i had two cats and i’m afraid i would lose this one too

It has known turned just plain watery poo with no trace of blood

There may be another underlying condition that really needs to be treated. When was the last time your dog was wormed? It may have absolutely nothing to do with the coconut oil…. or it may. Has she continued to stay on the same diet or have any changes been made? 

hah, i hear ya! he’s angry about the situation – they left knowing the dog wasn’t feeling well, and it’s taken weeks to figure out the cause of the problem. it also explains the weight loss, even though he’s finally at a healthy weight (especially for a big basketball-headed lab).

now to get him healthy and keep him trim…

Hey everyone, Thanks again for the help! I want him to be as healthy as possible in his last year, hopefully years. Suggestions on what preventative to get him on? Sentinel Plus, Spectrum? Iverhart? Is this (dewormer / worm preventative) something that we might want to switch / rotate every few months?

This is the family dog, we got him back in 2003 when I was a teenager, so he lives at my parents house (they’re retired) He’s doing much, much better, though I am worried about re-infection given that he’s 13. He’s been with me since beginning of Feb, and spent 2 weeks with my sisters prior. I think he was starting to get sick even then, though we chalked it up to age, different surroundings, and my mother being away. Even I chalked some of his symptoms the past few weeks up to old age.

He originally had diarrhea and then bloody stools on the 27th or 28th of Feb, was diagnosed with dehydration and colitis on the 29th. Vet (not the usual lady) was reluctant to bother testing the small fecal sample I brought and was “sure they wouldn’t find anything” It was tested and positive for hookworms (3-4 on a 1-5 scale) I’m not sure if it was an oversight by myself or the vet, but I was not contacted with the results. My mother was, but is on vacation and never checked her multiple voicemails. 5 days prior to the ER he had been doing much better, long, perky walk, an afternoon of swimming. He had days where he acted like a puppy, but also days where he was very lethargic, but went downhill very very fast over a 36 hr. period. where he drank water, then threw it up tinged with blood.

So he had a pretty serious hookworm infection which then went untreated almost a full month. He also swallowed 2 complete pairs of panties, which is behavior I’ve never seen from him.

Immediately brought him to the 24hr. ER vet Thursday night, he was admitted, given meds, max IV hydration they could give, and was there until Saturday evening. I feel like this is soumething I should have caught earlier, though he appeared to have been doing better, and his symptoms mimiced the colitis symptoms the vet said would clear up with time.

Also, the ER Vet gave me Rymidal to help with his mobility but I’m reluctant to give him it due to his age (Older humans can have bad bleeding on NSAID’s, I wonder if dogs are the same) and also because of what his system has been through. He gets around pretty well for 13, though I now have to help him into the back of the car, so I am thinking glucosamine and perhaps some at home exercises to strengthen his back legs might be a better idea.

Today was the 1st day since the ER visit that I’ve left him alone during the day and couldn’t stop by at lunch, so I had a family friend check on him. Perky, excited, alert, hopping around and very happy to get a bite of chicken as a treat and a short walk.

I’ll talk to my mother later this week and make sure he gets a followup vet trip soon (early april) that I’m going to try and make. We’ll see what preventative to get him on and also see about another round or two of dewormer and poo tests. He gets his 2nd round of dewormer on 4/8 per the ER vet. 1st dose I gave him was 3/28 which I believe was Panacur, then on 4/8 he gets Pyrantel. Those 2 doses are all the instructions I got regarding deworming him. However, My basic understanding is that these hookworms can appear to be knocked out initially, but some will lay dormant and then things get nasty again

oof, yeah, 66 is too low. i’m sure your parents will put the weight back on…hopefully they do so *slowly*

that a lab has gone this long without eating underwear is amazing. they’re lucky. 😛

maybe they need to reconsider such long vacations. he’s trying to tell them something. they need to listen.

Got him on Iverhart Max, he’s gained weight back, and was hopping around in excitement when I stopped by this past weekend. Seems to be back to his old self. We also started him on Glucosamine (human kind) and it appears to have really helped him get around. Hell, he jumped out of the back of my mother’s SUV this weekend and proceeded to go on one of the longest walks he’s been on in a long, long time. It’s been a few years since he’s felt spry enough to jump down out of the back of a truck / SUV.
[URL=http://s1206.photobucket.com/user/MikeDubya1985/media/IMG_0932_zpsycasfvu0.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb451/MikeDubya1985/IMG_0932_zpsycasfvu0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://s1206.photobucket.com/user/MikeDubya1985/media/IMG_0946_zpsxjwbrfie.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb451/MikeDubya1985/IMG_0946_zpsxjwbrfie.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Ok….thanks