Has anyone else experienced hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in their giant breed dog? My 7-month-old Shiloh Shepherd puppy, Galen, just had a 24h stay in ICU after developing the condition. Fortunately, he was seen immediately, for as a service dog in training he is always with me, so there was no delay in observing the symptoms. Plus the vet we go to, Alameda East Veterinary hospital (you might recognize them from “Emergency Vets” has a 24h ER, fully staffed 24h ICU, and can do all diagnostics in-house using the latest tech… so his diagnosis was extremely rapid. He still ended up requiring a plasma transfusion, and a fair bit more than the high estimate for his care addressed, but his recovery is coming along nicely. After that 24h in the ICU, he was able to come home.
What I wanted to see if anyone had any dietary recommendations about this, for when he’s able to resume his normal diet in a couple of days. He currently gets Canidae Grain Free Pure Sea kibble and Tripett canned food (Green Beef Tripe, Tripe and Venison, and Duck, Salmon & Tripe varieties). I also have pre and probiotics I can give him- increasing the dosage at the moment as he’s still on antibiotics (oral starting tomorrow, as he had IV until this afternoon). His Canidae also contains probiotics, and Tripett contains digestive enzymes.
He has every reason to NOT have developed this, as he’s not hyperactive, not a small or toy breed, eats top notch foods that are formulated with everything recommended for healthy digestion, etc… yet he still got it (I suspect it may be from either the goose poop he attempted to eat at the park Saturday, or the swim in a lake he took last week, but the cause of hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) remains largely unknown).
At the moment, I’m nervous about anything that could effect Galen’s health. It’s pretty terrifying to see blood squirting out of my furbaby’s rectum as a purple jet. His vet highly approves of the diet I have Galen on, but I still would like to know what other’s think, and if anyone else has experienced this in a giant breed puppy that’s NOT hyper or overly stressed.
