New Dog Painfully (Dangerously?) Thin, What To Do?

[Guest Vayda]

King goes to the vet today. On Monday he'd been with us for a week with no improvement (well...some improvement? Fewer accidents, but they're not gone, and his poop has not firmed up even a little bit). I called the vet Monday morning and the soonest they could get us in with the greyhound specialist was today, so he goes in at 10AM. Twice since then, he has refused to eat his dinner and in the morning/overnight drank a bunch of water and then vomited it back up. His appetite returned by lunch time, though.

 

We also found fleas on my strictly indoor only cats. My Abner is on flea preventative (bravecto) so if the fleas came from anywhere they came from King. I called my friend and she said she flea treated him two days before bringing him to us. She didn't go through the vet, so I'm sure she used an OTC medication, but she doesn't remember what it was. I'm still combing one or two fleas a day off King. I'm assuming he had a very, very bad flea infestation and the fleas I'm finding now (and the ones that attacked my cats) are coming from flea pupae that weren't killed by whatever she used to flea treat him. With fleas that bad, I think it's a safe assumption he has tapeworms. I still haven't dewormed him because the OTC dewormers available to me don't cover giardia and coccidia, which I was told are a concern, so I was waiting for the prescription stuff for that.

 

My fear is that he was neglected for too long and his sensitive stomach developed into something serious or chronic like IBS or organ failure. If that's what's happened, I just don't see how I can keep him It absolutely breaks my heart to write. He's such a sweet dog. But two babies under two years old, crawling and putting everything in their mouths, and a dog that can't control his bowels? There's no way. It's just not feasible. We would need to work with our local rescue to find him a home that could give him the care he needs.

 

We will see what the vet has to say this morning, and just go from there. Good vibes in King's direction would be appreciated - hopefully this is just a parasite problem and he will be able to bounce back!

[Guest Vayda]

Holy cow. King is 53 pounds.

[Jenbo]

He's still losing weight? Oh no, I really hope this is an easy fix. Grrr to the guy who neglected this beautiful creature.

[JAJ2010]

I hope the vet can figure it out! If it's medical it might not be the care at the previous home.

 

Sunshine dropped a lot of weight scary fast a few months ago. I swear within a week she dropped almost 12 lbs. Xrays, blodowork, and an ultrasound, ended with the guesstimate diagnosis of IBD. 1/2 tsp of Tylan powder twice a day seems to have helped level her out. I still have her on a ton of belly and intestinal happy supplements and have been able to get her back on her normal raw diet. She now looks normal skinny instead of scary skinny. She's still on no table scraps and bland cookies. She's not happy about that!. I did catch Gary sneeking her a tiny bit of beef on tuesday in the kitchen... LOL

[Guest Vayda]

Well, the vet says bland diet until Monday. If it's not firmed up by Monday to call them. He's been dewormed (they did find worms in his fecal, shocker) and was tested for heartworms and put on a preventative. We will need to keep checking for fleas for the next several months. And the vet prescribed an antidiarrheal med.

 

They wanted to do a senior blood screen and an intestinal fluid test, but that was going to add $330 to the already $220 bill and when they said it was $550 I nearly went into labor.... Some deep breathing later the contractions stopped and they took off the intestinal fluid test and blood work.

 

Here's hoping the deworming and bland diet fixes things. If not I will have to contact the rescue because it's pretty plain I can't afford to give him the care he needs, let alone could I manage it with two tiny babies.

[PatricksMom]

Have you approached your adoption group about some financial assistance for his vet bills--this isn't like you adopted a dog and now can't handle his bills. Even if they don't normally do it, if the only real alternative to sorting out and hopefully treating his medical issues, is to give him up to the adoption group, it sounds like a win all around--King can stay where he's obviously loved and cared for and the group doesn't have find a foster and adoptive home for a boy in his condition.

[Guest Vayda]

I'm going to approach them if the deworming doesn't fix it. I'm really really hoping it's just parasite problems!

[NeylasMom]

What do you mean by "been dewormed"? And what kind of worms? Typically you need multiple doses several weeks apart to clear out a tough worm infestation.

 

I would also consider dosing with Capstar for the fleas. Its available over the counter.

Edited November 5, 2015 by NeylasMom

[Guest Vayda]

I'm not sure on the dewormer. My husband took him to the vet so I'll get more info when I get home from work. I'm guessing he got the first dose of the dewormer? But I'm not sure.

 

I would like him on a preventative for the fleas, not just capstar

[NeylasMom]

I would do a preventative for the fleas too, but that won't rid you of the current infestation like Capstar does. I don't know if Capstar is made for cats, but if it is and yours don't have medical issues precluding them from taking it I would Capstar everyone in the house.

[Guest Vayda]

Yes, they make a capstar for cats, but the moment we found fleas I put them all on advantage multi, which kills and prevents

 

King was dewormed with Drontal, which is a single dosage dewormer. He was also sent home with metronidazole, which is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections of the stomach. And he was given proheart so he's good for heartworms for 6 months.

