spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Okay, I took Tango to the vet yesterday because he's not really getting any fatter and his eye is getting worse and a couple of days ago he caught and ate a bird then spent several hours in a lot of discomfort and obviously ill. The nearest vet is about an hour or so away in St Helens so we went there. They found an "indolent ulcer" on his eye and also said that because he's clearly suffered a rapid weight loss in the last year or so he no longer has any fat deposits around his eyes, so they are very sunken and vulnerable to foreign objects and infection. We were startled to discover he weighs only 20 kilos - and that's having put on a little weight since I adopted him in January. According to his previous owners he weighed 25 kilos when they sent him to me - clearly this is not true - we think he probably weighed around 16/17 ks when he got here. So, over the past 6 months or so his body had used up a lot of it's reserves just to maintain itself and had even used up stuff that he needed. Now, with a slightly improved diet, his body has stopped drawing on its vital reserves but is still on a knife-edge. That's why we can't get weight on him. The vet is going to do some research to work out exactly what we can feed him to build him up without putting him at risk of stone formation. He was honest enough to acknowledge he has no experience in stone-forming dalmatians but wants to work on his case and find the best diet for him. Otherwise he's doing remarkably well for a dog who has been so thin and under-nourished - good coat, skin etc - So I was pleased about that. We put a muzzle on him just in case but he showed no signs of snapping etc and was actually very well behaved throughout the consultation. He was clearly frightened though. Unfortunately, while we were in St Helens, the weather took an unexpected turn and the temperature had climbed and ended up somewhere in the 30s. We didn't spend much time hanging around after seeing the vet but even so, by the time we were headed home, Tango had started vomiting and had diarrhea and was clearly distressed from the heat and the vet visit. I would never have taken the dogs to the vets if I'd known it was going to get that hot!!! I had waited for cool weather to make the trip so I was furious that it got so hot! I had all the windows open, air con blasting and drove like a maniac through the tricky St Mary's Pass trying to get home ASAP. Pepper was fine but Tango wasn't. When we got home he was staggering around, disorientated and wobbly. His back legs were particularly wierd and he didn't seem able to stand properly. Twice he stagger-ran away from me and headed down the back of our property and then collapsed in the hot sun. I dragged/carried him inside and wouldn't let him back out again. He wouldn't eat (unheard of with Tango) or drink. I was absolutely terrified for him. I syringed lectade water into his mouth and wiped honey onto his gums etc to try and help him. Every now and then he'd get up and stagger around the house trying to get outside. I was considering waiting till dark and then returning to St Helens for an emergency vet visit. Fortunately, two hours later he recovered enough to eat a light meal and started walking more normally, if still a little shakey. When he started following me everytime I went into the kitchen and sitting there doing his front feet tap-dance routine, I knew he was okay. Today he is absolutely fine. Again - I believe this was caused by the fact that he is so thin and has so few reserves that he became dehydrated and sick very fast. Is there anything I should check or look for to see if he's been effected by this episode? SHould I still be taking him back to the vet even tho today he's completely back to normal??? I should also add that over the last few weeks Tango has started to become much more affectionate and seems to be developing a bit of a crush on me LOL - and the feeling is mutual. He still occassionally has a go at Pepper, but they are harmless "attacks", more of a protest at her being overly affectionate or getting in his way. His eye problem may have something to do with that. I am really impressed with how much he has gained in self-confidence and with his ability to learn new commands etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggy mum Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Oh well done spottychick, he seems to heading in the right direction now that you are loving and caring for him. I sure hope he continues to improve everyday. Lots of positive vibes heading Tango's way. