dezzyno.1 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Jessie is a 6 year old American Staffordshire Terrier who for the last 12 months every 2-3 months will be sick with vomiting, lethargy and stops eating but she does continue to drink but stops drinking if given a needle to stop the vomiting (it is usually all over my daughter's bed).....we have just paid a fortune for blood tests to try and find out what is wrong with her.....she hasn't got cancer, diabetes, Cushings disease, kidney or liver failure, diabetes or pancreatitis the only thing her liver enzymes were up a little but it is normal with the anti-seizure medication she is on.....the vet wants to let her get over this which she is nearly back to normal and the next time it happens will have to take her in to put her on a special diet for a sensitive stomach Has anyone else encountered anything of similar things happen to their family pets as I am at a loss as to what to do or do we just let it happen and just get her through it like we have done so for the last 12 months and put her on the special diet next time it happens Just after some advice on what people think it could be or if not what they would do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 sounds like a medication reaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Is there anything which happens every few months ? carpet cleaning worming flea/tick applications on the dog spraying for insects around the house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 (edited) thanks showdog I thought maybe a medication reaction too but because it only happens every 2-3 months the vet did not think it was and Jessie has been on the anti-seizure medication for a long time before she started to become sick and Persephone not even food changed she gets the same food and nothing is different and no carpet cleaning, she handles the worming tablet really well and is not sick when it is given, no fleas and we do not have ticks where I am or insect spraying cause I am really cautious with things like insect sprays etc, there really is no change to anything that I can think of, this started with no change in anything either it was just out of the blue Edited November 29, 2014 by dezzyno.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 (edited) dezzyno.1, Is there any chance that Jessie's body is not fully metabolishing the anti-seizure meds? So that over a 3 month period, the toxins build up and cause this reaction. What is the name of the medication? I was wondering if monthly blood tests to determine the levels might give any indication? If the enezymes are becoming elevated, that may be a forewarning for you. I guess the other thing is to write up a list of all & everything that might happen. How long ago did this start? What season of the year etc etc. There may be a trigger not obvious yet. Edited November 29, 2014 by VizslaMomma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Can you recall anything that happened 12 months ago that might have set this in motion? Was the medication changed? Obviously there's some trigger.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 What about something used somewhere on a walk? Would be hard to determine what though but you might find somebody using something on a regular basis which she isn't at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 thanks everyone for your comments....Jessie has been on anti-seizure medication for 2 years and has been on Phenomav and was on this for 12 months before these symptoms occurred....she has recently been put on Bromav due to her serum levels being in the normal range but in the upper range limit and was put on the Bromav two months ago as the vet did not want her to become toxic....she had a serum level done whilst she was sick and this was in the normal range....I am tending towards the medication as well but as for her walks we walk around the same area but you are right someone might be using something that she is picking up but our two other dogs are not sick.....we do tracking and she will get sick as it seems to be this every 2-3 months....her blood test showed that she had fatty blood but the vet thought maybe cause she is sick the medication was making her blood like this but only at the time she is sick as she has had serum levels done before and her blood has been fine....I cannot recall anything changing 12 months ago to start this off but we did go through a period with a crazy neighbour and maybe she was putting something over the fence but I would have thought that if Jessie was sick our two other dogs would have been also as they run in the backyard together when they go outside....Vislasmomma maybe it is something I suggest to the vet as you may be right but her enzymes were completely normal and she was sick when the blood tests were done but maybe something to look at and she does have at least a blood test for two months to check her serum level and also to make sure if medication is adjusted to check it is okay sometimes one for the third month depending on what her levels show but she has always had good serum levels....also I have documented these and believe me it doesn't matter what season it is it just occurs every 2-3 months as before this bout of sickness she had the same thing happen on the 16th September....I have learnt to document everything especially with her seizures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) This is not good for you or Jessie. This may sound a generalisation but it's not. Obviously something is out of order within Jessie's system. Maybe it is time to consider other tests to check her thoroughly? Erny wrote up where she had her dog's hair DNA tested. It actually showed up issues that were affecting the dog's health. I know there's a 'normal' range of test results for both humans & animals. But sometimes, either creature may not be right to have that range. Only a suggestion because I hope you can pinpoint the problems. :) Edited November 30, 2014 by VizslaMomma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Thank you so much Vislamomma I will look into the DNA do you know where the topic is about it from Erny.....Jessie has had a lot of tests since this started and they have always been normal....I am hoping we can find out what is going on with her as I would like to know so we can at least either deal with it or treat it...it is so frustrating cause I feel helpless when she is sick that I cannot help her....I suppose at least we know there is nothing really nasty going on at this stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Did she have the testing done while she was having an episode? The combination of phenobarbitone and potassium bromide can lead to pancreatitis in some animals. Phenobarbitone alone can also sometimes cause lipemia or increase in fat in hr blood which can predispose some animals to developing a pancreatitis. The most reliable means of trying to identify pancreatitis is with abominal ultrasound and an experienced operator, a normal CPLi (the pancreatitis blood test) doesn't rule it out, particularly chronic or low grade cases. This of course doesn't mean that this is the cause but it would still be a consideration for me and would support at least a trial of a low fat diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 How frustrating and upsetting, dezzyno.1. If Jessie has to go on a low fat diet there would appear to be a huge variety now available through vet clinics. In the past six weeks or so, I think I have tried them all for Danny (see my thread in General) and the ones that seem to get the thumbs up for him are Natural Balance delicate care kibble and Royal Canin canned Gastro Intestinal Low Fat. That is not to say he will eat them every time I put them down. I also had a bit of a trawl through the supermarket shelves a couple of days ago and found Natires's Gift Gourmet has a very low fat content. Gave two chicken style ones a try and he really like them. