Staffy not well !!

Hi all.

I'm reaching out for some guidance and comfort:( from the ordeal my family is going through with our 8 year old staffy.
Our Dog has not been well for a few weeks with little help and answers from our vet.
The following is a summary of his condition and symptoms so far , I'm hoping someone on this forum has seen this before and can recommend or advise thanks all.

- dog brakes out in rashes if he eats raw beef mince
- dog had lump removed from skin on his head was malignant doctor said he removed everything and should not come back
- dog had obstruction surgery due to long grass ,op was successful as per doctor .
- dog was put on soft raw diet ( he has done this since pup ) raw beef mince this was our bad .
- dog broke out in rashes , given antibiotics
-his rash and skin infection went away
- after antibiotics he stopped eating throwing up and diarrhea.
- spent $3k in two days normal with our bub , xray bloods and doctors didn't find anything .
- dog loosing weight 15kg ?
- DRs washed their hand said they don't know needs to go to hospital for MRI and other tests. . This was going to cost us $5k with probably no answers , mind you until this time from his previous surgeries we have spent over $18k Australian ...
- dog was put on iv came good after a day started eating. Mind you we were ready to make a hard decision
- brought him home he threw up no diarrhea.
- has been eating hear and there drinking but occasional .

my family is at braking point two kids are not sleeping they are anxious and eldest is at her last year of schooling. We have tried so many things and are at our last leg , we know we may have to do the right thing . But need any advise or guidance even if it's a hard one .

Thank you all

Hello & welcome.

Oh dear, what a sad family you must all be! I'm sorry to hear about all your boy's health problems.

Does he have just raw meat or do you get a complete raw mix? Beef & poultry are some of the worst culprits for intolerances.

Is he eating at all, or just little bits?

Hello ... yes seems like he can't hold down chunks of meat , even chicken hearts .. but he will eat like crazy if we give him sardines?

He is hungry you can tell walks around us like crazy looking for food. This has been all to much for us kids are ready to see him go peacefully, but the thing is he is eating and drinking ... we are going to give him a few more days before we see the vet !

I'm going to try giving him dog grade kangaroo meat, cut up real small and I was thinking probiotics to see how he gose . Just want him to hold down food

Thanks again

That's all well and good, but meat alone isn't enough.

If you can't get him to eat a commercial, complete raw food then don't feed raw - he isn't getting a balanced diet. Have you thought about switching to a paté? I don't know what you get in Australia, but a good one is JRPet Pate. It can also be cut up and used as treats for training.

Thanks Gilybrent . I totally agree with you in regards to meat isn't the answer and that he must be on a well balanced diet.

However he has been unwell for two weeks with heavy vomiting and diarrhea, and has lost almost 8 kgs or maybe more in two weeks, as of 2 days ago he was not even eating boiled chicken or his dried food and giving him anything else he would bring it up .

As of yesterday he has been on a can of sardines and rice just to see if he keeps it down , oh and I have started hum on probiotics. He has had three meals so far and he has kept it down , still dosnt want his dried food .

Today he has had sardines and a boiled egg all good no vomit I then went a bought him a can of well balanced grain free preservative free can food from the vet and he smashed it up in two second and has not thrown this back up.

He has not had a bowl movement bid farted after the can food this may be a good sign that the probiotics is working .

But he is Hungry you can tell STARVING but don't want to over do it just build it up slowly not to aggravate . He is drinking water which is good

The concer I have and love to know your thoughts his ribs are starting to show and loose skin this is after 2 weeks of this ordeal can this be normal and if he is eating now do I keep on this small meals or should I ramp up to help him with his weight ? Hi protein diet ?

Thanks

Hello and welcome.
Sorry to hear you’re having these health issues with your boy.
Here are my humble thoughts.

Looks as if your boy has a very varied diet (raw and cooked meat of different types, kibble, tinned food, rice, sardines, egg, etc)
I would personally try to keep it simple and regular. For example, feed his kibble (which should be a quality product so a balanced base to work from) but if he’s not too keen on eating it, that’s where you can add sardines, egg, grated cheese, salmon oil, tinned food, etc to the kibble to keep a little variety and make it appetizing.
What kibble are you feeding btw ?

Better to keep numerous small meals than give fewer bigger ones, just until he’s picked up some weight. If drinking is still a problem, you can add water to his meal and/or add a bit of wet food to help hydrate him that way.

Does he gobble his food down at the speed of light ? because that can cause vomiting too (by swallowing air and subsequently burping/vomiting). I add water in the bottom of my Opium’s feed to make it a bit sloppier so it slows her down. Avoids purchase of slow feeder bowls which are also a pain to clean !

You mention him going downhill over the past 2 weeks but was this a sudden onset or progressively getting worse ?
Any particular events (aside the obstruction surgery) that may have sparked this off ?
The surgeries and antibiotics will not help his transit so probiotics can help.

Do consider food allergies as suggested above. My Nifty is chicken/egg intolerant despite loving the stuff and no issues as a pup. If beef doesn’t agree with your boy, don’t give it to him, period.

Thank you for the advise Nifty this is great help.
Yes he is on real good quality dry food . " taste of the wild "

With regards to his deterioration,  yes it was a sudden during his allergy brake out he was given high dosage of antibiotics , and this is when all hell broke loose. Drs were hopeless spent 2k in one day for blood works and exray ... nothing no answers told us cant do anything .... my wife and i were so angry being treated like these . It shouldnt be called a vet but a bank.

Anyways we brought him home getting ready for the family to say their goodbyes when our prayers were answerd when he ate those damn sardines and held it down...
We are still so anxious but happy to see him today eating two full meals with probiotic powder,  meals are rice sardines and i introduced healthy gut advanced dog feed from the can he ate it all up and kept it down. We are so worried to see him go back the whole family is on edge and have told the kids to take a day at a time.

