benny55 said
You and Jake have been through sooooo much ever since the dental surgery....and mynheart breaks for you.  To be fearful and scared and not find much to be positive a out os cert understandable!!  Uou are holding ot together  far better than anyone could!!  So cry and scream and do what you need to do to get into a calm and centered  state so you can process things from a different perspective not driven by fear (again, completely   understandable).

As far as"medical tests", etc., nothing "really bad" is showing  up, is that correct?   The protein loss. the irritable bowel....this seems to be the. main culprit??  Now, I'm not saying  by any means that this isn't "bad" at all!  It is not a good scenario, but it does seem like it can get under co trol.  Obviously that's  the goal.  The Vet needs to be real clear that the goal is achievable  and the path laid out for Jake can get better results.  You can maybe ask about other cases the Vet has treated.

Guess I'm wondering if an Internalist Specialist (?)  or Gastro Specialist (?) is an option you should  consider.  I think those are the Specialist  names.

I may have missed it, but what does the Vet say is the actual cause of this?? The long term meds, etc?      Has the Vet drawn any correlation  between the dental surgeries  and the proten situation??

What does the Vet say as far as an expectation  of when Jake will be better proceeding with the current  protocol.   I kk ow previously  she said about two ago it would be a "long haul".  So what are the suggestion for getting.nutrients in him?  What were her comments,  if a y,  about the weight loss?

Now, when Jake went in for the IV fluids and when he had the fluid drawn off his tummy, he felt a ,lor better and actually ate for a couple of days.  Wondering if that would help again?

Just kind of think out loud.  I know he's week and does, indeed need recovery  time from everthing  he's been through.  Tired, not eating, cert not having a party.  But does he show signs of alertness, being engagged, tail wags, etc?  

Don't  mean to be asking so many questions.  Just letting  you k ow we are all here for you and with you...............and still cheer for Jake!!.

(((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

PS.  Oh...and  are you givi g the meds in some other than his favorite foods???  Do you think of someone other than you brought him a cheeseburger with nompills a where near it, would he eat it?    He may relate you to pills and to eating being stressful..  Just more random thoughts 

  

Hi and thank you so much for the suggestions, and please no worries about all the questions, I think out loud a lot too and it helps me most times. I'll try my best to answer the questions in order. His labs are ok, not great, but better since he was in the hospital. The only one that is worrisome is his albumin levels; it's better but still abnormal. He has hypoproteinuria, aka there isn't enough protein in his blood to maintain oncotic pressure in his vessels and intestines, which is what causes the fluid leakage from the intestines to his abdomen. But on the recent ultrasound that was better too. He's seeing specialists of all sorts at Advanced Veterinary Internal Medicine, and I know there's always more that can be done but I'm at the point where I'm questioning if more advanced tests should be done. 

They have diagnosed him with Inflammatory Bowel Disease with protein losing enteropathy, but it's more of a syndrome than a disease as there is an underlying cause, of which there can be many. They narrowed it down to either gastroenteritis brought on by the slew of antibiotics he took through the dental ordeal, which itself led to a bad cycle of disrupting all his gut flora which is now a mess. It could also be diet related, his immune system is attacking foods he may have liked and causing inflammation in his gut. But most everything has been ruled out except lymphoma.  The Vet suggested endoscopy but it's too risky in his condition, other options would be steroids but those of course also have side effects. They suggested keeping up with the probiotics, the anti-nausea meds and giving him a low fat diet as much as he'll tolerate. But I can't get him to eat any of the prescription food they gave me and I think you're right that he associates me and food with his medications .

This week I've cooked him tri-tip, chicken, lamb, anything that will get him interested in food. Last 2 weeks off and on it's been a game of finding what he'll eat. He'll like something for a day or two, last week he was into eating Costco rotisserie chicken (skin removed), then chicken and apple sausage, then when he stopped liking that I made him steak and he ate that very well. But towards the end of the week went off the steak and chicken as well. Sometimes I can get him to eat bread. He's still drinking water at least but not as much as I'd like. The Vet didn't indicate to me that this was end stage anything, but didn't really say either way if this is something he'll recover from; it is something that dogs can get through but it takes time and patience. I'm just praying that I find the right concoction of food and meds to get the diarrhea under control, to increase his appetite and to help him gain weight. It's become scary how thin he is. I think I need to talk to the vet again in terms of goals and what's realistically achievable. He had a feeding tube when he was hospitalized and that really helped, I'm wondering if I should put him through that again however; it goes though his nose and it's stitched in place at his cheek, he would have to wear a cone again which he loathes and I know he would be miserable. So I'm trying everything I can think of. 

