12 month old Hungarian Vizsler - seriously underweight

[tipsycat]

My 12 month old Hungarian Vizsler has lost lots of weight over the past few weeks and is looking seriously thin now.

I've taken him to the vets a couple of times over this period, last time was Monday. His weight was 20kg on Monday. He's been wormed, we've tried changing his diet (now on Royal Canin stuff recommended by vet) and we're now waiting for the results of blood and poo samples which were sent off on Monday.

It seems as though his food is just going straight through him. He is pooing several times a day, and the consistency is like porridge. It doesn't smell like poo, and it's yellow / brown colour. This has not changed since his diet was changed.

We're waiting for the rest results, and hopefully they'll be back by the end of the week, but in the meantime, what should I feed him? He looks seriously thin, you can see all his ribs, and his spine, and I don't think he can afford to lose any more weight. Should I try him on cooked chicken, or minced beef? Scrambled eggs?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I would wait for your results I have a suspicion that nothing you can do will change this you ate likely to need the right meds.

[monkeyfacegrace]

You want raw, green tripe.

My dogs are entirely raw fed, and its done wonders for them.

Not saying in any sense that this will solve your problem, but raw green tripe if great for helping to gain weight. It'll also help his bowels, as there is less waste product.

Royal canin, and in fact all kibble, is nasty, processed shite that I wouldnt feed to any animal.

[daisydotandgertie]

Boiled chicken and rice or scrambled eggs with glucose powder mixed in but nothing else added would be good to feed him and can't do much harm. I would feed that in preference to Royal Canin.

I would also put him onto cooled boiled water too, rather than tap water. Just very occasionally, there can be something in water which causes problems.

You could also order some Pro Fibre granules which are a Probiotic (the vet often prescribes them in a paste called Pro Kolkin; the granules last longer and are less expensive per 'go') and add them to his food which may also help.

Test results are going to be really important though; it'll be interesting to know what they say.

[purplepansy]

I'd ask your vet, but I'd be reluctant to change his food if he is already having trouble, especially as the vet has recommended that feed. I'd probably just feed more often if it's going straight through. Does the dog seem hungry and want to eat?

[purplepansy]

Re probiotics - would yakult etc work? One of my dogs loves licking yoghurt pots!

[purplepansy]

(sorry for multiple posts) please let us know what the results show!

[tipsycat]

Thank you all for your advice.

I'll call the vets in the morning to see if they can chase up his test results, I hope they can find something which is easily treated.

The poor dog seems ravenous, and I'm tempted to feed him until he's had enough, but it just seems to pass straight through. I'll try him with scrambled eggs in the morning - how many should I give him?

[tipsycat]

He'd happily eat anything at the moment, he really does seem starvingly hungry. I don't know whether to try different things, or continue on the royal canin while we wait for results.

[daisydotandgertie]

Start slowly. 2 maybe? I think I'd also feed at least 4 times a day, 6 times a day if he is as skinny as you say.

In your position, I really would drop the Royal Canin - it is clearly making him no better and try little and often with eggs or chicken and rice. Any improvement won't be instant, no matter what the cause. His insides must be very inflamed and will need to calm down.

Although I doubt the eggs or chicken will solve the problem, I also don't expect they'll make it any worse and will at the very least cut out many potential allergens and provide easily absorbed nutrition so he has a hope of getting some goodness out of it before it shoots through him.

As a matter of interest, what food was he on before the RC?

[tipsycat]

He'd been on Field & Trial at the breeders so we've kept him on that, and until the last few weeks hadn't had any problems.

[Blackballoon]

If the results don't come back with any answers then I would ask to be referred to a medicine specialist.

[tipsycat]

Well he's had scrambled eggs for breakfast and he wolfed it down (but he's wolfing everything down at the moment) and I'm wondering about giving him chicken and rice for lunch.

How do I cook the chicken? Do I poach it in water, or milk? And is boil in the bag long grain rice Ok? Sorry, not used to cooking special meals for dogs!

I've called the vets, and am waiting for a call back. They have some test results back this morning.......hope it's good news.

[Cardea]

I am not an expert but lots of dogs can be lactose intolerant so i would poach in plain water, my dog used to like drinking the water as well once cooled.

[Cardea]

Ps fingers crossed for results must be very worrying. Plain rice is fine.

[tipsycat]

Thank you. I'll make a start on his lunch then. Vet not called back yet, wish they'd hurry up.

[daisydotandgertie]

Yes boil in bag white rice is lovely - and I would poach the chicken in the same water as the rice is cooking in. Def right to avoid milk as it is v hard for many dogs to digest.

Also, I think you need to increase the frequency of his meals at the moment - maybe fit in something mid morning and mid afternoon as well?

[tipsycat]

Well the test results are back, and they have revealed that his pancreas is not producing the enzymes needed to digest his food.

I now have some very expensive (over £100!!) powdered enzymes to add to his food and I've been given another type of prescription only royal canin.

Fingers crossed that this will do the trick.

[purplepansy]

Poor doggie - at least you know what is wrong now and hopefully he will start to put on some weight.

[daisydotandgertie]

Tipsy - is it pancreatitis?

One of mine has had that. There is a thread on Labrador Forums which might help a little.

Mine has recovered and didn't take too long to do so. Against my better principles, I did use the Royal Canin special pancreatitis diet for 3 weeks but as it has a higher total fat content than our usual dog food I got her off it ASAP. I don't know what triggered Daisydog's attack; it's usually something very, very fatty. Possibly with us it was a bird suet ball, but I'm not sure!

[tipsycat]

Daisy - vet didn't say it was pancreatitis, and I stupidly didn't question what could have caused the problem. I got the impression that he'll be on the special diet and powdered enzymes for life.

Got to go back in 10 days to see how he's getting on. Will ask more sensible questions then.

[Pinot]

Oh poor vizsla! I have a 2yr old vizsla and she has a v sensitive tummy - anything out of the ordinary sets her off with squits and farts. She eats kibble for sensitive tummies and is doing really well now. Infact she's curled up asleep next to me wearing a Tshirt of DS3's as she gets chilly of an evening :o

[daisydotandgertie]

You could always ring them and ask if you want to know more before then - they won't mind. It does sound as though they took a cLPI test; and they'll have a figure for the actual result. That test will need repeating regularly to see how the pancreas responds to the diet change.

If it is pancreatitis it may well not be for life. There are both acute and chronic attacks; chronic is often treated with enzymes and acute with diet change. It's impossible to tell which of the two it is, as far as I know without allowing a bit of time to pass and see if it responds - and how it does.

Aim for warm, wet low fat food (chappie wet food is excellent and so is burns) to put as little stress on the pancreas as possible to encourage it to heel. While you're using the RC, I would make sure it is pretty liquid and properly warm. I resorted to putting Daisydog's food through the blender to make it as easy to digest as possible.

Did you also get some pain killers? It is often a very painful condition.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

As I suspected exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and the test will have been a TLi the foul smelling faeces was the give away.
These dogs do really really well on the enzymes.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I am afraid no amount of diet change will fix this it is a different disease to pancreatitis and requires lifelong enzymes supplementation,