Possible Case- Minimal Weight Loss
Posted: 11 Oct 2021, 21:18
Hello,
My approximately 9-10 year old Shih-Tzu Mix has been struggling with diarrhea since Labor Day weekend (onset 9/3) and has been diagnosed twice with Stress Colitis. Both times she has been given a 5 day course of Flagyl which has stopped the urgency of her diarrhea. However we have only been able to get her back to a somewhat solid stool once for a period of 3 days. Tonight she had another incidence of the urgent diarrhea and an accident in the house and I finally called the vet for a 3rd appointment (on Thursday 10/14 as they had nothing before then). It is important to note that she has IVDD and is recovering from a disc herniation. She takes Gabapenten, Methocarbamol and Prednisone daily (we are working to very slowly wean her). She is a rescue who came to me with some GI and skin issues that have been attributed to allergies for about 8 years. She eats the Royal Canin HP food and we have tried multiple allergy medications. She had blood work in March 2020 and her Amylase was 505/UL and her Lipase was 46 U/L so both on the lower end of normal but not a concern at that time. Her glucose at that time was 106. She has not had blood work since (which I am going to ask about at her appointment Thursday). She has also been very anxious recently and Trazadone did help but it was discontinued when the diarrhea started because they thought it could be the culprit.
My online research keeps pointing me to EPI, however she has not lost a significant amount of weight (she is about 20 pounds and her highest weight during her 6 weeks of crate rest while on high doses of prednisone was 24 pounds, she typically is in the 19-21 range). I see the following symptoms that I have read about online:
-Increased gas- the smell has also gotten awful
-Increased Stomach noises (she has had a gurgling tummy for years but it is worse recently)
-Increase in anxiety in August (has always been anxious since adoption).
-More frequent pooping - during the episodes she goes as often as every 45 minutes. When it calms down she goes 1-2 times daily (sometimes 3 times)
-Poops are extremely high in volume (1.5 to 2 times her normal stool)
- Stools have a consistency of pudding to a semi-formed log that I end up scraping out of the grass. They are almost an orange-ish tinge and sometimes have areas that look fatty or mucus filled. I remarked to my dad the other night that it almost seemed that her food had been blended with liquid and stink and came out the other end without digesting.
-Very hungry- the vet asked me to try a 24 hour fast now that she had another occurrence and she is sitting at her food bowl and container pawing at them and whining.
-Eating rabbit poop almost obsessively- When we walk I am constantly stopping her from eating rabbit poop. It is like she physically needs it and feels compelled to eat it. I live in the country so there are tons of rabbits around.
-Over the time I have had her she has always had issues with vomiting bile when she didn't have enough food before bedtime or early in the morning
-Very small teeth (I have seen this in some research I have stumbled on)
We are taking her to the vet on Thursday morning, which is as soon as they could get her in and I am going to bring up EPI as a possibility and ask about possible testing and cost. Any other recommendations for us? Do we ask if we can try to start treating her either with powder or raw pancreas (there is a pet shop locally that seems to carry it) until testing comes back. Any other ideas until we get a diagnosis? I am very overwhelmed as we have been dealing with a lot of health issues for her since the end of March and have spent a small fortune on her! It always seems like when one thing is going well something else starts to fall apart and I am always anxious about it. Hoping this may be our answer to some of her symptoms, even though I don't want her to have this.
My approximately 9-10 year old Shih-Tzu Mix has been struggling with diarrhea since Labor Day weekend (onset 9/3) and has been diagnosed twice with Stress Colitis. Both times she has been given a 5 day course of Flagyl which has stopped the urgency of her diarrhea. However we have only been able to get her back to a somewhat solid stool once for a period of 3 days. Tonight she had another incidence of the urgent diarrhea and an accident in the house and I finally called the vet for a 3rd appointment (on Thursday 10/14 as they had nothing before then). It is important to note that she has IVDD and is recovering from a disc herniation. She takes Gabapenten, Methocarbamol and Prednisone daily (we are working to very slowly wean her). She is a rescue who came to me with some GI and skin issues that have been attributed to allergies for about 8 years. She eats the Royal Canin HP food and we have tried multiple allergy medications. She had blood work in March 2020 and her Amylase was 505/UL and her Lipase was 46 U/L so both on the lower end of normal but not a concern at that time. Her glucose at that time was 106. She has not had blood work since (which I am going to ask about at her appointment Thursday). She has also been very anxious recently and Trazadone did help but it was discontinued when the diarrhea started because they thought it could be the culprit.
My online research keeps pointing me to EPI, however she has not lost a significant amount of weight (she is about 20 pounds and her highest weight during her 6 weeks of crate rest while on high doses of prednisone was 24 pounds, she typically is in the 19-21 range). I see the following symptoms that I have read about online:
-Increased gas- the smell has also gotten awful
-Increased Stomach noises (she has had a gurgling tummy for years but it is worse recently)
-Increase in anxiety in August (has always been anxious since adoption).
-More frequent pooping - during the episodes she goes as often as every 45 minutes. When it calms down she goes 1-2 times daily (sometimes 3 times)
-Poops are extremely high in volume (1.5 to 2 times her normal stool)
- Stools have a consistency of pudding to a semi-formed log that I end up scraping out of the grass. They are almost an orange-ish tinge and sometimes have areas that look fatty or mucus filled. I remarked to my dad the other night that it almost seemed that her food had been blended with liquid and stink and came out the other end without digesting.
-Very hungry- the vet asked me to try a 24 hour fast now that she had another occurrence and she is sitting at her food bowl and container pawing at them and whining.
-Eating rabbit poop almost obsessively- When we walk I am constantly stopping her from eating rabbit poop. It is like she physically needs it and feels compelled to eat it. I live in the country so there are tons of rabbits around.
-Over the time I have had her she has always had issues with vomiting bile when she didn't have enough food before bedtime or early in the morning
-Very small teeth (I have seen this in some research I have stumbled on)
We are taking her to the vet on Thursday morning, which is as soon as they could get her in and I am going to bring up EPI as a possibility and ask about possible testing and cost. Any other recommendations for us? Do we ask if we can try to start treating her either with powder or raw pancreas (there is a pet shop locally that seems to carry it) until testing comes back. Any other ideas until we get a diagnosis? I am very overwhelmed as we have been dealing with a lot of health issues for her since the end of March and have spent a small fortune on her! It always seems like when one thing is going well something else starts to fall apart and I am always anxious about it. Hoping this may be our answer to some of her symptoms, even though I don't want her to have this.