What is it about April? It was just last April when our girlie started to kick off with a whole host of GI issues centered around diarrhea. Bloodwork, ultrasounds, and nutritionist consults left us feeling rather frustrated and convinced that we would not get to the root of Abby's problems. After an attempt at Purina OM that left us feeling like the food was not working, we tried moving Abby to Hill's Prescription I/D canned food. This food has left Abby having solid stools, but the issue of Abby burping up is one that has continued to perplex us. Now I should state that Abby doesn't burp up all the time, and certainly it didn't seem to be something that bothered her when it happened. But within the past few weeks I've noticed that this burping seems to take her by surprise, and literally she can't control it. There is no purging associated with it, and it certainly doesn't seem to be a vomit situation. But all of a sudden Abby could be walking or just laying down and suddenly it just comes out of her.
There's two different theories that I have about this problem. The first is that this problem didn't occur until she changed to canned food. If I had to think of what is different, that certainly would be it. But at the same time, not only did her GI issues kick off in April, but her latent fear reactivity kicked off around the same time. In June we brought Abby to see a vet behaviorist and we increased her Clomicalm slightly from a half tablet twice daily to three quarters of a tablet twice daily. One side effect listed on Clomicalm is vomiting. I would be doing a disservice to Abby if I didn't at least consider that this was a possibility. However, one of these hypotheses is easier to test than the other. So I'm adding a bit of dry Hill's I/D to her food and I hope to transition her over to at least a 50/50 ratio to see if this improves. If not then I may need to investigate options for helping her with this. Currently I've been giving her a 10 mg tablet of Pepcid half an hour before each meal and I've not noticed any improvement. Hopefully the dry food will do the trick.
I am really excited and nervous to say that in two weeks I will be attending the TACT Seminar that Emma Parsons and Julie Robitaille will be presenting. I hope that it will give me another tool in my wheelhouse to work with some of Abby's reactivity, to reshape how she views situations, and to help us both feel more confident in stressful situations. I have to admit I'm nervous. I will be in with dog trainers, people you hire to help you with the problems you have. But I felt inspired after talking with our trainer about this, who told me that I am a dog trainer with a very small audience.
And finally I leave you with one other link if you are feeling so inclined. On June 10, 2012, we will be going to the NHSPCA Paws Walk in Stratham, NH. It seems like just yesterday it was May 29, 2010 and we were at their facility looking at their available dogs to see if we could find one. My husband will tell you that he knew we were going home with a dog that day. I will tell you that I never envisioned my life changing in the way that it did that day. I don't like to think of Abby as a rescue. The question of whether she is or not in my mind has always been a touchy one. It isn't that succinct. And beyond that, the presumption is that we saved her when really the opposite is true. She saved us. Each and every day I am completely amazed by her, and I feel so lucky that she has come into our lives. We feel so blessed to have her, and the least that we can do on that day is walk in support of an organization that has enabled us to welcome Abby home. She was meant to be ours. So I know that times are tough and everyone is stretched thin. If you are able to donate, we would be so thrilled by your support. And if you are free on June 10th and wish to walk with us, we would love the company. Here is the link to my donation page.
Showing posts with label digestion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digestion. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Moving On
With the holidays and being away, I completely forgot to post about the appointment we had with Abby's new vet. After getting some recommendations from people in the area, we decided to make the move to a vet that was just slightly further than the vet we were presently using. We had received some great recommendations about both of the vets in this practice, and felt confident that if our main vet were not available we'd be able to feel comfortable with the other vet who would provide care.
The first thing I noticed instantly about going to the vet was the difference in Abby when she approached the facility. I'm sure there is something to be said for a new environment and a new modus operandi, but I think there is a common theme that exists amongst vets offices that makes it clear from the beginning what will likely go on. But when Abby was inside of the building she easily settled on her mat and was fine just chilling there. Even when she was called into the exam room she wasn't anxious upon seeing the table, which was a definite departure from the appointments she has had recently at her last vet.
Her new vet was so incredibly thorough and kind. When I brought Abby in, I was concerned because she had some soft stools and urgency overnight, and I was worried that another episode had kicked off. The new vet took great care in understanding fully the issues Abby has had and what we've done as pet parents to investigate the source of these issues.
During that appointment we came up with a great game plan to try Pepcid twice daily half an hour before Abby's meal to see if that aids with digestion. Additionally we scheduled an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't a blockage or other structural problem going on.
