Becky, I am sure she does have cramps, and the nausea, and lethargic, and the constant feeling that she has to go all the time and then nothing happens or too much happens. Hang in there! I wish I could suggest other things to help her, but I really don't know of anything else. Feeding her has to be trial and error. I know when I was experimenting with Gigi, I hated doing it, but I also had a lot of hope and determination to lick her problem. I did keep a meticulous diary every day for the entire day and night as to what she ate, how much, and what time, and how long it took for her to go to the bathroom afterwards. I also kept close notes on how she was behaving and anything that was different was recorded. That diary is what helped me put the pieces together, and I kept the diary going for almost 6 months.
One trick I learned with Gigi and I think it applies to most dogs is that when we change their diet, even for a small morsel of a treat and you notice something different about their behavior, even a scratching allergy, is to stop that treat, and wait 2 weeks till it is completely out of there system, and try it again. If you get the same results then you know never to feed it to her again, and that applies to a morsel of people food too. For instance, when I was in the process of changing her dog food, some times I would give her a small piece of lets say chicken from my left over dinner. An hour later I would see that she started in with the weird behavior. The reason wasn't the chicken in itself, but the protein added to her intake for the day, and her system couldn't handle just that small increase in the protein. Same thing happened when I gave her a couple of bits of cheese. So unless I decrease her regular dog food by a couple of kibbles and then give her a little piece of cheese or a piece of chicken, or what ever has a high protein in it I am in for trouble. That is why I do not fault with her diet at all anymore, and it has paid off. Peggy -------Original Message------- From: Becky Stewart Date: 9/2/2012 9:14:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] IBS /chihuahuas No Peggy, I did not file any complaint or go with the lawsuit. I was so focused on saving our little girl from this nightmare, that I could not think of anything else. I am so happy to have her still with us, but our lives will never be the same. And everything you describe about how you feel, seems to be what she is like too. Sometimes I think she suffers from stomach cramps as well. It is really a difficult issue to deal with. We have had less episodes than in the beginning, but when they happen--oh boy!! You have been a big help Peggy, especially describing how it makes you feel. I think dogs feel the same way. Thank you. Sent from Becky's IPad On Sep 2, 2012, at 8:20 PM, Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> wrote: You are quite welcome! Having IBS myself, I really understand what she is feeling. There are days that I have absolutely no appetite, and have to force myself to eat something, and then I have nausea, so I can understand her not wanting to eat. And yes, it hits me with a big ''Boom'' too and I can't always figure out why. It can last for days, and during those episodes I have no energy at all. It has altered my lifestyle to because I can't always go out when I want to, It has even forced me into early retirement. I have to wait until I feel that my tummy has finally settled down and I don't have to worry. There are many foods that I cannot eat anymore, even veggies and fruit are a horror. Forget yogurt and prebiotics, they cause me to double up. The only thing that helps to calm my tummy down a little is ice cream, believe it or not! I have two sisters and a niece who also suffer with it. Your right, it does alter your lifestyle, and holds you back more often then not, and there is no cure, because doctors and Vets don't know what causes it to begin with, they only know that certain foods bring on the attack. Be careful if you should try the pumpkin, it may upset her even more. Pumpkin is good for dogs that have a normal system, not always so for dogs that have a tender system. For myself I gave up on the medical profession and just live with it. So far this summer I have not used any flea/tick meds on Gigi because I terrified to try them. I checked out every single brand that I could find, and they all say that they can cause seizures. I try to remember that when people and dogs have any type of illness it means that their immune system has been compromised and anything can trigger it off. So far I have been lucky, and she hasn't had any ticks or fleas. I do put the Advantix on Princess and sometimes I wonder if that is why they don't bother Gigi, since they usually walk side by side. Advantix, if I remember correctly states that there products wards off fleas and ticks to begin with So either that's it or I am just plain lucky, because fleas are plentiful around here. BTW, I was wondering that since this all started from a food recall, did you have it documented by a Vet and submit a complaint to the food company and the FDA, for reimbursement of Vet fees? I remember that there was a class action suit for a couple of those companies. Peggy & The Girls -------Original Message------- From: Becky Stewart Date: 9/2/2012 7:40:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] IBS /chihuahuas Thanks Peggy for sharing your experience with me. You know, I have been dealing with this now for 5 years with Sabrina. Ever since the episode of having the tainted dog food. I sadly realize that there is no cure for IBS, but rather control it as best we can. Something you mentioned caught my attention though. When you mentioned the flea prevention products. We go off and stay in our RV a lot, and we always take the girls with us. I had my other little chi, Gracie, pick up a tick twice from these trips. I recently switched from the regular Advantage to the Advantix to protect them from ticks on the the RV trips when we go. So, this is something for me to think about. Sabrina actually has done well on the phenobarbital, staying at the very low end of a therapeutic level, and went without any seizures for 4 years, but now is experiencing what the vet refers to as, "break through seizures". I do feel something has triggered this to begin, but just not sure what. As for the diet, the ID seemed to help, but did end up mixing in Baby Rice Cereal. You see, her trouble is, that her intestines digest too quickly, therefore causing the whole stomach upset which includes loose stools and vomiting. But it is strange, she can go for quite sometime without any trouble at all, and then, "Boom", she has an episode of tummy trouble that can last for days. My patience runs thin after dealing with so many complications now for 5 years. The first 5 years of her life were normal, but these past 5 years are anything but that!! Her life has changed, but our lives have changed dramatically too. I literally cannot