[Kristine V]

Jennifer Y,

Are you making your own Kefir? and what plant-based digestive enzymes are you giving? Also, how much are you giving of both? The Kefir sounds like something I would like to try and discuss with vet. Thanks for the tip on these two.

Koji’s folate levels are low which is consistant with diffuse disease of the proximal small intestine. I wonder if the Kefir would help. And how long does it normally take to see if it’s working?

[Kristine V]

Hi Aimee,

Thanks for your response and you are absolutely correct. Our vet is going to make the calls directly. Dr. to Dr. discussion about Koji. Today is his weigh in and I’m so stinking nervous.

Totally non related question, how did you go about posting your profile picture of your doggy? I can’t find how to do it on here and want to put Koji’s picture as my profile picture so all can see him. 🙂

[Kristine V]

Oh yes, his specialist is board certified. And I guess the positive, although they have only 1 surgeon, is that this place is a 24/7 emergency hopsital as well. His specialist and where the surgery would take place is at VCA Advanced Veterinary Care Center in Lawndale, CA.

[Kristine V]

Sorry, just read your PS….yes, we are literally looking at having surgery the 1st week of December. He has to be tapered off the steriods before they can do it. I said the same thing to the specialist. We can’t let him get so weak that he can’t tolerate the procedure.

[Kristine V]

No, they aren’t giving him fluids. He’s plenty hydrated. My husband and I made the mistake of watching how the surgery is done on You Tube and we both sat there crying our eyes out. My biggest fear is post-op, septic infection. I find myself trying to find THE best surgeon for him, but how does one determine that ya know? So many out there. Our vet is in Orange County, CA and his IM doctor is in Lawndale, CA. My thought process is when he does have surgery, I want it to be close to home so we can visit him while he’s there. I’m actaully trying to find a hospital that has the family suites where we can stay and sleep in the room with them post-op until he is discharged. Sounds crazy, but he’s my baby and I know having us with him, sleeping next to him, will only enhance his recovery. So that puts me more toward finding someone in our area. Do I go with the speciality hospital who has only the 1 surgeon or go with a bigger specialty hospital who has many? uuggghhh

[Kristine V]

Hi all,

Thank you all for your support and suggestions. Koji’s symptoms started early September. We noticed he was looking a little skinny and suddenly he started throwing up before eating, after eating, eating grass etc. On evening of day 3 and throwing up, we took him to his vet. They gave him a shot to help with the nausea. The last time he had seen his vet was in June for his last puppy shots. From June to September he had not gained any weight. His symptoms were slowly creeping on. That night at the vets office, they did x-rays and said there was no visible foreign object but there was lots of gas and thickening of his small intestines associated with inflammation. Our vet then referred us to a specialist, Internal Medicine doctor. Ultrasound was done, which pretty much revealed the same as the x-ray. From this point on, he just got worse. He was put on so many medications, had every blood test done, and everything pointed toward Inflammartory Bowel Disease.

THE BIG PROBLEM: Koji is eating, however, due to whatever is going on in his small intstines, is NOT ALLOWING ANY NUTRIENTS to be absorbed in his body. Hence the continued weight loss. Last week alone he lost 3 pounds within 4 days. He went from 81lbs and is now down to 74lbs. So I’m sure as your reading this, you can see our desperation and dilemma. NOTHING is working. His new vet, who did the NutriScan food sensitivity test and is currently treating Koji, is as baffled as we are. No matter what we feed him, no matter waht supplements we have given him or how often he eats, his body is just not absorbing any nutrients. We tried the Holistic approach along with Western Medicine and NO SUCCESS. Trust me when I say this, we have exhausted every non surgical option to help our boy. I am his voice and his advocate and no matter the cost, we are not giving up on him. I have called so many specialist BEGGING to have a new set of eyes review his medical records and NOT ONE specialist was willing to review them without paying $180.00 and having to bring Koji in for an appointment. I work in the medical field and peer case reviews are done all the time. Why in the hell can’t a group of specialist do the same.

