Colitis Vs. Pancreatitis Vs. Epi Vs. Hookworm - Help!

[Guest WhinyHiney]

Hi all,

New member here! It's been a complex journey for our 5 year old girl, and we're hoping for some advice from this wonderful forum! Warning: novel ahead.

We adopted our girl Clover in early July. After 1 week of pudding poop streaked with blood, room-clearing gas, and a rumbly tummy despite a decent appetite (was eating about 2 cups of Blue Buffalo wilderness salmon or chicken flavored moistened with water once at night because she either hates her food and refuses to eat it until she's starving, or she only eats after her last walk of the day - we're not sure which), a vet checkup told us she had hookworm, which was treated with 2 rounds of Drontal plus and a 5 day course of Panacur.

During the time of her first Drontal plus dose, she proceeded to have slightly more formed poops, but still extremely soft as we continued the Blue Buffalo Wilderness food. She had less gas and less tummy rumbling around this time, but still present. We found out during this time that she refused to eat pumpkin or yogurt.

After 2.5 weeks, she started having loose pudding poops again, and we figured it was close enough time to deworm with Drontal again (technically we were supposed to give it after 3 weeks). She also got into the trash and ate several cooked ribs and chicken bones. She had horrible liquid maroon diarrhea which brought her back to the vet. We were never sure whether the liquid diarrhea was a reaction of the Drontal/hookworms dying, or irritation from eating too many cooked bones. The vet prescribed a 5 day course of 500mg 2xday metronidazole, and we put her on a bland chicken and rice diet again. Since running out of Blue Buffalo, the bland diet was slowly transitioned to a new kibble, Diamond Naturals grain free chicken and sweet potato flavor.

She seemed to like the Diamond grain free chicken food well enough, and would occasionally eat 2 cups 2x a day if I bribed her with add ins like sardines, boiled chicken, or cheddar and parmesan cheese (usually dinner and midnight snack - she's not a very enthusiastic eater of kibble in general, and always skipped breakfast/lunch). I also started giving her Fortiflora each day mixed in with cream cheese or peanut butter (she refused to eat her kibble with it), and her poops were AMAZING for about 2-3 weeks. We were also attempting to train her basic commands with cheese, and she was enjoying bully sticks, beef trachea, or greenies as her daily chew treat. She went from her racing weight of 52 to a healthier appearing weight of 55 during this time.

After these 2 weeks of perfect tootsie roll poops, no gas, and no rumbly tummy, the vet told me Diamond naturals food used to be the worst kind of food back in the 80s and made lots of dogs sick, and recommended changing foods after the current bag, so I did some research and found Fromm, which sounded like great food.

During the transition to Fromm Holistic Gold (grain inclusive) she started having pudding poops streaked with blood again. We panicked and tried to put her back on Diamond grain free, the whitefish flavor because of the great reviews here. We were not sure if it was the grain food transition or the cyclical loose stool happening again. Two fecals done within a week apart showed no parasites, but I was encouraged to deworm again, this time with a 5 day course of Panacur. She deteriorated scarily fast during deworming, refusing to eat and pooping a variety of tiny blobs of orange mucous every few hours, as well as having liquid maroon diarrhea again. The vet put her on a 4 week course of 250mg 2xday metronidazole with a different brand of probiotic, and did a variety of blood and stool culture/fecal exams, which all came up negative except for one test for pancreatitis that was mildly elevated. She also dropped back down to 53 pounds at this time.

The vet told us she definitely had some kind of colitis, but was unsure if it was from hookworm or a food/treat sensitivity. She told us again that Diamond was a bad brand of food and advised us to stay away from it. She also warned us that dogs cannot have cheese or any other fatty foods, which may (she didn't sound very sure) have set off a mild case of pancreatitis which could lead to EPI, necessitating pancreatic enzymes for life. We decided to cut out cheese, and tried a new high fiber, low-fat, different protein-based food, Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight Red Meat, which is 33% protein mostly beef, 9% fat, and 10% fiber.

