Skinny Boy

[Remolacha]

Glad the test results came back neg, even if it means you are still looking for a cause. I would agree about double checking the giardia, it can be a b*tch to get rid of. Fletcher got it from eating feral cat poop and it took three courses of meds to finally get rid of it.

[Mystella]

Yes she rechecked the giardia twice to be sure it was gone, both times using the 3 day sample and sent out to lab not done in house, giardia is clear.

 

My vet also thought we may still need to work in finding just the right diet for him but said 'lets change only one thing at a time, otherwise we can't tell which one is working or not working, one step at a time grasshopper'

 

so keep feeding the increased and tolerated food but add the tylosin, when poops slow down and firm up then we can try the food issue. She was thinking along the lines of keeping the NB which he enjoys and tolerates well and adding some home coooked add ins and/or puppy food for higher calorie intake, though the amount is high right now.

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Okay vet just called me Jeffy does NOT have EPI or SIBO

 

that he does'nt but that we still don't know what issue is.

 

He is going to start a course of Tylosin (sp?) to see if he is responsive to that as next step so seems she is thinking along the same path as Marty, oops sorry, Tubotaina, and Stripeyfan.

 

 

 

Definitely that it's not EPI or SIBO! If the giardia etc has caused damage to the mucosal lining of his intestines (which it can), this alone can intefere with food absorption, even if the pancreas is functioning well. Like I said in an earlier post, this is basically the problem Kelly's been left with because of his worms. Forgive me if I've already asked this or if you've already said, but have you done a folate/cobalamin test to see if the small intestine is absorbing food properly?

 

As for his food, I agree with your vet - if he is tolerating it, keep him on it for now. Kelly's diet isn't an 'ideal' diet b/c it's so limited BUT he can eat it without getting blowout D and having weight melt off him and that's really all that matters to us. To me the quality of the dog's life is what's important - even if that means they're on meds or a weird diet or whatever. We are hoping later this year to try adding 'new' (homecooked) ingredients to Kelly's diet but if we can't, then so be it.

 

Give it time, it may be several months before you notice a real improvement (it did with Kelly and he even CONTINUED to lose weight after he first went on his meds) but rest assured Jeffy has the power of GT behind him and a plentiful supply of healing thoughts continuing to come his way.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Tylosin tastes massively nasty. (I once got a taste of it. O.M.G. Wow. And many strong curse words. I can understand how just a taste of it can make dogs stop eating favorite treats if there's even a whiff of tylosin near them.)

 

To get it into Sam successfully, I bought thin-sliced smoked turkey. I'd put the powder in the center of a slice, roll and fold it up into a small ball, then pop that into Sam's mouth. He'd swallow it whole. Jacey got an empty slice of turkey so she wouldn't feel slighted--and so Sam wouldn't suspect anything.

 

The tylosin didn't help Sam, but it didn't cause any harm, either. After three weeks of tylosin, I stopped it and started adding a fiber supplement* and a probiotic capsule** (all at the vet's suggestion). Those were successful in halting Sam's occasional diarrhea and weight loss. No pudding poop in weeks.

 

Meanwhile, Sam's still getting his venison-and-potato kibble since he tolerates it well most of the time. These days he gets four and a half cups--instead of three--and his weight loss has finally stopped. I'm reluctant to change his kibble or try adding high-calorie treats for fear of tipping him into massive diarrhea.

 

*Chewable Fiber Choice--doesn't have to be taken with 8 oz of water. One wafer at breakfast, one at dinner.

**Phillips' Colon Health Probiotics capsules. Don't try Activia unless you're sure Jeffy doesn't have lactose issues. One capsule a day at mealtime. Since it caused me (and Jacey, I think) a bit of (short-lived) stomach upset, we're all taking the probiotics at dinner time so I'm home to take the dogs out when they need to go.

[greysandmollie]

Carolyn....

 

No helpful advice...just hugs for Jeffy and you. Mine are all little porkers so no understanding of dogs having a hard time putting on weight.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I'd worm him anyway even if the fecal is clear with panacur for 5 days.

Agreed. Actually if he has a history of Giardia, I would do Panacur for 7 days even. The talk is that Giardia is showing some drug resistance to Flagyl now. Also, Flagyl will not treat other types of worms (hooks, whips, etc). Whipworms in particular often show a false negative on fecal exams. Teagan had a case of whips and hooks that took 2-3 treatments of Panacur to cure.

 

What was Jeff's racing weight? Just wondering where he is in relation to that.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2011 by LindsaySF

[Mystella]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the good thoughts and suggestions for my sweet boy.

 

Jeff Gordon never raced, he came to me, via super fostermom, from the farm as he 'wouldn't chase the lure'

 

He has lost 9 lbs in a year. We panacured him before we found the giardia as a 'just in case' after the first negative fecal.

 

I sprinkled the tylosin on his dinner last night and his breakfast this morning and he snarfed it down no problem.

 

Yes his colbamin and folate were tested at the same time we did the CLT or whatever the EPI test was called. I didn't get the exact results but my vet said he doesn't have EPI or bacterial overgrowth.

 

She gave me a fifteen day course of tylosin to start and said call her at day 10-12 and report if it seems to be having any effect.