On the day of the ultrasound, Abby was a bit nervous to enter the building. Now perhaps that is because I was nervous about the appointment and she sensed that. I've never been one to notice Abby's sensitivity to her environment, but that doesn't mean that she isn't. While I was trying to talk Abby into coming up the steps for the vet, we saw a woman leaving who very clearly was anxious. Abby is not one for greeting strangers. She is very shy and typically likes to approach people after they've ignored her. But Abby saw this woman and instantly went up the stairs and approached her to greet her. The woman looked at Abby and said, "Oh are you going to keep my guy company today?" And Abby sat for her to pet her! It was just the sweetest thing as Abby gave some comfort to someone who's pet was having surgery that day.
But the ultrasound came back completely fine, as I suspected it would. Actually by the time the ultrasound had come her stools were back to normal and we suspect she had a treat that did not agree with her. I had given her two Healthy Edibles in the two days preceding the soft stools, so perhaps those were what did not agree with her. Either way she has had solid stools since and we will continue feeding her the Hills I/D and Orijen Red Region combination that has worked for her. If at some point that diet no longer works for her, the doctor who did the ultrasound suggested Purina HA or other hydrolyzed food.
In other news my husband and I recently traveled for Thanksgiving and we boarded Abby for a week. She was so happy to be home, and very tired as well. Yesterday during her first full day home with us she moved the pillow on the love seat so she could sleep behind it, and inevitably realized she could rest her head on the pillow. It was super cute!
The first thing I noticed instantly about going to the vet was the difference in Abby when she approached the facility. I'm sure there is something to be said for a new environment and a new modus operandi, but I think there is a common theme that exists amongst vets offices that makes it clear from the beginning what will likely go on. But when Abby was inside of the building she easily settled on her mat and was fine just chilling there. Even when she was called into the exam room she wasn't anxious upon seeing the table, which was a definite departure from the appointments she has had recently at her last vet.
Her new vet was so incredibly thorough and kind. When I brought Abby in, I was concerned because she had some soft stools and urgency overnight, and I was worried that another episode had kicked off. The new vet took great care in understanding fully the issues Abby has had and what we've done as pet parents to investigate the source of these issues.
During that appointment we came up with a great game plan to try Pepcid twice daily half an hour before Abby's meal to see if that aids with digestion. Additionally we scheduled an ultrasound to make sure there wasn't a blockage or other structural problem going on.
On the day of the ultrasound, Abby was a bit nervous to enter the building. Now perhaps that is because I was nervous about the appointment and she sensed that. I've never been one to notice Abby's sensitivity to her environment, but that doesn't mean that she isn't. While I was trying to talk Abby into coming up the steps for the vet, we saw a woman leaving who very clearly was anxious. Abby is not one for greeting strangers. She is very shy and typically likes to approach people after they've ignored her. But Abby saw this woman and instantly went up the stairs and approached her to greet her. The woman looked at Abby and said, "Oh are you going to keep my guy company today?" And Abby sat for her to pet her! It was just the sweetest thing as Abby gave some comfort to someone who's pet was having surgery that day.
But the ultrasound came back completely fine, as I suspected it would. Actually by the time the ultrasound had come her stools were back to normal and we suspect she had a treat that did not agree with her. I had given her two Healthy Edibles in the two days preceding the soft stools, so perhaps those were what did not agree with her. Either way she has had solid stools since and we will continue feeding her the Hills I/D and Orijen Red Region combination that has worked for her. If at some point that diet no longer works for her, the doctor who did the ultrasound suggested Purina HA or other hydrolyzed food.
In other news my husband and I recently traveled for Thanksgiving and we boarded Abby for a week. She was so happy to be home, and very tired as well. Yesterday during her first full day home with us she moved the pillow on the love seat so she could sleep behind it, and inevitably realized she could rest her head on the pillow. It was super cute!
Monday, September 12, 2011
You mean I'm not crazy?
So we had our meeting with the vet behaviorist. Prior to meeting with her, I completed a ten page questionnaire about Abby's behavioral issues, complete with real life examples of her behavior. Admittedly I was a bit worried about this appointment for a few reasons. Perhaps based on some of the judgement we've received, I was worried that the work we've done with Abby would somehow not have been correct or enough. I know I've spent lots of time working with her on her relaxation and general behavior, and you never want for that investment to be incorrect. But I was even nervous that I somehow had fostered some of her reactivity. I take the issues of Abby's behavior very personally, and when analyzing some of the things she does I think on some level you are doing a disservice to your pet if you don't at least consider your behavior and reactions to at least rule out that you aren't fostering some of the behavior you're working to correct.
