Question:
Has anybody heard of Prozyme? I picked some up at the food store, although I should have probably asked you guys first, eh. LOL. It's supposed to be a digestive aid in powder form to add to doggy food. Tommy's still stumping all the docs, and he still won't eat right (except for his treats most of the time, go figure ) so I thought some digestive enzymes might not be too bad. I've not given him a full dose or anything, just a little bit to see if he reacts to it first and we'll work our way up.

I've put him back on a bit of probiotic yogurt with each meal too, which is against the vet's advice... think it can hurt? I mean, he hasn't felt like eating much at all the last few days, and when I mixed a bit of his food with some yogurt today he ate lunch fairly well. He used to love it, some days it was the only way I could get food into him when he was younger, but the vet doesn't think feeding anything at all other than his dog food is a good idea. He won't even let me feed him veggies! Unfortunately they can't figure out what's wrong, and all the meds they keep prescribing don't get him to actually EAT his dog food on a regular basis, so I think I'm tossing that little bit of advice out the window along with the latest meds.

So... yogurt and Prozyme - good idea or bad?

Answer:
Ok, nevermind, I'm a moron LOL. I just did a search and found some comments on prozyme on the board already in several threads, it sounds like it's worth a try. Any comments on the yogurt? I really just want somebody to tell me my vet doesn't know everything about nutrition, hahaha... and that I might not be so wrong to ignore some of his advice!

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Phew, because I've never used prozyme. Yogurt is good, but if you really want effects, you're better to use probiotics instead...

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Yeah, I started with the yogurt just because it gets him started eating. I have some probiotics for humans, the little capsules you can break open - can he have those, do you think? Or should it be special doggy ones?

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Tommysmom,I have no advice to add,but I am sorry you're still having trouble getting Tommy to eat,I thought he was ok by now,he looks great.
You are right though,when I took my cats to the vet this week,she did not even know what hollistic food was,asked if that meant raw,while trying to push Hills food I told her exactly how I felt about Hills.

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Thanks Chico2, he IS looking pretty good these days! We just still seem to go through days of not eating, and we have to entice him to eat all the time. None of the meds seem to have much of an effect, so I figure getting food into him regularly is more of a priority now than figuring out what's going on. He's had every darn test we can think of anyway! And I love my vet, he's awesome and he's the kind who calls you personally to see how your doggy is, plus he loves Tommy! But he's quite a bit older, and I think he's pretty old-school when it comes to what to feed dogs, you know? He was great when I decided not to feed Tommy the vegetarian Medi-Cal and put him on Natural Balance instead, but he's soooooooooo against yogurt or carrots or cottage cheese or anything of that nature.

You're braver than I am though, lol... I never told him what I thought about Hills and Medi-Cal! Was your vet offended when you told her you thought Hills was no good? I can't believe how much they adore that stuff, and it seems every other pet owner that goes into the office while I'm there walks out with a bag of it! Good for you for standing up for the kitties!

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TM,I am not saying my vet(vets)are not good but I am tired of her asking what I feed them every time I bring them in and pushing Hills.
Selling Hills and Medi-Cal is profitable for them,but I believe as vets they should not recommend anything that is clearly not healthy fo the animals i.e corn and other junk,so I told her(in a friendly way )
In Tommys case,is he still on meds,even though the vet cannot figure out what is wrong???
I believe you are doing the right thing by Tommy,there are several people here,as you know who,know plenty about feeding ailing doggies,the vets are not always right. Good Luck with your little sweetie

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Yeah, he's still on meds! He's being weaned off the prednisone, as it didn't work for very long so they are doubtful that it really is IBD anymore. He's on a drug to reduce nausea, but it's no longer working either so I want him off that. Nothing works for longer than a week or two, so I'd rather not fill him up with so many chemicals. If I can keep getting enough food into him using yogurt or probiotics or digestive enzymes, I think that is much healthier for him.

I just can't find an answer to how to calculate a dose of probiotics for a dog... I already have acidophilus, anybody know how much he could take?

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I know I missed some of the threads of Tommy's illness because I didn't even realize that Tommy was sick until just a month or so ago, but did you ever consider taking him to the Ontario Vet College in Guelph. I know they sometimes come up with a diagnosis quicker than your average vet can? Just a thought. Not trying to be pushy or anything. I just have a friend that ended up spending 8,000 on his dog last month and after still no concrete answers took the dog to Guelph Vet College and immediately was told the dog had Aspergillosis. The meds were given and now things are back to how they should be for this dog.

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Hi Lukka'sma, that's not being pushy at all! All the good advice here is why I come to pick everybody's brains, lol. Our specialist who is overseeing Tommy's case is actually from the Guelph vet college. We're very lucky in that she visits the emergency clinic in town to do testing on dogs who are too sick to travel to Guelph and Tommy happened to be there when he got pneumonia. The emergency clinic was good enough to arrange for her to see him the next day and that's saved us the trips to Guelph! She's basically worked her way through an entire list of the possible causes and illnesses, and we keep coming back to the same thing... she sees several dogs like this every year, no reason found, who seem to grow out of it somewhere between 6-8 months of age. All the tests keep coming back negative, so we're hoping that could possibly be the case here - it's called something like age-related lack of normal immunity, and the doggy's immune system just doesn't grow as fast as the dog. She didn't come right out and say it, but it does seem to be rather more common in BYB doggies - which I realize now (thanks to this board) is exactly what we have.

Although I'm sorry to hear your friend spent so much money before getting any kind of solid help for his dog, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in spending that kind of insane money on a furry kid! Glad to hear his doggy's ok .

