Post subject: my dog has vomiting, diarrhoea and rapid weight loss
Hi
A few months ago our dog seemed under the weather so we took him to the vets for some routine blood tests, these all came back clear but maybe a possibility of a slight infection so he was given antibiotics.
So we carried on as normal with him dropping a small amount of weight over a period of time. He seemed a little depressed and not always as energetic as he had been but after loosing his best friend back in November we just put it down to this. All the tests showed he was healthy so who were we to disagree.
Then about 8/9 weeks ago his weight loss seemed to increase dramitically as did the appertite, the lethargy and general well being, so off we went back to the vet for more routine blood tests again these came back normal everything healthy but again the possibilty of a slight infection. So we carried on with no improvement, I took him back to the vet as he had started to vomit and cough the vet did all the usual tests and said that if he didn't improve over the next few weeks then we would have to do an x ray of throat, stomach, and bowel and run more tests. He has a slight heart murmur which we already new about but nothing alarming otherwise he appeared healthy but maybe a little skinny. Over the next few days he worsened and went off his food almost completely so come Saturday morning I took him back to the vets fearing he wouldn't make it through the weekend as he was starting to look really skinny, the vet whom I saw was concerned for him and suggested that maybe we should consider an exploratory operation if nothing improved so we left again with antibiotics after a blood test showed slight increase in white cells indicating a slight infection although nothing really untoward. However he then suffered a rapid decline so on Monday morning he was back at the vet for an exploratory operation with the vet thinking it could possibly be stomach cancer so after a tearful so long we left him in their capable hands.
The op showed nothing of the sorts and only that there was slight swelling of the lymph glands around his bowel again backing up the possibility of an infection. He was then admitted and placed on a drip with fluid, antibiotics and a steroid to boost the appetite. So followed a tense week not knowing if he would pull through, about 8 days later with nothing really changing the vet said he was strong enough to come home on a cocktail of drugs including two antibiotics, an antiemetic, Zantac syrup and a steroid. you can imagine the relief that we felt thinking we were through the worst. It took a few more days, but he seemed to improve, very slowly but there was definitely improvement. 13 days later he began to decline again so back to the vet thinking that maybe he needed a boost of the steroid so he was given an injection of the steroid and again he showed signs of improving to the point that the weekend before last I thought we had turned a corner, his appetite was improving, nothing like it was before, but it was a pleasure to see him enjoy his food again no matter how small the portions.
However last week he took another rapid decline and is now so poorly that I'm not sure how long he can survive his latest weight loss since last Thursday has been almost a kilo,now looking more like a whippet that a staff/lab, in total he has lost more than a third of his body weight, he however still manages to wag his tail when ever he sees a friend and still manages to bark at the milky in the mornings.
Has anyone come across this kind of problem as the vets have now drawn a blank he is off to the royal veterinary collage on Wednesday but it would be nice to hear if any of you have had any similar experiences and what you did, what questions you asked, what treatments you were offered anything that would let us know that this may have happened before and that there may be a slight glimmer of hope for our beloved dog.
Posted:
Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:25 pm
GerbilPunk TopDog
Joined: Jun 01, 2007 Posts: 1047 Age: 13 No.Of Pets: 2 Pet Types: a gerbil and a rabbit
I haven't really got any ideas either, I'm just bumping this too.
The only query I have is:
The time when he started to eat a little bit again, and seemed to improve - was he on different food then? Or the same as before?
Our last dog had similar symptoms, but absolutely nothing as bad as your dogs - just some vomiting, diorrhea (with lots of mucous and some blood), no appetite, general lethargy and depression, and weight loss. Trips to vet and basic tests revealed no real problem - a bit of a temp, query mild infection...
Each time she was seen by vet, vet recommended very bland diet of chicken and rice. We fed that, and she improved. Then back to normal food, and back down again.
After a couple of episodes of this, vet suggested that she had intolerance of the (supermarket brand) complete food we were feeding her. We changed her to Hills Prescription hypersensitive diet, and she never looked back. Became a proper porky who had to watch her weight in the end. After a couple of years, we changed her to James Wellbeloved complete food, and she similarly thrived on that.
I'm telling you that because the early symptoms, and no proper diagnosis, are similar - but I'm sure your vets would have checked this long ago, certainly before referring you to RCVS. Its just that you didn't mention it, and don't say what you are feeding your dog.
If I'm telling you the bleeding obvious, then please ignore and forgive. But if it hasn't been checked, maybe you could mention it?
Posted:
Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:27 pm
littlelab Moderator
Joined: Jan 07, 2006 Posts: 2490 Age: 36 No.Of Pets: 5 Pet Types: 2 Dogslets and 3 Kittys
Pet Forums
News
Pet Links
Community
Pet Guides
Pet Tools