In a word the vet behaviorist was phenomenal. Our trainer was so awesome and met us at the facility to be part of our discussion, and she was also able to inject some of her observations into the conversation, which truly ended up being helpful at several points. I should tell you that the appointment that we had scheduled for Abby was a two hour consultation. My first thought was "How the heck am I going to keep her attention for two hours? She's going to try to bolt out of the room in under 20 minutes." So I came prepared.
Over the last few months, we've been doing mat work with Abby. We have a mat that we use for her to relax on and chill out. We bring it to class, we bring it to the vet, and we use it anywhere where she could possibly be overwhelmed by what is going on around her. We gave it a queue - "Places!" - and she knows that she can just relax and hang out on her mat. I also brought some toys for her to chew on and play with, and plenty of treats.
So when we met with the behaviorist she brought us downstairs to her office. Essentially it was a big open basement that was divided in half. On one side of the room chairs set up in a U-shape for training, and the other half of the room had couches, a rug, and a desk for consultations. We sat down and I put Abby's mat down, and Abby immediately went down on it. We spoke for awhile about some of her behaviors and the things I had completed on the form, and the entire time Abby is just chilling. I thought, "This woman is going to think I am crazy! Abby is so well behaved and chilling right now that she's going to think I have the dog owner's version of Munchausen Syndrome." After a little while Abby heard a noise, and then everything I was saying had been confirmed. Abby was on patrol, hair raised, and we were unable to call her back to the area we were sitting in. And it didn't just end there. Once she had the first reaction, it did not take much to prompt further reactions.
The appointment was just so positive though. The behaviorist reinforced that Abby's dosage of Clomicalm is considered a light dosage, and she praised us for the work we've done thus far in light of the light dosage. I felt like I didn't have to defend the choices we've made for Abby or the work we've done because she already understood where we were coming from and communicated her desire to help us.
What a change!
So we're going to do a slightly small increase with her Clomicalm, and we're going to work with her on the relaxation protocols and continue the mat work. We've started working on down stays so that we can try to have Abby not freak out when people come to the house, and I feel like we have a clear direction on where we're heading with Abby's next phase of training.
In other news, a few weeks ago I had received a call from the vet's office that we bring Abby to for her routine care because I had previously ordered a few cases of the Purina OM but I hadn't picked them up. While trying to figure out what we were doing for her food, I just figured that I would leave them there because I didn't know if we would possibly use that food in combination with something else. I explained some of the food issues we've been having and that I was going to wait on picking it up, and the receptionist asked if she could try running Abby's GI issues past one of their other doctors that she has not seen. I told her that it was OK to do this, but that with all due respect I wasn't necessarily feeling a need to make more appointments or follow ups with nutritionists because at this point they've picked a food that did not work for her on any level, and frankly I can pick foods on my own at this rate through trial and error. So she said she would try the other doctor's opinion.
A few days later I got a call from one of the technicians saying the doctor had reviewed everything, and that without doing an intestinal ultrasound it is possible that she could have IBD. But that he was really recommending that I do a month of Tylosin to kill any bacteria that could be in the intestine. I told her that I needed to think about it. I said that without trying to sound defensive or dismissive, I've yet to have anyone be able to explain why Abby would have perfect stools for a period of time, then have diarrhea, then have the loose stools again. I explained how I felt like on some level that this could possibly be anxiety related, particularly given the timing of the reactivity, and the way in which she seems to be generally anxious as we try to taper off the clomicalm. We continue to throw tests, medications or diets at Abby under the hopes that they will work, and I never get to the root cause of her issues and again the diarrhea reccurs. This is when she reiterated that she felt the Merrick food was too fatty and the pancreas and intestine pretty much can't handle it anymore. I guess I'd buy into that if I hadn't just done the malabsorption tests on the heels of this diarrhea getting kicked off. Additionally when I bought into the idea of Abby having IBD, my questioning of whether or not it could have an anxiety component to what triggered or aggravated it was dismissed.