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I just want Tommy to be well. It actually brings tears to my eyes as I write this because poor Tommy has had such a time of it. If I had a magic wand Tommy would be the first thing, the very first thing that benefited from it.

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Aww, thank you so much . You are such a sweet person! Thank you for all your kind thoughts for Tommy.

Tommy really is doing so much better these days, and I'm hoping that between the probiotics and digestive enzymes we can keep helping him over the humps. It's so cute, my husband sits on the floor and hand feeds him to get the food into him when he isn't in the mood to eat - it's funny to see this 6'2 guy getting right down to this little 9 pound doggy and babytalking, lol. Unfortunately, mommy's the one he comes to when he has to throw up, LOL... it's like having a toddler in the house! We couldn't possibly love him any more, and each little setback is getting less and less bad, so we're determined to see him through this and make sure he has a long and wonderful life . (I WAS going to say he'll grow up big and strong, but compared to your doggy, he's always going to be a little runt! )

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The best thing about little runts is that, A little goes a loooong way.

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Tommy's got a fan club!

I'm so sorry the anti-nausea stuff isn't working... Is he throwing up again?

For the probiotics, I give my two a half a pill twice a day, but I just "wing it"... If it's just acidophilus though, there's some of that in the yogurt too, so you wouldn't need as much...

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I don't have anything else to add to what's already been said. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you and Tommy are still having troubles. And, I'm sending lots of good luck and vibes your way.

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Thanks so much, all of you .

Nah, the anti-nausea stuff stopped working. He's doing the whole licking his lips thing constantly, and he threw up a few times on Wednesday again. So that's why I want to take him off the drugs, they're not working and they're just adding more chemicals into his tummy, I think.

He's pretty good though - still doesn't feel like eating unless we tempt him with the yogurt, but he stopped throwing up after he got some yogurt into him on Thursday. He's barely lost any weight this time, and he's playing like a mad fool with his toys and obviously feeling just fine! And... get this... just about 12 hours after his first dose of yogurt and digestive enzymes....

He had a solid poop!!!!!!!

LOLOLOL!!

Honestly, this is the first solid poop I've seen in about 3 months! And he's had good ones ever since, too. Good solid small poops! So as far as I'm concerned, get rid of the meds and keep going with yogurt and enzymes.

Prin, if you don't use acidophilus, do you mind me asking what you use? The specialist had at one point mentioned acidophilus, and I happen to use that myself, so I just thought I'd use that, but if there is something more broad-spectrum I'm willing to use it!

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I use this, but I don't think you'd need it this intense (this one is anti-yeast)
http://www.florahealth.com/flora/hom...s/TG8.asp#1958

This one might be better for Tommy..
http://www.florahealth.com/flora/hom...s/TG8.asp#1964

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Ooooo, a children's blend, that's a great idea! Prin, I never thought about that!

How do you know how much to give a little puppy? He's so tiny, it's hard to figure out what the dosage would be... I guess the same as a baby? Sheeesh, most babies are bigger than he is, LOL.

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I would just sprinkle a teeny bit, like a 1/4 of a capsule on his food first and see how that goes, if it does anything and then up it a bit at a time.

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YAY for Tommy's poop and, good luck with the acidolphilus.

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Tommysmom,nothing is more exciting than SOLID POOP in this Forum

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How's Tommy's poop today?

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Poops are still good! Even the worst one today was wayyyyy better than they used to be... and much smaller! (Reallllllllllly stinky though... good thing I'm the walker and hubby is the bag holder, hehehe ). He's still not eating much more, but he's walking more when we're outside, enjoying the snow and checking out all the smells instead of trying to rush home... he's active, playful, and happy . Don't know if it's coincidence, yogurt or the digestive enzymes, but something is clicking right these days!

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Yey! I really hope things keep looking up for the little bugger.

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That is so good to hear.....keep it up Tommy.

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My boxer has had similar problems. The vet is currently treating it as ibd, although we could not afford to get the biopsies done. Now that he is on prednisone he is eating a lot better., but I had picked up some frozen commercial raw medallions (natures Variety) I got Lamb because anything with chicken seems to give him extreme diahreah. I mush up one medallion into his kibble, and he goes nuts to eat his food. I tried the yogurt and other things. it only kept him interested for a few days, but the little bit of raw has kept him eating for about 2 weeks now. perhaps Tommy would find it irrestible as well. Being he is so small you would probably give him only part of a medallion. You wouldn't want him to get so that he will only eat the raw and not his food from the Vet.
So far this has worked for me. I don't know if it is a good thing to try with Tommy or not. Good Luck

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Yeah, we tried the prednisone too after having the scope and biopsies done. It only worked for a couple of weeks, then Tommy stopped eating again. Hopefully it will work better for your doggy! Good to hear that he's eating for you, that's the hardest battle .

I really wanted to try Tommy on the raw medallions you're using, but unfortunately he can't have lamb or chicken right now, and their venison formula has lamb in it! Eventually we're going to switch him to raw, I think, once we can determine exactly which proteins - if any - are actually causing/exacerbating the problem.

Hmmmm... I wonder if there are any frozen raw formulas that are built like allergy formulas, single protein? Now you've got me wondering again!

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Poor Tommy! I'm glad that's he's doing a little better.

As far as a single protein raw frozen food, you could try Healthy Paws. They have alot of single protien options available such as venison, salmon, beef, and I think even Buffalo. It's made in Toronto, and you may find it in Burlington. Look it up online and give them a call - I've spoken with the people there many times and they are extremely helpful!

Good Luck!

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Thanks, One Beagle Girl! I'll have to check them out, apparently there are a couple of places here that carry that one. It's always nice to find a product made in Canada, too!

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