I havent had the time to make a long post, so a bit late in doing this, but on Monday Barney went into the vets to have diagnostics. A bit of background info: Barney is a snuffles bun and a dental bun, but both are mild, his main issue has been weightloss, going on for a year and getting steadily worse to the point that it has become a real struggle now. My old vet wasnt much help, saw another who didnt seem to have any idea what was wrong, and now I've got this new vet, who thankfully seems clued up.
On Monday he had a dental, an ultrasound, an xray, full blood tests, a tear duct flushing and of course an examination.
He had small spurs on his teeth, but they werent causing an issue and the vet believes that they arent contributing to his issues, and that his past issues and dentals may have even been misdiagnosed, the not eating properly being caused by the issues she found instead.
From ultrasound and then xray she found:
He has an awful lot of gas and liquid in the stomach and the gastrointestinal tract.
There was hardly any poo in his gut.
His stomach is much bigger than it should be and the lining of his stomach is thick and sore.
His bladder was really tiny.
He has very little body fat.
From blood tests:
CK (muscle hormone or muscle enzyme, cant remember the name of it) - raised - could indicate muscle atrophy due to malnutrition but also could be tension due to handling
LDH (liver enzyme) - raised - probably gut related as the liver looked fine on xray
Mild anemia - possibly due to malnutrition
Low number of white blood cells - again possibly malnutrition and could also explain his chronic snuffles
I have the vets notes from that day and the blood test results if anyone wants to see them.
So the vet has prescribed a gut stimulant, its called Emeprid but on his notes she calls it metaclop. The plan is to get the gut working better, and try and get the gas and liquid out. He had 2ml 3 times a day, and he had a checkup on Saturday where he had a lot more poo in his gut, but his poos are a bit darker and are a bit smelly and shiny, so that has now been reduced to twice a day. He is also on profibre pellets for probiotics. She is getting me to reduce his SS junior pellets slowly now (he was getting 3 large handfuls a day to try and get him to maintain weight), to try and get him to eat more hay, in the hope that this will get the gut healthier, I have another check up in 2 weeks.
So yes, quite a complex issue I'm thinking! We know what the problems are now, but we dont know what is causing it. Vet also says that due to the blood tests results there is a possibility of inflammation and bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, but we cant rule out a bone marrow abnormality. My boy is very poorly indeed inside!
On Monday he had a dental, an ultrasound, an xray, full blood tests, a tear duct flushing and of course an examination.
He had small spurs on his teeth, but they werent causing an issue and the vet believes that they arent contributing to his issues, and that his past issues and dentals may have even been misdiagnosed, the not eating properly being caused by the issues she found instead.
From ultrasound and then xray she found:
He has an awful lot of gas and liquid in the stomach and the gastrointestinal tract.
There was hardly any poo in his gut.
His stomach is much bigger than it should be and the lining of his stomach is thick and sore.
His bladder was really tiny.
He has very little body fat.
From blood tests:
CK (muscle hormone or muscle enzyme, cant remember the name of it) - raised - could indicate muscle atrophy due to malnutrition but also could be tension due to handling
LDH (liver enzyme) - raised - probably gut related as the liver looked fine on xray
Mild anemia - possibly due to malnutrition
Low number of white blood cells - again possibly malnutrition and could also explain his chronic snuffles
I have the vets notes from that day and the blood test results if anyone wants to see them.
So the vet has prescribed a gut stimulant, its called Emeprid but on his notes she calls it metaclop. The plan is to get the gut working better, and try and get the gas and liquid out. He had 2ml 3 times a day, and he had a checkup on Saturday where he had a lot more poo in his gut, but his poos are a bit darker and are a bit smelly and shiny, so that has now been reduced to twice a day. He is also on profibre pellets for probiotics. She is getting me to reduce his SS junior pellets slowly now (he was getting 3 large handfuls a day to try and get him to maintain weight), to try and get him to eat more hay, in the hope that this will get the gut healthier, I have another check up in 2 weeks.
So yes, quite a complex issue I'm thinking! We know what the problems are now, but we dont know what is causing it. Vet also says that due to the blood tests results there is a possibility of inflammation and bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, but we cant rule out a bone marrow abnormality. My boy is very poorly indeed inside!
Last edited:
