TheStacks

Zoey eats Pacifica and Fennec is eating Grasslands and Pacifica. Both are doing wonderful on it. My friends aussies eat the Prairie Harvest and are also doing well. Fenny says hello! We had a baby 3 weeks ago and he is smitten with her

I hope to God it is him. I hope to God this stops him for good. Zoey is from there. She had a miserable start to life and nearly 5 years later we still deal with the emotional scars this place left her with.

I have been down this road. EVO gave us upset stomach issues and the fat content proved to be too much for Fenn. We ended up with a nasty GI issue that cleared when he went off the food. Both dogs were on TOTW for a while and their coats were dull, shedding was bad and they did not seem to be thriving on it. I am now using the Acana Grain Free (Grasslands for Fenn and Pacifica for Zoey) and they look amazing. We have been using this for several months. Each dog will react differently, but with experimenting I finally found what works for us. That's my $.02

My local specialty shop has been carrying it for several months. The cost is insane, but it looks great. I too have used it for treats. The dogs wish I would feed it.

Zoey does this too. This is the one time I quickly caught her when she was a puppy.

This thread has some great information. It helped me when I had a similar issue. SoloRiver and AKDog Doc's posts were very helpful. Especially the discussion on canine teeth. http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.p...38&hl=crown

Fenn is no better His stools are a yellowish color, loose, and now have traces of blood. He is looking pretty thin and getting quite brazen in his attempts to take food off our dinner plates. He is also very flatulent the last few days. Something is up with my boy. We go see the vet tonight. We are running TLI, cobalamin/folate tests among others. Please cross your fingers and send good vibes. I am worried about my special boy. I just want an answer. Thanks!

Thanks all! I spoke at length with my vet today (Thank you Karen, Dr. Cox is EXCELLENT!). I am going to swing by and have him weighed this week. He also explained what occurs when protein, fat, and fiber are changed and this seems to make sense with what is going on with Fenn. He seems to think we need to give Fennec's gut more time to re-establish the normal flora. I am going to be watching and keeping in close contact with the vet. He did not think it was any of my fears and explained why. Sometimes playing a vet on the internet can make one crazy. I tend to do that to myself. A good friend of mine saw him today and did not think he has lost that much weight and she noted his coat was looking better. That made me feel better.

It has now been two weeks since the original episode. I put Fenn back on the EVO and the diarrhea came back. We did the bland diet for a couple of days and then weaned him on to Acana Grasslands (Lamb, fish, eggs, no grains). Protein is 34%, Fat is 17%. He is doing okay. I noticed yesterday he looks so skinny suddenly. Not emaciated but definately thin. His stools are formed, but not firm. They are larger than normal and color variation is from dark to light (mostly a yellow to orange color). He is gassy, but has always been a burper and flatulent. I typically add pumpkin at night to his food and have noticed portions of his stool that look like undigested pumpkin. Of course I have worked myself up by researching things and I have myself worried about pancreatic insufficiency. I worry the weight gain is from his inability to digest the foods properly. My vet will be calling me after hours today to talk since it is not an emergency at this point. He acts fine and same as normal. No change in behavior or energy levels. He has always been a horrid begger, so this is hard to judge. Fenn always acts like he is starved. Should I try a probiotic? Which one? Should I try digestive enzymes? Suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks all. I am going to wean him off the bland diet and back to a new bag of Evo to see what happens. I will do this when I am going to be home so he does not have to suffer in his crate. We shall see what happens. He is doing great on the Flagyl and firmed right up. I have just been so happy with the results of the Evo that I am hesitant to switch right now. The vet said it was too high in protein and that could be the cause, but Fenn ate Barking at the Moon, Core, and TOTW before. Good poop vibes appreciated!

