Dixie – Anemic – Low B-12

[Vally]

Roger, a lady I see in the park all the time, her dog has eating issues. Her dogs was just not eating anything for no apparent reason. I’m sure they read the stress off us too every time we put a bowl of food down anticipating the worse.

She began taking a bag of food to the park with her. She’d toss a ball, her dog would chase it, bring it back, and be rewarded with a handful of food. She became eating all of her food in this way. It broke the habit of not wanting to eat her food and enjoying it.

Perhaps, you can take some food on your walk, to try and disassociate the food with being associated with “food” time. Just a thought.

Secondly, I don’t see any problem with the bun. Let her eat what she will for now. When she’s better – watch out Dixie!

Love Vally

[admin]

Vally, I think this is a great idea taking the food out of the kitchen so to speak! I would give it a try Roger, you can’t loose.
Brgitte

[admin]

Hi Roger

Looking at the photos of the GI tract before, I thought – oh it will be quite a while until this heals over – no wonder she’s got eating issues. Personally, I think a last thing at night sucralfate dose would help her, but it seems you vet is not keen on this idea? This would give the bandage effect of the sucralfate overnight healing time.

I know how difficult it is to see them losing weight & we had the same problem with Worzel until the pred kicked in, but he didn’t have the problems poor Dixie has had. He has never been a greedy dog, has never been food motivated & had tummy ache, so that make it harder. At that time I didn’t care what he ate as long as he ate SOMETHING & I think the cheeseburgers will do fine for Dixie for now (at least she’s getting FOOD) until she feels better. Worzel would only eat disgusting fatty smelly Toulouse sausages mashed up (not a healthy diet!) – and only a couple of mouthfuls at best. I tried everything, as you have, because he already looked like a skeleton by this time & it is really stressful seeing them like that. I would say this was the worst time for us during Worzel’s IMHA journey. What worked was feeding him by hand – putting small amounts of mince, chicken or sausage in the palm of our hands & pretending we were eating it made him interested! If she “scrounges” from you when you eat your food, maybe it’s worth a try? I like the idea of giving food in a different place too. Try anything at regular intervals!

Let us know how she’s doing – hoping something will encourage her eat more.
Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[Roger]

Update, since last time I checked in. Dixie has really begun to lose weight. I’ve had her to her regular Vet and the Specialty Vet where the endoscopy was done. We have also had another B-12 shot and another Iron shot both of seemed to lift her up slightly the next day. She has really become a challenge to get to eat anything and will no longer accept pill pockets. The specialty Vet added Metronidazole 250mg 2X/day, Doxycycline Mono 100 mg 2X/day and VSL#3 capsules 2X/day. She only got two of the Doxycycline in before she could no longer hold them down. If we give he one she will throw-up about 1 1/2 hrs later. She seems to tolerate the other two. Previously she was on Metronidazole and did not have issues with it so we are continuing with it and the VSL#3. A few days ago we saw fresh blood in her stools but not in the last two though she still is very watery, she has not had a good stool since the endoscopy and prior to it she had probably two dozen perfect stools and was eating much better. Yesterday started out really bad, thought about making an apt to have her put down but she came around a few hours after throwing up and is even a little better today. We even went on a short walk early this morning; we’re not going to give up if she can still find happiness in the day and does not appear to be in pain. Any ideas on the Doxycycline Mono, not sure if it will help her current condition but we can’t give it if she throws up.

[Tamara]

Roger, I’m so sorry to hear how difficult it’s been but glad Dixie is doing a little better late yesterday and today.

Doxy is hell on the gut; Ashki had to take cerenia while he was on it or he wouldn’t eat, it made him so nauseated. I’ve heard from quite a few people who have been on it and they’ve said the same thing, nothing bothered them but when they took doxy it was awful, nausea and GI upset.

Do you know why the specialist added doxy, what his/her reasoning is? I would discontinue and call them when you can to update them on Dixie’s condition and her intolerance of the drug.

Thinking of you and Dixie —
tamara and ashki

[Vally]

Hi Roger, I agree with Tamara, I think ring and check about the doxy.

Love Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Hi Roger
Thank goodness Dixie is a little better now – I am sorry to hear she’s had such a rough time.
Doxy is horrible on the stomach – Worzel was always very uncomfortable & nauseous. He had to take it for 5/6 weeks & it was by far the worst drug for causing him discomfort. He had to take it to kill the tick disease infection he had, but I hated watching him go through this. What do they suspect with Dixie? Humans must sit up straight for an hour or so after taking doxy to prevent it regurgitating, so you can imagine what it does to our poor dogs. I had to take it a few years back & can categorically say it’s painful on the tum & makes you feel very queasy.

I’m so sorry you’re feeling so low about how things are going & I really hope she will show some signs of improvement quickly.

Love Sheena, Worzel & Ollie

[Roger]

Dixie’s diagnosis ….. or lack there of. All, thanks for your ideas. Our biggest problem with Dixie is we do not have a definitive diagnosis. The biopsy samples have been examined by Texas A&M, UC Davis, Cornell and a specialist in Brittan. We do not even have any consensus with respect to what stains to treat the biopsy specimens with for further diagnosis and with limited material we are stuck. There is no way we are going to allow the doctors to go in and get more samples, Dixie has not returned to where she was prior to the last one. Since we do not have a disease target we are likely not treating with the appropriate meds. My neighbor is really big on 4Life Transfer Factor so we have added it beginning last night to her supplements. This product claims to increase one’s immune system health to allow healing of the intestinal system. My wife thinks that the VSL#3 ( a probiotic for treating IBS and Colitis) is making Dixie feel better though I’m not yet convinced I think the improvement is a result of stopping the Doxy. Overall if we can’t get her stomach feeling better, her not eating is going to be the most urgent problem we can’t solve short of a feeding tube and we do not plan to go there. This dog is just too sweet and sensitive to torture in this way especially since we do not know if we are even on a path to recovery.