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loraine Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Poor Tango, not a great time for him. I think I would hold off on another visit to St Helen's. He will have become quite dehydrated being sick and having the runs. It does sound as if he has levelled off at the moment, so I would just concentrate on getting whatever good grub into him as you can. Just a thought from left field - have you considered trying him on Sustagen? I know it is great for peeps as I carried my son on it LOL, I had 9 month sickness and it was the only thing I could hold down. I delivered a healthy baby. It may help Tango put on a bit of weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hey Loraine! Thanks for your thoughts. And that's NOT so out to left field at all. I considered it myself as I have some here - but unfortunately there's too many things in it he shouldn't have. BUT I have ordered some very high quality Whey protein from Bioceuticals instead. Iggy Mum - I hope so. I honestly thought I was going to lose him twice this week, he really is a fragile fella - so I'm feeling like I'm not doing enough. He seems to get seriously ill so quickly.... I also started giving him the Budwig diet today - it's usually a cancer protocol but I figured it might help his situation. He loved it anyway LOL I mixed banana, ground Flax seed (as well as the oil) and honey in with it and the three of us - me Pepper and Tango all shared it. There was barely enough to go round and Tango got the lions share so I think I'd better make a bigger batch next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 That sounds like a rather dramatic reaction to the heat? Is that normal for him? Can Dallies have oil? I was thinking about rice bran oil. That is great for weight gain for horses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly_Louise Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 How does he normally travel in a car spottychick? And has he been to that vet before? After our first vet visit with Sasha, she became a mess... simply from the fear and anxiety... and seeing he's not had the best run of health before he came to you apparently - he may be traumatised by this (add on that it was hot and you've got trouble). Although she does get car sick, I found it MUCH worse after a vet visit. And with Chloe, she is fine going to the vet... but on the return we always a diahorrea episode because she's just been so frightened and anxiety ridden (although OH so brave ). I do hope that he's on the mend now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlygirl Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Can dalmatians suffer from pancreatic insufficiency? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hey jules - I don't know if it's normal because I havent had him long and I'm pretty careful with the dogs around heat usually. I've not seen him do it before. But yes it was VERY dramatic/drastic. I was in tears and really thought he had done some serious damage - at best. Hmmm rice bran oil! I haven't heard of it before. Yes they can have oil and rice so I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 How does he normally travel in a car spottychick? And has he been to that vet before?After our first vet visit with Sasha, she became a mess... simply from the fear and anxiety... and seeing he's not had the best run of health before he came to you apparently - he may be traumatised by this (add on that it was hot and you've got trouble). Although she does get car sick, I found it MUCH worse after a vet visit. And with Chloe, she is fine going to the vet... but on the return we always a diahorrea episode because she's just been so frightened and anxiety ridden (although OH so brave ). I do hope that he's on the mend now Normally he's fine in the car and loves going for drives, but that's the longest trop we've had. He hasn't seen a vet in several years so I agree, it was definitely stressful for him. That's interesting re Chloe and diahorrea (man I hate trying to spell that word LOL) - I guess it could be that he got dehydrated from the stress and runs first and then the heat on top of that made it worse. He is great today, running around as normal and greedy as ever. I just showed off to a neighbour how Tango has learnt to wait for his food so well. I put a piece of yummy organic date and walnut cake on the floor in front of me. Pepper was standing near me. But even so Tango sat about 2 metres away and stared into my eyes when I said "wait" until I said "Okay" and he knew he was allowed to eat his yummy treat. She was stunned! She said "That's incredible! And this from a dog who's owners said he was "untrainable"!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Can dalmatians suffer from pancreatic insufficiency? Yes they can, we discussed malabsorption as a possibility and the vet didn't think it was that. He has no other symptoms and in Tangos case he simply hasn't been fed properly for several years so it's not a sudden unexplained weight loss - just a difficulty of building him back up. For example, I can't feed him satin balls because he can't have most of the ingredients I find in the recipes for them. It looks like his previous owners stopped feeding him much of anything in the last year or so while they were advertising to find a new home for him so he got very skinny very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi spottychick, sorry I'm not able to offer much help but I would call the vet. They are usually pretty helpful. Not knowing anything about his condition, minced meat is usually pretty good because it has a lot of fat. There are a lot of arguments in favour of raw feeding and I feed a lot of raw, but cooked protein is more biologically available - worth keeping in mind. I