 

Donna - Stella was a 'full figured' gal and ate only 1.5 to 2 cups a day (plus treats of course) to keep her weight in check so this is new to us too!

[Guest momofevie]

Sending you and Jeff good thoughts. And since Jeffy needs to put on a few lbs...

[LuvEarsies]

One of our hounds is on tylan powder long term, as Turbotania said "the food would shoot right through him" Ever since we put him on the tylan powder (1/4 tsp with eachmeal) he has great poops we mix the tylan with about a tbsp of pumpkin to mask the taste and stir it into his TOTW Pacific Stream kibble,he inhales his meals. He's doing great now, thank goodness for tylan powder!!!

[Guest june]

Hope things get figured out soon. Sending prayers and good thoughts.

june

[KF_in_Georgia]

I sprinkled the tylosin on his dinner last night and his breakfast this morning and he snarfed it down no problem.

 

Hooray for this. Considering what awful things our dogs think are "treats," I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a dog might think tylosin is yummy. But if you get some tylosin on your fingers, you really really want to wash it off before you get an accidental taste.

[Mystella]

Now all I can think of is 'I should try it, how bad is it'

 

I sometimes think a part of my brain stopped developing at about age 10

[tamara3462]

Now all I can think of is 'I should try it, how bad is it'

 

I sometimes think a part of my brain stopped developing at about age 10

 

Oh, you should definitely try it. I have tasted both Tylan powder (it really is awful) and Bitter Yuck (which was worse and almost made me vomit). Clearly my brain stopped developing when yours did!

 

When my Elena was on tylosin, she never had any issues with eating it either. I gave it to her in a spoonful of peanut butter and I am pretty sure she would eat anything if she also got PB. Of course, this was also the dog that sat there and licked all the Bitter Yuck off her bandage, which is why I decided to taste that stuff, thinking I must have gotten a bad batch.

[Guest Greyglo]

Prayers and good wishes being sent to Jeffy from here -

[KF_in_Georgia]

... licked all the Bitter Yuck off her bandage, which is why I decided to taste that stuff, thinking I must have gotten a bad batch.

 

I got an accidental taste of Bitter Yuck once, too--the spray bottle leaked. With BY, it's only nasty at first. A subsequent taste (clearly, I'm stupid that way) doesn't taste nearly as bitter. My Sam used to lick the BY off his leg and bandage, but leave the wound alone.

 

(When I was a kid, I'd brush my teeth with a mint toothpaste, then go down to breakfast and drink a glass of whatever fruit juice Mother was serving. Often it was grapefruit juice--which I love--or orange juice. The first taste after the toothpaste was nasty. By the second taste, my tastebuds had adjusted and the juice was fine. The BY hits me about the same way as the toothpaste-with-a-grapefruit-chaser did.)

 

My vet had Sam on 1/2 ml (I think) of the tylan/tylosin, twice a day. They gave me a little snapped off piece of plastic with lines marked on it. I'd use a straw pinched shut to draw up a bit of the powder, fill the marked plastic thing to the proper line, then dump the plastic thing so the powder was inside the piece of lunchmeat I used to disguise the tylosin. But that meant I got a bit of the powder on my fingers, and one time I forgot to wash it off. At that point, I started wondering if tylosin could be applied topically as a lick-deterrent when a dog licks through Bitter Yuck. I think Sam accidentally got a taste of the tylosin once or twice; he'd narrow his eyes at me as he ate his piece of smoked turkey, but he never became so suspicious that he refused to take the tylosin (or the turkey). I just wished it had worked better for Sam, but in two different tylosin prescriptions about a year apart, I couldn't tell that the tylosin did him any good. This last time, after three weeks on the powder, I told the vet I didn't think it was helping any at all. The vet said to just quit it cold turkey and see if anything happened. Well, nothing happened. No diarrhea. No blow-outs. Now Sam takes fiber supplements and a probiotic capsule. And, figuring that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (or vice versa in this case), Jacey takes the fiber and probiotics. And since those things are good for people as well as dogs, I've started taking the fiber and probiotics. In fact, I started them about 48 hours before the dogs did, so I'd know whether to expect any gastric upset in the dogs. Sam hasn't put back the weight he lost (he weighs just 60 pounds), but he seems to feel fine and the occasional diarrhea hasn't made an appearance in the last 4 weeks (it was showing up once or twice a week before).

[grey14me]

I'm just cracking up at everyone tasting this stuff

[Mystella]

i havent yet, I figured I'll be the one person to have some sort of allergic reaction and then have to explain to ems why I ingested a drug used mainly for pigs and not approved for humans.

[NeylasMom]

i havent yet, I figured I'll be the one person to have some sort of allergic reaction and then have to explain to ems why I ingested a drug used mainly for pigs and not approved for humans.

 

Any improvement yet? Or too soon to tell?

[EllenEveBaz]

Adding our hopeful thoughts for a good report.

 

So -- anybody whose dog likes poopsicles feel tempted to try those? How bad could they be, right?

[NeylasMom]

Adding our hopeful thoughts for a good report.

 

So -- anybody whose dog likes poopsicles feel tempted to try those? How bad could they be, right?