# 10 year old Vizsla losing weight



## richs779 (7 mo ago)

Hello all, and thanks for having a look. I have a 10 year old Vizsla Girl, Misty, who last August lost her Partner Maverick. She had diarrhea for a few weeks after that and actually turned lighter on her hair color...She was heartbroken as they were very close. For the past 4 months, she has had diarrhea. I have her on prescription Hills food, pumpkin, pro-biotics, and white rice for her food. She still have soft stools most of the time. Sometimes we will get a firm poop, but not much. She has always been high strung, but more so now. She is also losing about a pound a week for the past 10 weeks. I have had an ultrasound, to find nothing, but now of course they want to do an endoscopy at the cost of 5k, which may prove nothing like the ultrasound. She has energy, and plays a lot with the new pup Marshall (7months old) but the weight loss and soft stools still concern me...Any one out there have this with your pup? Please share as I am desperate at this point.....Thanks much...Rich


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## Sophie01 (12 mo ago)

You could try eliminating the pumpkin. My last dog had an allergy or something to carrots and pumpkin. They gave her diarrhea. And look up Willard Water for dogs. That's worth a try too. God bless!


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## richs779 (7 mo ago)

Sophie01 said:


> You could try eliminating the pumpkin. My last dog had an allergy or something to carrots and pumpkin. They gave her diarrhea. And look up Willard Water for dogs. That's worth a try too. God bless!


Thanks so much....


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Not sure if this will help or not.
One of mine had a upset stomach after a surgery, that would not fully clear up. I tried pumpkin, chicken and rice. I even tried the prescription food. I finally started feeding him steamed cod, and sweet potatoes. Low and behold I got firm stools. I kept him on this for over a week, then slowly started adding his normal food to it.
I did use this probiotics the the entire time.


https://www.amazon.com/Nutramax-Proviable-Supplement-Medium-Large/dp/B001O490JI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?adgrpid=55077589374&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhqaVBhCxARIsAHK1tiO1ppWn66O8o3D3JLH6AZftwjHHaHRdTQDT2LpnrvDemPrekeIkhS4aAskWEALw_wcB&hvadid=410020636784&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9027712&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14957901879786947554&hvtargid=kwd-11561014957&hydadcr=12193_11119409&keywords=proviable+dc&qid=1655335406&rdc=1&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzSlRFN09BRllQRE0xJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODg4NTM4M1ZOWFRHWDlJVjJTSSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzYxNDA2Mzc5R1VNWU9DNFg4MCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl


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## richs779 (7 mo ago)

texasred said:


> Not sure if this will help or not.
> One of mine had a upset stomach after a surgery, that would not fully clear up. I tried pumpkin, chicken and rice. I even tried the prescription food. I finally started feeding him steamed cod, and sweet potatoes. Low and behold I got firm stools. I kept him on this for over a week, then slowly started adding his normal food to it.
> I did use this probiotics the the entire time.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much....I will try the probiotics....did you get the fish fresh, or was it dried, aka pet store....at this point I am willing to try anything....The other part of this is she goes into "freak" out mode, where she hides in a closet, under a bed, or any protected place....She has never been hit, so this if not fear other that maybe feeling vulnerable because she is sick....Please let me know...R


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

richs779 said:


> Thanks so much....I will try the probiotics....did you get the fish fresh, or was it dried, aka pet store....at this point I am willing to try anything....The other part of this is she goes into "freak" out mode, where she hides in a closet, under a bed, or any protected place....She has never been hit, so this if not fear other that maybe feeling vulnerable because she is sick....Please let me know...R


The fish was bought fresh at the grocery store.
Poor baby, with her trying to find safe places to hide. I would keep trying to find answers on the full extent of what’s medically going on.


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## ahostet (Dec 1, 2018)

