Dingo, my 17 year old canine daughter, who is a mix breed rescue and has been with me for 6 years + has been struggling with prolonged and chronic diarrhea for well over 3 weeks. There has been an intermittent presence of fresh blood and mucous in her stools and this has been elevating my anxiety level over the last month.
Interestingly enough- Dingo's energy has been good throughout this time period... insisting on coming for walks and even running by Merlin's side looking to chase our local hare population away from the gardens and orchards here at Twilight.
A recent veterinary exam revealed that Dingo's weight, body temperature, heart, and overall physical condition was good to excellent. Some eyesight and tooth degradation were seen and apart from needing to trim her nails, we appeared to be in good shape... A fecal analysis showed NEGATiVE on parasites including protozoa/Giardia.
I have been home caring Dingo with a variety of medicine as well as changing dietary ingredients and supplements. I have up to 13 pages of log entries recording them all (including and much to Dingo's chagrin... her bowel movements). It has been particularly challenging for me to get up throughout the nights... stumbling with a flashlight to ultimately become Ms Snoop Poop Inspector... but considering recent events... I cannot find cause to complain since getting up in the middle of night is what allowed me to see the wildfire at our place & take the necessary steps to get my pack out safely as well as reduce down the fires.
During the first week- I focused my attention on simplifying Dingo's diet by keeping to small portions of cooked oatmeal with a slippery elm syrup & honey appetizer... then working with homeopathic remedies- I began with Arsenicum Album & Chamomille then Mercurius Solubilis and lastly Nux Vomica. A few days into that first week I also began a high premium herbal Echinacea adding herbal Chamomille into her oats as well.
After 10 days into this, we were making good enough progress that i introduced cooked beef into her food but within a couple of days she went from best to worst so... i bit the bullet and put her on a low dosage of antibiotics... once again reducing her food intake to cooked baby oatmeal with occasional honey mixed into it. I added a vegetarian Probiotic capsule into the protocol but all herbal and homeopathic allies were stopped, including papaya enzymes. So at this point- just oats/honey/probiotics/antibiotics.
After 6 days of Metronidazole antibiotics (250 mg x3 daily), I stopped that protocol and began a new herbal / homeopathic therapy called Okoubaka. "Okoubaka spag. drops is derived from the bark of a west african tree which treats acute gastrointestinal tract infections, especially those accompanied by diarrhea... it stimulates the excretion of mycotic toxins and speeds detoxification of the intestines".
Today we begin our 5th day of that therapy- blood & mucous have diminished from her stools but loose stools is still an overriding issue. In my phone conversation with our vet yesterday... it had been suggested to put her on a different type of antibiotics- Sulfasalazine- which specifically helps inflammation in the large intestinal area (where the fresh blood is coming from).
Reading about IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Dis-ease, in a book called "the complete holistic dog book" by Jan Allegretti and Katy Sommers... A rice based, hypoallergenic fresh food diet is being called for and preferably a vegetarian diet since meat is harder to digest. Tofu is being recommended initially and then a vast amount of antioxidants and supplements. Raw spinach & parsley once intestinal health can support that.
Today... I have bought some organic white rice & tofu... and will begin with the rice as soon as it is cooked up, then I will slowly add in some tofu to see how this new base line is welcomed by her digestive system. I will need to make a shopping list of all the recommended supporting ingredients and see what our miniscule health food store can supply. The current plan is to wait a few more days before beginning the 10 day course of antibiotics so that I can note the impact of the diet changes... Then if 10 days antibiotics is not enough to reduce internal inflammation then it is being suggested that we continue with more antibiotics. It is my hope that this will not be necessary and that we can instead turn our attention to Chinese herbs. Time will tell !
Vet bills are currently at $120... I'd like to be able to run a blood chem panel in the not too distant future... and then in the meantime pick up vitamins and supplements for her to integrate those into her food. I'm going to set a $300 fundraising goal without actually knowing all the exact costs. If you are inclined or able to help, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts !
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