Do you feed the rice & fish several times a day, you may be able to increase the intake by feeding every hour or so if you can manage that. I know it is easy to make suggestion but it is not always easy to do it, but if you feed say 2lb of food a day say split into 4 portions you may be able to increase it by 50% if you feed more often. It is interesting that he can tolerate fish as I believe it is best part protien if he can't eat anything else, chicken/lamb, perhaps he will always have to have low or no fat diet, very difficult to do with a large dog. Still quess work will have to await the test results and try to increase the amount if he can tollerate it. Must admit you and your dogs have been on my mind for most of the day, not given your old man a second thought :) all the best Jackie H

It is so differcult Jackie. I do appreciate your help and thoughts :-)
At the moment, I am feeding him several meals a day, which he is demolishing. We are gradually increasing the amounts, but found that he couldn't cope with to much food to often.

I could really do with some sort of guidelines as to the quantity of fish that a normal healthy GSP should have per day? I am feeding him Coley, but is there a better white fish?

>>not given your old man a second thought .. me neither :D

Leigh

Leigh - I know this goes totally against low fat/no fat but my husbands GSD suffered a similar thing and the only thing that she could deal with was tripe. The change in her was instant when put on it.
Hope you manage to find the *magic cure* for the lad. Thinking of you
Sara

Hi Leigh. It may be worth checking this out with your vet, but it appears some folk with dogs with a pancreas problem, feed their dogs on raw pancreas from a slaughter house. I have no idea if or why it works, but may be worth asking?
I have fed my Wolfhounds raw tripe for years, as they have a tendancy to very sensitive stomachs. Not a lot of info I know, but trying desperately to think of something that may help xxx

Phil, Paul had mentioned this to me as well so I ran some searchs and it looks like it is quite a popular *alternative* :-) If it is his pancreas, we will definitely look into this properly. Many thanx again.

Leigh, Not an easy thing to ask at a pet shop, but make sure you get the best "type" of tripe. (All those of you who hate the stuff are probably scratching your heads now :) ) Some pet shops sell real rubbish!!!!! It should be grey/green, damp, and little chunks. (Not the frozen free flow stuff) Ask the pet shop if it is bible tripe. If it is, dont have it, its awful. The bible tripe is a browny colour and very tacky. Its called that because before its cut, its looks like lots of thin brown pages. Im sure you know all this already, but just in case........... :)

I know exactly what you mean Phil :D I worked in a wholesalers for a while. That's another reason that I *hesitated* at the thought of raw tripe :shudder: Needs must and all that :rolleyes:

Thank you for the suggestion and your support Sara :-)
You made Paul's day ... I will send him out to find me some tripe :P

Leigh

Think of the nutritional value *grins* :p
Don't be a woose .. It will be fine .. tell her Sara .. *winks*
Paul xxxx

Never mind the *nutritional value* I'm more concerned about what comes back :rolleyes:

It's alright for you Mr .. it's a well known fact that men do not have a very good sense of smell :P

By the way, I spoke to soon. The diarrhoea is back with vengeance and he is blanking his food today :-(

Leigh xxxx

You must be so worried, Leigh. I wish I could help but know nothing of these sort of troubles. :(
LynnT

Lynn,
we have been really moved by peoples kindness and eagerness to help Badger. Just knowing that so many people are routing for him helps. Thank you for your support :-)

Paul - It doesn't smell at all in my opinion.
Mind you I do get funny looks if I go out after feeding and forget to take the peg off my nose ;)
Sara :D

Leigh

Thinking of you all

Pam n the boys

Thank you Pam :-)

Sorry Leigh I'm into hounds I've no idea how much food a GSP should eat. as for fish I believe coley is a non oily fish and I would have thought that oily fish would have more substance but he may not be able to take it. It would seem that if you are getting several meals a day into him it is more the case that he is unable to use the food he is eating rather than the amount you are giving. But I feel if only you could hold his weight and stop him losing you would be getting some where, but at the moment can't think of anything to suggest. Will keep you at the front of my thoughts and if even a little light shows I'll let you know. When is your vet expecting the results of the bloods. Jackie H

The first blood test result (checking main organs eg: Liver,Kidneys etc) is back and it is 'all clear'. There was a lack of protein somewhere where there should have been protein but that was it. The other blood test for the pancreas should be back tomorrow. We have had two days without any diarrhoea now ... I'm almost afraid to say that incase I am tempting fate!

Good Leigh, I know to get clear results back is almost a disappointment but better than a realy bad result, not suprised at a low protein count after all he's been chucking it straight through. Hope the next results are not bad but give you a clue as to were to go from here. Pleased to hear he has gone 2 days even if you are holding your breath, every day he holds his food is a day he is not loosing too much weight. Keep us informed and we will keep our fingers crossed. Jackie H

Leigh

This probably doesn't help but this is how I am on a really bad day !!! I eat Pizza Bases when like this, don't know why but it helps. Not really sure whether this is a good idea for dogs or not but it seems that maybe it's worth a try as it doesn't seem to be able to get worse.

Beth

P.S If he's really bad, water will go through him in about 15 minutes too - just a warning

Hello,

There was a report on GMTV news this morning about that infection Badger was first thought to have had. Seemingly Prof.Hugh Pennington-who gets wheeled out for any infectious disease in the news!-has written a report on this saying that half the dog population is carrying this bug. Might be something in tomorrow's papers/ maybe todays, if anyone is interested?

