Wow, I guess one might say I am a Misty Mess!!! Mom and I spent 65 minutes with the very nice Dr. B this afternoon. Mom says he is really nice, but I am not as sure because I ALWAYS get treats when i visit him and this time there were NONE!!! Sheesh!!! He says it is because I have to go on a totally restricted regimen of food that only allows my prescription z/d dog food. No extras whatsoever!!! No treats, no pumpkin, no yogurt, no tidbits from Dad (Dad says it isn't fair to punish him too), no bedtime milkbones. This is AWFUL.
So WHY?? I will let Mom take over now,
Thanks, Misty. Yes, you are a mess. Well, your gut is a mess. I am so glad I had the time to talk to Dr. B. He was wonderful. He explained in detail exactly what the lab report entailed. He was very surprised that things are this bad as the only real symptom Misty has had is the bloody stool. She never vomits, never refuses to eat, never has diarrhea (only the occasional looser bit at the end of an occasional poop). But she definitely has problems. The bottom line is Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She has substantial gastritis issues. He described in detail the three kinds of gastritis found in her stomach. I am never going to be able to describe the technical terms accurately, but the gastritis includes issues with lymphplasmaetic cells, helicobacter, and esosinophils. That's why the report says "mixed IBD". There is no evidence of cancer, but left untreated the condition can develop into cancer. Her colon also show signs of the same inflammatory conditions.
Treatment will include adding Prilosec to her diet daily, an antibiotic for a few weeks, and unfortunately at least a month of prednisone followed by tapering and possibly some time off it to see if it has worked. For the prednisone he suggested we split the dose in half and give twice a day rather than the larger dose once a day. If her tolerance of it gets really bad, we will revisit and see what other options we can try. Meanwhile, Misty is correct. We will be removing so many things from her diet. No more pumpkin, green beans, yogurt, canned food unless the prescription food, no treats, nothing extra from the human food. No more probiotic, no fish oil, no joint supplements. He wants to start with a baseline of the z/d diet only (luckily she has been on it for 9 months now and she likes it) and gradually add what may be needed such as the probiotic and joint supplement. I have made her some treats from the canned z/d, but she is really going to miss her bedtime milkbone:(
We talked for over an hour. And when I got home and looked at my invoice. I was only charged for the medicine and the prescription food. There was no fee for my time with Dr. B. He is a great guy who knows his stuff and loves his furry customers. He is also a great communicator and helps people understand things so much better. Now let's hope we see some improvement in Misty. It won't be easy and the improvement won't come immediately, but we are hopeful.
Me too!!!
Hey, friends, if you can figure out a way for me to get some tasty treats, drop me a line:)