Fwd: Chronic diarrhea considerations pretty thorough

The chronic GI upset dog

An “on-and-off diarrhea with the following hallmarks:

  1. “Seems to be fine when on medicine but as soon as the dog goes off, it’s back.”
  2. “If we give anything out of the ordinary it triggers diarrhea.”
  3. “She never had this before <insert date>”
  4. Mostly diarrhea rather than vomiting.
  5. The dogs act fine when they go through the spells of diarrhea.
  6. Only occasionally vomiting.

 

Various Causes and Contributors to be Ruled out:

  1. Giardia tops the list (A fecal exam and some Metronidazole are effective but shows up on fecals less-than-half of the time)
  2. Hookworms in very young or rather old dogs (Empirical deworming, a fecal exam, or being on Heartgard are effective)
  3. Coccidia in younger dogs under 2 years old (Albon / Sulfa are effective and fecal exams may reveal it. Often not though.)
  4. Inflammatory Bowel Disease can be temporry or permaanent. (Sulfasalazine therapy can aid the diagnosis)
  5. Cancer is possible but in most cases is quite unlikely. In desperation, endoscopy, radiology, CT scan, MRI and maybe piunch-biopsy are useful but extremely expensive diagnostics for hopeless outcomes. So, why?

 

Various Controls for Active Diarrhea:

 

Phenobarbital can slow the gut and can save lives if the diarrhea is peeling through a dog’s hydration badly. This would be used for watery diarrhea of more than 24 hours duration and not responding to other modalities.

 

Sulfasalazine can be tried and the “results” should be closely noted, even written down. There is no reason to try Sulfasalazine if you don’t gather the information about “how she did on it” during the administration.

Steroids (to illuminate IBD) are risky in diarrhea – however, can be effective in gastritis and inflammatory colitis. In my hands, sulfasalazine needs to be shown to help, before daring to use a steroid in a bowel case.

 

For “watery” diarrhea:

DMSO can be given under the skin (properly diluted) if the diarrhea has gone to soup, water, jelly and absolutely has to be curbed pronto. DMSO dilutions IV or SC are great in long term diarrhea where nothing has worked so far. DMSO given undiluted under the skin feels like a Murder Hornet and a Killer Bee had a baby and four of those stung you. So DON’T use it undiluted.

 

Tums tablets have the effect of forming up (drying out) stools and reducing excess stomach acid which can be a contributor to colitis. So Tums would be 1-2 tablets (berry flavored) per twenty pounds once or twice a day. It’s indisputably helpful and cured nobody’s dog.

 

Digestive Enzymes such as “Prozyme” are sometimes amazingly helpful. Sometimes dogs never had enough enzymes. And sometimes later in life their enzyme production declines. Without “enough enzymes” the dog digests food poorly and then “whole undigested proteins” make it to the colon and create and inflammatory response. Also known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease” which is (amazingly) controlled with Prozyme!

 

There is an age and condition where pancreatitis should be ruled out.

 

All cases demand ‘stringent’ attention to MONOTONY in the diet. The food, should be Dry. The treats, NONE or we pre-agree on what they are. And what the treats aren’t. These dogs should never be “encouraged” to eat because they can feel diarrhea coming on in advance, and won’t be hungry the day before that happens. Let it be.

 

Of ALL the things the owner should remember: 99% of these type cases are very sensitive to fat. Any little burst or bite of fat in the diet can trigger explosive results.

Questions About Dog Adoption and Fish White Spot or Hexamita Answered Free.

You can ask these questions and more and Dr Johnson will answer FROM HIS PUBLISHED WORKS.
This means that A.I. scours everything he's written and puts it into an answer on his website.
It's artificial intelligence applied, BUT at least it comes from valid information and not a patch work of random Internet articles. Does it fail? AI sometimes doesn't understand the question – or maybe I just don't know the answer so it's not in the database. But give it a try.
And it's free.

Dr. Erik L Johnson
3100 Roswell Road, Suite 113
Marietta, GA 30062

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Dr. Erik L Johnson
3100 Roswell Road, Suite 113
Marietta, GA 30062

Dogs With This Condition Should Be Fasted

My dog is picky and sometimes won’t even eat. How do I get him to eat if he’s not hungry? 
———||———-||———-

This is a great question because it calls on a specific answer created under certain circumstances. That is, a great paragraph that addresses “not eating” in dogs from all walks of life.

“Not eating” can be a genuine ‘thing’ if a dog is skinny. All skinny dogs, IF HEALTHY, will eat encouragingly well. 

What is skinny? 

Answer: A body condition score of three plus or lower. 

What’s a Body Condition Score? 

https://drjohnson.com/bcs

You can determine the dogs Body Condition Score from that article and the models of the scores depicted. 