Leigh

Don't know if this is any use or not but thought I would throw it into your pot of ideas anyway :-) When my boy seemed to be struggling to put on weight due to his energy levels being very high my breeder suggested adding 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to one of his meals, apparently the coconut oil is very good if there is a problem with the absorbtion of food. I found that his stools were a bit softer than normal so I took him off it after a couple of weeks but I'm thinking that may have been because he doesn't have a problem with absorbing food and maybe if given to a dog that does it might have the opposite effect. I bought it in a jar from a health food shop for a couple of quid and kept it in a warm room so it stayed in liquid form.

Just a thought anyway and I hope Badger is feeling a little better today. Regarding homeopathic, I have a book on what to give animals which unfortunately is at home and I'm at work however I'll have a look later on today for you just incase there is anything of use in it.

Take Care.
Claire.
x

Thank you Claire, we are looking into all suggestions at the moment :-)
I'll let you know how we go.

Thanx for the suggestion Beth. Badger turned his nose up at one of his meals earlier and it got us thinking that we might have to find an occassional alternative. Assuming that we can stabilize him. Pizza base might possibly make a good *biscuit* :-)

Hi Leigh, just found this topic again, it didn`t come up in new posts. Sorry your boys still ill . When my pup was recovering from parvo we had an awful time trying to keep anything down him, it would just come back out out from either end & we thought his pancreas was damaged. I had to literally feed him TEASPOON amounts every few hours. We had him scanned & he had so much mucus in his tummy there was no room for anything else. His body disperesed this naturally over time.It was a very slow process but it worked. He was starving & it was very hard slow process but try giving him small ammounts. Everything I gave him was sloppy to stop him getting dehydrated again & when I gave him chicken & rice I cook the rice in the chicken stock for max nutrients. Also raw mince meat & actimel but try very small amounts first to see if that can get his tummy gradually back to normal. Hope something works for him.
Christine2

Leigh, I am sure youve been down this road already, but is he having pleny of live yougurt? There are also little jars of invalid food you can buy from the chemist ( so sorry cant remember the name) that are very high in protein and vitamins. Look a bit like a jar of baby food. Same consistency ( basically for people who cant swallow solid food) but full of really good stuff. Quite nice flavours too, beef broth etc. They are such little amounts, i dont think they would upset him any more than usual. Keeping everything crossed for the results today!! xxx
ps Think it may be called Baxters?

Thanx for the suggestion Phil, I hadn't thought of using them. Do you think it would be worth adding some sort of *vitamin* supplement to his food?

Hi Leigh, I dont know if it would be right or wrong, but if he was mine, I would add vitamins etc, even if only in tablet form. Every little helps I think.

Do they still do those *drops* that you used to give babies? Sorry, not into babies :rolleyes: ... Fiona ??

Yes, they do Leigh.

Abidec vitamin drops. Ask at the local chemists, I think you can buy them off the shelf but they might be behind the counter only.

I had some for Issy when she was born as her iron levels were low and she was very very thin.

I hope they work,

Fiona
x x x

Thank you Fiona :-)

Have a look at this. It's got lots of info about the vitamin content.

Fiona
x x x

Abidec can be bought straight off the shelf at Tescos.

Christine, thank you for the suggestion.
I have been cooking the rice in the fish stock, but haven't tried actimel yet. Badge seems to be 'reacting' to all the type of things, that I would 'normally' feed to a dog, with an upset tummy. I wish we could be sure what we are dealing with here.

Leigh this sounds so much like what Zac had, he was very poorly put on powder from the vets could not eat or drink
a thing for a good 4 days, he said thought it might be an air born virus and to stop feeding Zac
fresh meat only dried food in future. hope all works out for you very soon Pat xx

Thanx for your best wishes Pat. Is Zac ok now?

So you still don't know:( Did I miss the bit about the results from the blood tests? I wish I had some info that could help:( Can dogs have dirolite (sp I know) it's the stuff people have in water when they cannot (and haven't been able to for some time) tollerate food because of a stomach problem (everything going straight through or out), and I know even children can have it? It helps with dehydration and replacing things that aren't being supplied etc Not a food supplement I know so won't help with the weight but may help to give his body the strength to fight it if it's virus related. I had it when I had Gastro Ent...oh I give up I can't spell that either! Let's just say I was proper poorly for weeks.
Anita

Leigh,

Since you said Badger was ill I have been checking in a lot more than normal to see if there is any news and how Badger is doing.

Have you had anymore blood result's back yet.

Karen

Hi Karen,
I am just waiting for the *pancreas* bloodtest to come back. It is due back today, but as of yet, it isn't in. I know it probably sounds ridiculous but we are all praying that this is where the problem lies. As the vet said, if it comes back 'positive', we can start treating him. If it comes back 'negative', we are back to square one again :-(

I am really sorry that I haven't answered your email. Please thank Peter for his help. I really do appreciate that you asked him for me Karen :-)

Anita, thank you for your suggestion. I have just checked Dioralyte and you can use it on small babies, so this is another possibility :-)

So that's how you spell it! I could see it on the box but couldn't get it to reach the keyboard:)
Anita

Hi Leigh, yes to the dyrolite(sp). I got some for mine from the vet. At first it was given in the drip, when they were off the drip it went in their liquid. Fish stock is good & any meat stock & skim the fat off. I don`t wash the rice either & leave it starchy then add more liquid to make it sloppy. Maybe stay with the white meats & fish. I would try supplements as well but not vit C. or iron, think it gives the runs. Chris Day is homoeapathic vet & he would be able to suggest something but your vet would have to write/email him to give him permission first. He`s very helpful. Stick to really small portions. I know the others have already suggested this but can`t think of anything else. Has he got a temp?
Know how you must be feeling, my little one was a skeleton & then at the begining of the year I had a great dane go down with babesia & leishmania, it was a nightmare. Just keep plugging away & with a bit of luck something will just click & he`ll start to recover.
Christine2