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At the end of my tether!!

estelle

Well-known member
Charlie doesn't seem well again :(
Things were going fine after his treatment from the vets, we took him off the prescription food and started him on his regular food which is Nature's Menu Pouches (wet food) but as he has probs with his anal glands (needing emptying almost every week) :yikes I started to add some Royal Canin dried to try to firm up his poops (he won't eat dried food on it's own :roll: .
A couple of days after his glands were emptied he started bum shuffling again, I don't think it's worms as he's up to date with his worming, but the day before yesterday he started leaving his food well not finishing it all and he always eats everything!, Yesterday this carried on but he started leaving more each time and today he refused his brekkie and his tummy was making those horrible gurgly sounds just like before when he was ill, i've noticed he's been drinking more than usual too.
When I came in today he'd pooed and it was like mucus again :yuk:
Do you think he's just got a really sensitive tummy and that he'll have to stay on the prescription food forever? I don't really want him to as it's Hill's Science Plan and i've heard that it's not really a good food?
Not a week goes by when there's not something wrong with him :( :(
I'm really getting to the end of my tether and I feel like he's never going to be a happy/healthy dog.
Sorry to go on but I just don't know what to do anymore
Thanks everyone
 
How old is Charlie? is it possible he is teething - I know sometimes that can give them upset tummies - especially as they feel horrid. When Merin was ittle we went from squits to firm to squits to firm and then to too firm!

I would get him checked though as quite a few people on the board have mentioned colitis or something like that that?

Hope he feels better soon - for you aswell as him :flwr:
 
Thanks Kirsty,
He's 19 weeks, his poops havn't been soft at all they appear to be normal, although like I said today it was like mucus and looked like stringy mucus :yuk: I can't think it's worms because he's up to date with his worming, unless it's a unusual kinda worm? but then he's had some tablets from the vets that should have cleared up anything like that :?
I just don't know what could be wrong but you know when you have a gut feeling about something? I'm thinking maybe he's got some kinda problem that's rare/unusual???
 
Estelle -

I am sorry you're going through this with your little man.. :hug: :hug: :hug:

Let me just say this to you ~ plenty of us on this board have had happy, healthy dogs live for a very long time problem free with dog food that is considered to be way underneath "premium." I had a doberman live to a ripe old long age eating purina her whole life. Hills perscription is not a BAD food I don't think.

If the vet is prescribing perscription food, i would keep him on it. Especially since you've had so many troubles with him. I wouldn't be so fast to switch food with a tummy that seems to be so sensitive. If Charlie were my dog I would definately stay with it for a while. Especially if it seems to stabilize his tummy troubles.

Maybe others can give you more advice ~ especially regarding the anal gland emptying. Once a week seems quite excessive to me!

Good luck! :flwr: :hug:
 
From what I've read, gland emptying can create a vicious cycle, where the more you express, the more you need to express. If he does well on the science plan pres diet, I'd keep him on it. Don't forget you can supplement with good quality treats - I like hypoallergenic ones- or even with just green beans (assuming veggies don't set him off?). Holly is rarely truly runny, but when I was feeding her Pedigree Chum, her poos were always a little squishy and they could be hard to lift. Now she's on hypo (was Wainwright's, which I will go back to, but currently on Royal Canin since that's what Chloe takes) with green beans- and her poos are great.

If you're really worried, take him to the vet.
 
Hi Estelle. Although I have looked after a Cav for more than a decade, I have to say up front that I never heard of SM before I joined this board and I never had anyone to "tell me" how I should look after a Cavalier. Having said all that, I got Rudee when she was eight weeks old and I used to give her boiled chicken breast or boiled mince with Eukanuba, I hadn't heard of Burns Holistic food at that time. Rudee suffered with her anal gland as far as I can recall but this cleared up when she passed the puppy stage. She was very prone to upset tummy and I learned to watch out for the signs; runny poohs eating grass etc. I would just starve her for a day to let her tummy settle and just made sure to give her plenty of fresh water. In fact we all got into the habit of changing Rudee's water every time one of us passed her bowl in the kitchen. If she was ok the next day then I'd give her small portions of food. Sometimes it's good to let them have a fast day-it helps their tummys settle .
I wouldn't go chopping and changing foods because that only creates diarrhoea . Use your gut instinct (no pun intended) and I'm sure Charlie will be fine. When they're that young it takes time to establish a proper food plan because they are teething etc so you just have to go with the flow. It doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong so take it easy on yourself. :hug:
 
