Question:
NOTHING.

Yep. Nothing. Current running total almost $6000, and still nothing. They saw blood specks in his tummy when they did the endoscopy and were positive that the biopsy was going to show IBD, they even gave him a shot of dexamethasone before he left to settle his tummy. But the biopsy shows absolutely NOTHING abnormal. So, what the heck now? Even the specialist is a tad stumped.

Tommy ate unbelievably well from Thursday night when he came home right through the next few days, then it tapered off until today when he hasn't eaten a blasted thing - same old crap going on. Vet is consulting with the specialist to see what the next step is, it's weird that the dexamethasone helped him out if it ISN'T IBD but they don't want to just give him prednisone or anything if it's not, you know? They'd rather not drug him up more than necessary.

I'm completely bonkers now... I mean, it's great that the endoscopy ruled out any other issues like megaesophagus and tumours and all that reallllllllly nasty stuff, but come on... why can't anybody figure out what the heck is wrong with my puppy??? Why won't he EAT???

Arrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Thank you for listening, please tune in again for the next episode of Tommy's personal soap opera .

Answer:
well thats good news
hopefully you find out something soon. could it be stress disliking his food, something change in his environment

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Maybe pm Technodoll about her experiences with a holistic vet-it seemed to really improve Dakotah's appetite.

something is discovered soon.

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Thanks... it's not just an appetite thing though, he seems to go through episodes every other week where he stops eating and then starts vomiting/regurgitating and loses a pound or two (he's only 7 pounds, so that's a lot!). That's why they thought it was IBD. So now, dunno... it's like he WANTS to eat, but it bothers his tummy. Guess we're just back to the drawing board for now. Poor little puppy .

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I'm so sorry! So we're back to food?

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don't you wish that they could talk and tell you what the problem is?? lol instead of the vet doing all kinds of tests and still don't know what the problem is.

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well... that IS good news, all things considering living with an IBD dog is no picnic. i can only suggest what i know, and what i have heard from others in similar situations and how they fixed the problem.. and that is homecooked or raw diet, not kibble and not canned. and it can take a while for tommy's tummy to finally settle down, maybe months until his system matures.

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Did they check for a stomach ulcer?

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Poor Tommy. Still no answers. I feel so bad for him and for you Tommysmom. The lack of a diagnosis must be so frustrating to you. If I had a magic wand I would wave it over Tommy and make those tummy troubles vamoose

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Good to hear that it isn't IBD, but not knowing sucks

It must be sooo frustrating spending all that money and not getting any answers. Hopefully very soon, it will all pay off and Tommy will be all better



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I'm sorry Tommysmom, not knowing is the worst

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Thanks guys... it's awesome having you all to vent to! I'd go nuts without it, I think.

I think it's time to definitely look at food. We're pretty much down to two things - age related lack of immunity, which I think translates roughly into 'we dunno, but some doggies do this and then they sorta don't do it anymore when they're older, so we gave it a name', or food allergies/hypersensitivities of some sort. My vet's pretty ok with raw or homecooked except that so far everything that Tommy has tried has ended up making him sick, so I think we might end up with some kind of allergy food for a bit... if we can try to isolate some food he can handle for longer than a week, then at least I'll have an idea of what kind of ingredients we might be able to play with.

On the bright side, this now means that there is NO reason to keep him on the Medi-Cal gastro formula . I hate that stuff... crappy ingredients and lousy poops. I'll see what formula the specialist and the vet recommend, and find him a GOOD food with the same kind of formula, because I know - from reading this board! - that there are lots of brands out there with good allergy type foods containing less garbage (even my vet's not all that fond of the vet foods, LOL... he was pretty happy to hear we'd been feeding him Canidae before the old vet started him on the gastro stuff).

Thanks so much for being such a supportive gang of people!

Answer:
I would go two ways:

Evo canned 95% meat
or
veggie...

The evo canned sticks to one protein source and nothing else.
Beef
Rabbit
Venison
If it's meat protein that he's allergic to then the next step would be a veggie diet..


http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog...egetarian.html
(the only veggie food without corn and without menadione in it... )

Answer:
Thanks Prin! My hubby had to take Tommy back to the vet today as he'd completely stopped eating once again. They think it really IS IBD, and they just didn't get a good sample to biopsy... so he's going to be on prednisone for a short time and VEGETARIAN food, LOL, I giggled since you'd mentioned it already. I told them that we'll try the vet veggie formula for now, since the doctors are familiar with it and want to give it a shot, but if it works and he takes to it for any length of time we're switching to the Natural Balance. The ingredients match fairly closely except that the NB is better. The NB does have a few more ingredients though, so I'll give them a few weeks of the vet one before switching just so we can sort of isolate what might be bugging him.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

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I hope everything goes ok. They can't give him an appetite increaser?

