Worzel's diarrhoea & Tylan success

The wonders of Tylan – Worzel’s persistent diarrhoea & GI Tract problem story

It started with intermittent but very severe, projectile diarrhoea which smelled absolutely horrendous. We went to the vet who gave us kaolin & an anti-spasmodic for a week. This temporarily made him a little better, as in the diarrhoea became porridge-like, rather than very runny. On stopping the meds, the projectile diarrhoea returned, so back to the vets. More kaolin & a broad spectrum antibiotic. Again, a slight improvement, but on stopping the antibiotics, back to projectile. The smell was UNBELIEVABLY bad – noxious wind & tummy ache – gurgling noises & discomfort. The smell made me think maybe Giardia? A guess really.

By this time, I was getting frustrated as the vets were pussy footing around & Worzel was really fed up with himself – he felt rotten, just as we would with constant diarrhoea. So, I decided to see a different vet (the one I chose when Worzel was eventually diagnosed with IMHA) & we discussed hitting it hard. I found a very useful website which I recommend everyone looks at if their dog has persistent tummy troubles which recommends Tylan:
http://www.epi4dogs.com/sidsibo.htm about SID/SIBO

We now strongly suspected Giardia may have caused the initial attack & this needs strong, long treatment to ensure all the cysts that can hide in the GI tract are killed off. A poo test would have taken weeks to come back, so we didn’t bother – we started treatment. We used a strong de-wormer for 5 days (Dolthene), followed up with metronidazole for a few days only. I had also contacted Dr Jean Dodds as Worzel’s blood work was showing a massively high Vitamin B12 level (yes – trust him to have something very unusual!), indicating he had severe bacterial overgrowth. This can prevent proper absorption of food & especially Vitamin B12, which can only be absorbed in the ileum, a section of the intestines.

I did not want to use metronidazole for long-term use because of the risk of neurological side effects – it’s fine for a short course – both Dr Dodds & my vet recommended at least a month’s course of antibiotics & probiotics to get his GI tract back to normal. I wanted to use Tylan, but was unable to get it in France, so I had to source it from the USA. Amazon.com sell it, thank goodness. Dr Dodds also wanted me to use it in preference to metronidazole because it is very safe & effective & can be used for a long time without side effects. Dogs can actually take it forever if necessary, but the minimum dose is recommended.

I would recommend everyone to use Tylan if necessary, under the guidance of your vet of course. It has excellent anti-inflammatory properties, in addition to be being an antibiotic. Although it is safe for most dogs, it is NOT safe for dogs with the MDR1 gene mutation (border collies, herding dogs, German shepherds plus many others), so never use for these dog breeds without getting a blood test for this gene mutation first. Also dogs which take digitalis compounds (digoxin) for heart problems cannot take it (unless under strict control of a veterinarian) because it can increase digitalis levels in the bloodstream – again check with your vet if your dog is on heart medication. Dogs can also be allergic to certain antibiotics, but Tylan is normally very well tolerated.

After just 3 days of use of Tylan, Worzel had firmer poos. A week later, he had normal poos – then horrendous smell had gone – no mucus, no strange yellow/orange colour. After 5 weeks, I reduced the dose to half for a week, then stopped it altogether. It is not necessary to reduce it – you can stop it straight away – but in view of how long he had suffered, I thought it would be best to try a reduction first. He has been fine ever since, touch wood! If the diarrhoea had returned, I could have put him back on it, no problem.

The moral of the story is that if your dog has persistent tummy troubles, there is something wrong & it needs to be treated properly, otherwise they may become more & more ill & can become anaemic – the last thing any of us want is the return of that, or the worsening of it. We all know how important it is to get the right nutrients for the formation of new red blood cells – Vitamin B12 is an essential part of that. Malabsorption is a big cause of worry for many of us dealing with IMHA – our dogs will not stand a chance of a good recovery unless they have the right building blocks to make more red cells.

Useful links
http://www.epi4dogs.com/sidsibo.htm
http://www.vetinfo.com/canine-diarrhea-treatment-tylan.html#b
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3084160/

Love to all, Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxxxx