My Pug Scoop (Precious Scoop has passed... )

forti flora helped my little girl so much we dont miss a day of having that. She had grumbly tummy, bouts of angry potty or vomiting. and with her near fatal pancreatic attack we cant have any of that get unbalanced. nooo way that was horridly frightenly. forti flora has helped her sooooooooo much. knock on wood it continues to do so. and on the regular vet not knowing what the alternative doctor is suggesting doesnt surprise me. Eastern, Western, etc. all have different methods of treating and diagnosing and doesnt seem much knows much of the other. My IMS doctor and Nutritionist was explaining the differences to me and its really interesting how each field treats and test etc. And reasons to treat the way they do. So.....what I would suggest is having the alternative doctor call or email and copy you as well, explaining to your regualr vet what treatment plan is and why.

I wonder how long it takes for the FortyFlora to work? Today was Scoop's forth day taking it. Still no difference.

Hi Vicki,
First off - big hugs for you and Scoop. I haven't posted a lot to you, but have been following along and trying to keep caught up with all that has been going on with your boy.

My Jasper now has protein in his urine also, that we are now treating because the level got so high. The hope is that the treatment will stop the progression of whatever damage is causing the protein loss. He has had to be transitioned to a prescription kidney diet, which we had lots of trouble with, he got colitis which we have been battling for over a month. It seems to be better for the moment thankfully.

My vet started him on FortiFlora also. I went back and looked through my journal, and it looks like he really didn't show much improvement on it until about the 6th day, and that was just improvement, not normalization. He has been on it since 3/9, and his poops have looked consistently more normal since about 3/21 or so. So give it a little time for Scoop.

Jasper was also on metronidazole with the FortiFlora. He ended up being on it for 10 days, then a few days later got diarrhea again, and my vet put him back on a full 2 wk course along with starting the FortiFlora. I feel like the combination really made a difference. Is Scoop on metronidazole also? I didn't see that, sorry if I missed it.

Colitis definitely causes the tummy to gurgle. I hope the FortiFlora helps Scoop and things settle down for him. But again, it seems to take a little time to start making a difference, at least it did for us. My vet prescribed a 30 day course for Jasper, I am going to be afraid to stop it. The worry for us is that the prescription kidney diet is causing him problems, and we don't have a lot of options there. Although a bit different from Scoop, Jasper has had a lot of ups and downs and complications also with this illness. He is now actually Addison's due to getting toxic on the Lysodren when we started his Cushings treatment, and we had a devil of a time getting that under control. And now the kidney issues. My heart goes out to you Vicki, I so understand your frustration and sadness. Prayers to you and Scoop, and all of us struggling with this illness. Hang in there. While I have not posted often to you, you and Scoop are always in my prayers.

Love and hugs,
Tina and Jasper

Hi Tina,
Thank you for letting me know about Jasper. Geez I wonder if protein in the urine and Colitis go hand in hand. So you're saying Jasper was on metronidazole and FortiFlora for 10 days, stopped both? Then had to go on another 2 weeks of both or 30 days? Sorry I'm a little confused. (Doesn't take much these days. My head just spins) So when he started showing improvement, he was on both? That is certainly worth mentioning to the vet.
Is Jasper on Benazapril for his protein in the urine? Did the vet stop his meds for the protein at all while battling the diarrhea? Did Jasper lose any weight while having the diarrhea?

Scoop was on metronidazole (Flagyl) for 5 days but not with the FortiFlora. He did 5 days of metronidazole. Didn't help. Then she stopped his Benazapril for a few days. Didn't help. Now he's on the FortiFlora, no metronidazole, no Benazapril. I wish she would put Scoop back on his Benazapril. That bothers me. His pee looks foamier. Scoop's poops are so runny and once in a while at the end of one there would be one or two pieces that would have a little shape. Scoop has become so picky with his food that a prescription diet won't work for him. The IMS said he could be picky because of his tumor affecting him.

I'm glad to hear Jasper's diarrhea has gotten better and I hope he will continue to improve with his Colitis and his protein loss and the Addison's. This disease is so tough. It's so heartbreaking they have to have one problem after another.

Thank you for always keeping Scoop in your prayers.
Prayers and big hugs for you and Jasper.

Hi Vicki,
Sorry, I didn't word some of my post very clearly. Jasper was started on a 10 day course of metronidazole when he first broke with diarrhea, over a month ago now. We were concerned that the new kidney diet triggered it because it is higher in fat than the low fat diet he was eating before we discovered the protein in his urine. His poops improved but never did get back to what I would call normal during this 10 day metronidazole course. They were better, but still softer than normal.

After the meds were done, maybe 3 days later , he broke with diarrhea again. Very soft poo, with lots of mucous. (Ick!). My vet then started him back on metronidazole, this time she said she wanted him on it for a full 2 weeks. She thought that maybe we hadn't completely knocked down the colitis. She started him on the FortiFlora at the same time. The FortiFlora is prescribed for 30 days. He has finished the metronidazole as of 3/21 and continues on FortiFlora. Yes, things improved when he he was on metronidazole along with FortiFlora at the same time, I think that is what did the trick.

Jasper gets Enalapril for the proteinuria rather than Benazepril. They are both ACE inhibitors and act in the same way. When he got diarrhea the first time, he had just started the Enalapril, so I stopped it myself for a couple of doses, thinking that it caused the problem, but I don't think it did in Jasper's case. My vet said to restart it. I don't think that protein in the urine and colitis are related Vicki, I think it is just an unlucky coincidence. It is so hard when they have one thing after another. Diarrhea is especially tough.

I wonder if only 5 days on the metronidazole wasn't enough to get a handle on Scoops diarrhea. I would ask your vet about that, and also about having Scoop take both the metro and FortiFlora at the same time. Also, has the vet looked at a poop sample? Could he have a parasite or something else? I know my vet said that in the spring months they see tons of colitis here, and some others on the forum have mentioned that giardia is prevalent in the spring in their areas. Might be worth asking about.

I hope that clarifies things. Hang in there Vicki.

Hugs,
Tina and Jasper

Hey Vicki

Just wanted to check in and say hello and to let you know I am thinking of you both

Big hug to you and kisses to the boys

Mel
Xxxxx

Thanks Mel. I'll be talking to you soon.

Tina, Thanks for going over that again. Scoop pooped 3 times today. The first one was soft but pretty nicely formed. The next one a little softer and the last one even a little softer but not near as bad as they had been. Hopefully it will keep improving. We'll see what tomorrow brings. He's had 7 days of the FortiFlora. I talked to the vet today and told her about Jasper. She gave me a reason why she doesn't want Scoop on a long dose of Metronidazole but when she told me the reason didn't sink in. The vet did run a test on a sample and nothing was found.

Did Jasper have mucous in his poops every time he went? That's something I didn't see in Scoop's.

The vet said she could see Scoop continuing on the FortiFlora.

The alternative medicine vet called me today and said the reg. vet had called her. Soon after that the reg. vet called me and said she had talked to the alt. med. vet. Last week I told the vet I got some RX Clay from the alt. vet for Scoop's diarrhea. The vet didn't seem too happy and she would have to check into it so I didn't give him any. Today she told me that I could start it so that should help with the diarrhea. The vet still doesn't want me to start Scoop back on the Benazepril.

The vet wants to do another BG curve on Scoop next week so she said maybe she'll to do a urine protein test too.

How's Jasper doing? I hope things are going fine.

hi vicki i was wondering where you kids were.......glad to see that scoop is doing good.hope you are as well !!! patty(milo)meka xoxox

Scoop's first poop of the day had some form to it. (fingers crossed, knocking on wood) Hopefully it is getting better.

Last week I think it was, I mentioned Scoop didn't seem to be doing the licking lips, swallowing, gagging thing too much. Well, spoke too soon. Since Saturday he has been doing it a lot more. It also seems like he tries to blow out of his nose an awful lot. Does anyone know anything about the sinuses being affected by the pituitary tumor?