Chronic Diarrhea/Health Issues
I took Charlie to the vet this morning...Last night he had uncontrollable diarrhea. Let me start off by saying he has had diarrhea for all of his short 1 yr and 4 month life. He's been to the vet over 28 times, we've done all testing we could afford to do (parasite, fecal, blood work, etc), tried every medication and did numerous food trials, and nothing has helped.
The vet told me this morning there is nothing further they could do for him and that he would need an endoscopy/biopsy of his intestine. Due to his prednisone trial, he is not allowed outside without a leash and no, he hasn't eating anything he shouldn't have. He is monitored very closely. He also does not have any parasites or diseases. He eats and drinks well, is at an optimal weight for his size and plays ball like there is no tomorrow. We just can't seem to figure out his chronic bowel issues.
Has anyone out there had similar issues? Maybe not with a Corgi, but with other dogs? If so, were you able to find a solution? He has never had a solid stool in his life. I have to believe that something out there will help my dog. When I say we have tried everything, we truly have. Besides the $3000 endoscopy. This is my little one..He is currently on a duck gluten free diet.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on -
My cat I rescue rarely has a regular solid movement. I know it's a cat, not a dog, but I know what you feel like. He's happy, healthy, and a pest otherwise. He eats normally, drinks normally, and shows nothing wrong. He had a health checkup and vet said he was fine. Didn't want to look into the problem too much further unless he starts acting sick or doing anything abnormal.
I'd say try a diet change? Don't know what you could try switching to. I'll let some more veteranarian - inclined people chime in on that. Hope nothing is seriously wrong and its easily fixable.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on
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We have done many many diet changes. Charlie is one picky eater. He wouldn't do great of the different foods, but once he didn't like it anymore, he would stop eating. It got to the point where he didn't eat anything for 4 days, so we had no choice but to change his food. He's too smart for his own good :0)
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on -
Our doberman used to have very regular diarrhea. I think it is due to the 3 stomach obstruction surgeries before she came to live with us. However, I do know that she had a very sensitive digestive system before that. After we put her on Science Diet I/D (prescription food from the vet) there have been no problems. Have you tried it?
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We did try the Science Diet I/D. We did not see any improvement on the food :(
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on -
I had this problem with my daughter when she was a baby. She was fine in every way, other than the constant diarrhea. We tried everything to no avail, eliminating more and more foods. Finally they sent us to a world renown specialist on Cystic Fibrosis. They did the test and we waited for the results. When they called us in, my heart was in my throat. The test was negative (thank God). The specialist asked what had brought me there and I recounted our tale of woe. He looked at me and asked me " Who told you diarrhea is bad?" I was dumbfounded. Doesn't everybody know that? Then he told me " Go home and feed her everything and never look again at what comes out the other end, it's none of your business." Well, that's what I did and she was fine after that. Sounds crazy, but it's true. I have no advice, but that's my story. Good luck.
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Anna, Thank you for your story. My hopes was just to see what other people have experienced! Maybe I was missing something...
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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on -
Have you tried giving him yogurt two or three times a day?
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I have tried yogurt. We did not see any changes to his stool or digestion of food.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on -
It's possible its something like IBD. With the food trials, have you gone a solid 10 weeks with NOTHING but that one particular type of food (no treats, snacks, rawhides, bully sticks, etc)? And does EVERY food have a different protien and carbohydrate source? Maybe getting a second opinion from a different vet, particularly an internal medicine specialist. I used to work for an internist in the San Francisco Bay Area and even in one of the most expensive places in the country her endoscopies were not $3000, so I'd recommend consulting a different vet on the issue. Have you tried prescription Z/D made by hills (or any other prescription allergy diet?). These prescription diets don't change the actual protein/carb source, but rather they split the molecule so that it can't attach to the receptors necessary to cause an allergic reaction. May be worth trying that if you haven't. Has the vet treated him for IBD?
Why isn't he allowed outside without a leash with the pred trial? I've never heard that before. We've treated tons of dogs with pred and have never had these restrictions, are they afraid he is going to eat something?
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I just saw that your boy had Parvo when he was a puppy, it is totally possible the damage to his intestinal lining was so great that he will never have the ability to properly absorb nutrients and form solid stool. Parvo wreaks havoc on their intestines so its likely he may just never have normal poops.
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I've considered that too and the scoping could tell me what damage was done if any. His bout with Parvo confused me as I got two conflicting opinions. First, his vet did a snap Parvo test and it came back positive. I immediately took him to a hospital that could treat and monitor him 24 hours a day. Second, the vet that treated him for Parvo said Charlie did not have Parvo due to him eating, playing and drinking reglurly. The only symptom he saw was the diarrhea. If they did another Parvo test at the Hospital, I do not know. But the treated him with Albon and a couple of other antibiotics.
I have also almost accepted that he may never have solid stools. I will more than likely accept it if we do the scope/biopsy and it comes back abnormal. I know there are other steroids that we can try, but he reacted so negatively to the Pred I am afraid the try another one. I realize the dosage can be adjusted but I would hate for his stools to become formed, but the trade off is the increase of appetite, aggression and increase of fluid intake (He peed ALL THE TIME on Pred).
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He wasn't allowed outside without a leash due to his pred trial. He was eating everything in sight! The trial pred was to treat IBD or Lymphangetasia. I wish he improved on the pred, but he didn't. Very few places here in Denver do scoping for dogs. I actually contacted CSU Vet School and they scope and because they are subsidized, their prices are much lower! I scheduled an appointment with them for a consult and see where it goes from there. Thank you for your responses!
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