Is my dog seriously ill?

[MiniMiniMiniBar]

Apologies in advance for the long post, will try to keep it as brief as possible.

5 weeks ago my previously healthy 5 year old mini schnauzer suddenly became very ill overnight - vomiting and bloody diarrhoea in the house. The vet diagnosed Acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome and kept him in for four nights on fluids and intravenous feeding. After we took him home he didn’t seem to be getting much better and was refusing food so he went back to the vets where they took a stool sample, prescribed antibiotics and digestive care paste and sent us off again.

For the next week he seemed to get worse, crying to go out every hour, all day and night, where he’d mostly do a little diarrhoea or just squat and strain with nothing coming out and his head thrown back in a kind of ‘silent howl’.

The stool sample came back showing positive for campylobacter and after another period of vomiting and refusing food we went back to the vet and he was kept in for another four nights.

He’s now back with us with another, longer prescription for antibiotics (metrobactin 250mg) and the digestive paste. He’s making it through the night now (in a crate in the bedroom) but a few times during the day he has had diarrhoea in the house (he never does this) and has vomited most days over the past five days.

He’s obviously lost quite a bit of weight, and seems very depressed. His walks are hard as he stops every 10 paces to squat and strain (with just a tiny drop coming out most of the time) is a bit wobbly and sometimes will just stop and stare, refusing to walk. The diarrhoea has been constant for 5 weeks.

Things that would normally excite him like seeing a squirrel or fox or meeting another dog get no reaction now, and trying to engage him with a toy or ball at home get nothing either. He also needs to go in the bath 4 times a day to clean the poo from the fur at his back end.

On the vets advice we changed his food from wellbeloved to hills Id digestive care (the pebbles) and nothing else.

The vets seem to have given up a little - they keep saying he should be better by now and don’t seem concerned that he’ll only walk ten paces at a time or the silent howling. The bills are over £5000 now and though I’m trying not to think about it I will soon.

DP had lots of childhood dogs and is quite matter of fact about when dogs reach the end of their life but he’s my first dog.

Does anyone have any experience of an illness like this? Did your dog recover? Am I expecting too much of him?
Thanks in advance

[Floralnomad]

I’ve nothing constructive to say but I hope that both of these poorly dogs feel better soon .

[Booboostwo]

I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you get some more positive news soon. My boy has IBD and we've been through the mill with exams. Unfortunately he is not responding as well as he could to medication but we are trying different options. It's a very taxing condition for everyone involved.

[pilates]

So sorry Mini and Moose it must be such a worrying time for you both. Sending you lots of love and get well wishes to your darling dogs. 💐

[moosemama]

@MiniMiniMiniBar

Thank you.

So sorry to hear your boy has two problems and understand how you are feeling needing time to process the news. I hope the specialist is able to come up with a treatment plan that has him on the mend soon.

My boy was rushed to the specialist hospital in a very bad way yesterday, just one day after being released from our own vet’s hospital. We thought we’d lost him, but they were awesome and after almost two hours sat in their carpark dreading the outcome we were able to bring him home again. After lots of intensive care and home nursing he’s doing much better today, although he still has a very long way to go.

He has inflammation right through his guts and they’re considering whether or not he could have Ulcerative Colitis. For now he’s on double his usual stomach protectant, ant-emetics, pain relief and a very bland diet and if that settles things down by the end of this week they’re thinking it’s secondary to his meds and not UC. If no better he has to go in for tests to check for UC. They prefer not to admit him if at all possible as he is very highly strung and has separation anxiety, so doesn’t do well as an inpatient. They did offer a CT scan there yesterday, but we didn’t want to put him through it unless absolutely necessary. He had one at the start of his main illness a year ago that was all clear and we will have another one done if he doesn’t improve.

He’s already so much better on the protocol the specialist vet came up with. Still a very poorly boy, but back in the world with us, able to stand and walk without collapsing and eating and drinking again.

[MiniMiniMiniBar]

Thanks again to those who posted.

