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Originally Posted by ChristyM  This is my fist time on this message board and I am here because I just don't know what to do. About a month and a half ago, my rott was diagnosed with protein-losing enteropathy. This was after weeks of diarrhea. (He was living at my in-laws house and they, unfortunately didn't notice anything was wrong right away.) The vet pretty much gave us no hope. |
Christy, Hi! I am in New York until late Monday and stealing bits of time on a borrowed computer so can't get into too much detail until I get home, but I do want to ask a couple questions....
Did the vet get him on prednisone? If not, he will definately need it to help reduce the inflammation, which should help with the fluid retention in his belly and legs. Do you know what his protein levels came back as for albumin and globulin? Did the vet test for parasites (giardia, coccidia, cryptosporidium)? Does your dog have any allergies that were present before he got sick? How oild is he?
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Originally Posted by ChristyM Now, I am just wondering if it is too late to start him on a special diet. He is really having difficulty walking. So, if anyone has experienced this....I would appreciate any input I can get. |
No, it is NOT too late to try....and better than not trying. A home-cooked diet is the ONLY way to go for this as far as I'm concerned, as it is the only thing that has worked for all but one of the dogs I have experience with that have PLE. Commercial diets are just too complicated and hard for the dog to process.
I heard the euthanasia word the day my Luna was diagnosed, and I have since come to know a couple of reasons why vets are so quick to suggest it. My feeling is that the single biggest reason for this is because so much of what needs to be done to successfully manage PLE is out of the vet's hands and into the owner's, because once the dog is on proper medications, diet is SO very important to managing the disease and there are nuances that occur along the way that only the owner is in a position to observe. It takes both meds and diet to manage. I asked Luna's vet about that and he said the reason so many dogs with PLE are euthanized is because the owner's either can't do what's needed, or just don't want to. The second reason is that most vets have very little experience with PLE, let alone successful management of it.
The threads that Nina linked have a ton of info in them, so do read them a couple of times through. Consider consulting a veterinary internal medicine specialist that specializes in gastroenterology as they are going to be much more experienced with a relatively uncommon condition like this and will have more to offer your dog.
I will be back on Monday night, and will check in again then.