Vet wants blood tests... should I be worried?
The vet said it could be several things, his food (I changed it in late December to Nature's Recipe) or stress from Zappa who came in January. So, I dropped off another stool sample and she wants to run some blood tests when we visit on Thursday. Should I be worried? From what the vet says it could be tons of things like irritable bowls, protein problems, etc. I'm going to ask her if I can now change him to Eagle Pack Holistic as everyone who feeds it to their dogs seems to enjoy the results. Does anyone have advice, input, etc? Thank you, I'm feeling uneasy about my sweet boy...  |
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| I'm sorry to hear about Hendrix, probably better to have the blood tests done especially if the stool sample comes back negative. It will help to eliminate all that then once and for all. No don't worry about it, just best to rule out all that might be causing the constant diarhhea.
Kelsey as a youngster had giardia and it took forever for the poop to become firm again. We had stool and blood samples done too. We had normal days then watery days for over 8 months. I actually had her knocked out and a colonscope done on her to see what was causing the constant problem. Turns out after the giardia had cleared, IBS problem as her insides where completely scoured and red raw and just took a long time for all that to get back to normal. I changed her diet and it helped a lot back then, she was on a fish and potato blend so that helped enormously. The last few years I have fed both girls on the Eagle Pack Holistic and it is wonderful as it has all in it as well as the probiotics to keep things solid. Never had any diarhhea with brie at all. Kelsey not for years since using this brand. I do, do a switch between that one and Dick Van Dykes Natural balance every so often, just for a change.  |
| Remimber that blood test sometimes come back with something simple to treat. |
Ooops typo error, must of been thinking of the actor lol 
Dick Van Pattens Natural balance.  |
| Hopefully with the blood tests they can determine the cause of Hendrix's problem. Keeping paws crossed for him. |
| Don't worry! That just sounds like good thorough doctoring to me. Hope they find something very treatable! |
Valerie wrote: Don't worry! That just sounds like good thorough doctoring to me. Hope they find something very treatable!
I agree  |
 Cross our fingers that the Vet finds an answer. Good luck and sheepie hugs. |
| Better to be proactive than reactive. Keep us informed! |
lisaoes wrote: I do, do a switch between that one and Dick Van Dykes Natural balance every so often, just for a change. lisaoes wrote: Ooops typo error, must of been thinking of the actor lol
Dick Van Pattens Natural balance. Funny -- Dick Van Patten was also an actor. . . Here's his bio: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0887694/ |
| I think your vet is just being thorough and checking for all possibilities. Try not to worry too much. It's hard, I know, when it's your baby, but this will hopefully give you the answers you seek to get him back to his normal healthy self.
Lisa -you had me wondering when Dick Van Dyke got into pet foods.  |
| They could also be looking for IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) which is different from Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It is found by checking eosinophil levels in the blood. IBD doesn't allow the nutrients get absorbed in the intestines properly. The reason your vet is doing the bloodwork is because the diarrhea shouldn't be continually intermittent.
We had similar situation to you with Frank. He would be fine one week and then have diarrhea for 4 days the following week. IMO, I think IBD is more common in the breed than is known, because OES have so many stomach issues and I think that owners just feel that the intermittent diarrhea is a nuisance blamed on other factors and not a medical condition. The good news is that it is easily treated with prescription diet. (except it's pricey at $70 per 35 lb bag). Hope that Hendrix checks out fine and maybe the giardia is just lingering. Our diarrhea symptoms were going on for about a year off & on before we had the blood work done. |
| $70 for 35lbs! Holy Canoli! I'd go through that in a month! If that's the case I would definitly need to feed Zappa and him different foods. What's the name of that dog food?
Does blood work take a long time to get reviewed for so many different causes? |
| Tasker has IBD, or at least his Vet believes he does...... For many many MANY years he would get bloody diarrhea at the drop of a hat. We switched over to Purina Sensitive Systems over a year ago I don't believe he has had a bout of it since. It is a Salmon dog food with very little grain. |
| After reading more about IBD it seems possible. The only exception being Hendrix has never had blood in his stool. |
| By the way, I just checked with the vet and Hendrix's stool came back negative for everything they tested. |
Even if the stool came back negative, sometimes certain parasites and worms, etc don't always show up. The blood tests will reveal alot of issues and I wouldn't be worried. We just had a blood test on my puppy and we had the results the next day...Puppy wasn't happy when they took the blood though 
The blood tests are a great idea. It will ease your mind too.Whatever it is can't be too serious if he's had it for so long without any other real problems, right? And if its Irritable Bowel or whatever, they can treat it. Good luck...paws are crossed for you. By the way...my pup is named Bowie...you have Hendrix...all we need is a Dylan and we have quite a band! |
| I've got our wheaten named Zappa too! |
| I can tell what generation you are from! Me too Those were the days |
Hendrix's Mom wrote: After reading more about IBD it seems possible. The only exception being Hendrix has never had blood in his stool.
Sorry to say that Frank never had blood either but we would go from fine firm stools one day to really liquidy stuff the next. It was almost like he had gotten into something... The dog food he's on is Purina HA which is specially formulated for dogs to digest easier with that condition. The dog food itself looks like Corn Puffs. We don't give the other dogs that food since it's so expensive and we usually go through a bag in 2 months. We mix a little cottage cheese and/or yogurt into the food to make their dry food a little more interesting. He gets normal dog cookies and what not. The food really made a difference though. Really cured the condition. |
| Alright, we're back from the vet.
She wants to start Hendrix on de-worming medication. She thinks he may have a bacteria in him and since he hasn't had a deworming for a little over a year, she thinks its our best (and cheapest) bet. The medication is 6 little bags of powder (I joked it looked like I was leaving with bags of cocaine). We mix each bag in a jar of baby food and give him 1 jar a day for 3 days. Then in 2 weeks we do the same thing for 3 days. She wants me everyday to watch him go outside and examine the poop (what a fun job!) And I should know in a month or so if it did the trick. If it doesn't work, our next step is to do the extensive blood tests. She said the extensive blood test will be sent to Texas where it can be examined from everything to pancreas problems to B-12 deficiences. Other then that the exam went well. The vet said Hendrix is in good health, however, she said she'd only comment, but we shouldn't be really concerned that Hendrix's hips are protruding a bit, he's boney back there. Hendrix's hips have always been like that, his back legs are hier then his front, he's been like that since we got him. So, I'm not worthy. I'll update you guys with any new scoop! |
| Good luck with the treatment. |
| Glad to hear his exam went well. Sounds like your Vet is being cautious and thorough. My Bowie went on some deworming medication too recently when he had some of the symptoms you described. But ours was a GIANT white pill that I had to crush for him to take...I fog=rget the name of it...
And what do you mean "not worthy"? Hendrix is a super star! He even has Mommy inspecting his poop! What we do for our animals |
| That sounds like a regimen of panacur powder...
Good luck Hendrix! |
| I hope this helps him and he's feeling better soon. |
| Yep that it, Panacur! I gave Hendrix his first dose last night into the turkey baby food which he LOVED! |
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