He’s now had an ultrasound which has changed his diagnosis to Ulcerative Colitis. His colon is much thicker than it should be with some darker focal areas. They also found some fluid just outside the colon (maybe leaking out where the colon walls are damaged).

But aside from this they also discovered something wrong with his heart - abnormal vascular structure (they called it a vascular shunt).

We’re now being put in touch with a specialist to discuss further treatment ASAP. They mentioned a CT scan/endoscopy could be next.

The heart issue has thrown me a bit and I’ve not quite got my head round it. It’s not related to his original illness but I don’t know yet how it changes things for him.

I just hope we can get his colitis under control and take it from there.

[MiniMiniMiniBar]

@moosemama so sorry to hear about your dog too. I hope he comes through. Sounds like he’s getting all the best care with you.

[moosemama]

@Floralnomad. Thank you. Yes, unfortunately he is a complex case and has been ill since Feb 2019 (Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia) I had a thread about it when he first became ill.

Today has been heartbreaking, he’s in such a bad way, but we’re hoping with lots of love and care we can help him through this latest setback.

[Floralnomad]

Hope your boy improves @moosemama , it sounds like he’s really been through the wars .

[moosemama]

@MiniMiniMiniBar.

So glad they’re finally scanning him. Keeping everything crossed they get some answers and he’s on the mend soon.

Just picked my boy up from the vet hospital. He’s still in a bad way and now has an infection in both eyes, is covered in bruises, scrapes and scabs, both from all the blood draws and IVs and from being in a kennel (he has very thin skin and weak capillaries due to the meds he’s on) but the pancreatitis is stable and he’s better off at home. They’re consulting with specialists at the specialist hospital he was in last year this afternoon and I’ll hear something either later today or Monday.

[Floralnomad]

Have they tested him for Addisons yet ?

[MiniMiniMiniBar]

Thanks again for all your posts and to @moosemama and everyone else who mentioned pancreatitis. He does have a lot of the same symptoms (although he hasn’t been doing the ‘prayer’ position). He’s now been tested for this and it’s come back negative. Waiting for a call back at the moment to take him in for ultrasound/endoscopy.
He’s snoozing in a sunbeam at the moment.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

Hows your dog doing now? Was just thinking of you.

And people, please, don’t argue over semantics on what is obviously a sensitive thread.

[moosemama]

@MiniMiniMiniBar How is your poor boy doing?

I know it’s been mentioned upthread a couple of times, but have they even considered pancreatitis? Mini Schnauzer’s are known to have a strong tendency to developing it.

My Lurcher is currently an inpatient after developing Pancreatitis, in his case triggered by the horrible meds he’s on for an auto-immune condition. Similarly we were initially told an infection, antibiotics, support diet, probiotic paste, etc, but no recovery and just went downhill. Very, very similar symptoms, other than you don’t mention if he’s been doing ‘prayer position’ or struggling to get comfortable lying down, which the vet said is diagnostic, but my boy didn’t start doing until yesterday when he was rushed in to the vets and admitted. (Prayer position is where they go down onto their elbows, but keep their backside in the air due to pain in the abdomen.)

By coincidence, he also had Campylobacter when he came to us as a rescue pup and two things strike me about your op. First off, we were told not to walk him, as it’s highly transmissable - so he had to be kept isolated until he was 20 weeks old. Also had to be super careful hygiene wise at home, as they told us it’s communicable to humans, particularly children who are more likely to put their hands in their mouth after touching the floor. Second, we had to take him completely off commercial food for about 6 weeks. All he could eat was baked white fish or chicken with white rice and despite that, having come to us skeletal, he gained weight and strength and made a full recovery. In fact he’s never had any more gastro issues until now and he’s almost 7.

I really hope you get some answers soon and your lovely boy goes on to make a full recovery.

[pigsDOfly]

No I wouldn't be feeding dry food either.

One vet I saw at my previous vets' practice - dog with pancreatitis - kept telling me my dog should be on a low fat dry food - dog was and is, on a low fat wet food for sensitive stomachs, which has worked well for her - I'd already told him several times that dry food really aggravated her condition.

