Overwhelmed and don't know what to expect- just started Prednisone on Charlie

[Todd]

Deb,

Gorgeous !!!

I had a scare when I did the last post. I gave half of Colby’s food and we ran out to dinner. Came home to find a paper bag ripped open on the floor with grapes all over the floor. My wife had them in her open work bag we quickly left on the floor when we ran out of the house.

The fact that there were still a ton of grapes led me to believe that Colby probably didn’t eat any cause if she wants food she will make it all disappear. I saw broken skin on a grape and thought maybe she tried to bite it and didn’t like it or the fact that she is missing most of her front teeth she couldn’t really bite it.

Went to vet this AM to get blood test for Kidney function (36hrs later) and all was good. Probably never ate any thank god.

[Vally]

Oh Tod, how terrifying. You know someone told me just the other day their mini schnauzer had eaten a grape that had fallen on to the floor and she was telling me about the panic she was in. I told her I didn’t think one grape would really do much. Well she tells me the dog started vomiting a few hours later – of course it was now the middle of the night. They rang the emergency vet and was told to keep an eye on her and if she was still vomiting after another few hours (I think she said) bring her in. In fact she was okay.

I certainly wouldn’t have believed that ONE grape could have had enough impact to make the dog sick, but there you go.

I’m so glad Colby had more sense.

I’ve been a bit freaked about some mushrooms that have popped up in the backyard after a really dry spell and then some heavy rain. Beautiful looking little mushrooms. Anyhow, every day I rush out there to pull them all out and toss them away. Saba hasn’t looked at them as far as I know.

Vally

[Todd]

Yeah. Very lucky. I tried texting my vet and shot an email to Dr Dodds right away.

I did read online that it doesn’t affect all dogs. For the ones it does it can be deadly. Not sure if it was she didn’t like the taste or texture or if it’s her missing front teeth that prevented her from being able to bite into or chew it. There was easily 30+ large red grapes soooooo very very lucky.

[Deb]

Todd,
Glad Colby is ok, I wasn’t aware that grapes were toxic, I’m not a grape fan so I never buy them. I don’t think Charlie would eat one as he won’t eat an olive…rolls it around and spits it out- I think it’s too much like biting a finger and he’d never do that.

Still battling loose stools even without kibble- been cooking turkey/rice and alternating with the cod/sweet potato mixture. The only thing that seems to help right now is an immodium once a day so it doesn’t go to diarrhea. My son thinks it might be related to the leiomyosarcoma that was removed from his intestinal tract even though his last ultrasound was clear in December.

Good days and bad days, I think that is our fate, just hoping for more good than bad at this point.

[Todd]

Deb,

On the previous onsets of diarrhea The vet would have me
Give Imodium 2x the first day (AM & PM) and then Again the next morning. Typically this would help stop it initially. But lags a day or so. But it’s really the Metronidazole that keeps it gone while on it. Did u go back on it?

Are you just doing the protein and then the rice or potato? No veg? I would stick with white rice. Did Charlie like the cod? I would try and maybe stick with that if you can for several straight days along with the veg and white rice mixture. Are you mixing slippery elm/water mixture in with the food as Dr Dodds recommended to you previously? That should help with the gut issues along with metronidazole

[Deb]

Todd, Thanks for all your interest and help in Charlie…I’m going to give you my email address and maybe we can continue to correspond via email instead of this forum as our posts are getting numerous! (deleted)

Yes I have been doing the turkey/rice diet for him in the morning and noon and then evening I have given him cod/sweet potato/spinach mixture..he eats it all but still stools aren’t firmed up yet…no kibble.

He never really firmed up that much on the last round of metronidazole so I don’t feel that helped much. He is hating the slippery elm/ Nutrigest so I can’t mix it with his food and only if I add a lot of honey to it will he take it if I handfeed him. I’m thinking it is the Nutrigest he doesn’t like, as I was using Fortiflora before without a problem so I might have to switch.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Vally.

[Todd]

Deb,

I will reach out later via email. Just make sure to come back and post here status updates and when something worked, etc since it’s valuable for others searching similar issues. I found a great wealth of info on this forum and if convo’s were all taken offline then this resource wouldn’t exist.

What I have found in my own diarrhea month long fiasco last month, is the commonality of it starting again always coincided with me transitioning back to her regular dried food. Thus, you have to go back to ground zero to stop the diarrhea initially, then stabilize and allow the gut to heal. So the frequent Immodium dosing at the start or the vet giving a shot to stop diarrhea and/or vomiting. The shot works way faster and better then the immodium I found. Then the Metronidazole helps to clear up any infection and helps things to heal. Previously I was given like 7 day doses. Dr Dodds told me that 7 days is like the min dose and longer would be better to stabilize so I had the vet do 14 days on the last go around. So the shot stopped the diarrhea right away, the metronidazole was started the next day for 14days. The day of the shot I started with the specific diet Dr Dodds gave me. I only made that same diet using only the cod all the time for 2 weeks. The spices added to it is what really attracted Colby cause it also helps to meld the flavor. I used oregano and a decent amount. I did test things as I made them and had her taste (dried oregano cooked on a small piece of the cod) to make sure she liked it. Like medicine, I don’t like changing and varying things when there is a problem I am trying to solve since it’s then impossible to tell if the issue is one of the food items.

I mix the slippery elm, nutrigest in a cup of water to combine and then mix with the food. Initially it was only slippery elm before Dr Dodds recently mentioned Nutrigest. So first you can try jus the slippery elm combined with water with the food and see if that works. I mix it in before each food and I make enough food for over a week in ziploc bag proportions. White rice is the last piece because that is a food typically given even to humans with diarrhea cause it helps absorb moisture and firm things up. While other things may do that plain white long grain rice is just that, Plain. Just starch. No sugars, vitamins, flavors etc that you get in sweet potato. I try to go minimalistic in a set standard routine. Get things back to normal and then after a long period try introducing a different food item. For example, after 2 weeks I then made a turkey breast and used that as opposed to the fish for the last 10+ days. I am going to go back to fish again cause to me dog fish breath is better then turkey breath 😁.

One other thing I would ask DR Dodds is if adding Prilosec/Omeprazole is a good idea. The Prilosec helps the stomach acid buildup that occurs with Pred. That too can be a contributing factor.