Hi all,
I'm really looking forward to getting your advice on some health trouble my frenchie pup Ruben has been having. He's just now 6 months old and we've had him since he was 8 weeks old.
When we first got him, he seemed in great health - bright eyes, shiny coat, a tiny bit of pot belly, and a ton of energy. About one week later, he started having severe diarrhea nonstop. We brought a stool sample to our local vet and found out he had both Giardia & Coccidia, which we promptly treated him for with panacur and probiotics.
Around the same time we started seeing blood in his stool occasionally, so our vet put him on a prescription diet of Purina Pro Plan EN dry and wet food. The first couple of days on the new diet made a HUGE improvement and he was much more active than in the days previously.
Unfortunately, since then we've continued to see blood in his stool almost daily - now four months later. Sometimes it's mixed in and the whole thing has a reddish tint, other times he passes drops of blood, and sometimes what looks to be mucus (but he has been vaccinated for parvovirus so we don't think it's that). At one point we sought another opinion from a second vet, and treated him with metronidazole for 8 days, which completely stopped the blood in his stool, but made him nauseous and he vomited the majority of days he was on the medicine (thus not a long term solution).
About a week after the metronidazole ended, he had his first ear infection. We've gotten good at keeping his ears clean, but he still scratches at them often.
At his 6 month check in with our regular vet, since Ruben was still having such frequent blood in his stool, our vet decided to switch him to a hydrolyzed prescription diet (Purina Pro Plan HA dry food and continuing with the EN wet food until we are officially switched over), thinking that he may be allergic to the chicken in the EN food.
It's been about 2 and a half weeks since we started to (very slowly) switch him over to the hydrolyzed diet, and last week we noticed he was starting to get super itchy. The next day I checked him out and found a little rash growing under his armpits that got much worse quickly and spread to his tummy. He's now on cefpodoxime for the rash, but we're four days in and doesn't seem to be helping much.
With all that backstory, I'm wondering:
- Could the new hydrolyzed diet could be causing the armpit/tummy rash? The vet didn't think so, since it's under his arms in an area that would be more common with an environmental allergy, but the timing makes me think there's a correlation.
- If the armpit rash isn't due to the food, any ideas on what the most common environmental allergens are? It's been a cold, cold winter here in CT so he hasn't been outside for extended periods of time. I'm wondering if it's dust or.. ?
- Any other puppy parents have advice for doggies with blood in their stool? Could it be severe allergies? Or just colitis (which I've read can be hereditary to the breed), which we'll have to deal with long term?
Ruben is very much sick of feeling sick, so we are both deeply appreciative of your time and support. Here he is from one of his many vet visits this past few months:
Thanks so much in advance for any help or advice you might have for Ruben and me!
Emily
I'm really looking forward to getting your advice on some health trouble my frenchie pup Ruben has been having. He's just now 6 months old and we've had him since he was 8 weeks old.
When we first got him, he seemed in great health - bright eyes, shiny coat, a tiny bit of pot belly, and a ton of energy. About one week later, he started having severe diarrhea nonstop. We brought a stool sample to our local vet and found out he had both Giardia & Coccidia, which we promptly treated him for with panacur and probiotics.
Around the same time we started seeing blood in his stool occasionally, so our vet put him on a prescription diet of Purina Pro Plan EN dry and wet food. The first couple of days on the new diet made a HUGE improvement and he was much more active than in the days previously.
Unfortunately, since then we've continued to see blood in his stool almost daily - now four months later. Sometimes it's mixed in and the whole thing has a reddish tint, other times he passes drops of blood, and sometimes what looks to be mucus (but he has been vaccinated for parvovirus so we don't think it's that). At one point we sought another opinion from a second vet, and treated him with metronidazole for 8 days, which completely stopped the blood in his stool, but made him nauseous and he vomited the majority of days he was on the medicine (thus not a long term solution).
About a week after the metronidazole ended, he had his first ear infection. We've gotten good at keeping his ears clean, but he still scratches at them often.
At his 6 month check in with our regular vet, since Ruben was still having such frequent blood in his stool, our vet decided to switch him to a hydrolyzed prescription diet (Purina Pro Plan HA dry food and continuing with the EN wet food until we are officially switched over), thinking that he may be allergic to the chicken in the EN food.
It's been about 2 and a half weeks since we started to (very slowly) switch him over to the hydrolyzed diet, and last week we noticed he was starting to get super itchy. The next day I checked him out and found a little rash growing under his armpits that got much worse quickly and spread to his tummy. He's now on cefpodoxime for the rash, but we're four days in and doesn't seem to be helping much.
With all that backstory, I'm wondering:
- Could the new hydrolyzed diet could be causing the armpit/tummy rash? The vet didn't think so, since it's under his arms in an area that would be more common with an environmental allergy, but the timing makes me think there's a correlation.
- If the armpit rash isn't due to the food, any ideas on what the most common environmental allergens are? It's been a cold, cold winter here in CT so he hasn't been outside for extended periods of time. I'm wondering if it's dust or.. ?
- Any other puppy parents have advice for doggies with blood in their stool? Could it be severe allergies? Or just colitis (which I've read can be hereditary to the breed), which we'll have to deal with long term?
Ruben is very much sick of feeling sick, so we are both deeply appreciative of your time and support. Here he is from one of his many vet visits this past few months:
Thanks so much in advance for any help or advice you might have for Ruben and me!
Emily