would definitely cook any eggs you give him, not for infection risks, but to make the protein more bio-available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi spottychick, sorry I'm not able to offer much help but I would call the vet. They are usually pretty helpful.Not knowing anything about his condition, minced meat is usually pretty good because it has a lot of fat. There are a lot of arguments in favour of raw feeding and I feed a lot of raw, but cooked protein is more biologically available - worth keeping in mind. I would definitely cook any eggs you give him, not for infection risks, but to make the protein more bio-available. good point! I do feed raw but to help him with digestion for now I might look at cooking some of it. Meat, such as beef and pork, is one of the things I cant feed a stone-former - high in purines. chicken is moderately high so he gets a small amount of chicken. But he does have soft-cooked eggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redangel Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 YOU mentioned a malabsorption problem....has he had any blood tests for things like addisons or such? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voloclydes Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 i would mix his biccy's up with egg to a paste.... try and get some from a shop past there useby.... they might be cheaper.... or get friendly with a farmer who might have duck eggs and stuff. i nearly cryed... hell i would be panic stricken had that happen to leo....my vet said stones can happen if doggies doesn't drink enough.... so maybe put a tea spoon of milk in water makes leo drink or vegiemite.... or any thing smelly he might like to keep him hydrated. i often give leo extra water in his food.... or extra water with milk to make him drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 YOU mentioned a malabsorption problem....has he had any blood tests for things like addisons or such? Not yet - he was pretty stressed at the vet so we dealt with the immediate issues (general health, eyes, ears and possible small tumor on his ear) and really had to stop poking and prodding him after a while. Next time I reckon he should get some tests done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 I hope Tango gets better soon :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 i would mix his biccy's up with egg to a paste.... try and get some from a shop past there useby.... they might be cheaper.... or get friendly with a farmer who might have duck eggs and stuff.i nearly cryed... hell i would be panic stricken had that happen to leo....my vet said stones can happen if doggies doesn't drink enough.... so maybe put a tea spoon of milk in water makes leo drink or vegiemite.... or any thing smelly he might like to keep him hydrated. i often give leo extra water in his food.... or extra water with milk to make him drink. Thanks for the ideas VC - he doesn't get biccys. I wouldn't know which dry food is safe for him (if any). I would be thrilled if anyone had any recommendations (and not the Hills stuff) Everyone round here has chooks so I'm buying fresh eggs for around $2 a doz - sometimes free. :D Just as well as between the two dogs and me we go through a lot of them! He always has lots of water in his food - the eggs are sort of poached and the yolk is runny so I can mix it in to the water. He also gets lots of veggies, miso, flax oil or similar and kelp. And a little chicken - both raw and Nature's Gift canned. Vegemite is yeast based so he can't have that - but I use Miso in the same way and he likes that. I also sometimes use honey and give him water with honey melted into it and I've been doing the milk in water thing occassionally since someone (you maybe???) suggested it in the dally thread! :D I don't understand why some dogs won't drink water LOL I've not come across it before - usually my dallys drink like elephants But yesterday Tango wouldn't drink no matter what I put in the water - he wouldn't even eat cheese or roast chicken pieces his favouritest food in the whole world!!! Thank goodness I have syringes on hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 What about Vets All Natural? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 What about Vets All Natural? Hey jules - do you mean their Complete Mix? It's good stuff and I give that to my girl but it's got quite a lot of yeast in it so I'm reluctant to try it with Tango. But I do give him VANs skin and immunity supplement which has lots of goodies in it and I soak some plain oats for him and add rosehips to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voloclydes Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 leo was getting home brand and was sick. we got him a brand called dog pro... not sure what is in it... but a friend said she researched it and they have very little preservatives. we used there 4x2 biscuits too! his health has been much better on them.... but they are not expensive...at our local rural supplies $22.00. makes your wallet glad. they do sound simliar you boy and mine.... when hot he will sit and pant rather than drink... shish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now