How about trying tinned Butchers tripe ? The basic tripe or with chicken varieties are very gentle on delicate tummies and some vets recommend that or Chappie ( a once maligned cheapie) over special for puppy brands, which van, in fact be too purging.

Butchers is a complete tinned food , so can be fed without biscuit. Also , a little rough bran (nt packet cereal0 is good for keeping stools nice and firm.

My Izzy is sometimes very fussy, but he's only refused butchers if he's been unwell.
 
Thanks everyone :flwr:
I think i'll just stick to the prescription food for now as he seems to like it and so far he's been eating the lot!
The vet did say we may have to consider removing his anal glands, I don't really know how I feel about that :?
Claire you talk about SM - what is this?
Thanks again everyone :flwr:
 
No don't remove his anal glands! I think I'd be going for a second opinion at a different vets as this just sounds a bit extreme as a diagnosis. :( And I'd stop expressing his anal glands. I find it hard to believe a small puppy could possibly need them emptied every week. Lots of puppies get tummy upsets, mucousy pooh andd so on. Lots scoot all the time. As Claire notes a lot of this disappears as they get older. Cavaliers are butt scooters generally anyway -- all of mine butt scoot. :)

Why don't you try moving him to Burns or James Wellbeloved with an unusual protein source like lamb or fish. No treats, nothing extra that might cause upset for any reason. His problems to me sound like colitis and a sensitive stomach. Give a little piece of kibble as a treat if you'd like. Be sure he's not eating milk or anything like that as that can really upset tummies.

Removing anal glands is a serious surgery with a risk of some serious problems and is generally recoomended if there are serious infections and impactions only.

SM: http://sm.cavaliertalk.com
 
Regarding anal glands:
A Cavalier we know had his anal glands removed last year at age 10 or so. Just saw him a few days ago, and he's doing great!

I used to have a little maltese mix, and twice she had infected anal glands, once requiring surgery. The vet told me to feed her 'senior' dog food (more fiber), and it helped a lot.
 
Hi Estelle,
syringomyelia (SM) .You can find all the information about it under the SM and MVD section. It's totally unrelated to your problem with Charlie and I'm sorry if I worried you. The point I was trying to make is that I hadn't a clue about Cavaliers when I got Rudee. I didn't know that they are prone to so many illnesses because they are so closely bred. I just wanted a puppy and I didn't find her ; she found me, and we shared nearly thirteen years together and all I did was watch her and learn what foods etc upset her tummy so that I could avoid them.

I've just had a look over Rudee's diary (my step-daughters bought it for her as a puppy present and I wrote in all of her Vet visits etc) and I note that a lot of her early tummy probs were indeed Colitis. Spot on Karlin (y) As Karlin says, DON'T do anything drastic. Let Charlies tummy settle and then get a 2nd opinion. :flwr: :hug:

Claire
 
Everyone is quite right. I feed Merlin on Bakers - I know its not the best but he looks good, he eats well so I can't complain. I do think his poo is too soft though so I've migrated him onto the sensitive one ( Bakers have finally done some research!) - it has no gluten, wheat, soy or dairy and no major colourings. He's been on it a few days now so I should be able to see poo texture changes ( I hope in the next few days) - Oakley is on the puppy version but tends to eat some of Merlins aswell - now his poo is completely different - quite solid really. ( I think I've gone a bit off topic.....)

Merlin as a pup had ups and downs - he had his glands emptied once and has never had them done since - still on the same food. I think its just body development :flwr:
 
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