What was interesting to me was that she mentioned that although the Tylosin could work, there was a possibility that Abby could have this happen again even with the Tylosin, and then in which case we'd be back to where we started where we would do another course of treatment.
Those who have read with any regularity can already guess my answer to this treatment: No. A resounding no.
I'm not sure what I was more astounded by. Even if I did an ultrasound on Abby to see if she had IBD, what would I learn? That my dog is prone to diarrhea? I already know this and I didn't have to spend $1,000 to figure that out or put her through the testing. Second, what person just gives a month long treatment to their dog without having a test to prove that she needs it? We wouldn't do this with our children, and I'm certainly not doing this to Abby.
Throughout her reactivity, anxiety and digestive issues I'm starting to learn that doctors, and in particular veterinarians, are not Gods. Sure, they're educated people who have spent thousands of dollars earning a degree certifying them to answer the questions and solve the problems we encounter with Abby. But they don't live with us. They don't see Abby day-to-day, and they don't know what she struggles with day-to-day. Abby can't answer questions to tell me how she feels, why she gets nervous, or why her food isn't agreeing with her. The only voice she has is ours. The only advocate she has is us. And these experiences have taught me that I need to remain dilligent in asking questions to insure that she gets adequate care. Not treatment - care. There is a fine line between these that I think is often lost.
With that said, onwards and upwards. We will continue to search for people committed to Abby's care, who support the decisions we make for her, and who appreciate and trust the total focus we give to helping her. The camp of people we have in Abby's life who do this only continues to grow.
In a word the vet behaviorist was phenomenal. Our trainer was so awesome and met us at the facility to be part of our discussion, and she was also able to inject some of her observations into the conversation, which truly ended up being helpful at several points. I should tell you that the appointment that we had scheduled for Abby was a two hour consultation. My first thought was "How the heck am I going to keep her attention for two hours? She's going to try to bolt out of the room in under 20 minutes." So I came prepared.
Over the last few months, we've been doing mat work with Abby. We have a mat that we use for her to relax on and chill out. We bring it to class, we bring it to the vet, and we use it anywhere where she could possibly be overwhelmed by what is going on around her. We gave it a queue - "Places!" - and she knows that she can just relax and hang out on her mat. I also brought some toys for her to chew on and play with, and plenty of treats.
So when we met with the behaviorist she brought us downstairs to her office. Essentially it was a big open basement that was divided in half. On one side of the room chairs set up in a U-shape for training, and the other half of the room had couches, a rug, and a desk for consultations. We sat down and I put Abby's mat down, and Abby immediately went down on it. We spoke for awhile about some of her behaviors and the things I had completed on the form, and the entire time Abby is just chilling. I thought, "This woman is going to think I am crazy! Abby is so well behaved and chilling right now that she's going to think I have the dog owner's version of Munchausen Syndrome." After a little while Abby heard a noise, and then everything I was saying had been confirmed. Abby was on patrol, hair raised, and we were unable to call her back to the area we were sitting in. And it didn't just end there. Once she had the first reaction, it did not take much to prompt further reactions.
The appointment was just so positive though. The behaviorist reinforced that Abby's dosage of Clomicalm is considered a light dosage, and she praised us for the work we've done thus far in light of the light dosage. I felt like I didn't have to defend the choices we've made for Abby or the work we've done because she already understood where we were coming from and communicated her desire to help us.
What a change!
So we're going to do a slightly small increase with her Clomicalm, and we're going to work with her on the relaxation protocols and continue the mat work. We've started working on down stays so that we can try to have Abby not freak out when people come to the house, and I feel like we have a clear direction on where we're heading with Abby's next phase of training.
In other news, a few weeks ago I had received a call from the vet's office that we bring Abby to for her routine care because I had previously ordered a few cases of the Purina OM but I hadn't picked them up. While trying to figure out what we were doing for her food, I just figured that I would leave them there because I didn't know if we would possibly use that food in combination with something else. I explained some of the food issues we've been having and that I was going to wait on picking it up, and the receptionist asked if she could try running Abby's GI issues past one of their other doctors that she has not seen. I told her that it was OK to do this, but that with all due respect I wasn't necessarily feeling a need to make more appointments or follow ups with nutritionists because at this point they've picked a food that did not work for her on any level, and frankly I can pick foods on my own at this rate through trial and error. So she said she would try the other doctor's opinion.
