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Accident/illness prone dog...


Jescano
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I have thrown THOUSANDS of dollars at this dog getting him fixed from sticks getting stuck in his butt(they literally had to pull the stick out of his butt), other obstructions needing surgery, extracting a tooth and the subsequent infection from that, fractured growth plates, other random infections resulting in bloody diarrhea and vomit and expensive vet visits, oh and he also has bad hips, which can only lead to MORE expensive vet trips. When there isn't something wrong with him, there's nothing wrong with him he's perfectly healthy there's no reason he should be getting sick so often. He gets fed great food that he does well on. A rotation of Orijen, wellness, merricks, acana, TOTW, Instinct, and raw(either homemade prey model raw or Natures variety) He lives in the mountains with lakes and miles of backcountry trails and has a great doggy life. Everyone who knows me knows my dog as he goes everywhere with me, he's an integral part of my life.

 

He was supposed to get neutered tomorrow(but now can't). Because a couple days ago I noticed him acting off and he has had bloody diarrhea and a fever again for the past few days and he's just not himself. Drinking very little and hardly eating. I just spent almost two grand in vet bills on him two months ago. I just really don't know what to do. I can't keep spending that kind of money on him every couple months.

 

Please don't yell at me and say I'm a horrible owner. I know he's my responsibility but he's had more problems in his 18 months than most dogs in their entire lifetime. I had money set aside for vet visits for him, he's already burned through that pretty quick. Pet insurance only helps so much. I'm very upset about this, I love my dog he's so smart and so willing to do anything for me, he literally does handstands for me.

 

I just don't know what do to. I can't keep throwing money at him to fix him only have to break again in a couple months.

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From your previous posts, I believe that you take very good care of your dog. Some dogs are accident-prone. I don't have any advice either, but do want to pass along that I had a similar situation with a barn cat that I had. Free barn cat, but would turn up hurt a lot, with subsequent vet bills. Since he was 100% outside cat, I never knew what caused his injuries. At 5 years old and after a $3000 bill for his latest round of injuries, I decided to make him into an indoor cat. He loved coming inside. [He was super friendly to begin with anyway.] He has been injury free for the last 10 years. So basically, I wrapped him up in bubble-wrap [i.e. limited his exposure to risk].

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Is the bloody diarrhea and fever an ongoing problem? If so, and all you've (your vet) been doing is treating the symptoms then maybe it's time to delve deeper and look for root causes. It could be something simple like giardia, or it could be more complex, like inflammatory bowel disease or the vit B maladsorption Sue mentions. Has complete bloodwork been done? What about a full tick disease panel? Fever says to me some disease process and not just "bad luck" or having eaten something that disagrees. I know it's more money, but spending more now on diagnostics could save you much more later if you can stop the problem from recurring.

 

As for accidents, the only advice I have is to look for patterns. If there are certain times/situations where he's more likely to get hurt (based on past injuries), then try to limit those situations.

 

J.

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There is a bacterial infection dogs can pick-up when traveling through puddles,standing water and ponds from racoon, rodent and fox urine or feces. It shows up as vomit and diarrhea and quickly invades the liver and kidneys causing them to shut down. Please be careful when dog takes ill after hiking. Hopefully his proness to injuries will subside as he matures.

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Have you spoken to your vet about his diet? Along with testing they may recommend some dietary changes. I see you rotate between 8 different diets. Even if you switch diets slowly over 7 days constantly rotating between diets can cause GI problems. Also dogs with GI issues tend to do best on a lamb and rice dog food as it's easier on their GI tract. Hopefully you are able to visit your vet on Monday and he improves quickly! Good luck. :)

 

Bethany, Rose, and Loki

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I agree with feeding a varied diet BUT, Kenzi just couldn't handle it for the first two years. She had giardia that messed up her GI tract when she was 1 y/o and after that any dietary changes would throw it off again and she'd get bloody diarrhea FAST. So I kept her on something super easy to digest for 6-8 months (a mixture of THK and Orijen is what worked for her). At about 3 y/o she could gradually handle more and more variety in her diet and now at 6 y/o she can handle variety just fine.

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I think the varied diet argument is simply an opinion unless I'm missing some new study. If there is a new scientific study results out please send me the info as I'd love to read it. All the animal nutrition classes I've taken, continuing education to maintain my credentials, etc. all teach that varied diets are not the best idea in dogs/cats. I've raised 4 plus dogs and kept them on the same diet their entire lives. The only GI upset I've seen in the past 5 yrs was once when I gave the dogs some contaminated TOTW dog food samples (recalled) as a treat. Sadly I figured a free sample might just be the way to stretch my meager training treat budge a bit farther. :(

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All the animal nutrition classes I've taken, continuing education to maintain my credentials, etc. all teach that varied diets are not the best idea in dogs/cats.

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but would like to ask who taught and or sponsored those classes?

 

Too often, at least in vet schools, they're taught and/or sponsored by pet food manufactures. If they are, then I have to question their objectivity.

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I'm not trying to be argumentative, but would like to ask who taught and or sponsored those classes?

 

Too often, at least in vet schools, they're taught and/or sponsored by pet food manufactures. If they are, then I have to question their objectivity.

Exactly! When a pet food manufacturer tells you that you need to keep your pet on a food for life, their goal is to create brand loyalty, not to create the healthiest pet.

 

One of my dogs used to get an upset stomach with EVERY little thing she picked up off the flood, but when I committed to a rotational diet, she finally became what I would call healthy. She can eat anything at anytime and never has upset stomachs anymore, ever. I started feeding this way when Gideon was 1 year old and looked emaciated due to how extremely picky he was. After starting a rotational diet, he has never refused a single meal or even left food in his bowl, and never had an upset stomach. Micah was a small pup when I started. He was having symptoms of IBS as an 8 week old pup, mucousy bloody diarrhea, thick irritated intestines, acid reflux, vomitting, loss of appetite. I started changing his food to figure out what his food hypersensitivities were to, but as I was working out his issues, I also noticed that even though he should have been prone to stomach upset issues, he has never had a single issue with his intestines again, only skin issues when I give him something he is sensitive to.

 

I should add that when one of my dogs starts grazing and eating sticks, I add a super green supplement to their food and they quit eating sticks, grass, and leaves. So that's another way that diet can be involved.

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I never transition. One day they are getting diet A and the next day they are getting B. But it took about 6 slow transitions before my dog with the sensitive stomach could handle me just swithing her food.

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Back to the immediate topic... I can only empathize with you Jescano. As I've documented in this forum my Tio has been through quite a bit in his 1 1/2 years of life. Costs have been "significant". You do what you can... Best wishes..

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