Very Frustrated And Mystified

[maryz]

I had Sherri cultured once for Clostridium bacteria when she ate the remains of a dead bird in the yard. She did develop HGE from it but the culture was negative.

Here is a link about it: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_dg_clostridial_enterotoxicosis

[greyhead]

Rascalsmom, our local lab normally cultures for E. coli and Salmonella, and they will culture a third thing. We requested it be for Clostridium perfringens, based on some research I'd done, and that's what it turned out to be. At the time, our dog was so sick, I said culture for everything possible! But it doesn't work that way. For what it's worth, Clostridium is one of the bacteria that's normally present in the gut; but circumstances can cause it to overgrow -- stress, antibiotics after a dental, whatever. Or they can pick it up from the soil! When there are way too many of a given bacteria, it leads to what's called SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. It might be good for you to do a search in H&M here on GT or Google it, to see if you read something that rings a bell. The main article that rang my bell isn't on the Net anymore, but I'll come back and post a link to the other article. Your vet might be interested in reading it too.

 

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2002&PID=2580

Edited October 26, 2011 by greyhead

[Guest iconsmum]

Well, gastritis in humans is generally nothing to worry about. All it means is general GI distress. It could be causing/making his diarrhea worse, and from what experience I've had it's something that runs its course if it's viral, and treat with antibiotics if it's bacterial (which it sounds like your vet ruled this out already with the fecal). If he's having true diarrhea (liquid poop 5+ times a day), you can give regular immodium, We give our 75lb boy one pill which stopped his diahrrea! You can give more, but I feel it's better to err on the side of caution. If he's not pooing more frequently than normal, then it really isn't diarrhea--just loose stool. Either of these can be caused by gastritis!

 

Keeping him on a bland diet is perfect. I've been told that you can give pepto bismol to dogs, also but have never done that myself. It might help when he's refusing to eat. And I agree with everyone else who has experience with bile vomiting from stomach being empty for too long. Hermes does that from time to time too.

 

Hope your boy feels better soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm certainly not a vet but I would never give pepto to a dog with ongoing stomach irritation - salicylate's a bleed risk, I think.

[rascalsmom]

Jack is on pepcid. I have never given Pepto Bismol to my dogs, maybe because I have such terrible associations with it, personally. When I was a kid, it was the ONE THING that would cause me to vomit instantly.

 

For dinner last night, Jack had a little kibble with some ground beef. He ate it all.

This morning, I again gave him a little kibble (like half his normal portion), with chicken and very few potatoes--again, he ate it all.

 

I have also increased his pepcid to 20 mg. before meals, instead of the 10 mg. I was giving him. The vet had told me 20 mg., but it seemed odd to me, being that the human dosage is 10mg. Maybe that's helping, too.

 

He has, after today, three more days' worth of sucralfate.

 

The poop still isn't great. I am wondering if I should put him back on the prescription diet he was on for awhile (Iams Intestinal/Low Residue).

Edited October 27, 2011 by rascalsmom

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Ok, for it's worth (and that may not be a lot!) here are my thoughts.

 

The yellow bile is something I deal with in Sadie. I had to learn the spacing of meal times to get that one right, but sometimes she still vomits bile. She's on meds that upset her tummy somewhat. Sometimes even giving her a piece of bread helps limit that.

 

Spud has had consistently soft poop/diarrhea on many kibbles. The only ones that I found that work are grain free. He's on Nature's Variety salmon/sweet potato now. It's about $35/33 lb bag so not terrible on the wallet. He did really well on Taste of the Wild Salmon but we switched to Nature's Variety for $$ reasons. Spud spent most of the first 6 months we had him on a bland diet. I know how frustrating that particular situation is! All I can say is that sometimes it's worth experimenting with foods. We finally solved Spud's by putting him on raw but for many reasons I haven't been able to continue that. Also, it sure doesn't work for all dogs.

 

Lots of dogs have bad reactions to tramadol so that could very well be the panting/stress/pain reaction he seemed to have. What did your vet say to this? (maybe I missed that in the previous replies)...

 

None of this may be helpful but I thought I'd weigh in. Please give your sweet boy a kiss from me. I hope you find answers soon!

[krissn333]

Might be worth it to do a CPL to rule out pancreatitis. Hope he's feeling better soon!

[rascalsmom]

Jack had bloodwork on 10/11; it was called "general senior profile" (even though he's not really a 'senior', at 6 years)....would that check for pancreatitis? The vet said all his numbers were normal, but I don't know if that was checked.

 

He seems to be feeling a whole lot better the past couple of days; he is eating well--kibble with chicken breast now--and he's more like himself, which means getting a toy and playing while I make his dinner. And actually ACTING like he's ready for his meals.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Spud, Mary Jo. I, too, wonder if a food switch would help. The vet seemed to think that one of the more high-end foods would not work, but we've never discussed grain-free. She thinks the grain part provides fiber, which a dog with loose stool would need. It's very confusing, and you don't know what to think.

 

But at least he's feeling better. No more rimadyl for my boy. I suspect that may be what caused the stomach issues in the first place.

 

One more question--how long should I give him Pepcid?? Is it OK to discontinue that, now that he seems better?

[sweetdogs]

 

One more question--how long should I give him Pepcid?? Is it OK to discontinue that, now that he seems better?

 

I would keep him on pepcid & sucralfate until he's eating & pooping normally for a while. It can take time for the stomach to heal & you don't want any setbacks. Glad to hear he's feeling better.

[robinw]

I'm so glad that Jack is still eating