This is Ame and she was diagnosed with IBD
(by biopsy) in September of 1999. She was one year old. It all started in
July of 1999 with Ame not gaining any weight then having pudding like stools, which in one day progressed to just blood. I
rushed her to the Vet clinic where she stayed for 3 days on IV. She
was not doing well and had dropped from 60 lbs. to 52 lbs. - we almost lost her. The Vet was worried that she would
not make it through this... I
had to make a decision, and that decision was to take Ame home with
me. Ame was obviously wanting to fight this,
and so was I.
Ame had biopsies done while she was being spayed (mild
endometrial hyperplasia), and the biopsies showed she had eosinophilic enteritis.
Ame's IBD may have come about from the fact that she
was infested with whip worm and round worm when I brought her home at
the age of 9 months.
Ame was put on 50 mg of Prednisone daily and Metronidazole (Flagyl) for 10 days. Also Ame's diet was changed to Purina CNM HA food (soya based). Ame responded very well to the medications and the new food. Within two weeks she had almost normal stools! Within a few months Ame weighed 69 lbs.
The worms came back, 5 times as I recall, and each time they brought her weight down, her skin broke out in sores, and they made her fur fall out. At this time Ame was on 12 mg of Prednisone every second day. I brought her Prednisone back up to every day until we had the worms under control and her skin cleared up (on the advice of our Vet). The Prednisone was then tapered back down.
Ame's dosage of Prednisone has been reduced very gradually over the last year and a half, and Ame is now down to 5 mg of Prednisone every four days. However, Ame battles skin problems (staph infections), and during those times I give her Prednisone for 3 days in a row, which seems to help, as she was not responding well to antibiotics.
It is now March 2001 and Ame is doing very well. She remains on the
HA food, 5 mg of Prednisone every 4 days, takes 1 capsule of acidophilus daily and a squirt of Omega 3 fatty acids. Ame also
eats Medical Treats and raw peeled baby carrots. I also mix into
her food about ½ cup boiled mashed potatoes and carrots. The one thing for sure that is not
good for Ame is stress, she came to us very shy and timid.... which
is changing, but very slowly.
I am so glad to have a Vet who took a special interest in Ame's
problems and was able to help us though this. Ame is a fighter
and has had to fight since she was born. We will continue to fight
this battle together for as long as Ame's health will allow. She is a wonderful dog and Dan and I are so happy to have her
with us... I think Thunder is happy too.
September 2002 - Ame has been Prednisone free now since June 12, 2001, we had a minor mishap with her tail (Ame gets cysts), and some of her tail fell off due to a cyst growing about a 1/4 way up her tail. Ame is happy, looks great and seems to be on the right road. Ame continues to eat the Purina CNM HA food.
January 2003 - Ame continues to do well with her IBD and her staph infections have become non existent. However, she continues to get skin tags and cysts. She loves to play with her ball, and enjoys the snow.
August 2003 - We had to say goodbye to Ame's brother Thunder, we all miss him. She has not shown any signs of depression or not eating... we are certain she knew that he was not well.
July 2004 - Ame's IBD remains in remission. She has been off all medications, and continues to each the Purina CNM HA food. She is doing very well with her health in general.
September 2004 - Ame has been diagnosed with Cauda Equina Syndrome / Spondyliosis - she is doing well, but it will get worse in time.
March 21, 2005 - Ame has a Mast Cell Tumor, we will have surgery done to remove the tumor and determine if the cancer has spread. Surgery was successful and the tumor was removed. As far as we can see the cancer has not spread.