HELP!!!!She's lost 10lbs and stopped eating AGAIN!

I have a 10.5 yr old Sheltie Mix, Sunny, that has basically been sick since early october/late september. Ill try and keep the story as short as possible! lol when it first started I had given her a bone to chew on, and it upset her stomach and she threw up, she then refused her dinner and the following breakfast. She was on California Natural Lamb and Rice at the time and had eaten it fine before. she continued to be horribly finicky and would eat tiny amounts if I mized canned in or like broth, and she had diarrhea... we took her to the vet and he decided she had IBS and possibly allergies and gave us antibiotics and steroids. on the steroids she started eating again, we also changed her food to Natural Balance Duck and Potato, she started eating again decently well, but again threw up and went off her food. we got her eating small amounts again eventually, we went back to the vet and she (my normal vet is gone so got this new lady) gave us more steroids and took blood, tests came back showing she's in amazing health except her albumins are low, she did a urine test and its not the kidneys, so she said its either still IBS or it could be cancer. at this point Sunny is 10 lbs underweight (28lbs) she did feel her abdomen and felt a thickening in her intestines but said it could be irritation, feces, or a tumor. we brought her home, on steroids she did eat a little again but eventually threw up again and went off, during this time we had started her on some immodium for a weekend and got her diarrhea to go away, off the immodium its semi solid. we went back to the vet, she took more blood, albumins are up even in good/high end of good range but she has lost another lb. now we have her on 3/4 tab prednisone once a day and on homemade meals (chicken or hamburger/ rice/ egg/greenbeans) and she was eating decently well and happy about food. she started to look a little down yesterday after noon and this morning threw up again. and she's not eating again. she also has diarrhea again. So we gave her her prednisone again and an immodium this morning... any ideas for helping her??! I hate seeing her like this! she can't stand for extermely long periods with out starting to sway and is just pathetic. HELP!!

Sorry for the long post!!

I don't have an answer but you could see another vet for a second opinion to see what's happening. My thoughts go out to you and Sunny.

Nutrical might help stock some calories in her until you find the solution. IT comes in a gel and is sold at most pet stores. I used this for many sick animals.

If she is isn't weeing allot then id say cancer is a doubtful option,but even if she is it could still be many different things and is unlikely so i wouldn't worry too much about that.

The other thing it may be is due to a blockage in the intestines caused by something they swallowed previously and then a part of that has moved to the upper intestines and caused a blockage? how much feces is your dog producing at a time? and does she ever vomit or retch?

Ive just finished a section of my site about diarrhea and vomiting causes here:Dog Health

it might help you narrow down your problem.

Hope it helps!

I'm surprised that your vet didn't Xray ...........I'm sorry that your pup is sick .

I will look into the nutrical stuff thanks ! she is peeing quite a bit... id say more than normal but the steroids also cause excess thirst = urination... when she was on immodium her stool was normal sized and solid but when she is off immodium it is diarrhea and very small amounts... like I would say chihuaha size.... Grammy should I ask them to do an Xray? can you see blockages with them? she said ultrasound but never Xray... I wish my normal vet was here!

I'll be blunt . Sorry ! My Chip was up and running and had a great time with my visiting 12 yr old grandson , On Saturday my grandson left and that night Chip wasn't interested in his supper . I got him to eat a little . Sunday I didn't like the look in Chip's eyes and he wouldn't eat . I took him to our vet monday morning ....blood tests and an Xray , which showed a massive tumor on his liver . Tuesday was the 4th of July .... but they were able to do an ultrasound Wednesday . The vet called while he was under and said he had massive tumors .... blood test showed cancer . He would only have lasted a month to 6 weeks . I couldn't put either of us through that. She asked if I wanted to come in and say goodbye . I asked if he still had my lipstick kiss on his head . Yes. Then hug him for me and let him go . Those few days took alot out of me .I was dogless for the first time in over 50 years ......I hugged his special toy and cried that night ......got up at 3:30 Am and went on Petfinder . Yes , my Goldens above sent me my Ollie and on Friday he and I were one . I hope you don't lose your baby .......but get down to the bottom of it . I can take black and white ... but never grey .

