivery method for Metamucil. I mix it into the broth which yields a pasty dumpling-looking thing and put it in along with his food. Again, he eats so fast, he hardly knows he's eaten it.) I think Batmom's suggestion of putting it right down the back of his throat might be your best bet.

 

All the best - keep us posted on Charley's progress.

heidi

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I got the impression from my dog who will eat anything that the probotic doesn't taste very good. It was some that I got from the vet.

 

I didn't find anything that seemed to make the probotic taste any better, but luckily Cutie ate it anyway.

 

I finally had complete success with pills by using a piece of bread with peanut butter and fold into a sandwich. I give all 4 of the dogs a little piece of bread and PB making a big deal out of it "treat time". Alpo gets a piece of bread with PB, everyone else gets one, then he gets three in a row quickly - the 2 PB pill sandwiches and 1 piece with PB. I think the secret was "treat time". Until I had to pill Tramadol, which must be the most vile tasting stuff on the planet, I could just throw pills into the food dish.

Ann

 

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Guest emmentally

I am hoping that Charley does not have what my 13 year old grey Tally had last year. After several weeks of progressively worse diarrhea, I changed vets and took to the Guelph Veterinary Hospital where where she was diagnosed with Lymphocytic plasmacytic gastroenteritis, a form of inflamatory bowel disease (IBD). They put her on a bland diet of rice and lean white meat along with multivitamin supplements. She was prescribed prednizone. Essentially, the diet needs to be hypoallergenic with a protein an carbohydrate source the dog has never had before. Tally did show some improvement for a few weeks on frequent (every 3 hr) feeds of small portions of rice and boiled lean turkey and regained some weight but the disease did take over and she suddenly developed severe diarrhea again and lost a great deal of weight. I am afraid that in Tally's case, she was not diagnosed soon enough.

 

You should discuss this possibility with your vet. I hope that you get to the bottom of Charley's issues quickly so that the correct treatment can be made. I know how helpless and frustrated you can feel as you see your beloved and sweet greyhound deteriorate before your eyes.

 

My heart goes out to you and Charley and I hope for his recovery.

 

emmentally

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Guest brahmafear324

Charley ate about three tablespoons of food last night. He still has liquid coming out of him once every three hours - went seven hours over night. He actually came trotting into the kitchen when I got the food out however he turned his nose up when he smelled the i/d. He is sleeping most of the time now. I'm going to call the vet today to let them know he's not eating. They wanted him to get on one food and stop the switching around as that could be playing havoc on his system. He has been drinking at least. I have been able to get the anitbiotic down with the aid of a little bit of peanut butter. Gave him the first dose of dewormer last night as well. Anyone else have it take a few days for their pup to eat? I'm concerned that if we give him anything else if he does have a food allergy another food may cause him more discomfort....

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Guest brahmafear324

I"m alos adding yogurt to the I/D just to get him to eat something.....he doesn't appear to be dehydrated, I'm just so frustrated that he may be suffering....

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I'm sorry you are going thru this!

I have in the past had greyhounds go thru this exact pattern. After all other things are ruled out, the metronidizole is what worked for us. It was on day 3 of the Metronidizole that my kids started to eat. so, please try to be patient. after such a sore tummy and intestines, you have to just give them time to heal.

 

You could try Slippery elm. in powder form. add a small amount of HOT water to it. It makes a slippery paste. Get a turkey baster (small one if possible) and give it to your boy 3 times a day... Go to www.greyhoundgang.org ,,, Claudia has more specific instructions on her web site. This slippery elm will help heal the intestines and will help stop the diarrhea .

 

I hope this helps! Good luck to you ~ I know how it goes when you are obsessing over your babies! :bighug

lorinda, mom to the ever revolving door of Foster greyhounds

Always in my heart: Teala (LC Sweet Dream) , Pepton, Darbee-Do (Hey Barb) , Rascal (Abitta Rascal), Power (Beyond the Power), and the miracle boy LAZER (2/21/14), Spirit (Bitter Almonds) 8/14

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