Wizard Update

[Guest SusanP]

Wizard is going down to 5 mg prednisone 1x a day today. We've seen some overall improvement in his most severe symptoms as we lowered the dose, but I think his original problem is still there. He is very interested in food again but seems almost afraid to eat, eats only a little bit at a time. He'll eat soaked kibble now, but also some babyfood and peanut butter, home made biscuits and cheese, but his appetite is up and down throughout the day. He has spells of pacing and restlessness, even in the middle of eating, and we've had a couple of accidents in the house over the last week (though one may have been Zippy during a T-storm while I was at work).

 

He has gained a little weight back, and the AC officer who came to inspect our "kennel" yesterday said she'd never have realized he was sick if I hadn't told her. He still walks slowly most of the time when we go out, he still seldom goes downstairs/outside in the back yard, he still isn't eating normal amounts/types of food in a normal way. Head spasms have diminished to maybe 1-2 every 3rd day, still has occasional spells of panting. He seems alert and pays attention to what is going on in the house. But he doesn't join in the roo-fest when the kids practice saxophone.

 

I"m planning to talk to our vet today about when we can try a different med for IBD. I don't know if we need to get him off the prednisone entirely first or not. Of course we still don't know if IBD is *really* the problem. He has become weaker, muscularly, through all this, and I still see occasional stumbles with hind feet- occasionally he seems a tad off-balance for a moment. I worry that these could be due to a neurological issue rather than his weakened condition and intestinal discomfort, but I'm not willing to put him through a neuro exam at Ames--we did that with Zippy once, and it was long and stressful for her (they brought her back to me in full T-storm mode panic) and Wizard is not tolerating even routine handling well now, things like washing his face, etc... The vet said if it's neurological, we won't be able to do anything anyway--so all I can think to do is to proceed with IBD tx for now. He has not had any diarrhea or vomiting through this, only loads of intestinal gas and slightly thickened intestinal walls. They did not entirely rule out the possibility of cancer but given that early signs of this started way back last fall, they think it unlikely. It's hard to think this through.

 

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. We're sort of back to square one now, but the scariest part was what the prednisone did to him.

[galgrey]

I don't have any new ideas at this point but I'm glad he's doing better. The muscle weakness could also be related to the pred. so you could still see some improvement in that area. I know how frustrating it is to not know exactly what's wrong and what, if anything, can be done to help them. I continue to send you and Wizard positive, healing thoughts.

 

Wizard is going down to 5 mg prednisone 1x a day today. We've seen some overall improvement in his most severe symptoms as we lowered the dose, but I think his original problem is still there. He is very interested in food again but seems almost afraid to eat, eats only a little bit at a time. He'll eat soaked kibble now, but also some babyfood and peanut butter, home made biscuits and cheese, but his appetite is up and down throughout the day. He has spells of pacing and restlessness, even in the middle of eating, and we've had a couple of accidents in the house over the last week (though one may have been Zippy during a T-storm while I was at work).

 

He has gained a little weight back, and the AC officer who came to inspect our "kennel" yesterday said she'd never have realized he was sick if I hadn't told her. He still walks slowly most of the time when we go out, he still seldom goes downstairs/outside in the back yard, he still isn't eating normal amounts/types of food in a normal way. Head spasms have diminished to maybe 1-2 every 3rd day, still has occasional spells of panting. He seems alert and pays attention to what is going on in the house. But he doesn't join in the roo-fest when the kids practice saxophone.

 

I"m planning to talk to our vet today about when we can try a different med for IBD. I don't know if we need to get him off the prednisone entirely first or not. Of course we still don't know if IBD is *really* the problem. He has become weaker, muscularly, through all this, and I still see occasional stumbles with hind feet- occasionally he seems a tad off-balance for a moment. I worry that these could be due to a neurological issue rather than his weakened condition and intestinal discomfort, but I'm not willing to put him through a neuro exam at Ames--we did that with Zippy once, and it was long and stressful for her (they brought her back to me in full T-storm mode panic) and Wizard is not tolerating even routine handling well now, things like washing his face, etc... The vet said if it's neurological, we won't be able to do anything anyway--so all I can think to do is to proceed with IBD tx for now. He has not had any diarrhea or vomiting through this, only loads of intestinal gas and slightly thickened intestinal walls. They did not entirely rule out the possibility of cancer but given that early signs of this started way back last fall, they think it unlikely. It's hard to think this through.