On Thursday I came home to the most awful, gut wrenching smell. When I got to the dog room, Fenny had diarrhea in his crate, on him, etc. There was also urine. Consistency was not pure watery, but was not formed. Needless to say massive clean up efforts ensued. That night against my better judgement my husband fed Fennec at about 5:30 pm. I woke up at 4 am for some reason and decided to check in on him (kept him in his crate just in case) and he had diarrhea again, this time more runny. Stench was awful. I fasted him for 24 hours and decided to go to the vet because Fenn is my gut of steal dog. Something had to be up. He does not eat random things outside and never goes out without me so that is not a concern. But I can throw his gut for a loop and never have an issue. He plays daily with a puppy who had Giardia about 2 months ago or so. We also recently switched his food, about one month ago. He was eating Taste of the Wild, but his coat was HORRID. So I switched him to EVO. His coat has never looked better and friends and family have been commenting without being asked. He looks truly amazing. He finished several sample packs and one 15 lb bag prior to this incident. I had just purchased, opened, and began feeding a new bag that I bought at a different store from where I usually go before the incident (he at about 3-5 meals from the new bag). The fecal did not show Giardia, but I know this is hit or miss. It did show a high count of Clostridium(unsure if this is just an overgrowth of normal flora due to the aggravated gut). We did 3 days of Panacur and he is on Flagyl twice a day. The vet also put him on a bland diet for 3-4 days. His poop is formed again(and a horrible neon color). I am to switch back to his food after that. However, the vet does not want me to go back to EVO, stating it is too rich and he has seen problems with that one. I am not sure what to do.........Fenn looks and feels so good on the EVO and had done fine with it for a month. So my questions are (sorry for the long tale): 1. Could it be the food after so long (are there cumulative effects from being too rich)? Could it have been the new bag (I did take it back and exchange for a smaller bag for the time being)? 2. Would you switch him back to TOTW after the bland diet (he did crap on that, but I don't think a totally new food is good idea either given his upset gut) or would you try the EVO to see if it is truly the food? I also realize it could be bacterial, which I was hoping to confirm to rule out food issue. This is the best Fenn has looked in 2 years and he has been on many foods to find something good. Thanks for opinions and help!

I guess I don't understand what average person would willing take on a dog with a bite history with the liability that entails. I don't mean the OP, but the person expected to "adopt" this dog. If this was disclosed to me I would run screaming in the other direction. I have a fear aggressive/reactive dog. She has never bitten, but my entire life is managing her and it never crossed my mind to make it someone else's problem. I have a close family member in the same situation. They are working with a veterinary behaviorist, but not having much luck. She keeps mentioning rehoming him and I keep telling her I don't see that as an option. This dog has bitten family, visitors, and their other dog. At times these seem to be randomly provoked. Who would want that? She mentions rescue and I have pointed her to these types of discussions here for an unbiased viewpoint on the "options". As I see it there are only two viable options in these cases: Keep the dog and exhaust all possibilities and resources or euthanize. Choice one may also lead you to the same outcome and you need to be prepared for that. JMO.

Just wanted to give a quick update on Hershey. Thanks to Karen (Journey) she was given the name of a vet in town and Hershey saw him yesterday. He did a barium swallow and that was negative, which ruled out mega-esophagus. They are sending off blood to test for IBS. Once those results are in he will decide how to proceed (diet, specialist, etc). Hershey has good days and bad days, but her owners feel much better having a direction and having ruled some other things out. Things are looking up for the time being. Thanks for all your suggestions and well wishes.

