Community Chat

[dreamytoo]

As some of you know my Siberian Husky has been struggling with epilepsy and what we thought to be IBD for a couple of years now. We decided against exploratory surgery because the Vet that wanted to do that simply said "we will remove part of his bowel and see what we can see" mmmmm creepy, no thanks (my Vet did not feel it was necessary). All we needed was an incontinent, epileptic two year old dog LOL. Her other answer was to keep throwing worm medication into him (even though he was worm free)...ummmm NO.

The more research I do, the more confused I become... he has many of the symptoms of EPI, except weight loss. He did lose a lot of weight that first summer he was sick, but gained it back. We still can not get things totally under control...my Vet thinks this is impossible, my holistic Vet thinks it is...but... every time his tummy goes off, his skin issues follow within 2-3 days, like clockwork. I have to be very careful not to stray too much from his normal diet - treats can become a big issue. His stomach went off at Christmas (gee I wonder why), his skin still has not cleared up from that bout.

The only things we have not tried yet are a round of antibiotics, and digestive enzymes. The enzymes thing is my fault...I bought powdered stuff, and he won't eat his food if anything is added to it (except people food LOL). He is due for bloodwork in April...I am anxious to see how things are then. Last time his alt level was elevated but he is on phenobarbital, and was on prednisone at the time (they don't mix well for him), both Vets were not concerned. We will not be doing a pheno level because he is on a very low dose, it seems to be working, so that is not necessary at this time.

Sooo does anyone have experience with EPI or IBD? What symptoms did your dog experience? Can anyone recommend a good probiotic/digestive enzyme that comes in capsule form for large dogs? I should add he has a very sensitive system, so giving him any supplements is hit and miss, many things we have tried do not agree with him.

I just want to help him... he is such a great dog, I hate to see him suffering with things that can possibly be controlled if we can ever get to the bottom of it and get a clear diagnosis. Because he has not lost anymore weight my Vet is not all that concerned - he does want to do a biopsy of the skin issue, but along with my Holistic Vet we are hoping some of the supplements will take care of this problem.

Thanks in advance