What if the “not eating” dog is actually “A little heavy”?

If the Body Condition Score is a 4plus or even 5minus, or higher; not-eating is okay: 

That is: IF the dog is otherwise engaged in regular behavior, interest in family goings-on. 

If a dog ACTS sick, or has diarrhea or vomiting, no matter what it’s weight is: It’s probably “actually” unwell. 

The following scenario is rather common among “normal weight” BCSfour to BCSfourplus dogs: These dogs, if given a “pretty-okay-tasting” dry food fed dry twice a day, may eat lightly, or even skip a meal. That’s totally normal. 

When a dog is quite a bit heavier, for example a BCSfive or even BCS6 it’s VERY common for these dogs to be brewing a case of chronic “pancreatitis” 

( drjohnson.com/pancreatitis )

And it’s (pancreatitis) almost “for sure” if the dog is a bCS5plus over 8 years old. 

All you would see is a heavy dog that occasionally, or even over a few days did NOT want to eat. This is because the “pancreas is flared up” and doesn’t cool off until the dog has fasted itself for a day or two. Coaxing these dogs to eat is to prolong a pancreatitis episode. 

Some owners already know their dog has pancreatitis and recognizes the symptom of “not eating” and sometimes, “spitting up” and lets them go hungry for a day or two. 

A heavy dog can EASILY skip two days of dry food fed dry without mixing anything in it. And probably should. 

A skinny dog that won’t eat for a day or two is cause for concern. Especially if it’s at or over 12 years old because organ failure could be brewing. 

Not-So-Fun-Fact. In 1944-1945 some jerk wanted to know how long a person and a dog could go without food before dying. They found out that a regular person and a regular dog could go 30 days without food before ANY damage occurred and that, tragically, the next 15 days without food caused serious and eventually irreversible damage. 

Valuable Takeaway:  Owners should not worry about a dog that doesn’t eat for two or even three days. 

AS LONG AS IT ACTS “Pretty okay” and doesn’t have diarrhea or vomiting. 

Recap

A skinny dog should eat “pretty well” and if it doesn’t it’s probably unwell. 

A regular dog can skip one to four meals without signaling illness unless there are concurrent signs of depression, vomiting or diarrhea. 

An overweight dog may skip meals due to pancreatitis (detectable with blood test) especially if the dog is over 10-11 years old. 

Recommendations: 

1. Don’t ply a dog to eat. You can NOT determine if a dog is sick if it eats bacon or a hamburger because a dog will take hamburger no matter how sick it is. Then it’s too late. When someone tells my my dog hasn’t eaten it’s food in three solid days –  I get concerned. 

2. If the dog is at or over a BCS5 —> Count it as lucky it’s not eating because for medical and weight-loss reasons, a FAST is recommended. 

3. The presence of diarrhea, depression or vomiting negate the entire content of this article: Such a pet should see a veterinarian. 



It’s election season, and we need to beware our news!

“A frothed-up, agitated consumer checks their feed OFTEN and spends increased time commenting and sharing.“
Facebook sells advertising, and needs you “on” as long as possible. Facebook learns what you like, and what you read. If you read conspiracy theories, you will quickly be loaded up. If you read about how “The Other Party” is plotting Armageddon, you will get TONS of supporting content. Whatever you believe, you will rabidly believe EVEN MORE, because Facebook spares you all disliked content. (By design: Half the time, that’s content containing more of the truth).
Whatever you believe, you will soon believe in EVEN MORE.
A frothed-up, agitated consumer checks their feed OFTEN and spends increased

time commenting and sharing.
⭐️ And looking at Facebook pop-ups, thank you.
Please, get your news somewhere with facts. Not just inflammatory, one-sided “shreditorials.” Don’t be “that guy” regardless of your “side” because you’re BOTH being played for clicks.
Stop Reading cause it gets Cringey: It’s ironic that generations of people have quoted “Revelation 13:17” I sardonically called Mark Zuckerberg the “Mark” of the Beast once. Then, I scratched my head and thought, “Wow that’s actually appropriate.”
English Standard Version …so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the Mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name”

What are the 10 Commandments?

The 10 Commandments are like a set of rules that God gave to people a long time ago to help them live good and happy lives. Here’s a simple way to understand them: 
 1. Love and respect God above all else. 
 2. Don’t make or worship idols (like statues or things) instead of God. 
 3. Use God’s name with love and care. 
 4. Set aside a special day to rest and spend time with God. 
 5. Honor your parents and listen to them. 
 6. Treat others with kindness and don’t hurt them.
7. Be faithful to your husband or wife when you grow up. 
 8. Don’t take things that don’t belong to you. 
 9. Always tell the truth and be honest. 
 10. Be happy for what others have; don’t be jealous.  
Following these rules helps us get along with others and show love and respect for God and each other.