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His appetite's usually really good when his tummy isn't acting up. As soon as he stops eating, you just know everything else is going to follow... vomit and all that other good stuff... and then it's almost as if he's scared to eat because it hurts his tummy. This time we got him as soon as it started and hopefully we'll bypass the ugly stuff. He actually ate a bit tonight, so the shot he had this afternoon is kicking in. And he was picking the veggie bits out of the mix we gave him and eating it, so at least he doesn't hate it! Gotta hate those shots though... turns the puppy into a little pee fountain .

So... IBD doggy? Allergic doggy? Crazy doggy? Who knows. But if the treatment works, we'll do it, and I guess we'll just see what happens day by day. Perhaps he'll outgrow it... I'm just glad we know he WILL live long enough to see if that happens or not .

And on a side note, I found one of his baby fangs on the carpet!!!! My baby's growing up.

Answer:
Well, Boo, with his chicken intolerance threw up every day all night... It's possible that with an intolerance to meat protein, he could just be sick in waves...

Are you going to keep the tooth?

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Hehehe... I am keeping the fang... along with three teensy, tiny little incisors I found lodged in the carpet one day too. I'm such a sap .

It's amazing how many dogs seem to have allergies and intolerances these days... I remember growing up we just used to open a can of Alpo (ewwwwwww) and toss it in the dish. I don't think we ever even thought of better foods or allergies. Man, am I ever glad I don't have to smell Alpo anymore though, lol.

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Don't get me started on foods when we were little... Whoooeee! My old lab got food that was $7/40lbs. It didn't have byproducts. Just corn. Juuuuust corn.

I think it's cute to keep the teeth. I would if I had puppies.

Answer:
I just seen this thread now. Poor Tommy and, hugs to you too. I hope everything works out.

And, I can remember feeding Gravy Train.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Tommysmom
And on a side note, I found one of his baby fangs on the carpet!!!! My baby's growing up.

hoooo, what will he get from the tooth fairy ?

Answer:
Thanks Rainbow .

Answer:
IBD can be a really tough disease to manage and find answers for, one approach as been to use tylan powder/tysolin daily to manage

One vet in the US, often recommends trying this before going thru a lot of expensive tests
as she finds it often helps to resolve


http://www.jvetintmed.org/perlserv/?...D%3E2.0.CO%3B2

Answer:
I'm completely bonkers now... I mean, it's great that the endoscopy ruled out any other issues like megaesophagus and tumours and all that reallllllllly nasty stuff, but come on... why can't anybody figure out what the heck is wrong with my puppy??? Why won't he EAT???
The laperoscopy, to the best of my knowledge will not rule out mega-esophagus. Only a barium test will do that under mild sedation with xrays every 15 minutes. Might want to question that particuliar elimination? Just a thought.

Bless you for trying so hard!

Answer:
Originally Posted by technodoll
well... that IS good news, all things considering living with an IBD dog is no picnic. i can only suggest what i know, and what i have heard from others in similar situations and how they fixed the problem.. and that is homecooked or raw diet, not kibble and not canned. and it can take a while for tommy's tummy to finally settle down, maybe months until his system matures.

try science diet ad. it is working for my megaesophagus guy. working like a charm and it worked wonders for my ibd pet as well. my opinion is that if the prednisone works give it to him. at least for now til he gets through this . then maybe wean him off a bit.

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No advice to give,just lots of hugs and kisses for little Tommy and hopes you'll win at the lottery

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I have no advice.i feel for you and hubby and tommy.

that you get to the bottom of this soon.

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Thanks guys . This thread is a bit old now, and since I started it Tommy has improved GREATLY! He's off all meds, eats 2-3 times a day and is really energetic and healthy! He vomits occasionally, but it's usually when he's been busy and ends up too tired to eat at night - that guarantees a morning throw up, lol! And if we forget his yogurt he has a throwy-upy day too. Otherwise he goes for entire weeks without vomiting, and he never vomits up food at all EVER. So, maybe it was an age thing and his immune and digestive systems had to grow up a bit... or maybe it was a food issue... or maybe it's the probiotics and digestive enzymes we put him on... but so far, for the last couple of months, he's been awesome and healthy .

Answer:
Originally Posted by Tommysmom
for the last couple of months, he's been awesome and healthy .

It sure is good to read the words awesome and health when referring to Tommy. What a long road this little one had and no doggy should have to go through what Tommy has in his short existence.
I dread to think what would be if little Tommy had parents other than the two of you. I wonder if he would have had all the medical treatment and loving understanding that you and your husband have given him. Thank goodness that he ended up in your home.

Answer:
Tommysmom I didn't even notice the date,I was just thinking,oh no,Tommy is sick again
Thank Dog,that's not the case

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