Ask-a-Vet: Question and Answer
Question:
Pet Info:
Species: Canine
Breed: German shorthaired pointer
Sex: Female
Spayed/Neutered: Yes
Age: 11.0 years
Weight: 45.0 pounds
7/24/2010 2:45:36 PM
I’m am looking for some guidance. I have an 11 y/o female German Shorthaired Pointer. I have had her since she was 6 months old. She is my best friend. In March of this year she started having diarrhea everyday and extremely pungent gas. The diarrhea was completely colored water. This went on for a couple of weeks without any improvement. I took her to the vet and they performed a bunch of tests on her and felt that this was an bacterial issue. She was given some antibiotics and we went home. We spend the next couple of weeks going back and forth to the vet as she was not getting better. She was giving steroids and holistic solutions but nothing seemed to help. Also she was given one 3 day treatment of Panacour. We finally started using Tylan powder (Tylosin) and Hill’s i/d canned food as she would not eat the dry food. Things improved at the end of May and all of June. Two weeks ago she started having diarrhea again. The diarrhea is not watery like the first time its thicker and this time her gas odor was strong but smelled very much like the i/d food. I am still giving her the i/d food and tylan powder but I added metamucil as per my vets instructions. My vet seems to think now that she may have cancer in the intestines and not irritable bowel syndrome. Is it possible that the i/d food is not the answer for her bowels? Would she possibly fair better with a better canned food and may be this isn’t cancer at all? She plays with her toys, eats and shows now outward signs of having cancer (lumps, wounds that won’t heal, discoloration of the gums or around the eyes, dramatic weight loss or gain). I understand that my love for my dog makes accepting the thought of cancer difficult and I do believe that I have a very good vet but I’m just trying to explore all options.
Answer:
7/25/2010 2:26:18 PM
I can certainly understand your love, concern and desire to help your friend. Although she apparently is not loosing weight and feels "ok" obviously something is not right. It is certainly possible that other treatments and or diets can help and you are doing it correctly to follow professional advice vs a pet store or well meaning friends. It sounds like your vet and you have attempted to make a diagnosis and try various empirical treatments. Unfortunately intestinal problems can be difficult to diagnose which is essential for proper treatment. Often blood tests rule out some things but do not diagnose an intestinal problem. This can be extremely frustrating for everyone. Often fecal samples, cultures or newer PCR diarrhea panel need to be repeated or do not tell the entire picture. Sometimes ultrasounds, and or biopsies are needed. Sometimes diets, probiotics etc can be helpful. I am not sure which of these test you and you veterinarian have tried. Cancer is of course always a concern however there are many other possibilities. I would suggest talking to your veterinarian and asking them if perhaps they have another test that would suggest doing or they possibly could consider a referral to an internal medicine specialist or university hospital . Sincerely, Dr. Tamsen Taylor
Answered by:
Graduated from University of California, Davis in 1977. Owns Sunset Whitney Veterinary Hospital in Rocklin, California and been an accredited member A AHA hospital since 1981 practicing general small animal medicine, dentistry and surgery. Recently
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