Not Eating/upset Stomach

[Guest mnblewis1]

My grey has always been an enthusiastic eater. She has never missed a meal and has always ate her food and made sure I was up in the morning to feed her. Starting at the end of March, she wasn't waking me up as usual and was not eating her food right away as usual. We were visiting family so I just thought it was because we were away from home, even though it never bothered her before. I thought when we got home it would get better, but it got worse. I thought maybe it was because it was getting hot out and it was bothering her. She would not eat right away, but by the end of the day she would eventually eat the normal amount she had been getting. Since she was eventually eating it all, I didn't really worry. Occasionally she would try to bite some grass or I would hear her tummy rumbling. The amount of food she was taking in took a sharp decline last week and I noticed some weight loss. I took her to the vet last week and am not confident with his diagnosis. He gave her an antibiotic in case it was something bacterial in the digestive tract. She started those 5 days ago. Her other blood work came back with high bilirubin, high creatinine, high HGB, high HCT, and low platelet count. He also requested T4 for thyroid. It came back at 8.7 with a normal or 8 to 40 so he is putting her on a low dose of solxine. He is not even addressing her stomach issue which i don't think was helped by the antibiotic. I thought she ate better yesterday, but today she has not taken a single bite except for the lunch meat I put her pill in. She is not as active as she had been, but still occasionally tries to play. I don't know if giving the thyroid meds will help her appetite or her upset tummy.

[greysmom]

I'm thinking that sounds more like a kidney issue. The thyroid will not help her appetite or stomach issues (unless you supplement enough that she's getting too much). I also would not have even begun supplementation in the absence of any other symptoms.

 

Time for a second opinion, or, if you trust this vet, go back to him for a further exam.

 

What kind of kibble are you feeding? Many people have reported problems with Taste Of The Wild lately. Any vomiting or diarrhea? How are her teeth?

[a_daerr]

Agree with Chris that the rest of the bloodwork sounds off. Were these values in the "high but still normal" range, or actually "high"?

 

I posted a thread about a similar issue I had with my boy not eating. We ran bloodwork too, but unlike your girl, everything came back unremarkable. I eventually solved the problem by swapping out his kibble for a new bag (IAMS) and eliminating a skin and coat supplement that may have spoiled.

[Guest sireltonsmom]

I'm changing my kids to IAMS. Beau had the rumble tummy and bad poos. He's also on a probiotic. All is improving. I can't address levels, but a transition to new food might help. Good luck. Sure hope she thrives.

[greyhead]

It sounds like a kidney problem, and with the low platelets it could be connected to a tick-borne disease. Have any tests been run for that?

 

Improving thyroid function can help the kidney situation indirectly, by contributing to optimal blood flow through them (to carry out wastes). Not that that's how you treat kidneys, of course! I can provide citations from human medicine if you like.

[Guest mnblewis1]

Upon further research on my own, it is normal for greyhounds to have higher that normal HGB and HCT levels and the platelet count can be inaccurate because of platelet clumping. So, the only off reading is the thyroid which is at the very bottom of the normal range. She also has had a fever. They ruled out lyme disease. I did try switching her kibble. I had her on purina one and switched to Iams. She showed interest initially but has since lost all interest. She will eat chicken baby food and some treats. There has been no vomiting or diarrhea. Her teeth are okay. Her littermate passed away a few months ago from kidney failure so that was a concern, but the vet said that her bloodwork ruled out kidney.

Edited July 1, 2014 by mnblewis1

[greyhead]

Without knowing the test values and ranges, it's hard to know what "high" means for your dog. How high was the creatinine? I can tell you from experience that a BUN in normal range doesn't mean good kidneys if the creatinine is too high. (GH's can have higher creatinine than other breeds without being pathological, but even they have limits -- which tends to vary by individual and the nature of the kidney trouble.)

 

Did they test for any other TBD's besides Lyme?

 

Have you done a fecal for worms? That not-eating-early happens at our house when there is a worm resurgence. And there is grass-eating and feeling punky. Poop is not necessarily abnormal in appearance.

 

You could also have a fecal culture, to see if there's a bacterial overgrowth. (Here the poop should show some abnormal appearance.) That's what we had to do a few years back, because none of the other testing showed it. (Well, in retrospect, the cobalamin/folate test that showed intestinal malabsorption indicated probable SIBO, but my vet didn't quite get it.)