How Many Died as a Result of Capitol Riot? – FactCheck.org

About four people died in Trump’s deadly insurrection that almost resulted in the end of the American democracy. 
Numbers were inflated to “Nearly ten.” By Democrats later. 
All four ACTUAL deaths were Trump supporters. 
An unarmed 98 lb woman was shot by a trigger-happy security officer (A guy who had his gun taken away TWICE before being fired from his previous two security jobs.)
The other three “actual deaths” were fucking HEART ATTACKS among Trump’s fat, hypertensive followers. This was not a “crack team of armed, fit, well-trained mercenaries” as represented later by dramatic Democratic prosecutors. 
How Many Died as a Result of Capitol Riot? – FactCheck.org

Running miles and miles

Was watching a guy run down the sidewalk today. He had a little backpack with water in it on his back.

So I guess he was going to run a couple of miles. And then I thought, “when in the history and evolution of mankind was that ever a good idea, or did that happen when it was Good thing?”

Like, I understand that we’re doing that for exercise now.

But 15,000 years ago, the only reason you would run, was to elude an animal or attacker. And even then, you didn’t run for hours.

Now, on the other hand, our natural history suggests that we walked fairly long distances to find grow or harvest food, and we worked quite hard whenever we got where we were going. There was also a lot of ‘physicality’ in surviving by way of food-preparation, game harvest, and shelter creation.

In other words, there was a lot of walking, and hard work.

But I don’t think that our ancestors ran for miles. In actuality I bet our bodies were only engineered to succeed in a 1/4 to 1/2 mile escape, OR be eaten. 

Survival of the fittest didn’t come down to running 5-10 miles in one long, terrifying dinosaur chase. Daily.

I think it’s unnatural. Unnecessarily concussive, disc-compressing, and heart straining. 

Fast walking? Great.

Swimming 1/2 mile? Sure. 

Walking 5 miles? Totally. 

Digging weeding planting or harvesting 400sq feet of garden? Yup. 

Running 5 miles with a heart-rate pushing “He’s almost got me, look at those sharp teeth!” 180bpm? That’s a No. 

Who Says “ Toxic Masculinity”?


“Toxic masculinity” – When used by a new age Liberal female: Means testosterone and masculinity in an ‘actual’ man, who prizes a female who is feminine enough to trigger visceral desire. 
Men with toxic masculinity see the modern introverted, frumpy Liberal Women neutrally, like sweaty boys except they may have vaginas.

 

Commonly used by mostly plain-looking, damaged, and or obese females who were ever abused by, laughed-at by, pranked-by or rejected by males. “Toxic Masculinity” 
When used by today’s estrogen-rich, agnathic, soft bodied and soft spoken male: The term refers to their Dads and every other male who ever abused, laughed-at, pranked or rejected them. The legions of men who are obviously more manly and confident than them.  Damaged, videogamer forever-boys.
Modern males, intent on remaining boys and avoiding the protective functions, leadership and accountability qualities of actual “men” use the term to demean the manhood they will never achieve. 

Why?
 You can’t be ‘fired’ if you quit first. So, if you can’t attract a manly man or BE a manly man it ‘saves face’ and doesn’t feel as bad, if you’re pre-demonizing and devaluing them. 
 The men who ARE actual men, and the women who are emotionally and physically eligible to HAVE an actual “man”, do not use the term “Toxic Masculinity”.  
Just the misfits “On the outside looking in.”

“Toxic Masculinity”

“Toxic masculinity” – When used by a new age Liberal female: Means testosterone and masculinity in an ‘actual’ man, who prizes a female who is feminine enough to trigger visceral desire. 
Men with toxic masculinity see the modern introverted, frumpy Liberal Women neutrally, like sweaty boys except they may have vaginas. 
Commonly used by mostly plain-looking and or obese females who were ever abused by, laughed-at by, pranked-by or rejected by males.
 “Toxic Masculinity” When used by today’s estrogen-rich, agnathic, soft bodied and soft spoken male: Refers to their Dads and every other male who ever abused, laughed-at, pranked or rejected them. 
The legions of men who are obviously more manly and confident than them. 
 Modern males intent on remaining boys and avoiding the protective, leadership and accountability qualities of actual “men” use the term to demean the manhood they will never achieve. 
 You can’t be ‘fired’ if you quit first. 
 So if you can’t attract a manly man, or BE a manly man it ‘saves face’ if you’re demonizing and devaluing them. The men who ARE actual men, and the women emotionally and physically eligible to HAVE an actual man do not use the term “Toxic Masculinity”. Just the ones “On the outside looking in.”