We transitioned Clover to this new food from a bland diet of cooked/drained ground beef and rice along with the metronidazole, probiotic, and Olewo carrots, and after 3 weeks, her poops ranged in color from light brown to orange, and from pudding to formed but soft. She refused to eat more than 2 cups a day of this food, which was definitely not enough to maintain her weight, but she still ate bully sticks and beef trachea with gusto.

After 3 weeks of this, we had friends sing the praises of a raw diet, and decided to add 1 Primal beef patty each day to her 2 cups of kibble. She loves the raw patty and wolfs it down greedily any time of day I put it down instead of after her last walk of the day. However, after 1 week of the Primal, her stool has not improved, and is getting stinkier, with horrific gas, tummy rumbling, and grass-eating. She does not appear to have gained back the lost weight despite eating about 1200 calories/day in 1 meal.

At this point, we are completely out of ideas, and dangerously low on money for additional vet testing.

We don't know whether to finish off the bag of beef Primal since she's not had any improvement in 1 week of it, despite her LOVING to eat it more than any kibble. We don't know if we should try the chicken flavor of Primal since she seemed to do so well on a chicken based diet in the past. We don't know whether to ask the vet for more of the 500mg 2xday dose of metronidazole because she did so well after that first 5 day course rather than the second 3 week course of 250 mg. We don't know if we should try a different antibiotic such as Tylan. We don't know whether to try Olewo beets instead of carrots, since apparently beet pulp is the miracle worker in Iams Green Bag. We don't know if she actually had pancreatitis and need to continue a low fat, high fiber diet (I bought 5 different other brands of low fat, high fiber foods to try with various protein sources after the Blue Buffalo including Merrick, Wellness Core, Canidae, Annamaet, and Fromm). We don't know if she now has EPI and needs to be on pancreatic enzymes. We don't know if we can switch her back to Diamond Naturals grain free chicken, since it's not a low fat/high fiber food, and the vet seems to have a vendetta against it. We don't know if maybe we should try Iams green bag.

We are just lost as to what would be the next best step to try, and would appreciate any advice going forward.

Thank you!

Edited October 16, 2016 by WhinyHiney

[Houndtime]

I am not a vet, nor a medical person, but, it seems to me her main issue is that you have changed her food so many times over the past few months. I am not sure that you transitioned her with each new food. If the Diamond was working for you, you could have stuck with it. It is the food many kennels use at the track. Of course, raw would work and she would love it, but it involves preparation and is a little expensive. I think a good probiotic is in order to be given with her meal. Blue Buffalo is a very rich food and a lot of dogs can't tolerate it. I do use Iam's in the green back and give a tablespoon or two of BJ's organic chicken dog food from a can. I think you should stick to something and give it a chance to work. You can also add canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix, to her dog food for fiber. Just a tablespoon or two. The carrots should have helped as well.

 

This information is just from an average greyhound owner. I also find it interesting how often people find it necessary to change from whatever their dogs had been eating successfully. Of course, initially, she could have been stressed from the whole adoption process. Good luck with your new hound. She will come around, eventually.

[greysmom]

You've changed her food five times in four months - that's too often for any dog, let alone one who is intestinally compromised. Pick a food. She's having gas with a high protein food, so something about 20-25% protein content. If dogs have food allergies 95% of the time it's to chicken and corn, so pick a food with no chicken products and no corn meal. If that's the Diamond food she liked, then use that and stick with it. Your vet can advise you, but you have to go with what works for *your* dog.

 

Her variety of treats is probably contributing to her upset. Pick one or two - an every day treat you can use for training and rewarding, and a larger once a week treat like a trachea or bully stick. (My dogs get horrible diarrhea from any animal body part.)

 

She likely still has hooks, even with negative fecals. They are notoriously hard to clear. The protocol most people have had to use is Panacur, every three weeks, for at least 3 doses. Her stools are going to be bad, so you might just want to feed her a bland diet throughout this treatment and then begin to introduce a kibble to her food.

