Desperate for help -Chronic E. Canis

   Welcome to i-dog Nikky. I never heard of the disease until I saw your post. I checked online and Doxycycline is probably the best medicine to treat it with. It is a very serious condition and I'm sorry to hear that your dog has it. I hope someone with more knowledge about the disease responds, and I hope the vet you have now is able to help Jay. If you want to encourage him to drink more water, you could try adding some chicken broth to it. A little flavored yogurt added to the water may also work. Has the vet said anything about limiting his protein because of his kidneys? You need to ask the vet about that. You may want to try some homecooking to get him to eat. A simple "stew" of a type of meat and some vegetables would be good. Here is a link that has good information about preparing a stew for your dog :
                     [linkhttp://www.crvetcenter.com/homefood.htm]http://www.crvetcenter.com/homefood.htm[/link]
A lot of people on i-dog cook for their dog, so don't be afraid to try this to encourage your dog to eat. I sure hope someone else here has had experience with this disease. Good luck.

Nikky - I'm so sorry to hear what you're going thru with Jay.  I don't have any advice on feeding or nutrition for a dog with these problems, but there's a yahoo group I belong to that's moderated by Monica Segal a certified nutritionist.  She's written several books and formulates diets for dogs with special nutritional needs.  Here is the link for the site:
 [linkhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/[/link]
 
and you just have to sign-up to join the group and then you can post there and hopefully someone can help you.  I wish you luck with treating your pup.

Thanks Cathy and Jessie's mom (in the picture? S/he's lovely!) for the kind words, the support and the links. I have some positive news -Jay seems to be responding to the meds. He's erkier, more energetic, dowright naughty in short frenzied patches. I think he's surprised and thrilled when he finds that he's feeling a little better sometimes and just wants to get in as much play and naughtiness as he can. Make up for lost time you know? (We try to keep him calm, but it's a lost cause. The little guy is excitable and just wont sit still). I'm cautiously thrilled, as E. Canis is s'posed to be extremely unpredictable and nasty in the chronic stage (the last in the progression of the disease). We're hoping, fervently, that his youth will count in his favour. We've actually tried yoghurt and chicken broth, which he takes sometimes, along with the flavoured milk. But not in his water. He would just turn his head away. He's drinking a little more now. We almost always cook for him, rarely giving him the canned, packeted stuff, and that's completely stopped since he fell ill. Thank you very much for the links, the sites look interesting and I wont hesitate to exploit a otential source of info. I've been scouring the net, looking for every last scrap of information that might help Jay. And thanks for bringing up the protein / kidneys issue -no the vet hasn't mentioned nay dietary restrictions, except telling us to go easy on salt. What you say makes sense, Jessie's mom, and I'm wondering if the vet has slipped up. If it's one thing I've learnt, it's to never assume that your vet is completely competent. Unfortunately, the limits of her or his knowledge / expertise etc. only become clear when they fail your dog. Which is kind of why it might be a good idea to be aware of E. Canis, even if your dog has never had it, (and I hope, never will). The literature emphasizes that in the mid, sub-clinical stage, the symptoms are so general, so easily mistaken for ordinary illnesses that misdiagnosis is so common, until the last stage. But then, well, look what happened to Jay. Some people think that E. Canis is now at epidemic roportions. I don't mean to scare you, or perhaps I do. I could still lose my dog..... Read up please. Just to be on the safe side.   

Sorry about your dog. I recently lost a 9 year old dog to cancer. She reached the point of being unable to eat her regular kibble. Eventually I  switched her to totally raw food by starting with organic baby food - Carrots, broccoli, and the like, nothing sweet or fruity. I figured if babies eat it, it must be good for them. If your dog continues to not want to eat, you might try it. It was especially helpful for me in administering meds. 

Don't know anything about the disease .. Just wanted to send my best wishes and good luck too you. Hope Jay gets better soon!!![]

Nikky, I am sending healing vibes to your fur child.
 
Another trick I use when one of mine are ill and not eating is, I will make up some chicken broth, add just a little of the white meat of the chicken to rice and heat it up a smidgeon to entice the flavors of the nose...... HMmmmmm smells good.!
 
Although, a dog with kidney issues really should not have a lot of protein in their diet and calcium also since it crystalizes in their urine.

What ever you are doing for your baby seems to be working if he is frisky and wanting to play. Just keep it up.

Actually, I have a senior dog with kidney disease, and the major issue seems to be phosphorus, rather than protein, especially high quality protein.  In any case, as with seniors, inappetance causes problems, too, so short term, it's probably ok to perk up the diet with some stinky stuff.  The best luck I've had has been with garlic roast beef and liverwurst - not too much.  I just mix it with the regular food enough to give it the smell and make it enticing.  There's also a high calorie supplement called Nutri Cal that some people use for convalescent dogs.