A few days later I got a call from one of the technicians saying the doctor had reviewed everything, and that without doing an intestinal ultrasound it is possible that she could have IBD. But that he was really recommending that I do a month of Tylosin to kill any bacteria that could be in the intestine. I told her that I needed to think about it. I said that without trying to sound defensive or dismissive, I've yet to have anyone be able to explain why Abby would have perfect stools for a period of time, then have diarrhea, then have the loose stools again. I explained how I felt like on some level that this could possibly be anxiety related, particularly given the timing of the reactivity, and the way in which she seems to be generally anxious as we try to taper off the clomicalm. We continue to throw tests, medications or diets at Abby under the hopes that they will work, and I never get to the root cause of her issues and again the diarrhea reccurs. This is when she reiterated that she felt the Merrick food was too fatty and the pancreas and intestine pretty much can't handle it anymore. I guess I'd buy into that if I hadn't just done the malabsorption tests on the heels of this diarrhea getting kicked off. Additionally when I bought into the idea of Abby having IBD, my questioning of whether or not it could have an anxiety component to what triggered or aggravated it was dismissed.
What was interesting to me was that she mentioned that although the Tylosin could work, there was a possibility that Abby could have this happen again even with the Tylosin, and then in which case we'd be back to where we started where we would do another course of treatment.
Those who have read with any regularity can already guess my answer to this treatment: No. A resounding no.
I'm not sure what I was more astounded by. Even if I did an ultrasound on Abby to see if she had IBD, what would I learn? That my dog is prone to diarrhea? I already know this and I didn't have to spend $1,000 to figure that out or put her through the testing. Second, what person just gives a month long treatment to their dog without having a test to prove that she needs it? We wouldn't do this with our children, and I'm certainly not doing this to Abby.
Throughout her reactivity, anxiety and digestive issues I'm starting to learn that doctors, and in particular veterinarians, are not Gods. Sure, they're educated people who have spent thousands of dollars earning a degree certifying them to answer the questions and solve the problems we encounter with Abby. But they don't live with us. They don't see Abby day-to-day, and they don't know what she struggles with day-to-day. Abby can't answer questions to tell me how she feels, why she gets nervous, or why her food isn't agreeing with her. The only voice she has is ours. The only advocate she has is us. And these experiences have taught me that I need to remain dilligent in asking questions to insure that she gets adequate care. Not treatment - care. There is a fine line between these that I think is often lost.
With that said, onwards and upwards. We will continue to search for people committed to Abby's care, who support the decisions we make for her, and who appreciate and trust the total focus we give to helping her. The camp of people we have in Abby's life who do this only continues to grow.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Food issues... again
So last I wrote, Abby was trying a new diet that consisted of Purina OM. That had made a vast improvement in the consistency of her stools; however, other issues have emerged now that she has been on it a little over a month.
I've never fed a canned diet to a dog. That said, my mother feeds a mix of both to her dogs (except the older ones who are strictly on canned for their teeth) and she seems to like it. However, prior to putting Abby on a canned diet, she ate half a cup of Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie twice daily. The nutritionst recommended that she should get 2 1/4 cans per day. I won't lie - this seems like a LOT of food. When I first put it in Abby's bowl it seemed like a lot in comparison to the volume she received on dry. But we fed it, and honestly Abby seemed to go into a food coma. We started noticing that Abby didn't have as much energy. That isn't to say she was lethargic, but rather I noticed that any energy she had before dinner was quickly replaced with a firm desire to nap. Almost like most people get after Thanksgiving. It was as if she was in a Thanksgiving coma.
It wasn't long before other things started to seem a little bit off. I noticed that Abby was burping a lot. But it wasn't just a burp. She would actually be burping up food. In most instances she would simply swallow whatever came up. But sometimes she wasn't so lucky and she'd end up spitting up a good amount of food. Additionally there were times where it was as if it either came up the wrong way, or she swallowed wrong, but she started to breathe funny for about a minute afterwards. It almost sounded like a reverse sneeze, and if you didn't know better it was concerning. The first few times it happened I would wonder if she was breathing OK.
Additionally Abby has lost weight on the new food. Now granted, I'm not very concerned about this. But when you consider that the amount of food she was to eat was calculated based on her weight at the time that we started feeding her OM (40 pounds), it is noteworthy that she is losing weight (36.5 pounds). I think that anything in the 35-40 pound range seems healthy for her, but if 40 were the ideal weight for her than I'd be worried about how I would correct that problem because admittedly she is getting a TON of food on the OM as it is and I don't know how much more I could give her.
