Unthrifty Pointer With Loss of Condition – Seems nutritional
So we got his bloodwork back and he has a *very high “EOSINOPHIL” count.*
You’re feeding him fine, and plenty. He’s just not USING it right. So don’t feel blamed because it’s him, not you. His *condition (or loss of condition) seems to be ‘nutritional’* either he’s not *getting *the nutrition*, not *digesting *the nutrition, or he’s not *absorbing *it.
*(Since we know he IS getting good nutrition, it has to be the latter situation(s) )
The super-high eosinophil count means there’s inflammation (and lots of it) *somewhere *in his body.
Significant: His other clinical sign – un-thrifty appearance and body condition that appears to be nutritional.
Combine signs of High eosinophilia + clinical nutritional deficiency = Bowel is inflamed / and he’s not getting the full benefit of nutrition he’s eating.
1. The bowel can be inflamed for genetic reasons. (Tendency to inflammatory bowel disease)
2. The bowel can be inflamed for nutritional / bacterial reasons..(Bacterial overgrowth or undergrowth)
3. Or parasitic reasons (But we checked SEVERAL stools for bugs and found nothing)
4. Or hyperacidity reasons (The stomach overproduces acid which accesses and burns the small intestine – I doubt this in his case)
5. Or digestive reasons: If he incompletely digests food, then *undigested *food is traversing the bowel and that can aggravate it.
*So we should:*
Suppress inflammation in the bowel (without suppressing his whole-body immune system or immediately resorting to steroids.) [Sulfasalazine]
Be 100% sure he’s not wormy [Empirical deworming]
Consider feeding “raw diet” because it’s more “physiological” and it’s VERY calorie dense. And this is a bowel issue and as such, may be MOST impacted by feeding that bowel OPTIMALLY. *Full disclosure on feeding raw diet. Exhaustive approach. <johnsonvet.com/feedingraw> *[Raw Diet]
Supply things which have become deficient during the last ‘while” of poor bowel absorption. (*Vitamins* for example, *Omega 3,6,9 Fatty Acids*, too)
Grow beneficial bacteria with a cheap prebiotic called *FOS <https://amzn.to/2USAkpH>*- Giving 1-2 tablespoons 1-2x daily. (I’d put 1 tablespoon per feeding) All my IBD’s are put on FOS <https://amzn.to/2USAkpH>
Add digestive enzymes so that an “inability to digest food” isn’t the ‘thing’ here. Again, we can diagnose that for $250 or we can try a little Digestive Enzymes and see. It NEVER hurts. Even normal dogs benefit from additional digestion.
In summary:
1. Sulfasalazine for IBD,
2. Empirical Deworming,
3. FOS prebiotic,
4. Multivitamin,
5. Omega 3,6,9 Fatty Acids,
6. Raw Diet,
7. Digestive Enzyme supplement.
Wow! That’s a lot to mess with.
Digestive processes are multi-stage and complex. You miss a single step, and the whole train fails to move forward.
Is there a way to *confirm* that his bowel is ‘the thing’ ? YES – Dr Boozer is an internist – she can do: *Endoscopy and Biopsies of the intestines*.
Probably $1000 or more. -or response to treatment.
Is there a way to *confirm* maldigestion, that he needs that Prozyme?
YES – A “*trypsin-like Immunoreactivity”* reaction test. -or response to treatment.
