Hi everyone
can anyone help please ??
Not my dog but heres a general background....
dog is a male husky.not KC reg ....so no health tests.approx 18 months old.
He is very thin and has constant diarhhea(sp).He has had it for most of his life and has been in and out of the vets for tests etc with no success.He was diagnosed as having bad bacteria in his stomach and was given anti biotics...no help.He is now on a special presciption diet...no help. Has tried everything food wise but not working.
The owners are at a loss.I said I'd try the CD board for help and advise...can anyone help??
Archer

In cases of bacterial overgrowth the anti biotics often need to be given long term....

The causes of gastro intestinal upset are many and varied and come under a number of "titles" such as colitis, if a particular bacteria cannot be identified eg giardia, salmonella, campylobacter etc etc etc.  the combination of gastro intestinal trouble and long term antibiotics can in itself be a vicious circle or indeed trigger other conditions.  Chronic diarrhoea and long term antibiotics will act like a hoover to suck all the bacteria out of the intestine, good and bad which can then result in a number of issues.  Yeast overgrowth is a common one which can alter the ability of the body to absorb nutrients and develop into "leaky gut" syndrome where, not to get too technical, the ability of the body to metabolise nutrients is impaired.

You may wish to explore with your vet the issues of candida and the possibility that the dog may need to be on a special diet which removes all sugars and carbs from the diet to starve the yeast of growth combined with yeast killing enyzmes etc.  The intestinal flora must be encouraged to repopulate with good bacteria by the addition of probiotics.  This is quite a complex issue and probably requires specialist investigation.

Allergies or food intolerances can predispose animals to developing conditions such as I have described.  However I stress I am NOT a vet, and you need professional help with someone experienced with correct diagnosis rather than guesswork.  There is not really a "cure" for this but a need for ongoing management to prevent deterioration and recurrence.

Not sure if that helps but just a thought.

tohme
Thankyou for your reply but as I said this is not my dog..its a freinds daughters.They have had constant proffessional advice ,been on anti biotics,special diets etc to no avail.They paid a lot of money for a special diet from the vet and that just went straight through him aswell.
I intend to print off all replies to this post to give to them...hope we can come up with some suggestions.
Archer

Sorry, I will go away.

sorry did that sound 'off'...didn't mean it to honest.Sorry if it did...all opinions and advice is VERY welcome.
Archer

Hi,

A very long shot here could it be Caronavirus this was being discussed on the General board under vaccinations.
Having spoke to the senior research vet this morning its definately on the increase.
of course it could not be at all ,just suggestion,symptoms,tiredness,weightloss, depression,diarrohoea,it affects all ages of dogs,the diarrohoea usually smelling foul yellow orange in colourmay contain blood or mucous.

Hope your friend dog gets better soon.

Briony:-)

Hi Sorry,should read Coronavirus not Caronavirus.

Briony:-)

Hi,

Senior moment,just read ,"had it most of its life" ,so not Coronavirus.

Apologies Briony

thanks anyway
Archer

Here's some reason's for Diarrhea:

Addison's Disease, Autoimmune disease, Bacterial intestinal infection, Dietary indiscretions/changes, Food allergy, Fungal infections, Intestinal foreign body, Intestinal neoplasia, Intestinal obstruction, Intestinal parasites, Kidney disease, Liver disease, Pancreatitis, Toxins/drugs, Viral intestinal infections

For Diarrhea I read that the dog should be on a Low-Fiber, Low fat-diet to help and nothing else.

It does sound like chronic diarrhea which can cause malnourishment and stress which can suppress the immune system. Is the dog having to go right away and can't hold it? If so more then likely its in the large rather then the small intestines. Is it black tary poo that is usually the small intestinal bleeding and inflammation, where red blood in the poo occurs in the large intestinal inflamation. If his fur is dull it could be indicative of a nutrient absorption disorder or internal parasites in the intestines. Weight loss could also  be severe small intestinal inflammation, liver or kidney disease or cancer.

Did they have blood counts, serum boichemical profiles, urinalysis, fecal exams, radiography, ultrasonography and endoscopy this may help to find the exact cause.

