Frankie's Mum and Dad

I'm sorry I can't offer any suggestions, but I just thought I'd let you know that I'm thinking of you and your sweet boy and hope he gets better!!! X


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juliaotwellsmith

Hi, Thank you for all the responses. We're making another appointment today for the vet, so we want as many suggestions as possible. We're looking at Addison's now, thanks for the suggestion. He does often seem to get worse when stressed, family came into town, getting groomed, etc.
We've also considered EPI. The only thing that doesn't fit is the appetite. Most dogs are said to have a ravenous appetite and he doesn't. We're going to bring it to the vets attention as well as the Addison's.
We've tried chicken broth but he won't really drink it. We're going to try liver now.
Any other suggestions? We're not giving up on him, he's an amazing dog and we've got a lot of fight left in us.

juliaotwellsmith

Oops. We have also decided to move forward with the barium test. The vet said it was a long shot last time but we're getting desperate.

Roccosmom

I would not completely rule out Giardia either. Sometimes the dog's stool will not show the parasite yet they will have symptoms. Have they treated him for this? Sometimes you need to treat more than once.

Giardia in Dogs | Symptoms & Signs

juliaotwellsmith

We have treated once. They never found anything in the stool when tested but decided to treat anyways when antibiotics didn't work.

owenowlsnest

There are specialists in internal medicine that see complicated GI illness on a regular basis. Years ago we ran tons of tests because it "might be this, or might be that".

An ER tech gave me the name of an internist she'd worked with in the past. That internist read the truckload of past vet records, and looked at all the x-rays before we even got our first appointment. She loved a challenging case, and made an accurate diagnosis, one we could treat, after many years. Sometimes a team approach really helps.

winnie

Rocco's mom is correct about the Giardia. There are a LOT of false positives. Oily, stinky, and yellow stools indicate Giardia. What about IBS. Winnie came to us with a diagnosis of IBS. When we got him he was on Low Residue food, probiotics, Tylon antiboiotic poweder, and additional fiber.

Also, ultrasound for his digestive tract would show a lot more than x-rays.

Good luck. It sounds like you are really fighting for him!

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Molly, Mom to Winston (at the bridge 12/6/12 and deeply missed) and Porter

juliaotwellsmith

Hi all, thought I'd give a quick update on Bowzer's progress. Today at his doc appt he weighed in at 43 pounds. When we left Tucson, he was 62. Sigh. They drew blood for more tests, they decided against the barium test. The vet believes it is a pancreatic problem. They have to send off his blood to test all his pancreatic problems. THey also tested his poop but it was normal, besides apparently looking weird. The vet was even concerned with its appearance. We've already ordered the pancreatic enzymes to start giving him and we're supposed to feed him anything he'll eat. He's lost so much weight recently the vet's main concern is that he will die from malnutrition before we can start treating him.

Mom2Titan

sending positive vibes to your Bowzer!

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Cindy - Mom to Titan & Kailer, Boxer, docked & floppy
Mom to Rocky & Brody-Ragdoll boyz

Georgiapeach

Poor guy! I hope you get to the bottom of it soon! Will he eat the liver broth? Will he eat chicken/rice (homemade)? 3 parts white rice/one part boiled, skinless chicken breast cut up small.

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