I had my friend type out what is going on with her Aussie because the vets are unsure and her family is confused as to what is going on. I figured someone out there may have similar stories or ideas to suggest as to what they might be looking at. Any ideas or comments are greatly appreciated. Here is her story: Hershey’s story Hershey is a 2 year old Australian Shepherd who has been vomiting and has had intestinal issues. She has always shown signs of skin allergies (itching, allergic conjunctivitis) but is in good health. This past spring we noticed occasional vomiting after she ate which usually occurred within the first hour after eating. We feed her main meal in the morning and a lite “dinner” in the evening. We have been feeding her Taste of the Wild High Prairie formula since last fall. During the last week of June, Hershey began to vomit more often. On June 30th, she was fed her breakfast and within 30 minutes she vomited. That night she vomited again after eating her dinner. I contacted the vets the next morning (after she vomited again) who saw her. They ran some bloodwork (which was normal for a dog who had not kept much in her stomach) and gave her a shot of Reglan as well as instructed us to give her some Pepsid and feed her a “lite meal” of rice. We gave her the Pepsid and that night she ate the rice (about ¼ cup). Within the hour she vomited. She also could not keep just water or any pills down either. I called the vets and they made an appointment to see her on July 3rd. I did not see our regular vet because she was out of town. The vet was concerned that she may have an intestinal blockage which I highly doubted as Hershey does not “eat things”. The bloodwork was redone and they did an x-ray. The bloodwork was still normal and the x-ray did not show a blockage. This vet still had concerns of a blockage that would not show up on x-ray and wanted to do either a barium swallow x-ray or an ultrasound (which was preferred). Since it was the day before the 4th of July, they were unsure of the availability of the ultrasound as there are only 2 doctors in town to do them and one was on vacation so we scheduled the barium swallow for Monday July 7th. Mind you during all of this, my 39 lb dog was now down to 34 lbs! We kept her as comfortable as we could over the holiday weekend (eating little doses of rice when she could) and took her for the test. I received a call from the vet that they did the ultrasound because the vet could come and do it. The ultrasound showed severe inflammation of the upper 2 parts of her small intestine that would not allow food to pass. The traveling vet that did the ultrasound indicated that her symptoms and the ultrasound results were consistent with a food allergy. He had read a study/report in a recent veterinary journal on this topic. She was prescribed liguid Reglan, a higher strength medicine to calm her stomach, and a food based on rabbit and potatoes. Initially, she seemed to do better and we gradually reintroduced the food (Royal Canin IVD Rabbit and Potato formula) which seemed to begin to work. However, we did notice the itching and allergic conjunctivitis started returning. Over the next two weeks, she began to eat well and put a little of the weight back on. She would eat well because she was ravenous!!! It was wonderful to see her not vomiting but one day during the third week she vomited after drinking water about 2 hours after eating. This did not happen again that week but did for the next 2 weeks where she only vomited once the entire week. On Monday August 11th, she vomited in the middle of the day and it was a yellow-brown and watery with no food. She ate fine that night for dinner (gave her a lighter than usual dinner too) but vomited 4 hours later. On Tuesday she ate her breakfast and was ok. Her dinner that night was later than usual due to picking up her daddy at the airport. My husband took her for a walk to go to the bathroom when we got home. He called while out saying she vomited “yellow stuff and was foaming at the mouth”. We called the emergency line at my vets and my normal vet called me back. She indicated that she knew what was going on with Hershey and said that she was a very sick dog and it may take a while. She asked for us to give her the Pepsid to settle her stomach and call her the next day with an update. On Wednesday (last night), Hershey threw up both her breakfast and dinner 4-5 hours after eating. She threw up again around midnight. Called the vet this morning and took her in. We are trying some different medication which I do not know what it is as my husband took her. Our vet believes that her stomach is having a hard time digesting and that we may need to try different medications until we find one that is right. If the medications do not work then she wants to do a “diagnostic and biopsy”. So at this point we wait and see… Thank you!

Zoey and Fenn know (besides basic commands): Aunt Kristy Sasa (my mother's nickname from nieces/nephews) Grandma and Grandpa Daddy Eat Dinner Bite (as in want a bite of this?) Go Alright Ready Okay Ball Park Frisbee Beach Car Ride Go Pee Go Poop Kitty (Fenn barks and Zoey runs to the window to see said Kitty) Orlando (to the "grandparents") Bone Treat Cookie Go to mommy's bed vs. Go to your crate (Crate if no one is home when I leave, my bed if daddy is still asleep) Bath (Fenn first climbs you, then runs and hides at this) Want (You can put this in any sentence Do you want.......and they will tilt their heads trying to understand what you are asking) That is what comes to mind immediately. We spell frequently or constantly use other words if possible.