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!!!
He sounds like a really good Vet. You might ask, but you might have already, but Brian takes Cerenia every other day, our specialist said the anti-inflammatory properties would help. Misty is probably completely different being a pup. Hugs to that sweet girl from all of us. Sounds like a good plan and we hope the pred is kind to her.
ReplyDeleteWe're glad you got some answers from your vet about what was found from the diagnostics that were done. Walter has had to be on prednisone for the past week and a half and thankfully he only has to be on it until Saturday. We gave him a dose twice a day for the first 3 days and found we had to take him out to pee every 3-4 hours unless we wanted a puddle to clean up. Since I'm a night owl and often fall asleep on the couch I would take him out when I woke up around 2-3am and Charlie set his alarm to take him out around 7am. We usually get up around 8:30 am and we found going until then was too long. Even though he is on the every other day dose right now we still take him out more often on the days he has his pred.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will be able to help Misty tolerate the pred by breaking up the dosage. We are keeping all paws crossed that this new plan helps Misty feel better.
Guess you can think of it as good news bad news. The diet sounds yucky but we remember it well. We had a Doxie named Bart a number of years ago who was on the ZD diet for a while. And I also used the canned food to slice into treat size pieces and bake them in the oven until they were crunchy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. Bart loved them. Fortunately we were able to gradually move him back to his regular diet after a year or so with no more problems.
ReplyDeleteYou have the same kind of tummy that I do and I'm on that medication. It works great. You do what mom says and you'll feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteYour doctor is amazing. I'm impressed.
Have a woof woof day and weekend. Scritches all around and my best to your mom. ♥
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteNow that's what you call a proper dogtor!!! So glad you have Dr B as your backup support and it all sounds awful - but also sensible and hopeful, so, Misty darling, you are gonna have to take it on the chin! POTP x 87 from me to thee. Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
I'm so sorry, Misty! But I'm so glad you have a great vet. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI am glad today was a more hopeful post. Now, let's get you better and pain free pooping
ReplyDeleteYour vet is a wonderful human being. I hope you'll be able to adjust and adapt well to the meds. We'll keep our paws and fingers crossed for you to get well and continue to heal! Hugs and love, Kai Bear and Mommy Yas
ReplyDeletewe send lots of pawsitive throughts for good results... hugs and potp dear misty... and thanks to your dr. b....
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you have so many problems Misty, and no more treats or tidbits. You have a wonderful vet though to spend so much time explaining to your mom, and then not charge for his time. Not many would do that.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are able to tolerate the pred.
Dear Misty, we are so very sorry that your gut is such a mess, and also sorry that as a result you will have to endure a rather boring diet. But it sounds like you have a very thoughtful and thorough vet advising your Mom, and we have fingers and paws for positive results from the new regime very soon.
ReplyDeleteAll the best!
Gail and Nobby.
You have a wonderful vet who really cares about his patients. Fingers and paws are crossed that the changes will work.
ReplyDeleteWe are so glad you finally got to sit down and talk properly with a caring and communicative vet. We hope that the Misty mess can gradually be cleaned up and she will return to a better status quo. And perhaps once she has been stabilised, you can figure out some treats that she can have? There seem to be some good recipes and ideas on the web.
ReplyDeleteWoofs,
Ollie (and #1)
my eyes are wet, my heart hurts for you. I am happy the vet was nice and could explain. this will be so hard for all your family, it will hurt your hearts every time she can't have anything. Misty your tummy sounds so much like what i am going through myself... I can't eat beans or any of the things you eat and I too started with only the soluble foods and slowly added different thing to develop a list of yes and no foods. prayers for all of you while you do this. Not sure if you use Hills Z/d but I ran a search for how to feed z/d wet canned food as bones. there is a ton.
ReplyDeleteHow to bake dog treats from canned dog food?
Using canned food:
Open the can and shake the loaf of food out of the can.
Cut the loaf into 1/4" thick slices, and then cut the slices into bite-sized pieces.
Bake the treats in a microwave oven on high for approximately 2½ to 3 minutes.
Store baked treats in the refrigerator and discard leftovers after 5-7 days.
More items...
Homemade Dog Treats Recipe for Healthy Dogs | Hill's Pet
Lulu: "Wow, Misty, so many changes so fast! It's good you have Dr. B there to help you with it all!"
ReplyDeleteChaplin: "Our Mama also used to bake the special canned food like MadSnapper is talking about and she gave the baked chips as treats to Dennis. He thought they were pretty tasty!"
Oh Misty, we are so sorry your diet has been restricted!! No before bed milk bones would be ruff for us too. The good news is now that Dr. B knows what is wrong, hopefully it can be fixed!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for Dr. B, he sounds like the communicator your Mama needs!
Sending lots of POTP and love your(and your Mama's) way!
They just put Raz on the Z/D and the prednisone. We hope it works for Misty!
ReplyDeleteMisty I'm on Mom's side...no sneaking treats. I have know humans with this and the very same regiment is started with them. Never know what you are taking/eating that is reacting poorly together. Ruling out all things except food...Once you tummy is no longer making WOOFUL noises maybe small specially designed treats for your condition can be introduced.
ReplyDeleteDr. B is one of the Angels who walk among us. He is after your well being.
Hugs to you and Mom as you take this journey.
Cecilia
Ohhh Noooo Misty! No cookies at bedtime!?!? We would be totally distraught. We are sad that you have a restricted diet, but we are glad that your poops are OK. With our hairy slobbery sister Bob, it meant they caught it early and her mixed IBD did not affect her too badly. Your vet is a jewel. It was wonderful that he did what the internist should have done. He is a keeper. You are in our purrayers Misty (as are all of you, especially strength and purrayers to your Peep). Keep being awesome! Purrs Marvelous Marv
ReplyDeletePoor Misty! Hopefully the new diet will work, but it sounds so boring! Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteOh, Misty, you poor girl! No treats? That's pawful! Still - at least now your Mommy knows what's wrong with you and it can be treated. That's one good thing, at least. We are purring for you, dear woofie furriend!
ReplyDeleteMisty is lucky, I must say.
ReplyDeleteMisty we are going to channel Angel Socks here because he had to eat a prescription food y/d for his thyroid and couldn't have anything else. At first he wasn't too happy about it, but when he saw how much better he felt he willingly stuck to the y/d diet and wouldn't even touch the other cats food or the dog food when Mom forgot and left it out. We have our paws crossed that this new diet will have you feeling better in no time and hopefully once it has time to work it's magic a few things can be added. Mom is also going to add that with taking high doses of prednisone (she has to take it) giving it as early in the morning as possible is probably preferable as once it hits her system it makes her hyper.
ReplyDeleteDear Misty, it really sucks that you have to go on such a strict diet. Neither of us has had to, but our Lady has a couple of times. She says she feels your pain. We all hope that by doing this, you will be feeling better soon! Lee and Phod who send POTP to your gut!
ReplyDeleteOh, Misty, feel better and heal soon! Gut issues are no fun....both my Harley and Wolfie had IBS and Harley even had a few bouts of HGE (hemorraghic gastroentreritis) which was bloody and scary. Thankfully, both of them did well on medication, and Wolfie wound up being on Pepcid as part of his daily routine. I am sending big, big healing hugs to Misty, and one for Momma, too!
ReplyDeletePoor Misty, she is going to miss all the treats but it sounds like a great plan and you have a great vet trying to help you get through your tummy problems. We hope it all makes you feel so much better!
ReplyDeleteWe're so sad to hear about Misty's health problems. Life is just not fair! But it sounds like you've got some good care and advice from the vet, and Misty can start to feel better. Sending lots of POTP!
ReplyDelete