 

A bland diet should be a good, low fat protein source (non-chicken) - ground turnkey, ground beef, whitefish prepared in the most lowfat way you can (boil the ground meat or fry and rinse, poach the fish). And a carb source, again low fat. Many people use rice, but I find it just goes right through. I use overcooked pasta in beef broth, but you can also use sweet potatoes, regular white potatoes (no skins), peas, beans/chickpeas (mashed or whole). You'll need enough for at least 4 cups of this a day (1/2 protein, 1/2 carb), so pick something easy for you to prepare and store. A good probiotic is a must as well.

 

When you get to the point of introducing "regular" food, do it gradually. Replace the bland diet a 1/4 cup at a time, every 4 or 5 days. If the diarrhea begins again, stop and go back a step.

 

BUT you need to get her hooks under control before anything else will help. Hooks destroy the lining of the instestinal track, so it's very critical to get rid of them before major damage is done.

 

If you want a second opinion, don't be afraid to ask for a referral to an gastroenterologist or other internal specialist. I'm not sure how familiar your current vet is with treating greyhounds, but you may also want to consider a change there if she's not.

[MaryJane]

As already noted, go back on a bland diet of hamburger or fish with rice, noodles, or potato and a cooked and mashed green beans. Do this until the stools are a bit better. After about 1 week, you can add some cooked oatmeal and that adds some fiber which helps to firm up the poop. At this point, I would keep the dog on this food for about 1 month+ and then slowly start transiting off to a kibble.

 

Before doing any more worming - have them check the stool again for worms - if they are not there, I would not recommend worming as it is going to be irritating to the GI tract.

 

I would also remove most of the treats from the diet as one of those could be creating GI issues - also, check the place of origin of the treats and if any are from China then throw them out.

[Time4ANap]

Honestly, I'd find a new vet. There's too much bad advice coming out of yours.

 

Others have responded with good info, so I won't repeat that.

[Guest WhinyHiney]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

With respect to changing her food so often, she was on the first normal fat Blue Buffalo, Diamond grain free chicken, and the second low fat/high fiber Blue Buffalo all for nearly a month which we thought would have been enough time to work. However, at the end of each 3-4 weeks as she was finishing the bag, she would have another episode of cyclical, possibly hookworm-induced diarrhea or blood-streaked pudding poop that put her on a bland diet with metronidazole and probiotics, so we always transitioned bland food back to new kibble with pretty quick improvement within a week.The improvement just never got back to firm, tootsie roll poops with the exception of the Diamond chicken. So to clarify, she would get cyclical pudding poops every 3-4 weeks that coincided with her finishing the bag food that caused us to transition to bland diet/new kibble.

 

She was only on 1/2 cup of the Fromm food for 1 day and 1/2 cup of Diamond whitefish for 2 days mixed in with her normal Diamond chicken before I wormed with Panacur and her poops got so bad she needed to be on a bland diet again.

 

I would be willing to try putting her back on Diamond grain free chicken since she did best on that, but I'm also worried about her possible pancreatitis episode and keeping her on a low fat food. In addition, she just seems to not like kibble and will only eat what she needs to at the very end of the day when she's probably incredibly hungry. She seems to self regulate at 2 cups/day, but I worry this isn't enough to put her at a good weight, since she looked best and seemed happiest at 55 pounds when she was eating 3-4 cups of Diamond chicken a day. I want her to do well on the raw Primal because I've never seen her so eager to eat before, but her poop just doesn't seem good enough on it after 1 week, and most of the forum posts say that their dogs have turned around within 24 hours on raw. I'm still debating whether to continue finishing the current bag of Primal since she actually WANTS to eat it, despite having bad gas and eating grass on it.

 

She's been on the low fat Blue Buffalo for about 3 weeks now with limited improvement (we picked this one because we literally took her to the pet store, pulled out all the bags of low fat food, and let her sniff which one she wanted because we had no idea which one to pick and just wanted her to eat the one she was most interested in). At 2 cups/day of a huge bag, it'll be another 3 weeks before she finishes the current bag, but I'm not sure she'll actually improve or not if she's already been on it for almost a month now. Do I donate yet another bag of food and put her on a bland diet to transition to new food, or stick it out with the formed but mushy poops for another 3 weeks?