So i will try as you have suggested for a week and see how he (Samson) progresses,  he is so sweet he knows we are trying to help him , i shed a tear the other day he knew i was upset came and wanted to sit on my lap. Poor boy has been through so much these 2 years...

Thanks again friends i will keep you posted

N

Good to hear you’ve found a menu that he’s eating and keeping down.
Sardines are in oil, yes ?
Sounds like those antibiotics were very hefty and probably caused havoc with Samson’s digestive system.

When you go back to the kibble, just try to avoid the 2 types which contain beef (High Prairie and Southwest Canyon).

Really rooting for him and your family !
You’re making baby steps but in the right direction

Hey there, I was just wondering how Samson is doing ?

Hi Nifty - Apologies for not keeping you guys posted .
Samson is still not well , still vomiting and diarrhea and as of yesterday he stopped eating food altogether.

Took him back to the vet she was upset to see him like this, has given him " Cerina " half tablet once a day for 5 days to stop vomiting and he is on 20mg losec .

He is booked in for a ultrasound tomorrow as a last resort find out what the hell is going on, hopefully we can get an answer to what it is so that we can make the call of what to do with our boy , I don't like seeing him suffer !!!!

Best regards

N

Oh no, had hoped for better news
Good luck for the ultrasound and at least that you finally find out what’s going on.

Hi guys - ok Samson had ultrasound yesterday , specialist found scarrying fibroma in his intestine further down from his last surgery why they didn't check and remove last time has me upset .. anyway they also found a lump in his spleen .

Now all this time as I also wrote before I just wanted a answer if this is cancerous or not . THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME A ANSWER ! So here I am looking at this poor dog that wants to eat dosnt look happy do I put him down or what !!! The vet told us honestly she dosnt think it's a nasty lump but can't guarantee ( mind you every test is costing me over a thousands bucks) and apart from these everything with Samson looks perfect blood works etc .

Man oh man haven't slept thinking of what to do is my dog suffering etc and here come my wife .. crying and making things worse she couldn't do it so She decided to go ahead with another invasive surgery removing part of Samson's small intestine and spleen .. this dog is a trooper but are we doing the right thing .

I told my wife and the Dr agrees if he shows any sign of going down hill in the next six month I will make the decision. Let's pray for our brave Samson God loving creature . I prayed last night asking the lord to give me guidance and work through people in making the right decision our great Dr's , family , friends etc . So I will keep you all across anything if it changes, and I hope this is giving others in similar situation the comfort that they are not alone . Lord have mercy 🥺

Well at least you have part of the answer as to where it is and what is causing the problem, even if you don’t know exactly what it is.
I can completely understand your dilemma, it’s a tough call.
If your finances and Samsons fighting will are up for it, surgery could be the answer, I certainly hope so.
I think you’re doing the right thing, especially warning the family that you may make the decision if the situation warrants it.

Rooting for you all.

Hi all .
A quick update on Samson !
So we did the surgery both taken out spleen and small intestine ..Wow what a transformation 5 days after the operation and our boy wants to eat and * the house down.

Took him to the vet for a follow-up she was so happy to see him and doing so well . Still on meds changed to royal canine gastro food and kibbles , loves rhem.both and more.

Still skinny but will take time as we have been told , going to introduce more fat in his diet .

Thanks for your support , here is a pick of our boy .

https://i.servimg.com/u/f78/20/41/02/60/20220310.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f78/20/41/02/60/20220210.jpg

Oh, what a handsome boy!

So glad you've finally managed to turn a corner. Hopefully that's an end to it.

So glad to hear he's on the mend now Hopefully you can all now relax & get back to a normal life

Thanks guys, Samson appreciates all the love and support

Thank you so much for letting us know how he’s getting on and thrilled to read that he’s making a very encouraging recovery.
What a handsome boy

Hi all.

It was a few months ago when i posted this up for my boy Samson , after lengthy surgery he pulled through .

Unfortunately only for 6 months .

On the 18th of August just a week ago my boy was put to sleep to rest and be in peace , to no longer worry about his pain or making his dad or mum upset when we threw up.
This was terminal something i had suspected back earlier this year.

Thank you all for your support.

Our family is heartbroken and cant believe he is gone. But we know he went in peace .

Love you boy thank you for all the love you gave us.

N

Oh gosh, I wasn’t expecting this news  
However you did the right thing in fighting this as much as Samson was and he also had an extra 6 months of love in your family.

May he rest in peace and may your hearts heal over time

Nifty staffy wrote:Oh gosh, I wasn’t expecting this news  
However you did the right thing in fighting this as much as Samson was and he also had an extra 6 months of love in your family.

May he rest in peace and may your hearts heal over time

Thank you Nifty.

Oh, I'm so sorry! That must have been awful for you.

RIP Samson, run free.

Caryll2 wrote:Oh, I'm so sorry! That must have been awful for you.

RIP Samson, run free.

Thank you Caryll2. Today we watched some old videos of our boy when he was healthy and strong , we miss him dearly and yes we wish him peace and to run free with all our loved ones.
Im certain our pets will be reunited with us as our bounds are un-separable.

N

So sorry to hear your sad news You gave him his best life & did everything you could for him

Run free over Rainbow Bridge Samson

Nemesis1915 wrote:

Caryll2 wrote:Oh, I'm so sorry! That must have been awful for you.

RIP Samson, run free.

Thank you Caryll2. Today we watched some old videos of our boy when he was healthy and strong , we miss him dearly and yes we wish him peace and to run free with all our loved ones.
Im certain our pets will be reunited with us as our bounds are un-separable.

N

I’m convinced we will be reunited with our loved ones.