GI Issues? Addison's Disease?

[Laura and Angus]

Hi all,

Over the past few months, our now 19 month old goldendoodle has gone through frequent bouts of stomach upset - nausea, vomiting, and in some cases diarrhea. He tested positive for Giardia maybe two months ago and was treated with Panacur for the full 10 days and then tested negative afterwards. He has since had several bouts of stomach upset - either with loose stools, vomiting, or nausea and fatigue. Then about 4 weeks ago we ended up in the vet with a listless dog who had loss of appetite and seemed to be uncomfortable (getting up repeatedly to lay down in different locations) and panting. Last week we ended up in the pet ER for the same symptoms - he was clingy, had no appetite, and ended up throwing up (dry heaving) twice. The vet at the ER did a blood panel to look at Addison's Disease and said that this is common in poodles. Since his cortisol levels were off and his platelets were low, she recommended we get a more in-depth test with our regular vet for Addison's Disease. This was last week.

So today on our way to daycare he threw up in the car - all of his undigested breakfast. This was maybe an hour after he ate and he NEVER gets carsick. I let the daycare know and they called me about an hour later to tell me he threw up again at daycare. They ended up isolating him for the remainder of the day and when I picked him up he came home and is still not hungry. We have been in contact with our vet to schedule the screening for Addison's. Has anyone experienced anything like this? It's just not normal that we're in the vet's office more than once a month for stomach or digestive issues.  

If the Addison's comes back negative, then I'm thinking we're going to need to look at a GI specialist of some sort. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, the ultrasound is a testing protocol for IBD, along with a GI panel. Neither will definitively diagnose IBD, nor tell you what kind of inflammatory cells you're dealing with and which parts of the GI tract are affected, (which is necessary info in order to choose the right treatment plan), but they can be helpful tools in determining whether an endoscopy is warranted.

The ultrasound will also show any other physical abnormalities that might be causing the problem.

A GI panel is a blood test that measures only three things: cobalamin (B12), folate, and a ratio called TLi. It costs about $200 just for the one test and must be sent out to TAMU; results take about a week. No matter what bloodwork your GP vet or the ER did, they didn't do that test. 

I'm wondering if they also considered chronic pancreatitis? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I should also add that JD's ultrasound didn't show any thickening of the bowel walls, though. His GI panel showed severe cobalamin deficiency, but that wasn't run until the day he was scoped. In hindsight, had I known that test existed, I would have asked for it weeks earlier. It's just something that GP vets don't really know about. 

And there are dogs with IBD whose GI panels are borderline; Jane's Murphy was one of those. The disease just takes so many different forms, one reason you need a specialist who deals with lots and lots of cases. And each different dog will respond differently to the different drugs, not to mention that some drugs are more effective when it's the large intestine that is affected, some work better for inflammation in the small intestine, so you really need to know exactly what you're dealing with to treat it effectively. 

[Laura and Angus]

UPDATE 9/19/16:

We did the GI panel and ultrasound back in May. There was nothing that was abnormal at that time...

I asked the vet reviewing my test results about chronic pancreatitis and she shared that it could be that, but he was not inflamed at that time/having symptoms, so it was hard to tell. She mentioned that we could try an elimination diet or use medicated food. We decided to eliminate all forms of protein from Angus' diet except beef/bison. We have not had any of the GI upset episodes since I wrote this initial discussion!! Hopefully this continues and we'll stick with this plan :) 

Thank you all for your thoughts/suggestions/insight! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Keeping fingers and paws crossed that Angus will continue to do well on his current diet. Thanks for updating us! 

[Cynthia Shoe]

Sending positive vibes your way. We seem to be where you were several months ago and I feel so helpless and overwhelmed... 

[Cynthia Shoe]

Hi Laura, What ever happened with your pup? We are going through the EXACT same thing... Happy to send you my phone number in a private message if it is easier to talk.