 

As for the bully sticks and beef trachea treats, I've been using the same brand as always (Barkworthies) and she didn't have any problems with it when she was on the Diamond grain free chicken, so I'm not sure that's what causing her problems now unless she developed a new problem with beef treats. We did stop the greenies since the vet said they had grain and fat in them, which might be causing her problems, although again, she tolerated them very well during the stint with Diamond grain free chicken. We were also hoping to keep her on the treats to help with daily teeth cleaning since she hates having her teeth brushed. I can try cutting her treats down to just the weekends and see if that helps.

 

I don't know what to think about her having continued hookworm. The vet told us that Drontal plus is one of the strongest wormers and is discouraging any more worming treatments since she's had 3 negative fecals in the last month. I also do think that the Panacur was very irritating to her, since her poops were ESPECIALLY horrible after the 5 day course of panacur, with nasty globs of orange mucous every few hours. Is that a normal reaction to worming with Panacur, or did she just react badly to it? Would Strongid/pyrantel would be less irritating? I read here that 1x Strongid for 6 weeks was great to cure hookworms.

 

She has been on a priobiotic daily for the last 2.5 months with limited improvement during this last bout of colitis/pancreatitis/whatever it was. Not sure if I need to double the probiotics?

 

Thanks again!

Edited October 16, 2016 by WhinyHiney

[Houndtime]

There is a blood test for pancreatitis. Did your vet do the test? At one point the vet we were using swore that Fuzzy had it and the test came back negative.

 

There is also something called the veterinarian's potato diet. You can only do it for 5 days. One white potato, one sweet potato, a leek, a turnip and one protein. I used two tablespoons of human canned chicken as the protein. Mash together after boiling the vegetables until soft.

 

Fuzzy had three weeks of diarrhea, from what source we will never know. He lost 12 lbs. We tried the potato diet as a last resort, and, having spent money on all kinds of prescription diets. Within 24 hours, the diarrhea was over.

 

Also, slippery elm bark, which you buy in the health food stores, soothes the stomach. You open the capsule and mix one or two with a little warm water and let her sip it like a tea. Do this before a meal and it will coat the stomach.

 

Once again, good luck.

[Hubcitypam]

Severely editing this as I am a broken record. Have had a poodle with severe pancreatitis (Halloween cat projectile vomiting) ans a grey diagnosed with colitis. They were different things. Poodle did fine for years on Natural Balance Ultra Light.

 

We fecaled, dewormed and tested the grey within an inch of his life. His poos were slimy and often had blood tinge in them. He had a standing script for Flagyl. This was before grain free was a buzzword and I tried Solid Gold. Wellness, California Naturals, Fromm's and what seemed like every other premium food out there. My epitaph should say "one day I got so pissed that I threw a bag of green Iams into my cart". I had fed it to my dobies years ago before "those in the know" started lecturing me on the demon corn.

Everything that came out of Rex for about 9 months was something I had to hose in as opposed to pick up. I figured I had nothing to lose and hurried up the transition. By the second day his poops were semi solid and a few days later you could bounce his poop off the sidewalk. YMMV. I demoed Blue Buffalo and got free product I couldn't feed to any of my dogs - it was too rich.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Hubcitypam

[Guest Sportingfields]

I am not a vet, nor ever will be, just my experience. You are trying to be a fantastic dog Mom, please, don't try so hard. It is very possible that after all you've tried, she has chronic pancreatitis. She is not wanting to eat because her tummy hurts afterwards. Eating is part of natural ingrained survival, eventually she becomes hungry enough to eat, then the cycle starts again.

 

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/11_11/features/Canine-Pancreatitis-Symptoms-and-Treatment_16081-1.html

 

Please, rest her tummy for 24 hrs, only give water. Then feed her anything that you choose that has between 25% protein and around 15-16% fat. Add a bit of water. If you feel you must add something, 1-2 TBSP of plain pumpkin, not the pie filling to help firm up. Leave it down for 30 minutes, if she doesn't eat, throw away and prepare fresh for the next meal. Adding water to dry kibble and letting it sit, promotes growth of yeast & stuff, which is not good for the tummy. Please, do not feed anything high in protein like Blue Buffalo, read those labels. Yes Diamond had a huge recall, so did Blue Buffalo earlier this year due to mold. It happens, there are sites you can check daily on recalls. I don't think any brand has escaped.

