anemic with huge weight loss

Sally has lost a huge amount of weight and the only clinical finding is that she is anemic. Her liver and kidney functions are normal and diabetes has been ruled out. The vet has prescribed steroids and antibiotics and says her teeth are fine.
Does anyone have any ideas about this?
She was vacced for VHD three weeks ago and seemed fine then, now she is a walking skeleton Could that have triggered this? She is interested in food, but can only eat very slowly and seems to gag and retch over the food, even when grated. She takes food from a syringe eagerly and swallows it nicely.

Miffy went through a stage like that,i fed her little and often to build her back up,the vet also gave her a gut stimulant because her gut had slowed down.how old is sally?

Oh dear

I wonder if she has some sort of oesophogeal lesion :? The difficulty swallowing.... :? The anaemia could be from internal blood loss from a mass/lesion. I guess an endoscopy would be needed to find out whats going on :?

Did the Vet say if the anaemia is regenerative or non-regenerative :?
Is she spayed?

Janex

Sally is only three - well if what the people who brought her to the rescue said was accurate. She was speyed when she came into the rescue in March.

The vet didn't test whether it was regenative or non-regenerative. She said if it is non-regenerative it is very bad news indeed She is treating in the hope it is regenerative so I pay for a possible cure rather than for a test that wouldn't get us further forward as it wouldn't suggest any other treatment options. She mentioned the possibility of an internal bleed but said we would have noticed blood around as her blood count is so low, which we haven't. The other thing she mentioned was an autoimmune problem - again that would be bad news

I have searched and searched but haven't found much to go on. I tried to talk to the vet tonight when I collected Chessie from having his teeth and plums removed, but there were too many people waiting So I haven't told her about the gagging yet as I hadn't seen her do it when I took her in. At least she can swallow the syringe feed alright. That will have to wait until next week now

For now I'll just keep feeding her and hope she builds up the strength to eat more on her own. She got really excited about the grated apple I gave them, and definitely had some of it. But of course Sam went for it too and got most of it :roll:

I wonder if your Vet might think it appropriate to test a faecal sample for Occult Blood? If 'positive' that could indicate a bleed some-where in the GI tract :?
Maybe your Vet might want to prescribe some anti GI Ulcer meds anyway (Ranitidine 'Zantac' or Cimetidine 'Tagamet') GI ulceration happens quickly in a bun with a poor food intake.

Just thinking out-loud really...... :?

Janex

yes I was thinking stomach ulcers too - or worms maybe? hope she gets better soon

Hey Louise, so sorry to hear about Sally Sam lost a lot of weight seemingly just overnight and the vet then, and as yet, couldn't and can't find anything wrong so I took him home with the mission of getting him fattened up and the thing I found he put weight on with is ready brek - it has the oat content to help put on weight but it's really fine so Sally might be able to eat it without gagging? I know it's not a long term solution, but might help get a bit of meat on her? Hope she gets better soon.x