So hubby and I are thinking about switching her food and trying something else. I'm not entirely sold on a prescription diet for her, much less one that targets weight management when she isn't an overweight dog. Additionally I am concerned with her being on a diet that is presciption because I constantly have to worry about making sure to order her food. And after one time where someone at her veterinarian's office did not forward a note properly for her food to be ordered, I am always worried that such a human error could happen again.
In other news we have started to taper down her Clomicalm that she has been on for a year. I am doing a really slow tapering with it. Instead of doing a half tablet twice daily, I am giving her half a tablet once daily for one month, then half a tablet every other day for a month. We'll see how that goes. We have noticed that she is barking a bit more at sounds she hears or things she sees. My hope is that as I try out a new food for her, I can find a kibble that works and use that to bump up the relaxation protocols.
Abby did the funniest thing the other day, although I should say that seems to do funny things every day. We were coming back from a walk and my husband had been running an errand. He passed by us on our way back, and he had his window open. Abby watched his car pass and about two seconds later stopped, sniffed the air, and bolted in the direction her Dad had just gone. Too funny!
She also had her first agility class, and she was an absolute superstar! It was only her and one other dog, and she did really well with jumping over the hurdles. Inevitably Jess told us to take their leashes off, and admittedly I was worried. Abby is NEVER off leash. We just don't have an area that we could do that work with her. But she did so well! There were times where she wanted to be the social butterfly and go see Blue, but largely she stayed with us and sometimes came back when called. The biggest thing I noticed was how willing Abby was to trust me. She trusted that I wanted her to walk on equipment that was safe, and to me that was the best part of the class. Throughout most of the class she looked like she was smiling - it was the cutest thing in the world!
Next week we're going to try some rally, so I can't wait to see how she does with that!
I've never fed a canned diet to a dog. That said, my mother feeds a mix of both to her dogs (except the older ones who are strictly on canned for their teeth) and she seems to like it. However, prior to putting Abby on a canned diet, she ate half a cup of Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie twice daily. The nutritionst recommended that she should get 2 1/4 cans per day. I won't lie - this seems like a LOT of food. When I first put it in Abby's bowl it seemed like a lot in comparison to the volume she received on dry. But we fed it, and honestly Abby seemed to go into a food coma. We started noticing that Abby didn't have as much energy. That isn't to say she was lethargic, but rather I noticed that any energy she had before dinner was quickly replaced with a firm desire to nap. Almost like most people get after Thanksgiving. It was as if she was in a Thanksgiving coma.
It wasn't long before other things started to seem a little bit off. I noticed that Abby was burping a lot. But it wasn't just a burp. She would actually be burping up food. In most instances she would simply swallow whatever came up. But sometimes she wasn't so lucky and she'd end up spitting up a good amount of food. Additionally there were times where it was as if it either came up the wrong way, or she swallowed wrong, but she started to breathe funny for about a minute afterwards. It almost sounded like a reverse sneeze, and if you didn't know better it was concerning. The first few times it happened I would wonder if she was breathing OK.
Additionally Abby has lost weight on the new food. Now granted, I'm not very concerned about this. But when you consider that the amount of food she was to eat was calculated based on her weight at the time that we started feeding her OM (40 pounds), it is noteworthy that she is losing weight (36.5 pounds). I think that anything in the 35-40 pound range seems healthy for her, but if 40 were the ideal weight for her than I'd be worried about how I would correct that problem because admittedly she is getting a TON of food on the OM as it is and I don't know how much more I could give her.
So hubby and I are thinking about switching her food and trying something else. I'm not entirely sold on a prescription diet for her, much less one that targets weight management when she isn't an overweight dog. Additionally I am concerned with her being on a diet that is presciption because I constantly have to worry about making sure to order her food. And after one time where someone at her veterinarian's office did not forward a note properly for her food to be ordered, I am always worried that such a human error could happen again.
In other news we have started to taper down her Clomicalm that she has been on for a year. I am doing a really slow tapering with it. Instead of doing a half tablet twice daily, I am giving her half a tablet once daily for one month, then half a tablet every other day for a month. We'll see how that goes. We have noticed that she is barking a bit more at sounds she hears or things she sees. My hope is that as I try out a new food for her, I can find a kibble that works and use that to bump up the relaxation protocols.
