Diagnosis-Gastroenteritis

[sjohnson]

Hi, My boy has been having some trouble over the last month or so. It started with Diarrhea then moved to vomiting. He has been to the ER for x-rays and to my own clinic for a barium series. There are no blockages.
He was sent home with soft food (Purina EN) as well as Sucralfate, Metronidazole and Cimetadine. The meds have run out and now the vomiting has started again.
I'm wondering if anyone has run into this before and what you have done.
He is on Pro plan large breed kibble and I was supplementing with raw turkey necks for 3 weeks before this started. The turn of events was when I gave him a raw beef bone. The ER vet and my own doctor both said maybe he can't tolerate a raw diet. My argument is that he was fine on the turkey necks. Also he hasn't had any raw food for 2 weeks and he's vomiting again, so.... My vet says Gastroenteritis. What about a food or bacterial intolerence? What about salmonella? If it's the begining of IBD what can i do to slow it or stop it? He was eatting snow ALL the time. so I gave him pedialite. Now he's an addict. He won't drink water. Only Juice/gatorade.
He's happy, Not lethargic like before the meds. Any and all ideas would be appreciated.

[chivas]

OK I can maybe help with this, I just went through it with my 16 yr old 33lb mixed breed for 4 weeks. It got so bad - we thought we were gonna have to euthanize him. Metronidazole did NOTHING for him. You know what helped??
Plain ole pepto bismal. 1 tab 3x a day and I fed him boiled rice and hamburger 3 x a day. We also put him on Amoxicillin for 7 days. He had bloodwork drawn twice yet it never did show much of anything. It was a long haul , he has always been underweight and he went down to 26lbs at one time and was a walking skeleton. I still give him pepto every other day and feed him a canned diet that is formulated for intestional problems and he is doing well. Hope this helps some.
Kim

[sjohnson]

I tried Maalox. It worked for a couple of days. He only threw up a little bit when he wasn't kenneled, Then today he threw up in his kennel while I was at work. He just threw up again and it was a fairly large quantity. It seems to be getting worse again. He gets soo much gas in his tummy. Then he paces around. Finally he can sleep after he vomits.

[Judy Chrusch]

Sandy, vomiting and diarrhea can come from many different things so in additon to all those other tests, had he had any bloodwork done bc that can tell alot too? Also, what about allergies? Czar had bouts of vomiting and diarrhea and though he has kidney damage and has had many problems in the past, his levels are stablized.

We recently found out he is allergic to alot of foods which was causing the vomiting and spiractic diarrhea, so my suggestion would be to maybe get complete bloodwork and have a baseline to go by and perhaps tested for food allergies. This is just my oppinion after spending tons of money at the vets for chronic ear infections, at times vomiting and he had a VERY touchy stomach, which I have to wonder if it was allergies all along. That's what I suggest just bc I've been their. Doesn't hurt to check other things out and if you already had bloodwork then I apologize. But as I said, vomiting and diarrhea can come from MANY things. I hope this helps and I hope you can get to the bottom of his problem soon.

One more thing, feed him more often and smaller amounts each time, see if that helps the vomiting. He may vomit when his stomach is empty.

I went back over your post and noticed you mentioned a raw beef bone. Was it one with marrow in it bc if so perhaps his belly can't tolerate the richness. Czar can't, so I remove a good portion from both ends, let some in the center so he has something to work towards and that seems to help. He could have an irritated belly and or bowel for whatever reason which could pass but if not then it may be worth testing further as I mentioned. I give Czar Kaopectate tabs with the advice of my vet :) .

Judy

[Judi W]

Are you still feeding him the prescription diet and nothing else? If not, that is what you should be doing for the time being. Those diets are carefully formulated.

[moondog]

Ask your vet if Reglan might help. What it does is help the body keep food moving through the stomach into the small intestine. When my dog had a vomiting problem, her vet prescribed the Reglan and once she got over the hump, we discontinued it and haven't needed to use it again.

Stick with the prescription food for a bit and if it really doesn't help him through, you might consider a bland home-cooked diet on a temporary or permanent basis, if needed.

[moonbeam]

I had this same problem with my female when she was younger. The turkey necks and beef knuckle bones dry up the matter in the intestine and make it hard for them to pass. Her stool would literally fall out of her butt and it was really dry. The solution was to add cod liver oil to the diet, especially when feeding turkey necks or knuckle bones. It helps things move along, so to speak.

[sjohnson]

I forgot to mention the bloodwork. His was normal. His pancreas number was elevated but not enough to point to pancreatitis or some such thing. I know I'm supposed to trust my vet, but I'm just not sure she's looking at this open mindedly. He had a bout with Diarrhea when I brought him home in July. Metronidazole did nothing. Cimetidine seemed to help. This time the diarrhea has changed to vomiting. Even when I mentioned a food intolerence after the barium series the vet said lets not go there until we see what the meds do.
I read some other threads at 4 am today and decided to try Pepcid AC before work and decided to change his food. When I got home he had a clean kennel. :D And tonight he ate Wellness brand fish and sweet potatoe. 1/2 cup dry and 1/2 can of wet. He scarfed it down. I gave him a pepcid pill before his meal to help stave off gasiness. I'm going to give him a snack before bed too. I planned to feed him smaller portions since that worked when he was on prescription food.