I got most of this info out of Caring For your older dog by Chris C.Pinney,D.V.M

Hope they find what is wrong with him.
Another thought could it be the water, sometimes the water can cause the poo's. Have they bought bottled water and maybe give that a go for a couple of weeks and a bland diet like low-fiber low fat.

Since this dog is a husky, some of them are very prone to this kind of thing for no reason at all. Both of our boys have suffered in the past with this, they are now 9 years old. A sudden change in diet can be enough to set them off, even a new bag of their usual brand of food can do it if the manufacturer changes ingredients. One of the things that sets ours off is wheat, one slice of bread is enough to make sure I am hosing the yard down several times a day. When this happens we do the usual, withhold food for 24 hours then give small amounts untill things are back to normal. The very fact that this dog has been changing diets a lot might be enough to make sure that his stomach won't settle. Try to find a brand of food which he can tollerate. At the moment mine are on Skinners Mainainance (they also do other varieties) they seem to do well on it and it is a "Working dog" brand so there is no VAT. My boys both grew out of this problem to an extent, so 18 months old is about the time things should start to settle down if he is anything like my two.

Lynn

I am by no means expert and dont pretned to be but has your friend tried giving the dogs natural yoghurt?  Help build up the bio's that should be on the lining of the stomach. We gave this when had diorreah in pups along with a change of diet to 'nature diet'

just my opinion and not trying to take place of vet, but sure that yoghurt cant do any harm

xxx

could be pancreatic insufficiency or ibd, either of theses will need long term treatment have you tried redmills diets on the dogs as they are free from additives and also fish based so quite good for dicky tummies - of course if its any of the above illnesses whatever you feed will still go straight through the dog - the other thing to try is a 5 day course of panacur at the therapeutic dose this kills of most bacteria like giardia and the like and also gets rid of any worms present.

I would try adding yoghurt to the diet or the capsules that has the same stuff as yoghurt,arrggh the name escapes me?acidophilus bifidus??
I would also take him off all commercial food and try  bland home cooked food,such as chicken and rice or fish and rice,then slowly start to add a few veggies and calcium.the first thing i would try is home cooked with yoghurt added.I would also advise her to take the dog to a holistic vet,they will treat the whole dog rather than just the symptoms.

I wish your friends daughter the best of luck,she and her dog must be miserable

Thankyou everyone for your help...I will pass on the replies to the owner.
Archer

I can't help wondering if the dog is coeliac (gluten intolerant, wheat, barley, rye, malt...) blood tests don't always show this up and a change of diet to gluten free can take a month or so to start showing an improvement, this can be compromised by any contamination with gluten containing substances, eg. a few bread crumbs snaffled off the floor ;) or a food item that contains hidden gluten.  NOT saying thats what it is but has it been excluded?

Burns dog food is very good for food intolerant dogs and have an excellent advice pack which is sent out with free samples.

Regards
Dill

Has the poorly dog got better ??

Think its going to take a while to get things sorted...not the sort of problem I would expect to improve quickly.
I have passed on everyones replies along with a wonderful e nail I recaieved from a sibe person.I will let you nkow what happens and how the dog gets on
Thanks everyone,Archer

Just wanted to update everyone.
Nothing seemed to be helping..the dog was still EXTEMELY thin and not improving till...they put him onto chappie! He is now eating with no bad 'after effects' and is putting on weight
Archer

That's brilliant! Chappie is a very under-rated food.
:)

I second that about Chappie! One of mine has alarmingly dropped from 38lbs to 28lbs in under two months. Was feeding Naturediet, now the only food that keeps her solid is good ol' Chappie Original, just trying to put some weight back on her, so far unsuccessful :(

Always recommend Chappie for dogs with sensitive tummies, once had 2 GSD rescue bitches who could 'go' for England, no, the world and seemed to be able to spray it a long way up the wall. Once they were established on Chappie they could be rehomed with no other problems. Although it seems to differ with each tin you open and some smells dreadful it seems to do the trick and so very much cheaper than Hill ID diet.