Barney's not well!

[Geordietyke]

My Archie (now 19 months old) weighs around 11.6kg.  He struggles to put on weight or maintain it (even though he is castrated).  He was looking really skinny around 3-4 months ago (hipbones/spine etc clearly visible) so I put him on Millies Wolfheart gundog mix and he has improved a lot.  I don't think he'll ever be anything but a very lean dog though.  I feed him the daily amounts for a 15kg dog (around 85g x 2 feeds).   Hope Barney feels better soon.

[barnfind]

CAESSR may be as much in the dark about Barney's medical history as you are I'm afraid - dogs are often surrendered to them with little or no information depending on the circumstances - in some cases they are stray dogs :/

I am aware that the team at CAESSR have some "challenges" with IT so it may be easier to call John or whoever your point of contact is to discuss his condition - hope you get some answers soon

I've not had a dog suffer from colitis but have got a rescue cat who developed it about 6 months after she came home - she was a stray handed in to my vets, who then asked me to take her rather than putting her into a rescue - it seemed to coincide with her starting to relax and settle in to the house.  She's also had a recent bout of pancreatitis which was definitely my fault ( let her have some sardines in oil) so I now know that she has to have a very simple / plain diet.  My preference would be to have her on a good brand/high protein food but actually she thrives on the cheap stuff 

Also had a cat come home (age 12 weeks) with giardia - now that is unpleasant diawotsits  - then picked up campylobacter about 12 months later. She is also on a simple diet and will not eat human food, thank fully!  Both conditions took some identifying but we're easily treatable.

Pearl cannot tolerate any of the better quality kibbles, she is predominantly raw fed but I do move her on to kibble while we are on holiday in the caravan.  It appears that anything over 30% meat protein upsets her digestive system and I have to confess to feeling guilty that's she's on Vitalin Senior when my budget would stretch to much better quality food   

I suppose what I'm trying to share is that it can take a long time to establish what works well for one of our furry friends and sometimes it's not the obvious choice!  Wise decision in my view to get him checked. I hope it rules out anything more serious than an imbalance in his gut,

Jayne

Hi Jayne, thanks for an informative post.

This is the first time in all my dog history that I can remember a problem of diet that I couldn't fix or didn't appear in the first place! I used to feed the Springers on the cheaper stuff from my (then) local farm shop/feed supplier that, if my memory serves, was about £6 for 20kg and they never had an issue with it or their weekly 'roast dinner'!!!

I would prefer to use Skinners Field and Trial as it is fed to many (occasional) working dogs that I know and they all thrive on it and it's cheaper than Burns or AG that I have been using.

Having been told by CAESSR when I collected Barney that the diarrhoea was due to separation issues I trusted this opinion despite my better judgement and treated him accordingly giving him plenty of time and tlc to get over it. I even insisted on having a sample bag of food from the kennels to keep him on the same diet although they didn't think this was important.

Hopefully this can be now be resolved and he can be gradually weaned onto a big bag of Salmon/rice from Skinners!!

Peter

[lottiescat]

Hi,
I hope that you find the answer. My little rescue dog had similar symptoms and a very dramatic weight loss. She was eventually diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease which was unfortunately very difficult to treat. These little rescue dogs often have such sad underlying problems but then give so much back to the people that love them . With our best wishes.

[Pearly]

Hi Peter,

Confession time! Pearl has had anal gland problems (now removed and no longer a problem!) so I've tinkered with her diet over 4 years.... She's manly been on Skinners muesli or salmon and potato but did seem to lose condition with the latter.  Although a show type I do work her - Ok she gets to run over fields and in hedges with no collar on  - and choose to move her on to raw for each season.  This last year was her third season.  The Vitalin was a standby purchase and is lower in protein.  It's topped up with kronch oil.  She does have a lovely coat now and seems to be doing well on the mix of raw and kibble (not in the same 12 hours for the BARF purists on here  ). 

I will be buying the muesli again for the summer as it seems to suit Pearl best.

Hope you find the food to suit Barney soon.  Have you spoken to Skinners? They will normally send out bags of samples (and vouchers  ) I think it's Glenn that can advise on the best product.

J

[honeysmun]

Sending Barney healing thoughts and you get good news soon
 

[grracee]

I had terrible problems with Esme and her stomach when she was younger. Had all similar symptoms as you have mentioned, runny stools, blood in stools, weight loss etc. but she was absolutely fine in herself, running around with the others. Many trips to the vets and lots of £'s spent I moved her onto a raw diet with the help of a gastro-intestinal food from the vets to gradually change - hey presto, problem solved!! Happier pup and better poo's! I understand how worrying it is, I thought I would never find a food that actually suited her. Hope Barney is feeling better soon!