 

Here's a pic of the paperwork showing what all was done today

http://imgur.com/vp1QUEc

[cleptogrey]

the flagyl/metronidazole works wonders but don't be surprised if you need to repeat the dosage. stay on top of it, quite often one needs to- a few days of excellent stools and then back to anything but. the rancid smell is a sure sign. the vet should be able to refill it without another visit. probiotics, if you can afford them don't hurt.....

 

also the worming may need repeating- even if they didn't find worms in that stool sample, they can still be there. , another full cycle of worming, not just the followup 2 weeks later. that's pretty normal. good news your new pup is on the mend.

Edited November 6, 2015 by cleptogrey

[Guest Vayda]

We will be closely monitoring his poop Good thing I'm used to changing diapers, lmao!

[Willowsmum]

Vayda,

The picture of King just breaks my heart. Please do keep photos and documentation to show how this man treated his poor dog. He is not fit to care for a houseplant, let alone a dog or human child. Should the jerk file for custody, all the info in this thread should help bolster your friend's case. Is there an animal control in the county that you can report the abuse to? It's be good if he had a record on the record, so to speak.

 

Thank you for taking care of the little guy. He's beautiful, and sounds like a wonderful dog! I second the over-boiled rice, yogurt, canned pumpkin and Olewo carrots--they have down wonders for my senior boy who had really runny stools after getting off antibiotics. His coat is soft as bunny fur now and a neat side effect is I think the Olewo carrots cured his dandruff. The Olewo is available on amazon and a little bit goes a really long way.

 

Best wishes with all that's on your plate. I'd reach out to your local rescue, perhaps they could help you out with this special case! He's obviously in very good hands with you, and a little help with the vet bills or kibble could give the poor guy some much-needed stability.

 

I swear, I'm pro-choice, but I think some people should lose the right to ever breed, let alone live in civilization, for abuse of animals or humans (and research shows one often leads to the other eventually)!

 

Hang in there, King!

[Guest Vayda]

I hadn't thought about reporting it to the authorities, but I think that's a good idea, especially now that I have his weight on record. It's written on the paperwork from yesterday as 51.2 pounds. King is pretty close in size to my Abner, as you can see from the pic, and Abner's racing weight was 71 pounds. So King is about 15-20 pounds underweight Which is insanity to me. I don't understand how you can watch an animal get that bad. I really don't.

 

I'll look into those carrots! I was worried about the dewormer and the antibiotics tearing up his tummy even as they help cure the root problem.

[Guest xengab]

The carrots are great for upset tummies! They also say they can help with worms.

 

We found advantage didnt work on fleas, neithere did frontline.. Fleas are immune to them.. so we use trifexis.

[Guest Vayda]

Come spring, I'll flea treat king with Bravecto. I like that it's a chewable that does fleas and ticks, because then my toddler can't touch him and cover her hands in poison (because her hands go into her mouth two seconds later, haha). I usually don't flea treat in the winter... I lost a kitten to a flea treatment once, because I was told I could use half an adult dose on her and... well, anyway, ever since then I try to be really cautious about flea medications and only use them exactly as prescribed and not double up on them

[juliemac]

if you find that you have a flea problem in the yard, you may also explore diatomaceous earth to complement your flea treatment. it is safe for the kiddies, and yet it can help reduce an infestation problem.

 

Good luck ... i do hope this sweetheart can recover from his previous treatment. He reminds me of my little grumbly girl Paige, who came from another home at 33# when she was nearly 11yo (racing weight 65#). She was just too frail to recover the lost muscle mass, but had a glorious life in my home.

 

How lucky that this boy is now in your hands ... and I do hope that your greyhound adoption group can assist if simple treatments are not enough.

[Roo]

I keep checking back for updates - how's he doing?

[Guest Vayda]

He's doing well! We have solid poop!!! Yaaay! I haven't been this happy about poop since my toddler got out of the peanut butter poop stage.... Yuck.

 

He's looking a lot healthier too, his hips and spine still show but the ribs are slowly fading away. We are on all kibble now, pro plan sensitive, and he seems to like it and it's not upsetting him. He hates being alone and loves walks,and he can open baby gates. Now that he feels better his personality is showing. He will just lean against you for ages, just hugging. He's sweet, and also kind of a jerk, because he will eat any food that isn't in a locked cabinet and has no reservations about climbing on a counter or table to get it!

This was taken on Saturday http://imgur.com/pQgYFA3

[Jenbo]

Awww, he's a Snuggled, how sweet.

[Meandmy]

Great update! Thanks for sharing

[Roo]

Aw, I'm so happy to see he's doing better!

[Wantsagrey]

That's so sweet seeing them snuggled up together. So glad they are friends!

[PatricksMom]

Thanks for the update and sharing an adorable picture. I know he's still too thin, but he looks better to me than in the picture you posted earlier, and it's great that he's doing better.