 

If anyone has any ideas, let me know. We're sort of back to square one now, but the scariest part was what the prednisone did to him.

[Guest SusanP]

Thanks, galgrey. The vet agreed that muscle weakness from the prednisone is a distinct possibility. He'll stop taking the prednisone next Tuesday, we'll wait 3 days, and then she is going to try putting him on sulfasalozine for the intestinal trouble. Has anyone used that med for IBD and how did it work? Susan

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Thankyou for the update! I really hope getting him off the pred helps. Reading about his symptoms again has reminded me of something I stumbled across when we were trying to work out what was causing Kelly's head spasms. I am NOT saying this is what's wrong with Wizard but some of the symptoms sound similar, maybe worth mentioning it to your vet if it hasn't been considered already as the article says although it's neurological it can mimic IBD. Canine Epileptoid Cramping Syndrome

 

Kelly hasn't had sulfasalozine but a friend of ours did for their spaniel which had colitis because of food allergies, it helped very quickly.

 

Continued good thoughts and to you and Wizard.

[TheFullHouse]

Good thoughts for Wizard. I hope everything gets straightened out soon.

[Guest SusanP]

Stripeyfan, I've passed the info about canine epileptoid cramping syndrome on to our vet to check out and consider. I'm wondering...! Thanks for the info, and thanks for the good thoughts, everyone!

[Batmom]

Hope reducing the pred continues to bring improvement. Gentle scritchies for your sweet handsome boy.

[Guest SusanP]

You know, in a lot of ways he's better now that he's almost off the prednisone, but his original problem is worsening; he's been pacing, checking out food, but unwilling to eat much yesterday and so far early this morning. I'm worried about him because it's going to be a week or so before the vet can put him on something else that may help--waiting to get all the pred out of his system. Yet he does seem to be in a bit of distress at times. It hurts to see him uncomfortable and unhappy and I don't know what to do for him *right now*!

[Batmom]

Did he have an abdominal ultrasound / x-ray? Forgive me for forgetting details.

 

Have you tried him on Tramadol (painkiller)? If you think he's hurting in some way, that might help. Some dogs don't react well to it but most do. It's very safe and can be used with pred.

 

 

 

[Guest SusanP]

Yes, both xray and ultrasound. Both showed lots of gas in small intestine, and ultrasound showed slight thickening of intestinal walls. Because we are pretty sure he began showing signs of this way back last fall, the vets are pretty sure we are dealing with IBD, not cancer.

 

He was up several times during the nite to pee (once to poop) and peed on the kitchen floor at 3 am--still won't eat more than a few licks of babyfood, no peanut butter now, got him to drink a vanilla Ensure yesterday, though--vet's office is closed, but I can see if the e-clinic will rx Tramadol for us or ok it--we may have some around, tho I'm not sure if it's out of date.

 

It seems that the prednisone fixed some of his problems but created new ones. If we can just get him through til we can start him on the sulfasalozine...

 

I worry that he's been feeling so bad for so long (nearly 2 months)with very little relief--I wonder if we should have put him through all this, but if the sulfasalozine fixes him I hope he'll feel it was worth it. I feel guilty, though.

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Don't feel guilty. It sounds as if you are doing everything you possibly can for Wizard and then some. And he will know that. Beating yourself up about it won't help (I should know, I did it plenty with Kelly when he first got ill, especially after our first vet let us down so badly), and it won't change anything. Sending lots of positive thoughts and hugs.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Stripeyfan

[Guest SusanP]

We got the ok on Tramadol, but he had a pretty good day and gobbled lots of wet and dry kibble both this afternoon, so we held off on it for now. I'll talk to our own vet in the morning.

 

Stripeyfan, I will try not to feel guilty, but it's so hard to know how many weeks of illness we should let him go through on the chance we can find a medicine that works. But thank you for your encouragement.

Edited May 17, 2010 by SusanP