Abby did the funniest thing the other day, although I should say that seems to do funny things every day. We were coming back from a walk and my husband had been running an errand. He passed by us on our way back, and he had his window open. Abby watched his car pass and about two seconds later stopped, sniffed the air, and bolted in the direction her Dad had just gone. Too funny!
She also had her first agility class, and she was an absolute superstar! It was only her and one other dog, and she did really well with jumping over the hurdles. Inevitably Jess told us to take their leashes off, and admittedly I was worried. Abby is NEVER off leash. We just don't have an area that we could do that work with her. But she did so well! There were times where she wanted to be the social butterfly and go see Blue, but largely she stayed with us and sometimes came back when called. The biggest thing I noticed was how willing Abby was to trust me. She trusted that I wanted her to walk on equipment that was safe, and to me that was the best part of the class. Throughout most of the class she looked like she was smiling - it was the cutest thing in the world!
Next week we're going to try some rally, so I can't wait to see how she does with that!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Easing back to normal
The past few months have been a little bit hectic as of late, and perhaps the biggest challenge has been our girl's GI issues. The week of April 18th Abby started with soft stools that were later accompanied by an urgency with her bowel movements. We brought her to the her veterinarian and got a prescription for Metronidazole and had a discussion about the food that she has been on. At the time Abby was eating Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie, and she was doing relatively well with it. However, I had noticed that it seemed as if Abby periodically had GI issues since we adopted her.
When we first adopted Abby and brought her to her first veterinarian appointment, her fecal results came back positive for giardia. We put her on fenbendazole that was to be mixed in with her Science Diet puppy kibble. I don't know if there was a taste to her medicine, or she didn't like the texture of the medicine in her food. Either way, she inevitably wanted no part of her food. She made it through one week of medicine, and then stopped eating even without having medicine in her food. At that time we tried to change her dry food in an effort to get her to think that if there was a new food, then there was a new MO. Inevitably she really seemed to dig the Merrick's Puppy Plate. She did well on this medicine, but after a few months got diarrhea one time. Her stool sample came back clean and we put her on metronidazole, and eventually the problem cleared up.
Over the next several months it seemed like we went through periodic issues with diarrhea. The stool samples were always clean, and the metronidazole cleared up the urgency that accompanied the diarrhea and inevitably helped with the consistency of her stools. But then this last bout hit in April and we were not able to clear up her problems.
We did a week of metronidazole, and although it helped with the urgency it did not really affect the consistency of her stools. The first stool while on metronidazole was solid, and after that they were about the consistency of soft serve (presuming it wasn't full blown diarrhea). Additionally, when we spoke with the veterinarian, they said that they were seeing a lot of dogs that had problems with Merrick foods. They said that the fat content in the Merrick foods was very high, and as a result a lot of dogs seem to develop this problem; as if their pancreases have enough and blow out. We switched her food to a low residue (Iams) and gave her Forti Flora, a probiotic. After a week when her stools hadn't improved, I tried switching the food to Science Diet I/D dry because she had previously done better on this food. The stools improved a bit, but not enough. I called the veterinarian back and they extended the metronidazole and set us up with an appointment for a complete blood panel including TLI and folates, as well as a broader fecal test.
In true Abby fashion, all of her bloodwork and fecal tests came back fine. All levels were where they needed to be, which meant that her pancreas was functioning fine and that we weren't having any issues with malabsorption or maldigestion. At this point we went on an exclusion diet. Abby would only eat Science Diet I/D dry and the hypoallergenic cookies, and all other treats and foods would be cut out. Abby's stools did not improve at all on this diet at all. So we decided to take things a step further.
One of the vet techs at Abby's vet hospital suggested a nutritionist at Angell Hospital, and I was able to set up a phone consultation with her for this past Tuesday. She had some very helpful suggestions. She said that when dogs have problems with digestion, they always look to simplify everything as much as they can. The fact that Abby had been on a low residue, low fiber food and not improved showed that low fiber was not the way to go. Additionally, we should also look to switch her from dry food to canned food as the dry food would have a lot more non-nutrative items in it, including preservatives. That said, the second thing that we should try is a higher fiber food. She gave us two suggestions: either Purina OM or half Science Diet I/D and half Science Diet W/D. Providing this food worked for her, we could then introduce treats for her training such as carrots, rice cakes, or mini marshmallows. If this did not work either, then we would simplify further and try a novel protein diet.