 

Until you get her eating, tummy and diarrhea settled down, do not give any treats, chewies, no people foods, obviously hide that trash can as she is inventive Everything you are giving has the potential to upset her tummy, runny stools and so forth. Until you get her stools normal for a month, don't give her anything except for her food. You can offer a small handful of the kibble as replacement for treats. Once her stools are firm, then add one thing at a time, that is the only way you can tell which of the in between meals extra are upsetting. Bully sticks are super greasy, please don't feed right those right now.

 

My granddog, a 10 yr old 100# Rottie has chronic pancreatitis thanks to the roomy feeding her bacon, bacon grease, baked potato and sour cream, pancakes with syrup and the list goes on, of course when DS wasn't around. She got super ill, finally got her straightened out. All she can eat is one particular food (TOW sierra mountain) and tiny dog size milk bone treats and only 2-3 of those a day. She can't have any other treats, chews ect that other dogs handle so easily and no people food, at all whatsoever! One bite and she has liquid diarrhea.

 

If your pup still has worms, then those are part of the problem, as possibly the worm med. is irritating an already raw digestive system. I suggest you go back to your vet or even a different one, ASAP. Get her tested for the pancreatitis ect ect ect and go from there.

 

Good luck and welcome, thanks for coming here for help.

 

ETA: my favorite racing owner/trainer whom has been in the dog business for 30 yrs says to never give the greys cooked hamburg, even draining the grease off and patting it dry. He says that they can't handle hamburg fats in cooked form, raw @ 93% fat free is no problem. This is against what any vet I've ever gone to, along with what you can find on the 'net. He feeds Purina Products, One & ProPlan, raw hamburg & canned/well drained & washed mixed veggies & whatever vitamins he feels that active racer needs. Take from that what you will

Edited October 17, 2016 by Sportingfields

[Hubcitypam]

Not a vet and don't play one on TV but when Poodle was so sick (after my sister feeding him a pan of bacon when I was asleep - sort of like Sporting field's grand-dog's case) the vet recommended w/d which is somewhere around 8 - 9% fat. I refused to feed cellulose as a main ingredient and went with other foods that were in the 9% fat range.

I'd get a second vet's input. I actually have three and am not hesitant to ask for a second or third opinion.

[NeylasMom]

I would switch her back to the Diamond chicken grain free that she seemed to do well on. If her stool is already nasty, I probably wouldn't bother with bland diets or transitions. If you are worried about her weight, consider just adding some cooked chicken breast to the kibble. And start her immediately on Vetriscience Probiotic BD. It contains probiotics in high amounts, but also other supplements that soothe the intestinal tract. It has been a lifesaver for me on many occasions and I always have some on hand in case I need it. I would do only that and eliminate all special treats (use plain chicken for training, skip the chews and bully sticks for now) and give it a few weeks. If she improves, then I'd wait about a month and then reintroduce things like bully sticks in small quantities one at a time.

[RedHead]

I agree, I would go back to what worked before (the Diamond kibble) just to see what happens. Homemade options often work well too if you are up for that. BalanceIt (https://secure.balanceit.com/) is one company I know of that does specialized homemade diets for various health issues. I personally love raw, but I would be hesitant to give it to a dog who's system and gut bacteria is completely out of whack. Sometimes the additional bacteria load can make things worse. It would be better to try once the system is calmed down (although other times people switch cold turkey and have great results...). Also, you mentioned you fed the raw with kibble. I would feed only one type of food for a few days (not mixed) to better be able to tell what is working and what is not.

 

Good luck!

Edited October 17, 2016 by RedHead

[Guest Sportingfields]

Not a vet and don't play one on TV but when Poodle was so sick (after my sister feeding him a pan of bacon when I was asleep - sort of like Sporting field's grand-dog's case) the vet recommended w/d which is somewhere around 8 - 9% fat. I refused to feed cellulose as a main ingredient and went with other foods that were in the 9% fat range.

