Category: IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease)

Micah – being a full size Aussie – should be growing faster!

Micah – you are just skin and bones!  You are so very mellow… or shall I say lethargic.  You don’t act like a puppy.  You weighs only 12 pounds and you are five months old.  Why???  What is going on?

You have had chronic diarrhea since I have had you… we have dewormed you several times, treated you for Coccidia, treated you for Giardia – and still you have diarrhea.

You are developing food aversion as you will hardly eat anything.  I am so afraid for you… for me… I am afraid I am going to lose you!!  Thus we begin our medical journey…

I started to change diets…  multiple types of food – kibble, can, and even cooking chicken, rice, eggs, and cottage cheese for him (YES – THE UNBELIEVABLE HAPPENED… I WAS COOKING!).  Nothing worked… he would eat for a little while – still have diarrhea – and then would gradually stop eating.

I went to my regular vet… many times.  By October, he said – he didn’t know what to do (after doing multiple tests… checking his pancreas enzymes (low normal), blood work, and multiple fecals and medicines) and sent me to “MedVet.”  Worked with a doctor there… who shared his thoughts with me and then looked at me and said “What do you think we ought to do?”  Really???  You are the doctor!   Stayed with him for about one month…  had an ultrasound done.  There were no blockages – just lots of fluid in the intestines.   I didn’t think he was heading down the right path… didn’t think he really knew what to do (as his reports would say… “Micah is a complicated case.”).  So I left him and went to OSU.  They did more blood test, check his pancreatic enzymes again (little higher than before), and decided to change his food.  Put him on HA (Purina’s Hydrolized Protein Diet) – and only HA.  I was “religious” with the food trial… They wanted to scope him (stomach, small and large intestines for $3000)… I said no.  Let’s see what happens with the diet change.

Micah ate the HA… but the stool didn’t change.  Still diarrhea… still not growing… still skin and bones!  He started to slow in eating it.  Then would go two/three days with no food.  Contacted them again… some 3 weeks later.  They said they couldn’t help me unless I would scope him in order to get a diagnoses.  I asked what would you do differently if you got a diagnoses… still work on diet changes.

At the same time, my agility instructor from Marysville recommended that I see her vet that treated her dog with a very similar behavior.  So I made an appointment the same time I went to OSU with a doctor at Riverside Animal Hospital – Dr. McGuffin.

He too stated that scoping would give us a diagnoses but if I didn’t want to do that…  that would be OK.  We would work on what Micah is eating.  At least with him… I felt some type of hope.  The vet had a “cowboy” type of personality.  I liked him…  He said HA wasn’t what they use… but we would stay with it for three weeks and re-evaluate.  In the meanwhile he again did bloodwork.

Three weeks later – OSU dumped me and Dr. McGuffin said that we would try something else… Royal Canin HP.  Did the kibble.  Mixed it up with can food.  No changes.  Micah still had diarrhea… still was not gaining much weight.  What I noticed was that both HA and HP had chicken in some form in it.  Wondering???  He said not to worry… he had a couple of other diets we could try.

We talked about scoping again… I said yes this time (It was half the cost of Med Vet… $1600).  It was the very last test to be done.  He drew blood on Micah.  He called later that day – very concerned.  His albumin was critically low.  I was concerned… because he was concerned.  We scoped on January 26, 2017.  The biopsies showed that the most impacted area was his small intestines.  The villa was damaged… the inflammation was intense there.  His stomach and large intestines also were inflamed but not as bad as the small intestines.  They diagnosed him with IBD.  We had to calm his intestines…  one other important thing they noted (at least in my mind) – he STILL was infested with Coccidia in the small intestines.  How could that be… he had been treated multiple times for Coccidia. Coccidia causes diarrhea too.

Plan of action… medication to kill the Coccidia; put him on predisolone (10mg), keep him on Tylosin (bid), continue the probiotics (VSL3) and change foods.

We moved to Royal Canin Rabbit (prescription diet).  Rabbit kibble… rabbit can… rabbit treats.  Nothing but rabbit (chicken was not in any of the ingredients… kibble, can or treats).  Then on February 12, 2016 after a few weeks on the rabbit – it happened (and I should note he was treated to get rid of the Coccidia).  It was Sunday of the agility trial in Dayton.  We were getting ready to load the cars (around 4:30p) and Micah squatted. For the first time – ever – he had a firm stool (the night before… it was still diarrhea… as he had an accident in the hotel).  It was so strange…  I called my friends over to see it… I took pictures… I celebrated big time!!  Now unless you have had a dog with chronic diarrhea… you may not know the joys of a firm stool.   It is so JOYFUL!! HOPEFUL!!

I emailed the vet… and told him we may have hit on a winner.  So this continued for several weeks.  Anytime I would add a different treat (like Charlie Bears… with poultry liver in it) – the diarrhea would return.  Hummm…

I also made an appointment (for April as she was difficult to get in) with Dr. Spracklin.  She is a vet that works with dogs like Micah and their foods.  Dr. McGuffin suggested her too… and although he said she works some kind of voodoo (which was the second time I heard that from someone)… what she does works.  Dr. Spracklin practices alternative veterinary medicine.

I have also tried Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato Kibble – no chicken.  It is a store bought (thus a little less expensive) food but very popular with owners who have food allergies.  He is eating that too… with the rabbit can (as he stopped eating the rabbit kibble).  Still firm stools!  We still use the rabbit treats…  and I have tried the Venison treats (again no chicken).  We are on the UPSWING!!  Yeah baby!!

Ya know… you need to enjoy the good times when they happen as they can very easily change.