8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb

BARBARA SWALLOW wrote:

8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb


It sounds like pancreatis, possibly. What did your Vet diagnosis this as?

I am sorry to hear about your shepherd.

Gwen

Gwen Watson wrote in
:



BARBARA SWALLOW wrote:

8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb


It sounds like pancreatis, possibly. What did your Vet diagnosis this as?

I am sorry to hear about your shepherd.

Gwen







Actually, it sounds like IBD
http://www.pressenter.com/~dvmvis/canInflammbowel.htm might help you
understand it. For stomach sensitivity, I'm surprised that your vet hasn't
suggested ZD/ULTRA, as it's hydrolyzed protien chains make it IMPOSSIBLE to
react to.
(My dog is on this, I am NOT a vet)
But I sure would ask your vet about it, being re-assured that your dog is
getting a complete and balanced diet.

"BARBARA SWALLOW" wrote in message
...
8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb


If I had given my last GSD a spoonful of rice she would be like that.
Have you tried pasta instead of rice.
When they get a mucous it is normally the tummy working to fast.
I had a dog with pancreas trouble so I had to feed her very carefully.
I found Deans health meat in tins very good.
After a few years she became allergic to chicken.
Which was disasters what could we feed her now.
I then went on to tinned Butchers tripe .
I found that excellent.
Also if your dog has a dodgy stomach do NOT feed to much mixer biscuit.
Or treats.
My daughter adopted a GSD of 8 months old.
She was having accidents most days.
I told her do NOT give her to many mixer biscuits or treats.
She is fine now.
I have had three GSDs now and I know to well how their stomach's work.:-(.
Maybe this will be help to you.
Pat

Thanks to all, my vet believes it is stress related as he can't find any
other reason. The only thing I can think of that is stressfull to her is
the fact that we live in a big city and no back yard so she is
restrained on a leash and cannot run. Also she was attacked by another
dog and received injuries. Now she is always ready to fight and always
on guard. If they are being walked, she will start barking and pulling.
She was an abused dog from a rescue so no telling what she has lived
through. Thank you very much, Barb

Sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately it takes lots of time for a dog to
grow comfortable after being in any abusive situation. If it is stress
related one way you might tell would to be to get away for a while.
Somewhere out in the country for a weekend or longer and see if anything
changes. I would think that somewhere with out any other dogs would put him
at ease and you would see a difference demeanor it's a pretty good
indication.

I know the always ready to fight thing. My Barney was attacked as a pup and
has this ATTITUDE that I'm going to kill it before it gets me.
Unfortunately it's not something he's ever outgrown no matter how hard we've
tried. He's 11 now and has only ever been comfortable with 3 other dogs in
his whole life. I have another dog that I rescued that he was familiar with
before I took her but it took at least 6 months for him to accept her and
the other two are my sister chi hua hua. I think because they are so tiny
and he smells them on me so frequently that he has accepted them. Other than
that he would tangle with any dog I let him if given the chance to.

Celeste



"slow down" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all, my vet believes it is stress related as he can't find any
other reason. The only thing I can think of that is stressfull to her is
the fact that we live in a big city and no back yard so she is
restrained on a leash and cannot run. Also she was attacked by another
dog and received injuries. Now she is always ready to fight and always
on guard. If they are being walked, she will start barking and pulling.
She was an abused dog from a rescue so no telling what she has lived
through. Thank you very much, Barb

"BARBARA SWALLOW" wrote in message
...
8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb


I'm just a regular dogowner, but your post made me think of a dog I know.
I don't know if what your dog has is anything like what this poor dog has.

I don't recall the diagnose the dog got, but in laymans terms it was
something like a chronic inflammation of the guts. This dogs symptoms were
bloody runny and mucous diarrhea.
The dog was put on a diet (cooked rice, carrot and turkey twice a day) and
also on some sort of medication that lasted about 2 months - I think it
might have been some sort of antibiotics. The dog also got a "first-aid"
medicin in case her tummy got upset. It was some stuff that inhibited bowel
movements, didn't make the dog think it had to go all the time. It made it
possible for the owner to sleep even after the dog had managed to eat
something bad. It was to be used in emergencies only.
Recently this dog has had small changes made to its diet, and can now eat
small amounts of other cooked vegetables, and soy, the owner says the soy
she mixes with the rice has made the texture of the poop much better.

I have heard speculations about what might cause this dogs problems, stress,
foreign body (not seen on x-ray), or some infection. Someone suggested
feeding the dog teaspoonfuls of ground up raw stomach (cow) and it didn't
seem to hurt the dog.