While I waited for Abby's Purina OM to come in, I immediately switched her to Science Diet I/D canned food. I immediately noticed an improvement in Abby's stools. Abby's new food came in on Friday, and she started with that at dinner and really seemed to dig the taste of it. I have to say that since switching Abby to canned food, she has been SUPER interested in food. She is actually salivating for meals, and is even more food motivated than she was before.
I still am not sure how mini marshmallows are a good treat for her given the amount of sugar in them. But I'm thinking that if I cut these in half to make them even smaller, I could integrate them in combination with the other treats as a trail mix for her training. All I know is that it is so wonderful to have her finally on the road back to normal.
When we first adopted Abby and brought her to her first veterinarian appointment, her fecal results came back positive for giardia. We put her on fenbendazole that was to be mixed in with her Science Diet puppy kibble. I don't know if there was a taste to her medicine, or she didn't like the texture of the medicine in her food. Either way, she inevitably wanted no part of her food. She made it through one week of medicine, and then stopped eating even without having medicine in her food. At that time we tried to change her dry food in an effort to get her to think that if there was a new food, then there was a new MO. Inevitably she really seemed to dig the Merrick's Puppy Plate. She did well on this medicine, but after a few months got diarrhea one time. Her stool sample came back clean and we put her on metronidazole, and eventually the problem cleared up.
Over the next several months it seemed like we went through periodic issues with diarrhea. The stool samples were always clean, and the metronidazole cleared up the urgency that accompanied the diarrhea and inevitably helped with the consistency of her stools. But then this last bout hit in April and we were not able to clear up her problems.
We did a week of metronidazole, and although it helped with the urgency it did not really affect the consistency of her stools. The first stool while on metronidazole was solid, and after that they were about the consistency of soft serve (presuming it wasn't full blown diarrhea). Additionally, when we spoke with the veterinarian, they said that they were seeing a lot of dogs that had problems with Merrick foods. They said that the fat content in the Merrick foods was very high, and as a result a lot of dogs seem to develop this problem; as if their pancreases have enough and blow out. We switched her food to a low residue (Iams) and gave her Forti Flora, a probiotic. After a week when her stools hadn't improved, I tried switching the food to Science Diet I/D dry because she had previously done better on this food. The stools improved a bit, but not enough. I called the veterinarian back and they extended the metronidazole and set us up with an appointment for a complete blood panel including TLI and folates, as well as a broader fecal test.
In true Abby fashion, all of her bloodwork and fecal tests came back fine. All levels were where they needed to be, which meant that her pancreas was functioning fine and that we weren't having any issues with malabsorption or maldigestion. At this point we went on an exclusion diet. Abby would only eat Science Diet I/D dry and the hypoallergenic cookies, and all other treats and foods would be cut out. Abby's stools did not improve at all on this diet at all. So we decided to take things a step further.
One of the vet techs at Abby's vet hospital suggested a nutritionist at Angell Hospital, and I was able to set up a phone consultation with her for this past Tuesday. She had some very helpful suggestions. She said that when dogs have problems with digestion, they always look to simplify everything as much as they can. The fact that Abby had been on a low residue, low fiber food and not improved showed that low fiber was not the way to go. Additionally, we should also look to switch her from dry food to canned food as the dry food would have a lot more non-nutrative items in it, including preservatives. That said, the second thing that we should try is a higher fiber food. She gave us two suggestions: either Purina OM or half Science Diet I/D and half Science Diet W/D. Providing this food worked for her, we could then introduce treats for her training such as carrots, rice cakes, or mini marshmallows. If this did not work either, then we would simplify further and try a novel protein diet.
While I waited for Abby's Purina OM to come in, I immediately switched her to Science Diet I/D canned food. I immediately noticed an improvement in Abby's stools. Abby's new food came in on Friday, and she started with that at dinner and really seemed to dig the taste of it. I have to say that since switching Abby to canned food, she has been SUPER interested in food. She is actually salivating for meals, and is even more food motivated than she was before.
I still am not sure how mini marshmallows are a good treat for her given the amount of sugar in them. But I'm thinking that if I cut these in half to make them even smaller, I could integrate them in combination with the other treats as a trail mix for her training. All I know is that it is so wonderful to have her finally on the road back to normal.
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