wow ana those are amazing links!
form the symptoms Karly has, it might probably be
roundworms, giardia, coccidia or small intestine bacterial overgrowth. His stool is being tested, results should come out today.

the infectious enteritis symptoms are the same as what happened to karly at 1st (before the dolthene and the flagyl), and he s been vaccinated for it(parvovirus, coronavirus, rotavirus, salmonellosis, distemper virus) maybe it caused a reaction..

wow ana those are amazing links!
form the symptoms Karly has, it might probably be
roundworms, giardia, coccidia or small intestine bacterial overgrowth. His stool is being tested, results should come out today.

the infectious enteritis symptoms are the same as what happened to karly at 1st (before the dolthene and the flagyl), and he s been vaccinated for it(parvovirus, coronavirus, rotavirus, salmonellosis, distemper virus) maybe it caused a reaction..

ok major update and some drama.

Karly had watery dark brown (blackish) stools today on hamburger meat. We re back to square ONE!@!@! (@!(&*@#&*)(@U^*$!&()#^%$#@!

Vet called.
Stool sample results came out and are negative for EVERYTHING. No worms no nothing. Vet believes it s Flora Imbalance and urged me to keep him at his kennel for 5days. he s gonna put him on Scourban, Lomotil, ultralevure to protect his tummy and shots(!!)of Metox (?).. m researching all of those meds now ...

took karly to his kennel and just came back. they put him in a crate to wait for his BM (bad idea no since it pushes him to poo IN THE CRATE!?! vet s like once is fine...

i m gonna visit him twice a day till then(it s a 30min drive) to make sure all is going well and they re taking good care of him, and continue his training. he s so beautiful, everyone at the kennel was impressed with his size at 5months and posture. man he s soo pretty compared to the other dogs! it s ridiculous!

Vet s like he doesnt need more than 5 days on this treatment to get him back in shape. my mom wants me to give him back and get another healthy one instead. she s so depressed (so am i to be honest). but i cant simply "exchange him" like he s some shoe or something!!! she s like he s gonna "make my life miserable" ... hehe a bit too dramatic no? ... it s still getting to me a bit no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

i hope everything will be alright :'( havent used that smiley face in a really long time.

Most things are treatable. BUT, you have to know what you are treating. It is your vets job to be a detective to discover the problem.
There do exist malabsorption/maldigestion syndromes in dogs which are congenital, but almost all of these can be managed with dietary additions/subtractions so that dogs can thrive.
Your vet may believe that you are not actually giving the medicine as prescribed. Some clients just don't give the medicine, who knows why. Your vet wants to control the medicine and diet himself and see what happens.
If there is a vet school near where you live, or a vet school that you could telephone, I would do that, and ask for the protocol to arrive at a diagnosis of
longstanding diarrhea in a pup in your part of the world.
Have confidence that it will end up OK. I would NOT throw in the towel and exchange him. He sounds like a very special pup, and you will always know that you went the extra mile to help him,save him, and that creates a special bond.

 Quote: Michel Karsouny

Stool sample results came out and are negative for EVERYTHING.

What exactly did it rule out in addition to parasites?

Sometimes injections are given if oral meds are not absorbed properly. These are different from vaccine shots. In hospital they would be able to give Karly IV nutritional support if he needs it.

Since the pup is already hospitalized, is there any reason why they haven't done a full blood panel? You have already incurred so much expense and it has been going on for so long that it would make sense to get at least the basics.

 Quote: Ana Kozlowsky

What exactly did it rule out in addition to parasites?

Since the pup is already hospitalized, is there any reason why they haven't done a full blood panel?

do you mean to make sure we re dealing with a Flora Imbalance and nothing more?

i ll ask about those tomorrow morning when i go there.

ana,

based on the link you ve given me (http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2090&aid=3553) and matching it with Karly's symptoms, i think we should most likely be looking for:
roundworms, coccidia and giardia (although last is hard to check with one test), maybe also small intestinal bacterial overgrowth ... although diarrhea isnt watery, it s mushy..

The way both vets reacted to the test and the brief history i gave them, they were very convinced that it was flora imbalance.. they re like its very normal that i d take sometimes time to heal.

time ll tell if they re right.

In a situation like this, even if the vet guaranteed the diagnosis, I would still do the CBC+chem. Especially if the dog is to be hospitalized, at the beginning of hospitalization. And maybe at the end, depending on how things went.

You also might want to keep copies of all the records from every vet you visited. I'd rather embarrass myself by asking the vet too many questions than not ask enough.

I'd also ask the vet for "the protocol to arrive at a diagnosis of longstanding diarrhea in a pup in your part of the world."

I believe flora imbalance is a symptom, not diagnosis. A DVM or MD should be able to tell you the correct answer.

talked to an MD ... he s like worms can cause imbalance...
by deworming i cured worms but imbalance is still there. antibiotics can on the long run cause imbalance too (i havent gotten to that stage yet apparenlty)

the only logical solution now is to follow the treatment and THEN look for something else in case he s still not better after the 5 days.

this patience thing is definitely acquired. gonna give it its time. i ll of course keep you updated as the days go by.