Good-ish update on my Katy!

[Ann]

I'm sorry, Jason. I agree it's very worrisome when they won't eat. I'm surprised your vet isn't more concerned. I've been there with dogs and it's awful trying everything you can think of with no success. I hope she's doing better this morning. Sending good thoughts.

 

[Sharon7]

Are you saying her last bout of diarrhea was 65 hours ago? Given that she's hardly eating anything at all it may not be surprising. If I was in your shoes, I would ask my vet to do abdominal ultrasound and/or Xrays of her abdomen. It would give you at least some information about what is going on internally. Otherwise you are just guessing. There is a reason she's unwilling to eat, just need to try and find it. I'm sorry for all the stress this is causing. But you must consider that it won't get better no matter how hard you try. I say that compassionately.

 

[Jason_C]

Are you saying her last bout of diarrhea was 65 hours ago?

No, I meant her last BM at all! She peed a normal amount, but no bowel movement. The vet said that with her previous bouts of diarrhea, introduction of metronidazole, and loss of appetite, that wasn't a concern yet.

BUT!! She finally had a BM today :-D Solid at first and light brown (not orange), followed soon after by 75% solid and a little more orange. But that's a major improvement, so I think I'm going the right direction.

There is a reason she's unwilling to eat, just need to try and find it. I'm sorry for all the stress this is causing. But you must consider that it won't get better no matter how hard you try. I say that compassionately.

Yeah, I know :'-( Every pet that I've had, once they refused food it was pretty much over. Pepper (my Chihuahua) refused food when she had congestive heart failure, but I was able to force feed her for almost a year and keep her alive. I can look back now, though, and realize that I was borderline torturing her by keeping her alive when she had given up. One of those great life regrets, ya know :-(

She still hasn't eaten today, even after her BM. My vet ordered Entyce for me as an appetite stimulant, so if she doesn't want to eat this evening I'll pick that up in the morning. That'll be 11 days worth, and in theory it should jump start her appetite and I would only need it for 4-5 days.

If that doesn't work, though, then I guess we have a hard decision to make...

 

[Ron Atkinson]

I'm sorry that Katy is not eating but I am surprised that your Vet has not ran X-rays on her stomach and intestines to check for possible partial blockage or abnormalities. I would also be concerned about dehydration, that can be a problem with lack of food intake.
Maybe a second opinion is in order, fresh eyes may see something different.

 

[Jason_C]

I am surprised that your Vet has not ran X-rays on her stomach and intestines to check for possible partial blockage or abnormalities

Since she finally had a mostly normal BM today, I'm less concerned with a blockage now.

All things considered, she was eating fine until we reduced her Prednisone (from 2.5mg twice daily to once daily on December 1). The Prednisone scared me; bloody diarrhea daily, sores on her skin, and hair loss had me thinking that we were looking at liver failure and/or Cushings.

She started going downhill almost immediately, though, and started rejecting food on December 3. We did full blood work on December 6, and all of her numbers looked fine except that she was moderately anemic.

Based on that, I think that a blockage is unlikely. The more likely problem is that she was having liver and gallbladder issues all along, and the Prednisone was just masking the symptoms. Worse, the Prednisone causing bloody diarrhea is likely while she became anemic!

I would also be concerned about dehydration, that can be a problem with lack of food intake.

I completely agree, especially since I had to switch to kibble instead of the Farmer's Dog that she's always had (which has more water in it).

She spends most of the day just laying around and watching me, but when she goes to the water she drinks like she's dying of thirst! I just now brought her a bowl of water and she chugged for several minutes, even though her regular water is only about 15' away :-(

Maybe a second opinion is in order, fresh eyes may see something different.

I completely agree. I'm in a rural area, though, and the closest GI specialist is 1 1/2 hours away. I called, and the earliest they can see her is late January! Fat lot of good that does, she'll either be cleared up or gone by then :'-( I made the appointment anyway; it was a $100 deposit, but grand scheme of things that's a drop in the bucket and I'd rather lose it than wish I'd had it.

 

[woof]

Our best wishes for Katy and for you.. we do all we can and we have to be satisfied with that--hopefully she will perk up. Lots of love and pets, she is with family and her caring pack.

 

[Jason_C]

Thanks, @woof

I do have SOME positive! She perked up quite a bit more late tonight (Thursday) :-D

I'm not sure what the deal is, but we've been giving her the Cerenia at 6:30pm and by around 9:30pm she'll start to perk up and eat a little. But then the next morning she's wimpy again, so it's like the Cerenia wears off after a few hours instead of 24.

This morning, she was super wimpy. When she woke up she was a little wobbly but seemed to walk it off. I carried her downstairs and let her walk out on her own, but she was panting a lot. Then when she finally squatted to pee, she lost her balance and I had to catch her! Then she refused to eat anything, including treats. I carried her a lot throughout the day, and she felt weak and soft in my arms. When I wasn't carrying her, she was mostly sleeping.

But at about 9:30pm, she started raising up and looking around, obviously more alert. I offered her some food, but she said no.