 

I'd get a second vet's input. I actually have three and am not hesitant to ask for a second or third opinion.

Don't you just hate it when others think they know more than you do, when it concerns your dog?

 

Daisy can't even have Frosty Paws. The one time I gave them to her she projectile vomited so bad that we were ready to run her to the Evets. There is not one crumb of people that she can eat anymore. DS gives her, her pills in pill pockets & jams down the throat. Everyone hates it but she eats around the med if it's in her food. Our go pill hider to used to be liverwurst, until all this started and that also is out. As I said, there isn't one bite of people food she can eat without vomiting and then the diarrhea kicks in, all thanks to a fool for a roomy

Edited October 17, 2016 by Sportingfields

[cleptogrey]

Probiotics and Flagyl are a tricky combination. The Flagyl kills off the bacteria that the Probiotics are replacing. I just spoke to my vet about the two now that it looks like Annie is going on a maintenance dose of Flagyl. I too have been watching colitis,not fun. Flagyl,the right food,not too much fat and a couple of feedings per day and some pumpkin or owelo carrots and lots of patience are all in order. Invest in a large rice cooker with a timer,a nice treat for you

[greysmom]

Don't you just hate it when others think they know more than you do, when it concerns your dog?

 

Daisy can't even have Frosty Paws. The one time I gave them to her she projectile vomited so bad that we were ready to run her to the Evets. There is not one crumb of people that she can eat anymore. DS gives her, her pills in pill pockets & jams down the throat. Everyone hates it but she eats around the med if it's in her food. Our go pill hider to used to be liverwurst, until all this started and that also is out. As I said, there isn't one bite of people food she can eat without vomiting and then the diarrhea kicks in, all thanks to a fool for a roomy

 

Sorry! I laughed out loud at this!

 

FWIW, the commercial pill pockets have chicken in them, so I can't use them with my IBS/chicken intolerant dog. I have to make homemade pill pockets for her (2 parts peanut butter, 2 parts milk or water, 4 parts flour - mix and keep in the fridge). You might be able to substitute her wet dog food (or whatever she tolerates) for the peanut butter. I still have to pill her, but the product itself doesn't upset her stomach. She can't have *any* chicken at all - even the tocopherols made out of chicken fat that are supposed to be OK.

[Guest Sportingfields]

to Greysmom Yeah, she can't eat people anymore. She has such mean humans in her life

 

Thankfully the pill pockets don't bother Daisy. Individually both the peanut butter & milk don't agree with her.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Sportingfields

[cleptogrey]

by far greyhounds are the easiest dog in the world to pill. their throat is the same size as their neck. just open the mouth, stick your hand in and push the pill down. yes, you will get slimy but it washes off. what waste $$ on pill pockets.

 

as to low fat foods, that's been my search for the past year since i refuse to support hills. hills won't even send out regular coupons for their food. 3 or 4 coupons a year and that's it. i've written and spoken to customer service since my estimated cost using their stuff will be over $250 a month. figure it out- 8 cups a day for 2 dogs. a 27# bag is $83!!!! i don't think so, and that's not including their canned food at discounted $2.50 a can!!!!

 

taste of the wild, their fish line is 9 or 10% fat, holistic select/senior- 10% fat(that's what i'm trying now and knock on wood, o.k.), Nutro lite- either lamb and rice or chicken and rice- 8% fat, blue seal low fat- 7% fat. i went from most expensive to least on my list. boiled chicken breast when on sale has been $1.49 #, cheaper than canned dog food and i cook it up in the rice cooker, the rice is yummie! i have been supplementing the food w/ rice/pasta(eh, according to the dogs, but $.49 on sale, they will suffer), or yams and a glob of pumpkin.

 

even with 5 cups a day, 3 or 4 feedings- per dog i can't keep the weight on as i could w/ a 15% fat food.

[Guest Sportingfields]

If you want to fuss, you can make home biscuits by taking a bunch of the dry kibble that you are now feeding her, run thru your blender until fairly consistent size crumbs. Dump into a bowl, add just barely enough of water to make a dough. Mix well, press into about 1/2 dollar size cookies, place onto cookie sheet and bake @ 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool, store in fridge.

