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Post by sibemom on Nov 16, 2005 8:40:26 GMT -5
POOR POOR WILLOW She is at it again with her digestive problems. For the past two weeks I have had to have her on a homemade bland diet. She got really ill, had poop explosions all over herself, and just was not feeling good. I took her to vet, he did some blood work, and the results came back NORMAL I continued with the bland diet that he suggested and she was doing great untill this morning and it happened all over again. I am so frustrated with this problem. In every other way this is a very healthy dog, but these boughts with her touchey tummy are a bit much to deal with. Today I am going to add a bit of canned pumpkin to her bland SLOP and see if we can't firm her up a bit, then my vet and I are going to come up with SOMETHING that will hopefully fix this problem. The stool sample shows nothing, so it's not a bug or any sort, and yes we are still hedging towards the digestive enzyemes but not sure if that will even help her problem. I AM SO FRUSTRATED I tried feeding her a better quality kibble but never had good results, so I went to something not as good and she did better but know it's not working either. She can't handle raw what so ever tried that OVER AND OVER AND OVER, I just do not know In all other ways she is very healthy it's just this issue that can really stress everyone out. I have had to crate her at night because I can't have her "EXPLODING HER BOWELS" all over my house I just can't deal with that, so untill I get this under controll it's back to her crate, and I don't like doing that because she did earn her house privalages along time ago. I just don't know
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Post by sibemom on Nov 16, 2005 8:55:59 GMT -5
OK Dr. Rick and I talked again this moring and he said let's try the digestive enzyemes. Now he was very honest and said he does not know alot about them, because most of his patients just do well with a diet change, he has only perscribed the enzyems a handful of times and they were VERY EXPENSIVE so he told me to do a search as he will be doing for something effective but a cost that the NORMAL PERSON can handle. Can anyone recomend something? I have been looking and my mind is NUMB there are so many and they all pretty much have the same ingredients, so COME ON TROOPS clue me in to which one is good. ASAP
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Post by Nicole on Nov 18, 2005 20:48:17 GMT -5
Oh. Poor Willow. I am so sorry she is having a hard time. Sorry Ann, I don’t know a cheap DE. I have heard of a product called NZYME...I think that is the name but have no idea as to what it costs. But, are you sure that is what she needs? I am not comfortable with your vet’s knowledge and from my past reading, DE’s have been one of those push fads by the manufacturers saying everybody needs them, they are great etc. But I don’t think that is the entire truth. A dog’s body naturally produces enzymes to digest in response to what is being ingested. It isn’t something that depletes and then needs replenishment. It is an ongoing thing. Unless you can establish that Willow is not able to produce DE’s I would proceed with extreme caution. Because once you give this, the body stops manufacturing its own and you cannot just stop. I forget what Willow’s diagnosis was...was it IBS. Note also that diarrhea is the primary sign of a food allergy. It is not itching like most people think. Typically itching involves atopic and other types of allergies and people confuse this with a food allergy and they change foods over and over etc...stress the system making the allergy response more dramatic even though it wasn’t food to begin with. My point is that the diarrhea may be a true sign of a food allergy. And you can’t keep switching foods without giving the body enough time to adjust and produce its own DE. I would go to a specialist and have them rule out pancreatitis, IBS and any other possible cause and do some tests on enzymes naturally produced before I started to just give the DE. Have you tried changing foods without grains or without an ingredient that she has had and giving her time to acclimate? I would feel better if your vet knew something about the DE. Can you get a second opinion by a specialist?
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Post by sibemom on Nov 19, 2005 7:17:22 GMT -5
Thanks Nicki for the response. Yes I know one of the reasons I stayed away from the enzymes before was because I was not real comfortable with giving them due to the very reasons you stated. My vet has tried over and over to assist but he is very honest he just has no idea what the problem is. We did change food several times did the process of elimination with ingrediants and for awhile she would do great. Now we are back to square one. I have been talking to Loey quite a bit about this and doing alot of research on my own and I think we came up with a plan. Grains are out of her diet totaly, and I am going to start her out today on our new plan. I am going to try the raw diet one more time. At this point I have nothing to loose. I did purchase a product called D-ZYME which is made by the Solid Gold Company. It is an all natural enzyme. I am going to start her on that and a very slow introduction back to raw and see what happens. As far as a specialist, the nearest one is in Madison, and although I have been talking with the vets at the university they really do not offer much help either. The only thing that they suggested I try is a dog food called Royal Canin German Shepard Formula 24. It is suppose to be formualted for the specific needs and digestive issues of GSD'S and very digestable. Well I have tried so many kibbles with her I do not even want to think of purchasing another one. What appears to me to be happening is that it is like her stomach does not produce enough natural enzyems on it's own for what ever reason, and she still has that problem with metablising protein, that was confirmed. So I almost think that the enzyems are my only option. Now when I start back on the raw I am keeping a journal and recording everything so that I can see what works and what doesn't just like I did with the kibbles and the ingrediants. She is better, now but that is because Loey suggested some natural things to add to her diet and they worked well. So untill I find a vet that is knowledgable enough to figure this out I am doing it on my own. Today she will get her first raw meal along with the enzymes and we will see what happens. I am just going to wait it out, and keep my cleaning supply's stocked up. I will keep you posted as to our success or lack of it.
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Post by Nicole on Nov 19, 2005 10:44:30 GMT -5
That sounds like a good plan Ann. Please let me know how it goes.
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