By about 10pm she was walking around and acting somewhat normal. We played a little, took her out to pee, then came back in and I was able to get her to eat some Farmer's Dog (little at a time on a spoon)! By midnight, I had gotten her to eat a full serving PLUS the 1/3 of a serving left over from yesterday! So not quite a full day's worth of food, but close to it. She also ate a baby carrot, a small chicken strip piece, a small liver treat, and two crackers :-O

That gets me really excited, but then I remember that she perked up a lot on Wednesday night, too. But then on Thursday morning, she was so wimpy that we were debating on whether we were at the end. And then she perked up again!

It's that emotional roller coaster that I can't stand :-/

I know that the Cerenia dosage is right (30mg once daily; she's currently 25lbs, so a minimum dose would be 22.5mg), but it seems like it takes 3-4 hours to kick in and then wears off by the morning?

 

[Sharon7]

Well if the Cerenia isn't working the full 24 hours I'd think her issue is something other than actual nausea. When we're really sick and feeling awful, we don't want to eat either but it isn't actual nausea. I'm glad you got her to eat a bit. The most crucial question is, is she enjoying life anymore? Only you can decide that. It's kind of a vicious cycle; the not eating then makes her weak and she still doesn't want to eat. I know we'd all love the bolt from heaven to shove our face into the fact that it's time to let go, but it seldom happens that way.

Faith had a relatively good day on her last day too and I second guessed myself all the way to the end, but when our long time petsitter saw her that day, she said "Sharon, it's time."

 

[Piper's mom]

Update:

This was Day 2 on the Cerenia, but I don't see any impact from the Cerenia at all yet. She wouldn't eat anything at all until about 9:30pm! She snubbed the Royal Canin GI kibble mixed with boiled chicken (the only thing she'd eat for the last week), she snubbed the sweet potato chips that she was enjoying, and she even snubbed her favorite chicken strip treats!

I got her to eat a very few liver treats (they're very small, like the size of my pinky nail but in a cube), and at about 9:30pm I got her to eat about 2/3 of one serving of Farmer's Dog by putting tiny amounts in a spoon and holding it in front of her. I had to keep the bowl far away, though, and the amount in the spoon had to be TINY!

That's nowhere near enough food, though. She usually eats two servings per day!

We're currently at 66 hours since her last bowel movement, too The vet doesn't seem concerned, but I sure am!

I do recall the last time Piper had diarrhea and was on flagil and the vet said don’t be surprised if they don’t poop for a few days. So it’s not at all unusual. Also, flagil messes with their gut health (it is an antibiotic) so another reason their gut is all messed up. If you’re not doing it, a pre and pro biotic would help get their gut bacteria going again.
If my dogs have a soft poop (a rarity) I use the slippery elm Ann mentioned. You can pick it up in a capsule form (any pharmacy would carry in the vitamin aisle) as well and mix it with water or yogurt but give with food when given for diarrhea.

 

[Jason_C]

Well if the Cerenia isn't working the full 24 hours I'd think her issue is something other than actual nausea. When we're really sick and feeling awful, we don't want to eat either but it isn't actual nausea.

I have the same concern :-( I just talked to the vet today when I picked up Entyce, though, and after discussing the symptoms and blood work she just can't think of anything other than nausea from the anemia!

I read a study on Cerenia for motion sickness that found that 93% of dogs that took Cerenia didn't vomit as compared to 48% that took a placebo. So there's a chance that it simply doesn't work for Katy. Or, at least, not as well as it might work for other dogs.

That's my hope, anyway.

I'm glad you got her to eat a bit. The most crucial question is, is she enjoying life anymore? Only you can decide that. It's kind of a vicious cycle; the not eating then makes her weak and she still doesn't want to eat.

She SEEMS to be improving daily, but it's really hard to measure. She had a solid bowel movement this morning (Friday morning), but again she was wimpy all day. But when I left to go to the vet she followed me to the door and fussed at me for leaving! So that was a big improvement. But she still didn't eat anything.

But again, at around 9pm she perked up. I got her to eat a little food, and when we snacked while watching a movie she scratched and wanted nibs! (I've been eating sweet potato chips, so I can safely give her a few bites)

At our regular 10pm play time she wanted to play fetch, but she ran out of energy after the third round.

I was able to get her to eat MOST of one serving of Farmer's Dog, but again I had to do a little at a time over several hours.

So. Is she enjoying life? Yes, but mostly in a period of about 4 hours. Will that improve, though? Maybe...? I guess it's too early to really say.

I know we'd all love the bolt from heaven to shove our face into the fact that it's time to let go, but it seldom happens that way.

Amen to that one!

Faith had a relatively good day on her last day too and I second guessed myself all the way to the end, but when our long time petsitter saw her that day, she said "Sharon, it's time."

That's how my Mojo was (the kitty), he suddenly perked up at the end so I had to make that really hard decision :-(

I've explicitly told my vet about Pepper, though, and how we can look back and realize that we were torturing her. So I've made it VERY clear that I need for her to be honest and tell us when it's time to let go! Because we just won't be able to see it.

The only other person in Katy's life is her groomer (who loves Katy to death), but she's even more emotional about Katy than we are!! LOL I don't think that she could be objective, either. So I have no real choice but to trust the vet, and hope that she'll be honest instead of seeing a financial opportunity :-/