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Rappie Jessie's seizures are under control and she had the blood test done in the middle of her being sick and she was tested for pancreatitis and the test came back negative and they feel her fatty blood was a combination due to her being sick and the medication and she has only just been put on the Bromav but had been on the Phenomav for 2 years so was a year ago that she started with the sickness every 2-3 months and nothing has changed and thanks Dame Danny's Darling....Jessie thankfully eats everything put in front of her as she tells everybody she is starving but put her on the scales and she is 28kgs which is a bit over weight for her.....I use the Nature's Gift Gourmet little packs for tracking and she loves them so might look into them and see how she goes she might think she is special because she is getting different food to the other two Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) Could it be something as simple as feeding her bones? Any bones big or small, crushed or whole? ie. Excess of fat in diet on occasions Edited November 30, 2014 by Stitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Nature's Gift Gourmet little packs Just check the salt content of these. I also found they are insanely expensive per kg so I use mini goodos for training treats instead now. Not that this is the healthiest choice on the shelf but they are small and you can tear them up into even smaller bits and my dog doesn't choke on them as often as harder stuff. For low fat - I use roo ribbons which I can tear up. Actually my dog goes a bit nuts for these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Nature's Gift Gourmet little packs Just check the salt content of these. I also found they are insanely expensive per kg so I use mini goodos for training treats instead now. Not that this is the healthiest choice on the shelf but they are small and you can tear them up into even smaller bits and my dog doesn't choke on them as often as harder stuff. For low fat - I use roo ribbons which I can tear up. Actually my dog goes a bit nuts for these. I confess I didn't think of the salt content You are right about the expense, Mrs RB, but I'm desperate Don't want to hijack Dezzy's thread, but tell me about roo ribbons, please. I get roo jerky, but the last lot I bought is still raw in the middle and not properly dried through. Last time I gave it to Danny, he had a wonderful time with it, but the following day he was violently ill and much of it was still undigested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) I don't know where you get them in NSW. I get mine from Adelaide Dog - I usually ring up and ask for a kilo pack and then they ring back when they can supply. Some roo shooter in Orrorroo does them, I think. Is very very thin wafers of roo (probably sliced while the meat is frozen) and then dried out. I like roo jerky too but find I often end up keeping it in the freezer otherwise it does get smelly (not properly dried?). The roo ribbons don't get smelly. I also find - I can't feed a lot of it at once ie one piece of roo jerky a day. we can't use it as dinner substitute without causing trouble. Ie it's a pretty intense food. Like a human eating too much chocolate. Or me eating too many oranges. You could contact these guys and ask them if they'd send a bag to NSW. I imagine one of those jiffy bags postage paid for about $10 ish would do it. And a kilo is around the $50 to $60 mark. Cheaper than dried liver. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adelaide-Dog/188731497823234 I am tempted to buy a food dehydrater and try making it myself. Just not sure how I'd slice up frozen roo tho. I googled roo ribbons and found a Brisbane based dog treat company (australian pet treat company) - but those are not the same thing. When I was in Brisbane I did get some treats called "lamb moisties" from the Brookfield fodder shop and I think those might be the same as these http://australianpettreatcompany.com.au/categories/pet-treats/lamb-products/semi-moist-lamb/ They were great - but not as exciting as dried slithers of roo. Edited November 30, 2014 by Mrs Rusty Bucket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvie Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Thank you so much Vislamomma I will look into the DNA do you know where the topic is about it from Erny.....Jessie has had a lot of tests since this started and they have always been normal....I am hoping we can find out what is going on with her as I would like to know so we can at least either deal with it or treat it...it is so frustrating cause I feel helpless when she is sick that I cannot help her....I suppose at least we know there is nothing really nasty going on at this stage I am no expert, but could that be Addison's Disease. Our dog was a bit like that, sick every then and then, not willing to eat until our vet tested him for Addison. It is very often missed as the symptoms are very similar to pancreatitis or other diseases. The test is quite simple and with medication every day it is easily manageable. Just an other idea. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-o Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Can I ask what you feed her as a regular diet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezzyno.1 Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 (edited) so happy for anyone to hijack the thread as I am looking at probably putting her on to roo but not sure about the protein content in roo meat but it is a very lean meat Sylvie I will check with out vet and see what she thinks could be another thing to test for as well and have looked it up and it seems she has everything except the diarrhoea but it only says they may get it Dave-O Jessie is on chicken mince with no preservatives brought from a dog food place that supplies greyhound trainers around here....she has that plus Black Hawk and no is not the Black Hawk as I changed her Supercoat and she was sick on that as well....she gets beef steaks which have no fat and tuna and gets chicken carcasses at least once a week with strict supervision to make sure no choking or swallowing the bones whole....she has always been on this food even obtained from the same places and has been on this food for the 4 1/2 years we have had Jessie....she started on Phenomav for seizures two years ago and the sickness started about a year ago now occurring every 2-3 months Edited December 1, 2014 by dezzyno.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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