So this is where we are….our baby is in pain, has no life in him, no excitement, no mommy kisses or cuddles. He doesn’t want to be bothered. My husband and I knew the steriods would make him feel like this and we told ourselves we have to suck it up seeing him like this and pray for a damn miracle that the steriods kick in internally and we see progress. Sadly, nothing has changed except him getting skinnier. On the positive, we had his protein levels checkedthis past Tuesday and they are perfect. Meaning he is not in immediate life threathening danger. Meaning we have a little more time to give the steriods a good 2 weeks of waiting and see what happens. There is no worse heart ripping pain than seeing him suffer like this. So as you can imagine, as much as we truly DO NOT want him going through open abdominal surgery, we have no other choice. It’s a major surgery and not one to be taken lightly. The risks associated with this surgery are very high and we could very well loose him. But in our hearts, we feel we are slowly loosing him now. So what’s a parent to do? Risk the surgery and know we will get an exact diagnosis, or do nothing and we end up having to cross him over the rainbow bridge? It’s tuff ya’ll. A very crappy situation to be in. For all we know, and the IM doctor said herself, he could have a piece of plastic or some small object in his intestine that she wasn’t able to see on ultrasound. I can go on and on but in the end, nothing we are doing is working and he isn’t getting any better and I just want a miracle and want my baby back! 🙁

I would like to post his picture so you all can see my beautiful boy but I don’t know how to upload a picture on here as my profile picture.

[Kristine V]

Thank you Pitlove. We are staying as positive as we can.

[Kristine V]

Bless you for rescuing your fur baby. Its terrible that people give up on there pets like that. Koji isn’t just a dog, he’s our baby and means the world to us. I eat, breathe and live in constant worry and sadness for him. He’s on my mind 24/7. Our vet is going to contact another IM doctor and get there opinion. I know surgery is a huge next step and one I desperately wish we could avoid but we are up against the wall. Koji was on the same meds as your and all made him feel like crap. I stopped everything and within days, we had our playful boy back but the IBD was still haunting him. Akitas are such an amazing breed and are actually prone to GI issues. Whatever the end result is, my husband and I know we tried everything possible to get him well. Im a realistic person and I would never compromise Koji’s quality of life. And I could never live with myself knowing we didnt exhaust every possible option to save him. My heart is so heavy. My husband and I said we’d give the steriods a good run for the next 2 weeks. If no results, then we absolutely have to make a very big decision. I so wish his case were simple enough for endoscopic procedure but it’s just not.

[Kristine V]

I have done so much research and even went to the doctors asking them to run certain tests. Again, comes back to IBD. h. We just feel like what do we do, nothing and keep trying different medications and hope they get it right or watch him wither away and he wont recover at all or risk the surgery and find out exactly whats going on. We are in a very difficult position but will do everything in our power to save him.

[Kristine V]

Hi Susan, we are seeing an Internal Medicine doctor at a specialty hospital. Koji has been tested for everything. Parasites, pancreas, colon, cancer, etc. Every test, blood and diagnostic is coming back toward IBD. They can’t scope him because the scope wont reach the section of the small intestine that appears to be inflammed. Trust me, surgery is the last thing we want to put him through. He’s been on so many medications and he’s not responding to any of them. Based off the NutraScan results, we are very limited on what he can eat. We tried the vet diets and refused to eat them. There is only 2 kinds of kibble he can have but until the inflammation goes down, we were advised not to give it right now. So for now, im home cooking the foods he can have. We have spent nearly $3, 500 in 2 months for every result, other than surgery, leading to IBD. But like i said in previous post, they are guessing at what medication to give him because they dont know what form of IBD he has. Surgery really is our only option. I wish it weren’t but nothing is helping him. He’s getting worse and worse.

[Kristine V]

The ultrasound could have missed a foreign object as well. Or he could have an infection in the bowel. So many u knowns.

[Kristine V]

Hi. Yes, Koji has had x-rays and ultrasound done. His small intestine is inflammed and thickening. All blood tests, GI panel, Malnutrition panel, etc point to IBD. Problem is, without knowing exact form, he can’t be treated correctly. He was at 81lbs Oct. 8 and is now down to 75lbs. He’s not absorbing any nutrients due to the inflammation in the small intestine. My baby is literally withering away. He could very well have a piece of something stuck in there that isnt being seen on x-ray. Its crazy how fast his health is changing. He has his vet and Internal Medicine doctor closly monitoring him. Thats why we all agreed if no improvement by 12/1, we have to do surgery.

[Kristine V]

Hi all,

I’m new to this group and we too have recently had the NutriScan test done on our 1 year old Akita. I was shocked when we got the results. My baby has been quit sick and loosing weight. I’m not quit sure how confident I am in the results though because he pretty much had a reaction to everything. We also suspect he has IBD. He’s currently on steriods to help with the inflammation but his diet is a nightmare. I think process of elimination is the best. ALthough when you have a sick pet, trial and error is very scary. We have had to go against the scan results and give our boy some of the foods it says he can’t have only because of him being ill. If not progres is made by our December 2, 2015 vet appointment, my baby has to have open abdominal surgery – 🙁

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