As of Sat, he was still down to just over 5 lbs (was almost 6 before surgery). He is eating! He has been vomiting a few times a day, mostly slime (not bile, just water/mucous). X-rays from Wed look good. Bloodwork is ok. He sleeps all day except to eat and pee. His bruising is almost completely gone.
He started Sucralfate yesterday in case he has an ulcer (he did have some black diarrhea). The other thought is possible an intususception that is telescoping in and out. Of course, it could be completely unrelated to surgery and be whatever is wrong with his liver/GI tract.
He's on:
Centrine injectible
Metronidazole
Ranitidine (switched from pepcid injectible)
Sucralfate slurries
JMM, not sure what you're feeding, but I wonder if Hill's Rx I/D might be an option for him right now, it is easy on the intestines, and fed in small amounts at a time, most dogs can tolerate it during recovery from such a radical surgery. By small amounts, I am talking about a teaspoon/tablespoon every couple hours, if he can keep that down, then you can slowly and gradually increase the amounts.
When are you expecting biopsy results? I thought you might have them by now?
Mikey has vomiting and diarrhea on I/D. He is eating Purina EN right now at 3 meals a day. He only has diarrhea on this and he had diarrhea anyways LOL.
I'm not sure when last week they were sent out as we had to arrange for one particular doctor to receive his liver samples. I would guess maybe the end of this week we'd have results.
Hope the tests turn out good...just love that little dog - would love to pick him up and give him (gentle) hugs. Guess I missed posts- why did he have surgery in the first place?
Other than diarrhea which is now bloody, Mikey is slowly recovering. He's back on all oral meds. I want my path results NOW! I know it is taking forever....
As you can see, he's resting quite comfortably. He actually gets up and moves around for an hour or so the last few days. He'll play then, too. He went for a very short walk yesterday.
JMM, you mentioned Mikey has had chronic v/d, but has blood always been evident? I'd be concerned about that, what are your vets comments?
Also wondering if a fecal was ever done most recently, to rule out unassociated bacteria....his recovery seems awfully slow, I'm assuming your monitoring vitals, but when did you last update your vet after surgery (was it last Sat or Wed following)?
He doesn't typically have bloody diarrhea, but he has on a few occasions. We usually end up waiting it out as nothing really works to clear it up. He had one episode early last week and then "normal diarrhea" until Friday. It has been bloody since then, but calmed down in frequency yesterday. Vet wasn't too concerned on Friday (neither was I) since it happens on occasion. If it continues for more than another day or two, we'll readdress it. The last time the vet saw Mikey was this past Wed when I pulled his staples and weighed him. He looked really good and got a quick exam. I agree that his recovery is very slow. He is bright and alert and moving around a lot more, but definately not normal.
Hmmm....I know he had a fecal done in August including a direct smear and giardia Elisa when he had bloody diarrhea then for over a week. Nothing showed up as usual. He has been empirically dewormed a few times in the past with panacur and it didn't help. If you have any crazy anti-diarrheal drug ideas, we're always open to suggestions (he's been on sulfasalazine, tylan, immodium, pepto). Of course, I know the answers are going to be here any day now...waiting is getting hard. We really can't do prednisolone until we know since it is not a good idea to give with potential liver problems he might have.
Is he strictly on the Purina EN right now, or are you feeding anything else? My only thought, given the history (and failure to respond to anti-diarrheals), may be malabsorption, maldigestion. Whether that can be attributed to an ingredient/additive in the diet or from other causes, hard to say. The path report might even indicate some form of gastroenteritis, see what your vet says...