Hi Rich,
I know how desperate you can feel when your vizsla is losing weight and struggling. I went through the same thing with my vizsla (now 9 yrs old and healthy). Normally 55 lbs he got down to 48 lbs with soft stools, he was not absorbing much of his food, it was going right through him and I was very scared, it was so sad. It was a long journey to heal his gut and get him back to good health. Through this journey, I saw my regular vet, an internal medicine specialist vet, nutritionist vet, and wholistic vet. He was eventually diagnosed with IBD. Though I did not do an endoscopy, his extremely low B12 and folate levels showed that he was not absorbing his food, an endoscopy would have shown inflammation and I did not feel he was strong enough to go through that procedure. IBD can start later in a dog's life...did Misty's stool completely normalize after the initial few weeks of diarrhea after the passing of Maverick and just recently worsen again 4 months ago? If so, I wonder if she picked up a parasite or something (maybe even from the new pup)- the regular stool tests at the vet are not that great but you can do a send off fecal PCR test that is much more comprehensive. 
Food changes, probiotics and some supplements (given his low vitamin levels) were key for getting my vizsla back to health. Kibble was horrible for my dog. I was on hill's science, low fat GI canned stew for awhile and then I slowly transitioned to home made food. I currently have him on a homemade food that gets shipped to me it is called evermore dog food (turkey was best for my dog - this has been a God send) and then I add about 3 oz of a lean meat to it (fish, turkey, or lean burger) with some cooked, mashed butternut squash (pumpkin, sweet potato not great for my dog), I also add in a variety of cooked veggies now (but that was added when his gut could handle it). I have him on a probiotic (proflora 4r restorative probiotic - it is a human probiotic but also contains herbs to heal inflammation in the gut), and a multivitamin chew called canine geriatric basics by thornevet. My dog can handle a rotation of all the proteins constantly now - so he gets fish, turkey, burger every week - he has a varied diet everyday just like we do, though at first I started with one protein at a time - he could not handle chicken when all of this was initially going on. 
I hope you get to the bottom of what is going on with Misty and she gets back on track. These dogs are very emotional and the gut/brain connection is unbelievable.


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## richs779 (7 mo ago)

Many Thanks to you all for your feedback.


ahostet said:


> Hi Rich,
> I know how desperate you can feel when your vizsla is losing weight and struggling. I went through the same thing with my vizsla (now 9 yrs old and healthy). Normally 55 lbs he got down to 48 lbs with soft stools, he was not absorbing much of his food, it was going right through him and I was very scared, it was so sad. It was a long journey to heal his gut and get him back to good health. Through this journey, I saw my regular vet, an internal medicine specialist vet, nutritionist vet, and wholistic vet. He was eventually diagnosed with IBD. Though I did not do an endoscopy, his extremely low B12 and folate levels showed that he was not absorbing his food, an endoscopy would have shown inflammation and I did not feel he was strong enough to go through that procedure. IBD can start later in a dog's life...did Misty's stool completely normalize after the initial few weeks of diarrhea after the passing of Maverick and just recently worsen again 4 months ago? If so, I wonder if she picked up a parasite or something (maybe even from the new pup)- the regular stool tests at the vet are not that great but you can do a send off fecal PCR test that is much more comprehensive.
> Food changes, probiotics and some supplements (given his low vitamin levels) were key for getting my vizsla back to health. Kibble was horrible for my dog. I was on hill's science, low fat GI canned stew for awhile and then I slowly transitioned to home made food. I currently have him on a homemade food that gets shipped to me it is called evermore dog food (turkey was best for my dog - this has been a God send) and then I add about 3 oz of a lean meat to it (fish, turkey, or lean burger) with some cooked, mashed butternut squash (pumpkin, sweet potato not great for my dog), I also add in a variety of cooked veggies now (but that was added when his gut could handle it). I have him on a probiotic (proflora 4r restorative probiotic - it is a human probiotic but also contains herbs to heal inflammation in the gut), and a multivitamin chew called canine geriatric basics by thornevet. My dog can handle a rotation of all the proteins constantly now - so he gets fish, turkey, burger every week - he has a varied diet everyday just like we do, though at first I started with one protein at a time - he could not handle chicken when all of this was initially going on.
> I hope you get to the bottom of what is going on with Misty and she gets back on track. These dogs are very emotional and the gut/brain connection is unbelievable.


Amazing transformation....I did try some "raw" normal food, and she did ok with that, but with the removal of pumpkin, and the broth, she is doing great.....thanks again...


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## richs779 (7 mo ago)

Hello All, I have not followed up with this in a while, and wanted to share now that we have given this two months. Misty, is doing great. I went to a Vet that did not want to order every test under the Sun and Charge you accordingly. No Endoscopy, or any other invasive procedure to weed out Every possibility imaginable. This Vet put on her Dr. Hat and gave me this advice. We cut her Thyroid med 75% to only giving her a small dose to maintain weight, not keep losing it. She went from 58 lbs to now 34 lbs and stable for 2 months now. (35 lbs is her normal weight) She hops up on the couch again, and almost into the car, but runs every day at the dog park. 

In Regards to the soft to liquid stools: The Vet suggested removing everything from her diet except the prescription food, recommended no BEEF at all, just fish and turkey, recommended fresh vegetables such as carrots, green beans and such, but just a little, and a dollup of non fat cottage cheese with her meals. My little girl is back. Nice solid poops most of the time, bad day when she is stressed, but plays and owns the 11 month old Vizsla and goes on rants with him. Jumps up in my lap and gives lots of love....I am so happy that her golden years are pain free and she is really mobile without runny or loose stools. Thanks again to all....we love our pets, and with Vizslas, they almost speak to us, which makes this breed so **** personal.


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