Need Help! Dog Has Stomach Bowel Problem?

[_PL_]

Vet nurses correct me please: They may have put a tube down his throat if he had anaesthetic and that (in my understanding) can give them temporary snorts.

I'm so happy you have some kind of progress. He's a lucky little dog.

[stormie]

Glad to hear Mickey is doing well.

Just a thing though, do you know what 'shot' your vets gave him for his allergies? After just coming out of hospital with mild pancreatitis, cortisone really should be avoided as it can be a cause and really not something you want to give to a animal who's just recovered.

The new diet is unlikely to be the cause of the flare up, particularly seeing it's a novel food source. If he's had flare ups and things before, it's likely to just be similar to what's happened before. As for the coughing/sneezing - may be an allergic response, especially seeing his skin has also flared up, but could be something else.

Has your vet given you any other ideas for managing his allergies other than cortisone? Cortisone is great for offering relief (tablets more so) but in Mickey's situation with his recent pancreatitis, I would avoid it as much as possible or you could end up with a sick boy again!!

Also, cortisone is a treatment for IBD, so just be aware that improvements you see may be from the cortisone and not necessarily the diet, so just keep that in mind.

Hope things continue to improve!

[Sheridan]

Cortisone is an immuno-suppressant. It doesn't treat the underlying cause of an illness.

[stormie]

Cortisone is an immuno-suppressant. It doesn't treat the underlying cause of an illness.

Cortisone is an anti inflammatory. At higher doses works as an immune suppressant. So for an animal with chronic inflammatory bowel, cortisone, given at the anti inflammatory dose, reduces the inflammation in the bowel, enabling it to function properly.

[AmandaJ]

Talk to the vet about giving Colostrum in the diet - Colostrum has been used in IBD, Crohns disease, Pancreatitis and lots of other gut problems. It helps to heal the gut.

Glad to hear he's doing better.

[Erny]

Talk to the vet about giving Colostrum in the diet - Colostrum has been used in IBD ...

That's interesting - I never knew that. Something to look into. Thanks for the tip, AmandaJ.

[rob78]

Glad to hear Mickey is doing well.

Just a thing though, do you know what 'shot' your vets gave him for his allergies? After just coming out of hospital with mild pancreatitis, cortisone really should be avoided as it can be a cause and really not something you want to give to a animal who's just recovered.

The new diet is unlikely to be the cause of the flare up, particularly seeing it's a novel food source. If he's had flare ups and things before, it's likely to just be similar to what's happened before. As for the coughing/sneezing - may be an allergic response, especially seeing his skin has also flared up, but could be something else.

Has your vet given you any other ideas for managing his allergies other than cortisone? Cortisone is great for offering relief (tablets more so) but in Mickey's situation with his recent pancreatitis, I would avoid it as much as possible or you could end up with a sick boy again!!

Also, cortisone is a treatment for IBD, so just be aware that improvements you see may be from the cortisone and not necessarily the diet, so just keep that in mind.

Hope things continue to improve!

thanks stormie, not 100% sure but i think it is a cortisone shot. he told my sister not to give him the prednisolone tablets for a few days cause of the shot. we gave him his pred tabs for a few days but wasn't helping too much.

this is all he has suggested for his allergies in the past. he gets it a few times a year, i think its worse in the hotter months. one cause of it i think is when he gets shaved real close. that might be why it happened this time, he got shaved/clippered for the IV & ultrasound.

he is still scratching & biting himself a little but not as much as before. i'm more worried about the snorting, reverse sneezing, he has been doing it a lot for the past few days. he has never done it this much before.

he was realy good for about a week when he came home, around the end of his antibiotics (amoxil clavulanate) this all started.

is it alright for him to eat the i/d dry food with the diet he's on? he has been having some of that every day instead of his old snacks.

do you think the snorting is anything to worry about? if it continues we will probably get another opinion.

thanks again & to everyone else too.