[JennyBee]

My girl Brodie has suffered from stomach problems on and off since she had a bout of pancreatitis a few years back - the slightest thing (such as a change in the way her last food was cooked or a stolen titbit) leads to an upset tummy and horrible poos, often complete with blood. I've found the best way to deal with it is to stick her on a really bland food that she can cope with (chicken and potatoes) until things settle (which can be quite a while), and then slowly try to wean her onto a new food. Sachets of Yumpro added to her food helps as well. Unfortunately it can take a bit of experimenting to find a food that agrees with her . She is on a very restricted diet now, as much as I'd like to spoil her with different treats etc., it's just not worth it!

Hopefully the sample you've given to your vet will lead to a clearer idea on how to treat/feed Barney

[barnfind]

Have an update for you!

The stool analysis has ruled out any severe illness, thank goodness, but Barney is still loosing weight (now 10.1kg) so the vet has prescribed a course of antibiotics to hopefully clear any underlying infection in his gut, and to continue his bland diet for now. Follow up appointment next week.

We had proof of my suspected intolerance to chicken on Monday night following him stealing a couple of small pieces of cooked chicken from his pal Eddie on our morning walk.

Without too much detail, the scene that greeted me on Tuesday morning at 6.45am was all the proof I needed to avoid chicken for the foreseeable future!!!!

[8 Hairy Feet]

Thanks for the update i had been
wondering how Barney was going on
Worrying that he's still losing weight 
Could he have 3 meals a day?

[Mudmagnets]

Well that sounds promising that it is nothing very serious, always good to get these things ruled out.

Hoping the anti's sort it out once they kick in. Minstrel is not good with chicken either, I don't think peeps  believe you when you tell them this, as it seems to be a regular standby for dogs with dicky tums, but it certainly made her's worse - with much the same result as you faced 

I feed  Minstrel 3 meals a day I started when he had Naturediet Puppy food and the amounts recommended were too much (I felt) for him to have in two meals. He gets on well with this so have not changed. Puppy Branston is also on 3 so it works well.

[barnfind]

Thanks for your 3 meal suggestion.

I should have clarified that until the 'chicken episode' on Monday, Barney had been improving and has not had diarrhoea being fed on Burns Sensitive Pork and Potato (with a small amount of Chappie) and I have been giving him a little extra as I felt that the 110g/day was not enough as I have been closely monitoring his weight and, with it gradually falling, wondered whether I was underfeeding. I can tell you that he is back to normal (for him) today.

The vet thinks he may be deficient in certain minerals but until the antib's have had a chance to work then I am to continue feeding as I currently am. We may need to have a blood test next week if they don't improve the situation.

His is full of energy and doesn't look ill but the weight loss must be reversed and that will be the next step.

Peter

[Mudmagnets]

Would say that since Naturediet had all their problems I changed Minstrel  over to Forthglade Lamb - I have since noticed that they put Chicken in this 'Lamb' dinner, so will have to see how we go. Had a few loose motions for a while - but things seem to be ok at present - so will stick with it until I have to restock. I do wish that the companies would label their food a bit clearer though. Both ND & FG are 'wet' foods.

[phoenix]

I think you could increase the food quantity  to   150% of the desired weight.  As others have said, when you've used antibiotics, the gut flora is wiped out so you need pre and pro biotics to recolonise with the right balance .
If the poop is cowpat consistency and yellowy - grey,  ask your vet to test for EPI and check out website Epi4dogs.com. My rehomed springer had this, and it's lifelong and not on many vets' radar. They lose weight rapidly , being deficient in digestive enzymes.  These can be supplemented.
Let's hope it's simpler.

[Pearly]

Interesting article on the news yesterday about the meat content of dog food often not being the same as the label.  The quote was a beef meal that contained 70% chicken - on being challenged the manufacturer stated that "it was still animal product and was considered meat!" No consideration to dogs that are intolerant of chicken!

Glad you seem to be getting to the bottom  of Barneys issues - hope he starts to put with on soon

[barnfind]

Interesting article on the news yesterday about the meat content of dog food often not being the same as the label.  The quote was a beef meal that contained 70% chicken - on being challenged the manufacturer stated that "it was still animal product and was considered meat!" No consideration to dogs that are intolerant of chicken!

Glad you seem to be getting to the bottom  of Barneys issues - hope he starts to put with on soon

Yes, I read that article and wasn't surprised by the findings! Animal feed is a huge business and very profitable so it comes as no surprise that clever marketing of the product is more important than using the correct ingredients that the unwary customer assumes they are buying.

Anyhow, Barney is much better after the antib's although his output is not ideal but we have, I think, got his stomach working properly as his weight has also increased by 1/2kg in a week.

Will be back to the vets again next week for another weigh-in and check over.

Whether it is a coincidence or not but he is now hoovering up rabbit droppings like mad and has been caught indulging in his own too!!

I know from other posts that this is not unusual (although infuriating  ) but has anyone any evidence that it is harmful? I did stop giving him the Dorwest Tree Barks powder while he was on the antibiotics and am wondering if it would help to resume the dose? I see from the 'Pooh Eating' posts earlier that some folk recommend Naturvet digestive enzyme powder as a remedy for this habit. Is this the same stuff, more or less, or do I need to add this to his growing medicine chest??

P