rhasche Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 I have not been on the boaed for a very long time. but was wondering if some of you good people could help me in regard to my b.c. For about two months now she has been having cow pie like stools. She has lost weight, was at 34#'s and now is 27#'s. A month ago I had her checked by my vet, he put her on Tuzyme, Viokase, Prednisone, and Rerlan. Not all at once, but when one did not work he would order a different one. NOthing is helping. He took a stool sample, and did blood work, and tells me that nothing shows, except that her cholosterol is low. She was acting sick for a while, but now she is active as usual. I have been doing a lot of reading about pancreas diseases and to me it seems as though she measures up to the symptoms of it. But does anyone know what kind of tests can be done to find this out? I called the vet research center but they won't give any information to me unless it is through the vet I am going to. And he tells me that going there is not necessary. The results of pancrease diseases is scary and I want to do the right thing. I don't want to lose my little girl. If there is anyone out there who could give me some guidence as to what to do I would appreciate it very much. thank-you! rhasche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 I am not sure about dogs, but if your dog was a person I would have them checked to see if they are diabetic. Has your dog's eating or drinking habits changed? Diabetes is a pancreaus related problem so maybe they could run some blood sugar tests. Have you recieved a second opinion? No doctor of any kind is flawless, they are people (well most of them lol) Seek out a second opinion or ask your vet if they have a colleague whose brain you can pick. Sometimes two minds can be better than one. I wish you lots of luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 Well for my last dog Reilly,(may she RIP) to see if she had pancreatitis, they tested her amylase and lipase levels, among other things. Then when it came back positive that it was her pancrease, they put her on cozyme powder, to help break down the fat on her dogfood since her body no longer could and this was causing her to get too fat and had very high levels of cholesterol. but she lived a long time like that. As long as you keep to the diet and be strict then you can usually avoid flareups which can be quite costly and dangerous(not to mention painful for the dog). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 You need to see a different vet if your dog is not getting better after 2 months and he won't give you a referral when you ask for one. I would wonder about Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). There is a special test they run for that that which is the only way to get that diagnosis. But really, you need to see a different vet. My first sheltie had EPI and his vet at the time ran a number of tests, then apparently decided I was crazy and refused to believe there was anything wrong. Well, I might be crazy, but my dog truly was sick. I would ask for my dog's records and take him to a vet school or a clinic that is known for treating more unusual or serious problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 I agree. My first vet misdiagnosed her with IBS. Thank god for the 2nd vet- he saved her life. By the time I got her to him, he didn't think she'd live. But she did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhasche Posted June 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 I am writting all these things down, so on Monday, I am going to a different vet, after all, my dog is only four years old and was a picture of health until two months ago. I even went all natural, but that did not work either. so you could say I have exausted myself with remedies for her. thank you all for your advise. rhasche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 This suggestion is not a replacement for working with your vet, but if loose stool is currently the only symptom, you could try adding some fiber to her diet to see if the stool firms up. Two vet-approved methods (approved by my vet anyway) are canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just canned pumpkin) or Metamucil. The weight loss is worrisome, but some of that could be strictly a result of the intestine not getting a chance to process nutrients properly, so if you can slow down the passage of food through the dog, it might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted June 30, 2007 Report Share Posted June 30, 2007 wondering if some of you good people could help me in regard to my b.c. For about two months now she has been having cow pie like stools. I am so not a vet, but my oldest border collie had pancreatitis, and those cow-pie stools were a symptom. Here's a link --- you've probably seen it. Diagnosis of pancreatitis is challenging. Taking a biopsy-taking a sample of the pancreatic tissue and examining it-is the only way to be certain of pancreatitis. Generally a biopsy is not done as this requires surgery and can often worsen the condition. The preferred diagnostic approach is to rely on clinical signs, blood work, diagnostic imaging (radiographs and especially ultrasound), and response to treatment. Link. Good luck with your girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 My dog, Mike, was just diagnosed with pancreatitis about 3 weeks ago. The symptoms appeared suddenly and he stopped eating, was vomiting and had diarrhea. I took him to the vet and they ran blood tests and did an ultrasound. The pancreas was enlarged. the blood tests showed abnormalities. They kept him for 3 days then said you can come get him, he's feeling great! I have him on I/D diet and I am feeding him two small meals a day and he's doing fine. It was pretty scary as my dogs are never sick and Mike is my most energetic dog, he's never still, so when he was just laying around and looking very sorry for himself I knew it was something serious. I can wean him back onto my regular dog food, but as he seems to be doing so well on the I/D diet I may just keep him on it. He's 5 yrs old. I am still not sure if he got into something or what may have brought on the attack. He's crated when I'm not here and is outdoors under supervision when I am here. We have no food laying around he could get into and I hadn't given him any people food. The vet bill was very costly but I was able to get CareCredit so I can pay it off slowly. Hope you find out what is wrong with your dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhasche Posted July 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 I am going to call a different vet tomorrow. I must be dumb? but what is an I/D diet? My girl was just like yours, energetic, but then she started having these stools, and lost an awful lot of weight. She was 37#'s and now she is 27#'s as of today. At night, I can hear her stomach growling up a storm, which never happened before. I feel if I go to the same vet, he will just give me some more different pills, and they won't work. I am keeping my fingers crossed! thank-you everyone for your concern, I knew I could count on you guys for some guidence! I will keep you all posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 One more possibility that you can easily rule out: hypothyroidism. Sophie used to have bouts of GI distress every four to six weeks, including a gurgling tummy and cow-pie diahrea. Both vets in the practice I go to were unconcerned, but we ended up at the ER vets twice--once because her diarrhea was so bad she was dehydrating and again when her symptoms mimicked an obstruction. One vet blamed her bouts on our hikes--said she must have been eating something, perhaps rodents, on the trail, which she said was quite common with dogs. That was the last straw for me--I knew it wasn't common for dogs to be that sick every month from ingesting things during hikes. So I did some research and happened to see that one of the more rare symptoms of hypothyroidism is serious, episodic GI distress. Because it's just a simple blood test, I demanded that my vet draw blood and send the results to the lab used by Dr. Jean Dodds and have her interpret the results. They clearly thought I was overreacting, but they complied--and, lo and behold, Sophie's test results came back with low values. She was put on Soloxine and switched to a novel protein diet (this was when I was feeding kibble), and she has never had another bout of diarrhea since. Never. That was almost three years ago. I'm not suggesting that your pup has hypothyroidism, but it is such an easy test that it may be worth eliminating as a cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsADogsLyfe Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 The I/D diet is a precription food you can buy from the vet. In this case its I/D meaning Intestinal Diet. There are different foods for different ailments. Its very expensive however. I'm feeding Mike the kibble and it cost me $62 for a 40# bag. I am going to wean him back to my regular dog food before I run out of this bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhasche Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 The I/D diet is a precription food you can buy from the vet. In this case its I/D meaning Intestinal Diet. There are different foods for different ailments. Its very expensive however. I'm feeding Mike the kibble and it cost me $62 for a 40# bag. I am going to wean him back to my regular dog food before I run out of this bag. Well, I am going to check that out also! Thanks again. Somewhere along this road, there will be a silver ending. (I hope) rhasche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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