Tummy Troubles, Losing Weight, But Always Hungry

[Guest Forewatch]

Laura is 13 1/2. She's had tummy troubles off and on for four years. She would have stomach grumbling and severe pain. But the next day, she would be fine and doing zoomies in the back yard.

 

Lately she's been sick all the time. She has constant pain, a grumbly tummy, formed stools five times a day, she's STARVING all the time but losing weight.

 

I've had her to my vet, along with an internist at a big animal hospital. Her blood work is normal, thyroid panel normal, X-rays normal, sonogram normal, stool samples normal, urine normal, EPI negative. They suspect Irritable Bowel Disease. No endoscopy for her because she's too old.

 

She's been on novel diets, gluten free, Hills ID, Hills Z/d.. And now I'm cooking for her as per vet recipe.

( pork loin, garbanzo beans, baked potato, oil, and Balance IT vitamins). She also gets digestive enzymes.

 

She had a week on antibiotics, and later, flagyl in case she had worms that didn't show up in the stool sample.

 

Another vet I consulted is suspecting atypical Addisons Disease. She had a resting cortisol test which came out borderline, so she's having the more conclusive test next week.

 

But what doesn't fit is why is she so hungry? IBD and Addisons both have anorexia as a symptom.

 

While I wait to have this test done (vet is away for a week).. Any theories, feedback, etc. would be appreciated. How can I get some weight on this dog?

Edited August 25, 2016 by Forewatch

[smurfette]

I don't know if it goes against your vet's orders but when Col got thinner and thinner (he is 12) I started adding

beef fat - is this the right translation? and rice bran oil to his diet. A very nice GTer gave the advice to feed scrambled eggs and that seemed to do the trick - I give an egg once a week now, raw as long as they can eat outside. Inside foot will be scrambeled eggs for everyone.

I feed raw in combination with cooked noodles, potatoes or rice, some vegetables.

[cleptogrey]

i had a dog with Addison's disease. he stopped eating point blank. when my vet ran blood work that was what showed up. i believe the test was a shot of predisone and he responded well. he returned back to his old self. then we played with the meds to get the perfect dosage. he did better on predisone/florineff 2x daily combo vs. the new monthly shot. addison's is a complete shut down of organs if you look it up. no appetite what so ever.

 

what's the calorie count of the current food you are feeding. not all foods are created equal.the hills ID is pretty high, are you feeding dry or canned? the canned is like giving candy to your kid- the dogs love it! also, supplementing with cooked white rice/pasta/yams will add the calories and they are easy to digest. how many times a day are you feeding your dog? how about breaking it up into 3 or 4 meals a day.

[Neighsayer]

I have had several older dogs who wouldn't eat much. They all loved vanilla ensure.

[Time4ANap]

Have you tried feeding smaller amounts more times per day. Rocket is almost 11 and loves to eat, but was having more frequent diarrhea. I went to three smaller meals per day instead of 2 larger ones and that seemed to help. I've talked to others who have had to make similar adjustments as their dog aged.

[Guest Forewatch]

I feed her several times a day. The vet gave me a recipe of pork loin, garbanzo beans, baked potato, oil and Balance IT supplement. We are now doing gluten free. I'm just at wits end. I don't know how to help my girl.

 

Wednesday she goes in for the Addisons test... But again, she's always hungry, never satiated. I don't know how to help her.

[EllenEveBaz]

No ideas, just

[Guest Forewatch]

Thank you Ellen. ❤️

[Batmom]

Wasn't clear if she's having diarrhea and/or vomiting or not?

 

Will she eat more if you feed her more?

[Walliered]

I buy Rice baby cereal. It is 50 calories per 1/4 cup and they seem to like it. I just put it on top of their food. Seems once I prime him with the cereal, he just eats the rest of the food in his bowl. He has IBD so it is very tricky with the food. I think I will try Ensure next.

[Guest Forewatch]

She's starving! Even when she has stomach pain! She eats, and eats, and eats! No diarrhea and no vomiting. Just upset stomach, tummy gurgling, and losing weight.

[Batmom]

If she's tolerating the food well, I'd give more of it -- maybe sneak an extra meal or two in each day -- and see if that helps her at all. Hope you can get to the bottom of things!

[Guest KarenD]

I'm not a vet and the vet and I still don't know what was wrong with Lucy but she started the same symptoms. Went from 63lbs to 45! Ate all of the time.

Long story short we have her on 1/8 tsp of Viokase-V twice a day (a powder on her food). It's a pancreatic enzyme. Apparently Lucy was not extracting any nutrients from her food.

This stuff saved her life. She stabilized in about 3 weeks and started gaining the weight back. She's up to 58 lbs and looks better than ever.

She is 9 now and acts like a 3 yr old.

Worth mentioning. Hope you find an answer.