Meet Ben the Bulldog

[ntrujillo1107]

Hello all,
Happy to be here, my name is Nicole and want to introduce everyone to my French Bulldog, Ben. He is 2yrs 4 months old. I got Ben in October of 2021, for my sons and I. Ben is our first dog. He was the runt of his litter and has always been so sweet and fairly mellow. As a puppy he was easy to care for. Unfortunately, as time passed, and he got older we caved into his adorable face and began sharing human food with him. Needless to say, this was BIG mistake and really no excuses but lack of experience with this breed or dogs in general. Sadly, he began pooping blood and had constant diarrhea. I took him to the vet and they ran some tests and said his health was good and of course no more human food. Since then, I have been giving him a variety of dry kibble since he was a puppy and have switched his food about 8 times due to the issues. Most recently, since Oct 31-forward he began with severe diarrhea again and he has lost about 10 pounds where I can see his ribs and spine. I have taken him to the Vet twice within the last 2 months, they tested his stool and blood and confirmed his results are normal nor was he dehydrated. The vet did prescribe him Metronidazole and RX Clay. Currently I am giving him the food shown below and his stool is still loose, he is not gaining weight, and when he lets out gas watery poop fluid comes out. I know something is not right and I am not very happy with the Vet office, per this office I was advised of these next steps if he is not improving with his current treatments and stay healthy, they would recommend doing some x-rays and a GI blood panel. An ultrasound may also be needed.
Food History:
Lotus Small Bites (turkey + veggies)
Pure Vita (turkey + veggies)
Avo Derm (salmon blend)
Vegan Dry Kibble Food from the Vet
Avo Derm (lamb blend)
Royal Canin (French Bulldog blend)
Zignature (turkry + veggies)
Current Food: Vet Prescribed Royal Canin (Ultamino)

I am here to seek any insight I can get from this forum.
My best,
Nicole

 

[2bullymama]

So sorry you are going through this all…. It sounds like it could be EPI, where the system is not absorbing any nutrients.. has the vet considered this or tested for it? Are you giving any pre/probiotics to help? Raw sauerkraut, raw goats milk are two to try. Also look into Adored beast products, they are great to help with digestion

Please keep us posted

 

[Cbrugs]

Welcome and sorry this is happening. Christine gave great advice above. Also, has IBD been ruled out? I have a friend with a Frenchie that would basically poop water, bloody stools and was so skinny you could see her spine and ribs and we didn’t think she’d last much longer. She started feeding freeze dried rabbit which was a game changer and now she’s a little fatso and doing so much better.

 

[ntrujillo1107]

So sorry you are going through this all…. It sounds like it could be EPI, where the system is not absorbing any nutrients.. has the vet considered this or tested for it? Are you giving any pre/probiotics to help? Raw sauerkraut, raw goats milk are two to try. Also look into Adored beast products, they are great to help with digestion

Please keep us posted

Happy New Year! Thank you, this is very helpful. I do not believe the Vet has tested for EPI, I will email their office and find out if this is something they can do. They did give him the Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora Pro SynBiotic Action Powder, not sure how effective this is since I have not seen improvements. I will attempt the Raw Sauerkraut and Adored Beast Product.

 

[ntrujillo1107]

Welcome and sorry this is happening. Christine gave great advice above. Also, has IBD been ruled out? I have a friend with a Frenchie that would basically poop water, bloody stools and was so skinny you could see her spine and ribs and we didn’t think she’d last much longer. She started feeding freeze dried rabbit which was a game changer and now she’s a little fatso and doing so much better.

Thank you for this reply, sounds like your friend has had similar issues. Ben was also so chubby before this happened, but this is reassuring to hear and gives me hope. I am so happy I found this forum !