He's still alert for the most part, wagging his tail at times, not as much as normal, trying to play with his soft toys a little, he'll even grab his chewy toys like he used to if I have company, even though he'll just carry it around in his mouth and not chew much. So yes there are little signs that he's not giving up yet either, I'm just scared I'm going to run out of options and never felt so defeated before. Part of me feeling so emotional like this could also be fatigue, I get teary when I'm tired and Jakey and I aren't getting the best sleep. We're up at night every 2-4 hours or so going outside to potty and he usually tries to eat some grass too. He hasn't thrown up in a few days now, just loose stool which has decreased a little since I've started him on something called Proviable; it's got pre and probiotics and nutrients that are supposed to help the loose poop. He's still giving me kisses but he's so tired and weak, I have to find a way to make him feel better. 

And I will definitely try your suggestion of having someone else feed him something; it's funny you said that because the other day, he took doggy treats from a neighbor like he hadn't eaten in years! Couldn't stop begging and took all her doggy treats; I don't know if it was the right thing to let him eat so much a once but I was just so happy he was eating. I definitely think there's an emotional aspect to his reluctance to eat; that he may associate my mom and I will pills, and hiding pills in the food he will eat may have been a bad idea. I'm so grateful for the support here, I wouldn't be able to get through this without everyone who's reached out to me through all this. Whatever happens I'm trying my best to stay strong for Jake. 

jerry said
Oh my dog I'm so sorry, what a tough situation. You must feel so overwhelmed and exhausted, I know I would too! Poor Jake, I so wish you guys weren't going through this.

He IS getting great care at that clinic, I know it well and yes they are good. But here's the thing: they are focusing on one type of medicine, western. At this point, maybe it's time to get a second opinion with a vet practice that focuses on integrative healing. I'm not advocating for one type of medicine over the other but sometimes in tricky situations like this, blending the two types of approaches is what it takes to find answers and healing.

Being that you are in SoCal you have a ton of options! Here is one right in Tustin that you might want to consider:

http://www.tust.....pital.com/

and a few more in Orange County:

http://www.impe.....alhac.com/

https://www.arc.....chvet.com/

Also, consider a consult with Dr. Jean Dodds, one of the founders of integrative veterinary medicine (she's in SoCal):

https://hemopet.....-consults/

Just throwing this out there. Whatever you do, stay strong and know that we are sending lots of love to you and Jake, 24/7!

  

Thank you so much Jerry, I definitely agree with you that Western medicine isn't the only option and I'm always reading up on more holistic and alternative therapies for Jake. I think both are beneficial, especially when combined in the right areas, and not to place blame but I do think perhaps some of Jake's problem was too much western medicine being thrown at him when it came to the dental issues. I'm more angry at myself for not listening to my gut an seeing the dental specialist right off the bat, maybe this could have been prevented, maybe not, I'm feeling guilty all around for everything he's gone through and what I've put him through as well. I just want to make him as happy and comfortable as possible so that the time we have left is good quality of life for Jake. I'm thankful he's come so far through his cancer treatment, I don't want this to be what takes him from me after how well he was doing as a tripawd. I will check all this links out and see what I can find, I'm so grateful for all your suggestions and support. Also, I'm beyond excited that he just ate some grilled chicken, some low fat pancakes and a little bit of chicken sausage, baby steps I hope. I have to keep trying. Thank you for all the love : )

Well the rest of the day went pretty good eating wise, but he’s still having diarrhea every 2-3 hours like clock work. I know he can get through this if he keeps eating better each day, but I need to stop the loose poop somehow so he can rest. I’ve tried pre and probiotics, do y’all have any other suggestions besides good old pepto? Are there natural remedies I could try so as not to add to his medicine cocktail? Thank you all so much : )

Thank you so much for the suggestion of pumpkin, I’ll give that a try again. It’s tough because he’s very hesitant to eat anything, he used to like pumpkin but I’m not sure he’ll willingly eat it. Maybe I could syringe a bit in?

Wow thank you so much these are all these great suggestions. I’ve put a call into his vet to let them know what’s going on, still waiting for a call back to get a game plan.

If he eats it’s only small amounts at a time, for the most part. He’s become extremely picky, right now he likes Turkey breast but that’s it. I’ll cook for him if he’ll eat, it seems like anything with more nutrients he turns away from. I’ve got stuff from Just Food For Dogs, every brand of GI diet canned food that he’s turned his nose up to. I just want him to get to eating a more balanced diet not just protein, it’s almost as though he’s nervous to eat.

I think I’ll get some of that RX clay, I’ve got some bone broth I’ll try tonight after I get off work. Just praying he can hang on because I know getting him back to a healthy weight will take time, I know this is a very correctable thing but he’s gotten so thin so fast I’m worried. He doesn’t have much reserve left, he started out at 70lbs about 4 weeks ago, last Wednesday his weight was 48lbs. But I will try all of these suggestions and hope he takes to something. Thank you!