[wishingforapositiveyear]

I'm surprised your dog is eating dry food, it's not going to fix your dog but have you tried soft foods? My dog has some stomach issues and we got some vets sensitive tummy wet food and also did a few small meals rather than usual 2. We made plain rice and chicken and she had teeny amounts throughout the day. I would ditch the walks for now and just give constant access to the garden. My DDog is fine now but we've continued with several very small meals.

[pigsDOfly]

@MiniMiniMiniBar Hope you get some answers and a resolution for your boy. Poor little chap.

Let us know how you get on.

[eatanazurecrayon]

This will be controversial and I'm sorry but both our whippets had horrendous tummies. It turned out that they couldn't handle commercial dog food at all, not sure why. Still don't know why. If we give it to them days of diarrhoea follow alongside misery. We tried the vet and the paste and the meds etc and even started making them meals ourselves ...and eventually took them to a holistic pet shop. The woman at the shop was very knowledgeable and had a whippet herself. She suggested a raw diet which we would have preferred to avoid but hey ho. The first 3 weeks they ate nothing but green tripe - which stinks to high heaven - the shits stopped on day 2 and never returned. After 3 weeks of green tripe we started introducing complete raw meals one protein at a time and added in raw bones (ribs, nothing weight bearing) which they both love. One of them remains on this diet a year later. The other has butternut boxes but continues with the bones. Both in excellent health and solid stools. The green tripe is highly nutritious and gives their stomach back the bacteria it lost when ill. Not for everyone but worked for us at a time when we saw no other option. Hope you're we guy gets better soon ❤️

[Outtheforest]

It sounds very similar to when my boy had a blockage caused by his own guts twisting. The straining to pass tiny amounts whilst looking like hes in a lot of pain/howling is exactly what he was doing. The first vet dismissed a blockage entirely, second vet also thought highly unlikely as xrays where not showing much but after no improvement after 2 weeks as an inpatient doing every test under the sun they decided to opt for exploratory surgery after he was getting so weak they felt if the cause couldn't be found he would be dead in a few days. They found several inches of twisted necrotic gut. He was 6 months old at the time and I'm very thankful the vet was so determined to find a cause and wasn't just continuing to put it down to infection.
To this day hes considered a medical marvel as they don't know how he had clear xrays and wasn't already dead days before but hes now 12 months old and a complete lunatic

[Honeyroar]

Good luck. Let us know how you go on.

[Floralnomad]

Beaumont Sainsbury is the same group as the Queen Mother so hopefully should be equally good .

[MiniMiniMiniBar]

Thanks for all this advice - I’ll take it to the (new) vet and hopefully we can get this moving and my boy better. I’m not close to the Fitzpatrick place or the Hatfield place but there is a place called the Beaumont Sainsbury animal hospital not too far away. Obviously it’s hard at the moment moving around but most vets seem to be doing video calls.
Fingers crossed - thanks all.

[TaighNamGastaOrt]

Poor wee soul.
You need a vet to refer you to Fitzpatrick's. I would definitely be looking for another vet as your dog is suffering. I would definitely not be walking him just now. Find a vet who specialises in dogs and is willing to try scans etc. The right vet is worth every penny.
I hope he's better soon x

[Veterinari]

Also to be fair your assumption over where I was getting my information from was pretty snotty too!

[Veterinari]

@ClementineWardobe

You're right I was snotty and I apologise for that. But what is your basis for recommending Fitzpatrick's?

It's incredibly frustrating when people give the 'phone supervet' advice like it's some magical panacea for all veterinary ills when the problem is outside of the expertise of that particular referral centre, and the advice to contact them is totally inappropriate. By all means ask for a referral but there are many better and more appropriate options out there, and really recommendations should be made on the basis of something stronger than being 'on the telly'

[beautifulgirls]

Please check that they have excluded pancreatitis, it isn’t that uncommon in this breed.