 

 

I hope you come back here, let us know how she is, and what happened at your next vet visit. Paws crossed for good news.

Edited October 17, 2016 by Sportingfields

[Guest WhinyHiney]

There is a blood test for pancreatitis. Did your vet do the test? At one point the vet we were using swore that Fuzzy had it and the test came back negative.

 

There is also something called the veterinarian's potato diet. You can only do it for 5 days. One white potato, one sweet potato, a leek, a turnip and one protein. I used two tablespoons of human canned chicken as the protein. Mash together after boiling the vegetables until soft.

 

Fuzzy had three weeks of diarrhea, from what source we will never know. He lost 12 lbs. We tried the potato diet as a last resort, and, having spent money on all kinds of prescription diets. Within 24 hours, the diarrhea was over.

 

Also, slippery elm bark, which you buy in the health food stores, soothes the stomach. You open the capsule and mix one or two with a little warm water and let her sip it like a tea. Do this before a meal and it will coat the stomach.

 

Once again, good luck.

 

At the time of her most recent maroon and orange mucous diarrhea episode, all of her lab tests came back normal except her platelets had dropped from when we first got her in July from 220k to 120k, and her PSL (the pancreatitis test) was mildly elevated. Her amylase and all other lab tests were normal. The PSL lab result did come with a note saying that this correlated with pancreatitis, but was not perfectly sensitive/specific. Our vet honestly wasn't sure if she actually had pancreatitis or not, but just told us to switch to a low fat food anyway just in case.

 

Thanks a million to everyone who offered advice! I thankfully have a WONDERFUL update for you.

 

We decided to finish the bag of raw food since it was so expensive, and her poops slowly became better than they were on the Diamond chicken! Dark brown, firm and formed, and most importantly, very little of it compared to the Diamond! She has now gotten to the point where she refuses to eat any kibble at night (we started separating the raw feeding and the kibble feeding as suggested by doing raw in the morning and kibble at night). One night we gave up and gave her a second raw patty instead of kibble because we were worried she wasn't maintaining her weight off 1 patty/day and her poops were perfect since then. She just knew better than we did what food was best for her. She gained .4 pounds at her most recent vet visit, so I think she's actually absorbing more of the food rather than pooping it all out into an orangey pile, hooray!

 

Our major dilemma now is figuring out how to feed her an exclusive raw diet on a limited student budget if she refuses to go back to kibble. The Primal we have her on now is very convenient, but pretty pricey at 5 bags/month at $40/bag. I would consider buying raw myself at the grocery store or butcher, but then there's the issue of her eating messy raw food it in our rented, carpeted apartment with no yard/patio.

At the time of her most recent maroon and orange mucous diarrhea episode, all of her lab tests came back normal except her platelets had dropped from when we first got her in July from 220k to 120k, and her PSL (the pancreatitis test) was mildly elevated. Her amylase and all other lab tests were normal. The PSL lab result did come with a note saying that this correlated with pancreatitis, but was not perfectly sensitive/specific. Our vet honestly wasn't sure if she actually had pancreatitis or not, but just told us to switch to a low fat food anyway just in case.

Edited October 21, 2016 by WhinyHiney

[greysmom]

Some people I know have a special mat or "feeding blanket" they use for indoor raw eating. It can get messy!

 

The biggest thing about Primal and other prepared raw food diets is that you don't have to worry about creating a balance - meat, organs, veggies, supplements - it's all in the food. There are several out there you might explore, though I would hold that off for a bit while her insides get all calmed down.

[RedHead]

So happy the raw seems to be working! Primal (or any petstore raw) is ridiculously expensive if you have a large dog. There are a lot of local companies and distributors nowadays that sell premade ground raw. I get some from a great company here and it is also way fresher than commercial brands (plus way cheaper). I just feed messy bones outside or on a giant plastic table cloth indoors.

 

Where are you located? There may be some cheaper options close by.

Edited October 22, 2016 by RedHead