We are not dog abusers so please stop calling us that. I have shopped
and cooked for my dog everyday for 1 1/2 years. I walk her for 2 hours a
day. This all started when she got eaten alive by an "obedient" dog that
broke away from his owner and attacked her. We have no yard. When we
walk passed another dogs yard, they bark at her and she barks back.
These dogs do not like her and she knows this. Two have gotten out and
we were in a dog fight. I am not allowed to take her out the front but
must go through the alley. There are dogs in both directions and by the
way, Mr Wizard, I have to work 50 hours a week so my dog can EAT. I am
sure she is under stress, aren't we all? Quit calling people names...

Barbara wrote:
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else.

What foods you have tried? Such as have you tried (been given by Vet) any
prescription diets for colitis? and if so, which ones?

Very poor and credit card maxed out from vets that couldn't cure.

You know, I really understand... I know how incredibly frustrating this kind
of situation can be.

I've 3 dogs w/ colitis of mysterious origin coming upon 1 1/2 yrs. soon
myself. I assume you've been through different antibiotics for the different
bad gut bacterial infections, protozoas like Giardia and so on, deworms,
testing for pancreatic function, etc..? Cultures, fecals, bloodwork, etc..?
We've done all this short of an endoscopy/ colonoscopy and we tried many
adjunctive add-on therapies, supplements, diets, etc., beyond the veterinary
medications as well.

I'm sorry what your girl has been through with the dog attack and her
previous llife , but unless this dog is completely neurotic/ high-strung
24/7 and also given that you've proved that you can manage it somewhat
through diet ( which is exactly the same as for how my dogs were), whatever
your cause of IBS the key is ( and of course excluding curable conditions
like pathogens, parasites or identifying body disease/ dysfunction) is
learning how to manage the colitis. Which is what you are trying to do in
your way, same as I was. And I had the same worries and concerns as you-
exactly how can they thrive on just a meat & rice diet, would there be
nutritional deficiencies, etc... a diet of chicken and rice only is not
complete but you are in a catch-22 as I know, although I did try to balance
the calcium/ phosphorus content. That's important because meat has a very
high phosphorus content in proportion to the calcium content and over time
this can cause problems that can be bad news. Never mind having other
nutritional concerns from eating such a limited basic diet and what they can
and can not assimilate for nutrients anyhow because their intestines aren't
working right to begin with.

We've been through an awful lot over here with our situation and finally
have found our solution ( or at least a diet that works for us) and I can't
possible convey what relief it is when something finally works and the
changes for the better, so on that note: don't ever give up and hang in
there. I have more to say from our experience and my theories but first I'm
interested in hearing your response to the above questions and getting to
know a little bit more about what is going on.
nc


"BARBARA SWALLOW" wrote in message
...
8 year old shepherd can only eat rice with chicken, 6 small meals a day.
Stool turns to formed mucous on anything else. Can't take vitamins or
minerals and am so worried about her. Very poor and credit card maxed
out from vets that couldn't cure. Any ideas? Been going on for 1 1/2
years. Can she survive like this? Thanks Barb

Yes, All test have been done and nothing showed up. Would like to deworm
her even though her stool comes back fine, just to be on the safe side
but am afraid to. Haven't had the scope either. Have tried prescription
dog food very slowly added to chicken and rice mixture but by end of 2nd
day she is sick. Did the same thing with every dog food out there and
samples from special, natural, holistic. Always start out with 3 or 4
pieces added and started taking 2 weeks to build to 1 handful but would
always end in uncontrolible diareha...can't spell...Always starts with a
formed mucous casing, then mounds of thick mucous and then
diareha...then can't let her eat for 24hrs (heartbreaking) then one cup
of rice then add chicken and slowly build...sometimes she will be fine
for a month on rice and chicken...then started adding Nupro and felt she
would be OK, getting her vitamins and minerals but she started getting
sick again.....This all started when I had to move and lost the yard.
Then we were in 3 dog fights where she was not the agressor, feel like
we are in a battle zone everytime we go out. There are dogs everywhere
and now she is always keyed up and ready for a fight. A DR for humans
told me to add Metromucil (???) to her diet and put her on
antidepressants. Haven't tried that yet. Was thinking of trying Tagament
for humans. There is not one place to let her run free and know she
needs to. Please let me know what you have figured out. Thanks, Barb and
Angel