Help Needed for Very Sick Dog with Chronic Diarrhea
If anyone has had a similar experience with this I would greatly appreciate your advice! It started about 6 months ago when my 11 year old pug started having diarrhea and not wanting to eat. My normal vet prescribed metronidozole but symptoms did not improve. She did an X-ray and said she saw his intestines were inflamed and it could be a type of intestinal cancer and we should just keep him as "comfortable as possible." I was in shock because up until this point he had been perfectly healthy. She prescribed prednisone to help with inflammation and appetite. After starting the prednisone his poop returned to normal and his appetite was up.
We thought he was cured until about 2 weeks after stopping pred, all symptoms returned. The vet refused to prescribe anymore pred, citing the harmful long term effects it has. I wish I had taken him to a specialist after that and it will probably always haunt me that I didnt. We took him to another vet who prescribed prednisone and Another round of antibiotics. He was great until stopping the pred again, but this time his symptoms became different. He was shaking, panting, and could not walk at all! Couldn't even stand up. Rushed to emergency vet. They basically said he was an old dog and we didn't have a lot of options. They suspected he had a seizure. Literally As soon as we walked out of the place, our dog started walking again and drank water! Took him back to the vet who gave us the pred last the next day and she did a lipase test. He had a terrible case of pancreatitis. She didn't keep him on an IV because we all agreed it would be too stressful for him. He was given subcutaneous fluid injections and sent home and we were told to withhold food for 2 days. She gave us pred and antibiotics, and after his 2 day fast he was wonderful again! Started feeding royal canin prescription. a week later when he started shaking and panting. Called the vet she said to give him Karo syrup and bring him in. After the hour drive there and multiple feelings of Karo syrup, his glucose was only 67. She gave us some paste to feed him and suggested pedialyte because he was dehydrated. He got better again, then his stool started getting loser and his inappetance returned. The vet said it could be a type of pancreatic cancer and suggested we go see a specialist and get a biopsy.
Took him to another vet who was highly recommended for older dogs, he did an ultrasound and said it was clear. Prescribed more pred and antibiotics because his WBC were very elevated. His pancreatic and liver enzymes were normal! This time the pred did not help his diarrhea. We took him back two weeks later and he wasn't there so his partner saw us. She did another ultrasound and suggested a barium test. She showed us the test and said there is a large well encapsulated mass in his left cranial abdomen in the place of the liver and stomach. She said the food could not get around and he would throw up if he ate a lot. He has been eating a ton (increased pred to 1 1/4) and has never thrown up. This time his Blood work improved a lot his WBC went down a lot other than basophils which were extremely high. Everything I've read about those says it indicates an infectious disease or heart worms (he's been checked for heartworms already).This week he is eating well but has pure liquid diarrhea literally minutes after eating. I feel so hopeless. She said exploratory surgery was needed but more than likely they couldn't do anything and would just tell us that it wasn't worth waking him up. She said make him comfortable until it's time to put him down. He's down to 14 lbs from his weight of 22 lbs. I should of had him biopsied from a specialist right away, that is completely my fault but I was just so shocked. All of the cancer symptoms I have read say blood in stool or vomit or pain or dark colored tarry stools. He has had none of the above!
I also find it strange that the first vet thought the mass was in his intensines, the second vet thought there was no mass just pancreaitis, 3rd vet saw no mass one week earlier, and the third vet says the mass in the top of his stomach. I asked the latest vet about pancreatitis and she said the mass may of been pressing on his pancreas. That makes sense but why isn't it now? Especially since she said the mass was encapsulated. If anyone has had a similar experience or advice I would really appreciate it.
Mpls., Mn
09/01/2015
Hey Lacy!
I am sorry to hear of your pug's woes. My experience is having had a dog with pancreatic cancer and working closely with an associate whose dog had intestinal cancer. I have read and re-read your post and have come away with some thoughts for you.
Your vets have all followed reasonable 'text book' procedure and medications based on what they can determine with the tests done; the only way for a more conclusive diagnosis would be exploratory surgery, which is super taxing for an 11 year old - but it is survivable, unless the condition of your boy is very deteriorated. Who knows why the mass has morphed and moved around; it seems your vets are doing the best they can with what they have presented to them, and again the only definitive would be the surgery.
What is clear is that something is very off in the intestines. The pancreas sounds involved - due to the pancreatitis flare up, and due to the suspected seizures. While intestinal cancer often shows up with loose tarry or greenish gooey stools, pancreatic cancer shows up as panting, shaking, and seizures. If your boy is having seizures a bit of sugar/kayo syrup/etc. can help stabilize after a seizure. Panting and shaking = pain; how often are you seeing these symptoms?
Treating with pred will help the inflammation in his bowels; it makes him super hungery, and makes him pee a lot. Antibiotics may or may not help, but you might consider probiotics /benebac plus for dogs or similar to help with his intestinal flora; I would NOT use yogurt or dairy to avoid further upsetting the bowels. Because what he eats exits quickly you might consider a super rich food supplement such as Nurtical - try a bit of this between solid food to see if he can keep it in him long enough to absorb it. Humic acid may also prove helpful in normalizing the flora of the gut. Essiac tea is a cancer fighter, and can be brewed like regular tea and given to your boy via a syringe so you know he is getting a specific dose - please read up on Essiac tea: https://www.earthclinic.com/herbs/essiac-tea.html
Similarly a castor oil pack may be something to consider: https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/castor_oil.html
Given the weight loss you may want to keep your boy in a coat - to pad his bones and to help keep him warm so he doesn't need to burn calories to do so.
You might consider changing out his drinking water with Real Willard Water or dosing the RWW orally. You might also consider Rescue Remedy - for the both of you - to help keep you relaxed and calm during this very stressful and trying time.
All of the above may take some time to work, on a condition that has had quite some time to manifest; there are no quick fixes here, but the remedies may help provided they have the time to do so.
My final thoughts for you are to consider the quality of life for your boy. Do the good days still out number the bad? For some of mine, near the end, it meant a blood panel every 48 hours to ensure the organs were working, and when the numbers looked bad we had a great last walk and last meal and then the final trip to the vet and going out on top and with dignity. For my pancreatic cancer dog I think I waited too long; she died from her cancer - there was no saving her or reversing it, but I saw the process unfold in front of me; her organs shutting down, her checking out mentally and then physically. She was - technically - my husband's dog and he was unable to make the choice of that final vet visit. I have never felt I PTS a dog too soon, but my regret is that we waited too long so the decision was removed from us - and in that delay she may have suffered. As hard as it is to do, please step up and be a true guardian for your boy; take the rescue remedy [really], go with your gut and instinct on which remedies to try and then be honest about the good days and bad and preserve your boy's dignity.
{{{{{{{Lacy}}}}}}}}
Toronto
09/01/2015
Change his food. Feed him home cooked meat and vegetables (pureed). Don't worry about supplements at this point. You want to keep it simple.
Down the road you can get honest kitchen dehydrated veggie base to mix with fresh meat or complete foods to make sure he is not missing anything or their complete meals.
Home cooking takes abit more work. You need bone meal , multi vitamin and unadulterated cold press omega 6 oil (sunflower , canola). Important not to cook the oil.
Simple recipes from Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets book by Dr Donald Strombeck is now available online for free.
http://www.dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/
Hope that helps.
