Wizard's Tummy

[Guest SusanP]

Wizard has been having problems for a week or two now (beginning a week or two after a dental with 3 weeks on antibiotics)--peeing and sometimes pooping in the house, needing to pee about every hour, restlessness, picky eating, dragging on walks, occasionally a bit of stumbling with hind foot/feet. An xray revealed massive amounts of gas in his intestines, particularly small intestines. Vet put him on metranidozole and Iams probiotics. 24 hours later, he was much better--walking at a normal pace, no stumbling, only one accident early in the morning each of the first two days, no accidents on the third. But gradually he seems to be backsliding. He's about 2/3 done with the meds.

 

Yesterday he was walking slowly on just a short walk, and when I was gone for just 2 hours following a second short walk, he peed and pooped by the back door. This morning, I let him outside and he peed right away, then dashed in. Maybe 10 minutes later, he was pacing to his food dish (but not eating) and back, and I noticed a smell--He'd pooped in front of his food dish! Stools are formed, not hard but not loose.

 

I just can't figure out what's going on with him. The vet suggested I try giving him a Tramadol an hour before a walk to see if it changed anything, and he did seem to walk faster, for awhile, then slowed again. I'm going to check in with her this morning.

 

Thyroid problems have been ruled out, bloodwork all looks good, xrays show no problems in spine, spleen, kidneys or bladder (ie: stones, enlarged organs, disc problems) urine test shows no sign of UTI (though we waited on the urine culture once the vet saw all the gas in his gut). Could it just be that the meds aren't helping the gas? If so, what then? The vet's next idea is an ultrasound and visit with an internal med vet in a nearby city. Is lots of gas ever a sign of something more sinister? Is there another treatment for extreme gas?

 

about 20 min later, he was pacing some more. Wouldn't go downstairs and outside in back, so I took him out front on leash, and he peed immediately.

 

Help?

Edited March 20, 2010 by SusanP

[Guest SusanP]

Ooops--help! I put this in the wrong forum somehow.. Please help me move it to Medical?

Edited March 20, 2010 by SusanP

[Batmom]

I'd try a different food for him, maybe starting with homecooked, mostly meat.

[Guest SusanP]

Something like hamburger with the fat drained off mixed with rice? Or any other ideas? We're vegetarian, and I'm not too good with meat, so something simple would be good.

[Batmom]

That would be good .

[Guest SusanP]

What proportion cooked hamburger to rice? 50-50? Or could I chop up microwaved chicken breasts into rice?

[Batmom]

I'd probably start with @ 1/2 pound meat and no more than 1 cup cooked rice per feeding. If he gets along with chicken, that would work. More than a day or two, you'll want to calculate calories to make sure he's getting enough but if his gut is complaining it won't hurt to feed him a little light for a few meals.

[Guest SusanP]

The confusion of a vegetarian trying to prepare meat! I got 93% lean ground beef, 6# of it, and cooked/drained it all at once. I cooked up some rice, too. I guess I'll have to freeze some of the meat. How long will it keep in the fridge once cooked? I'm not sure what half a pound looks like, about a cup maybe? Of course, the 3 other hounds will expect a taste too, which is why I got extra.

 

Wizard hasn't even been in to see what's cooking...I wonder if I should just wait until he seems hungry to feed him?

[Guest jaws4evr]

I'm totally no expert, but supposedly plain yogurt can help with digestive issues.

 

Also our non GH was on antibiotics for around a month, and had to urinate REALLY often, and tehre just wasn't anything we could do about it. It passed once he was off the meds, but when he was ON the meds he had several accidents in the house, several accidents in vehicle, and a great many "omg i need OUTSIDE" emergencies. He's a champion at holding it too so that was 100% due to the antibiotics.

 

The stumbling hind-legs would worry me if it were me.. poor guy

[Guest Houndie]

I am a bit of a fanatic about food storage, but I only leave cooked meat in the refrigerator for two days. I prepare batches of boiled ground beef, and then put individual serving sizes in zip lock sandwich bags, and freeze them. I freeze the bags flat, so there isn't a lot of thickness there, and they thaw in the frig pretty quickly. I like to have a few bags in the freezer, so when we have stomach issues, I don't have to worry about running to the store and cooking the meat.

[Guest SusanP]

At the rate Wizard's friends are helping him eat the beef, it will last only two days anyway!

 

Wizard is eating happily now, not having accidents indoors, but he just seems tired and is dragging on walks. Vet will tell me the next step on Monday. I'm scared.

[Guest Houndie]

I'm glad to hear Wizard is eating, and you won't have to take up freezer space with that beef. Sending good thoughts that Wizard will soon be well.

[Batmom]

Fingers crossed that his body just needs this different food and he will perk up in a few days.

[Guest Swifthounds]

The confusion of a vegetarian trying to prepare meat! I got 93% lean ground beef, 6# of it, and cooked/drained it all at once. I cooked up some rice, too. I guess I'll have to freeze some of the meat. How long will it keep in the fridge once cooked? I'm not sure what half a pound looks like, about a cup maybe? Of course, the 3 other hounds will expect a taste too, which is why I got extra.

 

Wizard hasn't even been in to see what's cooking...I wonder if I should just wait until he seems hungry to feed him?

 

I hear ya. I'm vegetarian as well and when I started raw feeding my crew it was a learning experience. I didn't know anything about cuts of meat, weights, or how to prepare them. I had to cruise the meat aisle and ask lots of questions along the way.

 

You don't need to but the 93% fat free if you're going to cook it and drain off the fat. The fat content only matters if you're feeding it with the fat (either raw or cooked and not drained).

[Guest SusanP]

Yeah, my parents scolded me (I'm nearly 50 ) for buying the low fat meat. I figured there'd be less fat to drain off, less trouble, less waste. They said it's not cost-effective.

 

Wizard isn't that interested in eating, even the beef and rice. He's been walking slow and pooped only a small, soft, orangy poop with a few browner areas. He doesn't go out with the other dogs, but he'll pee right away if I take him out front on a leash. I am so worried waiting for the vet to arrange something, and I don't want to leave him to go to work tomorrow, even though I'll be home a little after noon.

 

This seems like something worse than gas at this point and I don't know what to do to hurry things along and make him better, if we even can.

[Guest greytmiles]

The confusion of a vegetarian trying to prepare meat! I got 93% lean ground beef, 6# of it, and cooked/drained it all at once. I cooked up some rice, too. I guess I'll have to freeze some of the meat. How long will it keep in the fridge once cooked? I'm not sure what half a pound looks like, about a cup maybe? Of course, the 3 other hounds will expect a taste too, which is why I got extra.

 

Wizard hasn't even been in to see what's cooking...I wonder if I should just wait until he seems hungry to feed him?

 

When I had to switch Miles to a bland diet during a nasty bout of colitis, my vet told me the following...

1 part meat to 2 parts starch

Miles is ~80 pounds, so needs about 2 cups/meal.

So we did 2/3 c. boiled ground beef and 1 1/3c. overcooked white rice for each meal.

He was on ONLY the bland diet for 3 days and then I transitioned from the bland diet to a sensitive stomach kibble over the course of about 5 days.

We had a 'no treats' policy for 2 weeks during and after his colitis, and then were able to slowly reintroduce them one by one to help better figure out what might upset his stomach. So far, so good!

 

Hang in there!

Erin