   Jessie thanks you for the compliment. I'm so glad to hear that the meds are working. It sounds like the vet you have now is doing a good job of treating Jay. Even the best vets are human, and your new vet may have forgotten to discuss protein amount with everything else that was going on, or it may not be a problem. This disease is caused by a parasite, isn't it? Do you know how it got into Jay's system? Please keep us updated , and if nothing else,  we can give you moral support. Again, I'm glad that Jay's feeling better.[]

Dear everyone,
I think since Jay's fallen ill I've become more superstitious than I've ever been before. So I know it's silly, but I'm actually a tiny bit reluctant to talk about it in case I'm tempting fate. Hence the silence.
The news is that Jay is much, much better since the last time I wrote. We've watched with absolute delight, and a hint of disbelief, as he's recovered his appetite (he's gone from picky to ravenous), his energy (from listless to hyperactive) and his spirit (he's smiling again!). 
There's a house coming up next to ours and before his illness, Jay made friends with all the workers. When they sat on the boundary wall on their break, he would stand up with his his front paws on it for a pat. Since ours is a quiet, little lane some distance from the highway, things tend to be a little quiet -so Jay was endlessly fascinated by the construction guys and the constant buzz next door. His interest flagged while he was sick, but now he's back. Jay is at the door expressing a lively sense of curiousity, very vocally, at everything that's happening! (So there's Jay's barking added to the yelling, hammering, drilling -music to our ears of course!) The workmen cut across our backyard sometimes and that's even more thrilling because our back porch has a short wall which he can see over. So it's front door to back porch and back again a dozen times a day. I love to see his ears perk up and his eyes alight with interest as he hurtles back and forth. With his long, skinny legs, Jay remnds me of nothing so much as a ballerina on tiptoe when he runs (besotted dog owner speaking here).
We're a little jumpy when he goes off his food once in a way, wondering if he's having a relapse, but so far so good.
Barely a fortnight ago, I was in such despair. And now I'm so full of hope. 
Thank you everyone for your suggestions and support and prayers and wishes.
Love to your and your animal companions,
Jay and Nikky.    
 

 It's great to hear that Jake is doing so well, and don't worry; you didn't jinx him by sharing the good news. What does the vet say about Jake's rebound; did he expect Jake to recover this quickly?  Jessie and I send our love to you and Jake. Keep us updated once in a while.

Dear everyone, this is very difficult. This is my fourth attempt to write.
Jay got sicker last weekend. He had a very irregular appetite towards the end of last week, and on Saturday after he reused half his breakfast, we took him to the vet again.
I was hoping that I was over-reacting, but Jay had a temperature of a 104 and the vet gave him dextrose intravenously. He's been on the drip morning and evening since then, until this morning.
One of his legs is swollen in two places and the vet says that it's because his kidneys are in bad shape. The IV treament was supposed to be for five days, but he stopped it today as Jay's kidneys apparently can't handle it.
He's not drinking much and his poo is watery and dark black.
He's extemely listless too.
The vet has said all along that while he can kill the germ, Jay's kidneys have to heal on their own. Perhaps he's restricted by the facilities and options in this country as well.
It feels like he's dying a long and painfu death. His condition picks up for a few days and then deteriorates so much.
Jay has very bad separation anxiety. Even if my mom rarely leaves him alone at home, every time my sister and I step out of the house, he tugs on our clothes and handbags and tries to forcibly keep us at home, or come with us.
Today, he couldn't do what he usually does. There was this particularly pathetic note in his voice as he whimpered that I haven't heard before. 
If you pray, please keep him in mind.
I really hope I'm overreacting.      

Sorry I meant that he refused his breakfast.

Nikky I am so sorry that things have turned for the worse again, it seems that everything I have read about this says it does go back and forth.
I think you need to have a serious talk with your vet if possible without the dog there.  You need to ask the vet what the chances are for recovery and what kind of pain and suffering your dog will have to endure during this recovery period.
I cannot imagine how hard this is for you, I don't know how I would handle it, but I think you need to keep an open mind about things getting better as well as keeping an open mind about things getting worse.
I wish I had a magic pill to get the doggy healthy again so it would be so happy! 
I am sure you wish that too.
I really think you need to talk to the vet and if you don't like the answers I think you definately need to get a second opionion.
Julie

Nikky - So sorry to hear that Jay isn't improving as we'd hoped.  I know how difficult these situations are.  We want so badly to do the right thing for them but extending their suffering if there's no hope for recovery isn't what you or Jay would want.  If your vet is continuing to work with him, I assume he still feels that there's some hope.  I agree with Julie though.  I'd have a serious discussion about the prognosis.  I'm so sorry Jay is going thru this and my thoughts are with you and your family.