[stormie]

It's just that cortisone is a known cause of pancreatitis, so whether it's the injection or tablets, it can bring it on. That's why we wouldn't recommend giving a dog any form of cortisone who has just had a bout of pancreatitis, mild or severe.

As for the coughing/reverse sneezing, it's too hard to say really without hearing or investigating more. It could be a form of airway disease, allergies, infection etc.

As for adding the I/D, if SASH recommended the novel diet of Roo and Potato, I wouldn't be giving I/D, but just sticking only to the new diet to see if it's making a difference. The more foods you start to add, the more you risk a flare up of the IBD, if that's what it was.

I would be looking for more help with regards to his allergies. Things like anti histamines, omega supplements, things to improve the skin barrier etc etc. Cortisone injections really aren't a good idea long term - tablets are generally considered a little safer because you can alter the dose day to day, with days off, however the injection is usually a high dose that lasts longer in their system.

[mita]

Yes, what Stormie said about sticking to what the vet hospital said re diet. More you add, more chances something will irritate.

We had a sheltie that developed pancreatitis & the way you described your doggie as being so down and flat and obviously in pain, was always the sign an attack was starting. He'd needed doses of cortisone for a skin allergy over a number of years. Apparently, one side effect is that it can bring on pancreatitis. So check that out, for accuracy, with the vet hospital.

One time, he spent 3 weeks in hospital & as the vet was checking him out of the Uni Clinic, he threw up all over her shoe. So it was back into hospital.

In the end, I found the way to manage it was strictly diet & no fatty foods.

[twodoggies2001]

When my boy Benson had an attack of pancreatitus it was not food induced, it was drug induced. He also was on pred because of schnauzer bumps. Got rid of them but it cost him dearly. I will never again allow either of my minis to have cortizone based drugs if I can help it.

[Rappie]

I agree that if your dog has signs of allergies that now is a good time to get a longer term plan for trying to deal with them - whether this be a referral to a dermatologist, diet trials or symptomatic treatment.

I use steroids in very short courses of oral tablets for skin flare ups, and don't give steroid injections unless a dog has had an allergic reaction. They are very good at what they do but I would try all the other symptomatic treatments (shampoos, conditioners, antihistamines, omega oil supplements, hydrotherapy, novel protein diet trials etc etc) before resorting to long term steroids. In a dog with pancreatitis, I would be cautious about supplementing omega oils due to the fat content.

As a side note, steroids being a cause of pancreatitis has largely been debunked. There was a study a long time ago that showed that amylase and lipase levels were elevated after steroids were given and traditionally an elevation in these levels has been used to diagnose pancreatitis. We now know that there are various sources of lipase, not all of them are from the pancreas and that amylase and lipase can be elevated in any gastrointestinal disease. I would be very reluctant to use steroids in any dog with gastrointestinal disease (except inflammatory bowel disease where it is an indicated treatment), but they don't cause pancreatitis.

[Erny]

I would be very reluctant to use steroids in any dog with gastrointestinal disease (except inflammatory bowel disease where it is an indicated treatment), but they don't cause pancreatitis.

Why the difference, do you know, Rappie? I mean, why are steroids indicated for IBD but not for other Gastrointestinal diseases? What makes it ok for IBD but not for others?

[Rappie]

I should modify that to say"reluctant to use in any undiagnosed gastrointestinal disease" and then except for "IBD, or neoplastic processes that are responsive to steroids" to cover possibilities like lymphoma and some other tumours.

Steroids have a variety of other effects on the body including the gastrointestinal tract - including causing gastric and duodenal ulceration (which may already be present through other means. They can also delay wound healing and reduce immune response (including to a bacterial infection).

They are used for IBD because in this condition the body mounts an inappropriate inflammatory response in the intestinal tract, which is full of lymphoid (immune) tissue. The swelling of the tissues result in reduced function - in this case the effects of the inflammation are reduced and gastrointestinal function improves. The effects are similar for cases like lymphoma where high doses of steroids can slow progression of the tumour and reduce the inflammatory effects caused by them.