Bobby had been diagnosed with giardiasis :( - Another update

[Jan D]

The vet has now given me a weeks supply (wish it had been given - what a price!) of Hills I/D food and some diarsanyl for Bobby. The Diarsanyl is to calm his gut and put yet more good bacteria in there. The vet said that he is now concerned that Bobby may have food intolerance brought on by the giardia! Not sure whether the idea of the I/D is to give him somthing bland with the intention of gradually reintroducing other foods or whether it's just to calm his bowels down. Anyway - he loves the food but keeping him away from all other food/treats is going to be a big challenge. We are having to pick him up whilst Roxy's food is down - just hope no-one forgets or drops any scraps.

Thinking about claiming on insurance now as we have hit about £120 in bills so far...but worried that if we claim his premium will go up next year - he is with AXA. Also not sure if we will be covered for the food anyway...

[wendyt]

Murph had Hills ID too, its a very bland food which is very gentle on tummies and very easy to digest, but your right its quite pricey. He was on it for a few weeks after the giardia cleared up. I gradually changed him back over to his original food. For treats I used to get a tin of ID cut it up into small pieces and cook it in the oven until it was crunchy.
 I still tend to keep a small bag in for Murph in case he has any diawotsit emergencies as I find it really firms things up. I've never been able to claim for any prescription food on Murph's insurance and he is with Petplan, but when I've claimed for Indy the Kennel Club Insurance pays 50% of the cost of the food which is really good.

Indy my other WCS had campylobacter as a pup and after we got that cleared up he was still having problems even after 2 negative results. He was then blood tested and it appeared that he was allergic to beef, pork, lamb and cows milk, the vet thinks that this was brought on by campylobacter as he had had no problems before. He's now on Fish4Dogs and has no problems, if he gets any tummy upsets he gets Prokolin and Fortiflora probiotic sachets on his food.

[Jan D]

One week into the Hills I/D and Diarsanyl and Bobby is no better at all. Beginning to think this is never going to clear up - back to the vets again tomorrow...hmmm

[primmer]

Oh no poor Bobby, please let us know how you get on at the vets.

[wendyt]

Sorry to hear that Bobby's no better. Have you had anymore samples tested? It might be worth having a blood test done to see if he does have an intolerance.

Hope all goes well at the vets tomorrow.

[Jan D]

The vet is pretty certain that the initial infection has now cleared up but that there is now a problem in his large bowel. From the way it's been described to me (OH took him to the vets and you never get a proper story do you?) there should be a barrier in his bowel to prevent bacteria and that this has broken down. He is now on more Diarsanyl, had a steroid injection yesterday. is on some colaid to regulate his digestion and also another probiotic. Also another week's supply of ID. Another £96 in total! So far we are at about £225!

He seems to be starving hungry all the time too poor little guy but apart from that is really full of life. the vet said that aside from his condition he is in excellent shape with a healthy coat so at least that's good. He is just worried that he may develop an intolerance to his food which is why he wants him on the ID for a while longer. Just hope this works - back at the vets in a week's time.