She is 28 pounds and that's 10 pounds underweight?
How tall is she?

I had never heard of dogs having IBS before! Are there other drugs she can go on perhaps?
Edit: can dogs have celiac disease/gluten allergy? I only wonder because a lot of people think celiac disease in people before they think IBS, and because you were still feeding her a food with grain in it... when you were giving her home-cooked, you were still giving rice... will she eat JUST meat okay?

Wow Grammy I am so sorry!! Thats awful... I will talk to my mom... I dont have the money to pay for the Xrays if they are too expensive... but I will see what I can do...
Sunny is 18" tall... at agility running weight she is 35 lbs and since she retired she had gotten to 37/38... but she is not overweight at all you could still feel her ribs easily. now her back bone and hips and ribs all stick out and even her face has hollows in it :-( She does eat just the meat... hamburger chicken turkey etc... we are tring to get fiber in her (vets orders) to try and make her stool more solid and the vet said she needs fiber...?? Ill have to look up celiacs disease I hadnt thought of that...!

Anorexia can be a symptom of many things...I just lost a senior beagle to cancer and her only symptom was anorexia. Her blood tests showed an elevated white count, but she was unresponsive to antibiotics. X-rays were inconclusive. She died in her sleep while at the vet's having diagnotics done. A post-mortem revealed a tumor on her kidney and one on her heart. I would certainly suggest that the vet run some more blood work. I am feeling like there is liver involvement. Good luck to you.

Thanks SPL do you have have any suggestions for specific test to have run? she ran regular blood tests and said that everything looked amazing besides her albumins were low the first time, the second time the albumins were up in awesome range and everything else was awesome... is there a specific enzyme or something I should have her test??

Get some nutricall and pedialite. The paste is 1000 calories and it can be put inside the top of the roof of her mouth to insure she gets calories each day if not eating enough ot throwing up.

Get Pedia lite dogs in these conditions number one concern is dehydration.

Wish you best of luck.

When a dog is sick for a couple of months , there's a reason . One of the reasons I don't own more than one dog now is medical care . Everyone who owns a dog should be able to pay for their health care . I've been lucky in my 60 years ..... I've been able to do the best for all of mine . A few of them I went above and beyond ..... but couldn't save them . I know at least I tried .

We have pedialyte Ill give that to her... and Im gonna get some nutrical tomorrow. my thing is technically Sunny is my mom's dog/family dog and she isn't wanting to put her through surgery - which the vet claims is the only way to find out what is wrong - so she's just trying to get her to eat. She has been eating more! she's picky but hasn't thrown up anything and is excited about food...

I would go ulta sound before surgery ......if you go that way prepare to make a descison while your pup is under . I hope that you won't have to go though this .

High albumin is usually indicative of dehydration, but low albumin would lead me to consider liver disease and it can also be indicative of kidney disease. I am assuming that your vet did a full CBC/chem panel...have they done a urine test to check for albumin? How were her calcium levels? Was her BUN in the high or low normal range? I would probably request a liver chemistry panel. During the diagnostic process, I think I might go ahead and try to give her nutriceutical support with something like Zentonil...one of my vets recommended that I try it with one of my guys and I do feel like it helped. Here is a link: http://www.azodyl.com/pages/global_03.html I know that it made me feel better to think that I was doing something proactive while I waited...I do hope that you can get to the bottom of this. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to get a definative diagnosis. If you feel that there is anyway that another vet might be able to resolve it, then switch vets. I have multiple vets because some are better slueths than others and some have talents in other areas. Good luck to you.

The first thing that struck me when I read your post was that this all started when you gave her a bone. That tells me to look to that event. Either her gut got irritated perhaps, OR injured in some way. Have they done x-rays???? Ultrasound???? Ten isn't that old for a Sheltie and they aren't one of the breeds that get cancer a lot (although it is possible). Revisit the bone issue, and get another opinion from a different vet clinic.