[Karen G]

Hi Stefanie, I agree with anon101. Maui’s body has been through a lot of change and suffering and it would be very good if you could keep close contact with the veterinary nutritionist. Is the surgeon still available to you for Maui’s post operative care? I have found with Abby that we have to be very careful about making changes because her body reacts quickly when she is fed something new, and the reaction is usually more diarrhea, which we all want to avoid. Also, Maui isn’t even a month since all the surgeries started. He is still acutely recovering from surgery and should be getting lots of rest. For the first few weeks after Abby’s surgery we were hand feeding her very small amounts 6-8 times a day. also, I would watch to make sure she was getting enough water because she was losing so much through her bowels. The first food Abby was eating was Royal Canin gastrointestinal both canine and feline both wet and dry(dogs can eat cat food but cats can’t eat dog food- the cat food has a higher protein content) and we also tried to give her more of the dry food because we hoped it would absorb some of the water in her bowels. When we started to see the clinical nutritionist at the veterinary college here in Ontario (Canada). Abby was switched to a hydrolysed protein diet. Originally we gave her Hills z/d – both dog and cat but she didn’t like it very much. Now she is eating Purina H.A. and she likes it a lot. But she has to eat almost 3 times the amount recommended for a dog her size. We carefully measure and record every meal she eats and we never give her more than 40gms per meal. She still eats 6-8 times a day. You will have to monitor Maui’s weight as well, it sounds like he lost a lot. To answer your questions we did not have a lot of luck with the metamucil Abby continued to poop like crazy with it. Also, we were giving Abby Fortiflora but the internal medicine service at the vet college has suggested we try Visbiome instead. I have just ordered it so I can’t tell you how good it is yet but it looks like it is very well regulated and produced. Again, I would check with your vet about switching foods and go slow if you do. Maui may never have formed stool. Abby rarely does. It’s a big job you have ahead of you but hopefully Maui will recover enough to enjoy his life. That is our priority with Abby. I hope this is helpful. I am happy to share our experiences with you but I think the best thing you can do is follow your vet nutritionist’s instructions, monitor ins and outs carefully and keep records of them for the nutritionist, and enjoy every minute you have with Maui….Cheers for now, Karen