do many things that I used to, simply because of her feeding demands. She does not eat on her own! She has to be fed by syringe. If I do not do this, she simply will not eat, and becomes very ill. And those vet bills are in the thousands now, have been for a while. It is like having a handicap child, but my dog is not allowed to go everywhere with me, like a child would be allowed. Has tied me down considerably. I have even missed some special family events because of her. Anyway, I have heard of this brand dog food you mentioned before on this forum. I may need to read more into that. I know that nothing is going to take all of this away, but everything counts to keep the flare ups away! Thanks again for your info. I appreciate it. Becky and the girls Sent from Becky's IPad On Sep 2, 2012, at 2:00 AM, Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> wrote: I haven't dealt with IBS with Gigi, (but I have it, lol, not really funny though) But I have dealt with the seizures from her borderline liver issues. Her seizures started with weird behavior and could last for hours or days and then the seizure, and they always started after she ate something. I refused to put her on Phenobarbital or other seizure meds, instead I chose to find out what triggered the seizures. I found by experimenting that she needed a much lower protein and fat level. She also had weird behavior right after eating natural treats, and most of them contain Rosemary, just like a lot of the natural dog foods include it for some reason, and some dogs are allergic to that herb and can have seizures from it. Then with further experimenting I kept reducing her protein level. The combination has stopped the weird behavior and the seizures for months now. She runs and does zoomies and gets into healthy trouble once in a while, all normal for a dog. She never did that before, but would sleep a lot and want to be cuddled a lot. I get the greatest kick out of watching her act like a normal dog. When she does those zoomies and jumping around, she makes me smile so much that my cheeks hurt. Such a big difference from seeing her for over a year in constant discomfort. Now her tail wags all the time and she holds it up high too. I looked at the Hills ID, and for me, just because a Vet says to put a dog on those products doesn't always mean that they will work for your dog because every dog is different. My vet wanted Gigi on that stuff to and I am glad I went with my gut feelings and figured it out for myself, plus with a lot of help that others in this group that contributed info. To me Turkey is gassy, and pork and rice is hard to digest even for some humans so why they think that is going to help IBS is beyond me. And it has a high protein content as well. I found a natural food that Gigi has been on for months and doing well on it. It's called Earthborne Adult Vantage. It is 22% protein and 12% fat. I would suggest a lower protein, because most dogs that have kidney, liver,heart, & digestion problems find it hard to digest high proteins and high fat. Chicken based dog foods are always more gentle on the digestive track,and it burns up faster, which aids in faster digestion and softer stool, it doesn't create gas like turkey does, nor irritate the intestinal lining like rice does.. The only thing with this food is that the kibble is larger, but Gigi doesn't have a problem chewing it, in fact she chews this better then a small kibble which she use to just swallow whole. You can always soak it in warm water until it is soft for even better digestion to start her off on it, or any other food that is chicken base. I hope you find something that will work for her. If you decide to change her diet, and you see less of the weird behavior and seizures then you may be able to very slowly wean her off of the seizure meds. But that part would have to be Vet supervised, so you know how to do it. I know that you cannot just stop those meds because the sudden shock to their system will actually cause worse seizures that last even longer and come more frequent. Very, very slow weaning off of them, one at a time is the trick. That's the main reason why at the beginning I hung in there with Gigi and tried the diet method first. She gets absolutely no other foods or treats, except for 1/2 of a milk bone biscuit 2x a day. She is on a very, very, strict diet and as long as it keeps working, I have no intentions of changing it regardless of what the Vets say. JMO Did you get copies of her blood test, so you have a record of them and can monitor any changes in the results? I would ask for a copy of every blood test, and look at the levels for her kidneys and liver functions and compare them. If any of those levels are above or below the average, then question the Vet and see how you can help to regulate them back to normal. Gigi's levels have improved from two years ago with the change of diet and the Vet that took the first test missed noticing that a couple of the levels were abnormal. Technically, she should never have been under anesthesia for a spay because of it, that also contributed to the seizures. But the main reason is that she has a liver that doesn't function properly to aid in the digestion of proteins and fat unless those levels are low so that the liver can handle them better. Had I known that from day one, I would have waited for her levels to be better and then get the spay done, and it would have avoided the seizures. The other thing is that any dog that is prone to seizures, cannot take any of the flea meds that are out there. It can be risky, because most of the flea meds all say they can cause seizures. Peggy & The Girls -------Original Message------- From: stewartgang Date: 9/2/2012 12:42:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] IBS /chihuahuas Have any of you experienced dealing with irritable bowel syndrome with your chihuahuas? Sabrina, my now 11 year old chi, has problems with this. Ever since we nearly lost her to the dog food recall several years ago, she was left with seizures and IBS. I become very stressed dealing with all of this. She has to be syringe fed every 4-5 hours, administered phenobarbital 2X a day, and if she has seizures, it turns into several hours of her odd behavior afterwards, since I have to dose her with Diazapam to stop the seizures. The IBS sneaks up on us at any time. It takes several days of dosing her with Cerenia and Reglan to try and stop the runny bowels and vomiting. I guess it is a good thing I love her so much, because I am not sure how many others would be able to deal with all of this. We have had so many emergency visits to the vets, that we joke and call her Visa! But it really is not funny. I have NEVER in all my life had a dog as complicated as this one. Right now, I try to control the IBS with prescription food (Hills ID), and use the meds if necessary. Any other suggestions are much appreciated. Sabrina is truly my "ball and chain", but I love her with all my heart. = =
