Jamie's stomach and intestinal biopsy results are back from Iowa State University.
He has moderate inflammatory bowel disease. Apparently, there are three stages: mild, moderate and severe.
No cancer was detected.
I am so relieved to A) have a diagnosis and B) that the diagnosis is not cancer I am practically dysfunctional at this point. I know IBD is neither curable nor pleasant but it is manageable and with care, he should be able to be comfortable and happy.
He will start on prednisone tonight, as well as a food with a single, novel protein source. This may be a little harder than the vets realize since Jamie has eaten darn near EVERYTHING in his life, one of the obvious drawbacks of feeding a variety of foods and not "being married" to any single brand or formula.
It's possible he's had this condition for quite some time but didn't show symptoms until recently. I asked the vet if it was strange that he's nearly 12 years old, has been a complete goat all his life and is just getting this now. She said not necessarily, it can happen to dogs of any age.
Live and learn.
Hug your dogs. Hug your partners. Life changes quickly.
Good news / bad news. It must be such a relief to at least have a diagnosis to work with. I know we like to feed our dogs a variety of food, but he won't suffer on a restricted diet. Sadly, he WILL suffer watching other dogs get noms. Poor thing.
ReplyDeleteMango Momma
this is GREAT news considering some of the options. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteIm so gald it wasnt horrible news.
ReplyDeleteRELIEVED. And your last sentence is so true.
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief. Still, IBS. NOt fun in humans or dogs/pets. I have a friend with a GSD/Husky mix with IBS. he has 1 flare up per week and that is his under control. His seemed to have started when he had a small virus/flu of some sort. My GSD mix was sick at the same time with a small flu-virus. Anyway, my dog got better but his kept having flare ups. turns out it was this. and his dog eats everything too. though now he has a special diet.
ReplyDeleteThe other day my GSD mix had some vomiting which surprised me. his torso felt hot too and he laid down in the grass a lot so i took him in. with a little antacid medicine, he was just fine and he wanted to eat right away. but i tell ya, it always scares me when they vomit for no reason. i also think my GSD mix was stressed and it resonated with that. (seriously). we had some company for a week and it was very stressful for us and i could tell he was reading into the stress we felt...pacing at night etc. after they left, i could tell he was still stressed or feeling downside of coming off of all the stress and boom, he vomited. He's a naturally high-stress dog anyway, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had tummy issues related to stress/anxiety.
btw: i just love your Terv and Mal. it's fun reading your blog. tho i don't have a Mal, many people here in Switzerland have asked several times if he's mixed with Mal (he's not) but he has the drive of a medium drive mal for sure!
Anyway, glad to hear it's the lesser of two evils.
SO glad to hear that it is something treatable!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust reading your update gave me goosebumps! I am so happy that it is at least something you can treat/manage!!
ReplyDeleteHope you're able to find the right combo of food and meds that will do the trick for Jamie. :)
That is such good news! I think this is the first time I've heard of a Belgian with eating/ digestive problems that it wasn't cancer. So while IBD isn't good, the fact that it is not what I was dreading is! Good luck finding food that works for Jamie.
ReplyDeletejust so happy for you that it is NOT cancer. that is the important part the rest is managable and not life threatning and though a pain it is just super that it is NOT cancer!! Yeaaaa!!
ReplyDeleteGreat news -- but I'm still having trouble getting past the leg warmers. Poor buddy.
ReplyDeleteGood news not to have the nasty C word included -
ReplyDeleteAs the others have commented, IBD isn't the best option but surely the lesser of the evils -
SOOOO, legwarmers for all!
That's FANTASTIC!! I'm so happy for you and Jamie. Yeah, it's still something wrong, but I don't know any person OR dog who wouldn't rather have IBD (or IBS) in place of cancer. That's not a minor thing, but it's a walk in the park compared to what could've been.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the other possibility, this is great news. He'll adjust to a more restrictive diet but be prepared for a lot of sad puppy-dog eyes for a while.
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm SO happy for you and Jamie (and the farmer and Phoenix)!!! My friend's BC was diagnosed a few years ago with IBD (IBS?) - not sure which stage. She has worked with Monica Segal in Canada via online & telephone until they developed a balanced diet which manages his condition beautifully! Here's Monica's site: http://www.monicasegal.com/ I'd be happy to connect you with my friend as well. She knows you somewhat from your Sheltie days - and she'd be happy to help with her experiences. Hugs!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad it wasn't cancer. My daughter's Weim is doing fine with IBD. He can barely tolerate the Prednizone and is still mostly controlled. Finding the right combination of food and medication is such a big deal! Good luck with the Prednizone - at least it is inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteMy 1.5 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback just underwent the endoscopy and we are awaiting the biopsy results. The internist thinks its IBD, from what she saw. What diet have you put Jaime on?
ReplyDelete