The Pointy One is at the vets, am very very worried... handholding please...

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On Friday and Saturday our lovely rescued whippety cross, Sam, had a bit of diarrhea. Still playful and eating, drinking etc.
On Sunday he started to be a bit lethargic and felt sorry for himself. I had decided to starve him for 24 hours from Sat night as diarrhea was not clearing but he was off his food anyway on Sunday. Had rang lady at rescue where we got him from for advice (she is fab like this, always ready to help and was a vet nurse so a bit knowledgeable too). By Sunday night there was a steak of red blood in the diarrhea. Rang emergency vet who said Sam had probably burst a blood vessel due to contstant pooping. Keep up giving him water and keep an eye was the advice.

Early Monday morning Sam was pooing pure blood and looking very very unwell. We rushed him to the vets.
He was admitted, put on a drip and IV antibiotics. Severe Gastroenteritis or Hemorraghic Gastroenteritis was the diagnosis.

On Tuesday morning he was still no better. They decided to put him on a second type of antibiotics as well as the first one.

This morning he is a bit brighter and whilst he still has diarrhea there is no more blood.
However, his liver enzymes have rocketed to over 1000 and he is jaundiced.

We are going to visit him this evening and the vet will tell us more then.

Please please knowledgeable mumsnetters, can you give me an idea of what is happening to my lovely boy. Am very very worried.

We only adopted him from the rescue centre two months ago but we love him to bits.

oh BLNN My boy was on special diet food for nearly a year, pred, metro and antacid liquid and tummy stuff too. I know exactly how you feel and slowly watched my dog disappear to skin and bone. Last December we took him off the pred - he was on a v high dose, our vet and I reduced the dose rapidly (which isnt advised but was necessary) but it was that or have our boy pts.

I am happy to report a year on Loofa is happy, healthy and back to his 'fighting weight'. He will never be 100% and we often think all those meds have affected his brain function. We dont call him special for nothing.

The pred will make your dog thirsty and should make him hungry too, so be careful he doesnt scavenge, they just cant help themself.

Always thinking of you, wondering how pointy is. Massive dog hugs from my pack.

The Doghouse was there for me when I was ranting, raving and crying my eyes out in frustration. And I have to say Bella and Valhalla and all the regs were amazing.

Thanks all Sam (or the skinny one, as we have taken to calling him) is asleep on the sofa next to me, with one paw on my leg. He does that, it is his way of ensuring you don't move!!

He still has korma sauce poo. He is very hungry, definately the steroids to blame for that. Am worried about feeding him too much as I have been told 4 small meals a day. But it seems so little and he seems hungry...

Eli - what a scare having your little dd2 so ill - how worrying Hope she is all ok now?

Jax - I have searched but cannot find your threads about Loofah. Glad to hear he has made a nearly full recovery though...

Thanks all, you are all great

My threads are in the doghouse, but under a different name. I cant find the threads either. oh well.

Update for those of you that want one...

On Friday we saw the vet who suggested taking Sam off the metronidazol. He said it would either result in listlessness, oedema and blood in the stools. In which case to rush him back to the vet. Or it could result in a brighter doggle with thicker poo..
We were told to keep feeding him 4 meals a day but to increase the amount of rice / pasta / cooked chicken with each meal AND to give him a scrambled egg once a day.

So, full of trepidation we stopped the metronidazol. It resulted in a brighter doggle and thicker (Korma paste) poo.

Went back to the vet today. Sam has gained a little bit of weight, 36grams to be exact. He is brighter as well.

So all is heading in the right direction at least.

We are now slowly going to reduce the Prednisolone. The vet said the future hangs on Sam's ability to recover without the steroids. So we are going to very slowly wean him off them. Fingers crossed...

Final diagnosis was HGE resulting in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The vet reckons that since it is responsive to steroids he is inclined to think Sam suffers from a type of autoimmune disorder. Which is probably heriditary and he had it all along and picking up HGE was the trigger.

But we can be cautiosly optimistic. He needs to carry on recuperating which will probably take around 3-6 months (depending on how he copes with coming off steroids). After that he will need a hypoallergenic diet for life. And he will probably have flare ups which will necessecitate steroids. (Unless he needs to be on a low dose of steroid for life, vet could not make any promises about Sam coming off the alltogether)

So, there we go. My bright and bouncy whippety boy is slowly re-emerging. I am feeling more confident and hopeful. Fingers crossed for a full recovery please xx

Thank you all for the hand holding. You have all been brilliant!

Glad to hear he is improving and becoming his real self again

Good to hear your bouncy boy is getting better

what great news!