I'm posting this for a friend. She has a Deerhound/Irish Wolfhound cross 18 month old bitch. The bitch is just out of season. When she first came into season she stopped eating and hasn't eaten since. She's had bouts of sickness and diarrohea. She has been to the vets on several occasions to try to find out what's wrong. In fact she is back in for more tests. They just haven't found anything.

What we want to know, if anyone can help, is whether there are any specific problems that either breed has that could be causing this so that we can tell the vets? I saw her today and she is lively enough, just very thin. Friend has tried her on different things to try to get her to eat, but no go.

I think as well as continuing with vet investigations it might be worth contacting the breed clubs for both breeds to ascertain if there is a common gastric / digestive problem in either (or both)

Has your friend already tried a strict exclusion trial diet - one source protein with one source bulk (such as rice or potato) and absolutely NO treats, titbits, chews etc during a four-6 week period?  Usual first suspects to remove are wheat, gluten, corn/maize, dairy.   The poor dog may have developed an intolerance to something(s) in its diet and offering random foods to encourage eating will possibly mask the problem periodically but could potentially worsen it over time. 

Sorry to hear this - hope she gets to the root of things.  Regards Teri :) 

It would be a bit old I would have thought but Liver shunts are sadly all to common in Wolfhounds.

I'll pass on the info. Thanks. The bitch was kept in overnight. Apparently they are doing a biopsy, as well as more blood tests. It just seems weird that she was a glutton before her season and now just won't look at food. She was still jumping about trying to play with her lead when I saw her yesterday.

Thought I'd give an update on this. My friend took the bitch to another vet on Thursday for a second opinion. The first vets kept saying they couldn't find anything wrong. 2nd vet, after 10 minutes, said it was liver shunt and gave an injection and tablets. The bitch is now eating, though not back to normal yet, she is getting there. Apparently dogs can get liver shunt up to the age of 5!

I am sory that my first guess was right.  didn't realise that it could happen so late, as I had heard of this being a condition wolfhounds are born with.

Apparently they think they have 'caught' it early enough to be successful with the treatment.

I'm not surprised that the 1st vets missed it. They are getting a bad reputation amongst the dog owners of the area.