# Taking the Plunge with Short Bowel Syndrome



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Well we're out of Jessie Jane's prescription food and not going to order anymore. The $90 bag of food (one month supply) is just more than we can bear to fork out right now, especially since her vet bill for removing 60% of her intestings is still taking up all our credit cards' balance ($8k).

So tomorrow she starts on California Naturals Low Fat. It is still premium food but half the price of the RX stuff. She had gotten wonderfully stabilized on that and with the addition of Before Grain Tripe, she was doing really well. 

But we got a little lazy with feeding larger meals and that set us back again. So we figured it's prime time to switch, but we'll continue adding the tripe as that helped so much!

So we're back to Hobbit meals again; first breakfast, 2nd breakfast, elevensies, tea, supper and dinner. 

Keep your fingers crossed for this 'little' gal who should be big!


----------



## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

Hope all goes well!


----------



## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

I had been wondering how Miss Jessie Jane was doing! I will be sending positive digestive thoughts down your way.


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

_*Fingers and paws crossed in the E house*_


----------



## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

OH! HOPING and praying that this will be good for her. I was thinking of how it's used for weight loss-removing part of the intestine-so can see how it would be really difficult for her to gain weight without the place to absorb the calories. 

I had been wondering how you guys were doing but then you get nervous and not ask! 

I still wonder about the stuff they use as calorie supplement that I saw on the KV site. 

But first, I am rooting for her to do well on this food!


----------



## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

I was wondering how you guys were doing. I think that hobbit meals are going to have to be the order of the day for Jessie for a long time maybe forever.

Give Cal. Natural a try. You will know shortly if it will work for her or not, if not go back to basics, let her get settled and try something elses. I have to agree that there has to be something that will work besides the perscription food.


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: Wisc.TigerI was wondering how you guys were doing.


I was thinking just the same thing the other day.

Good luck with the CA Nat'l







I used that after Indy had pancreatitis.


----------



## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

C'mon, Miss Jessie "Stands With A Paw" Jane, we want you to do excellent on your new Cal Nat food! May the smaller meals and lowfat Cal Nat really agree with you. Here is wishing and hoping that she really surprises you in filling out on this less costly food and smaller meals. Good for you giving her the tripe, too. Lotsa goodies in there to help with digestion. Sending hugs and prayers Miss Jessie Jane's way!


----------



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Thanks so much all! 

Today I took her out in the nice sunshine and took a bunch of photos. I'll post some later to show her body condition, but both DH and I were admiring her and noticing that she has put on a little weight. Not a whole lot, but some. I'll compare photos from last ones I did of her.

It's only been one day on the food, so she's still having awful poop but should be feeling better soon with more pumpkin.

Also, she had more stamina today than she has had all along, and played ball for a while.

Gosh she's so sweet though, she really is a happy, goofy, girl. Pix to come!


----------



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Just popping in to say that Jessie Jane aka Stands With a Paw is doing great on the California Naturals Low Fat and has gained weight! She still has to have pumpkin every meal cuz of the transition and does have occasional diarrhea but I'm sure that's just cuz of the switch.

Still haven't weighed her but for the first time, you cannot feel her hip bones jutting out sharply and her ribs seem less visible and her spine is no longer sticking up like a ridge. She has meat along her spine and her energy level is a little better. She has a bit more stamina, so I think we've found the right food for this goofball! Ya better watch out world cuz the Outlaw GSD is gonna be causing trouble again soon!

Yippie!


----------



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

That is very good news!!


----------



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Here's a pic of Miss Jessie Jane! you can just barely see her ribs. and she still has loose skin hanging down, but it's hard to tell cuz she's shedding and so she's a little poofier looking than normal. But she's my beautiful German lop eared girl!


----------



## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

Miss Jessie Jane looks great! She's come a long way since her surgery.


----------



## JenM66 (Jul 28, 2005)

OOOOO - she looks FULL of personality! I love her face (and ears







)


----------



## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

SHE IS PERFECT!









When we took Kyah to the place to get her prosthetic started, I thought she looked a little thin but they said absolutely she was at the right weight at 62# and that a visible rib was totally fine. 

I am betting they would say that Miss Jesse was absolutely perfect! 










I am SO glad.


----------



## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

I am so glad you gave us an update. I was wondering how Jessie Jane was doing.

She really looks good. Being a little on the thin side is much better than being fat.

Happy Dance - Happy Dance.


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Glad to hear the news -- you all have come such a long way


----------



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

Thanks all. That is a very good point Wisc. Tiger, I wish her little Schipperke husband wasn't so hefty. And I can tell Jessie Jane feels better and is excited about it too.

I just haven't been around much because a bunch of junk going on in our personal lives - but that looks like it may be settling down soon. 

I will post some pix soon of her bro, Rocky too. 

I'm so glad Miss Kyah is perfect! Wow that was a super fast recovery! I wonder what the difference was you know? Why didn't Jessie recover as fast as Kyah? I thought the surgery was kind of the same?

Well whatever the reason, they're both doing better. Now I'm going to go read about Kyah's prosthetic because that sounds so interesting.

Cheers!


----------



## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

I think with Kyah there were a couple of things-one is that they took less bowel overall right? She lost about 2.5 feet total. 1.5 the first time, 1 the second. Didn't Jesse Jane lose quite a bit more? I have a feeling she did. The other thing is I think my vet was so conservative with her post-op feeding that it helped her gut to heal faster. And that she had such a HUGE diarrhea reaction to the Rx food that we were forced to do a ton of experimenting with her recipe and used Tylan right away to help tighten her up? 

But I think the key is the amount of bowel lost-and I could be wrong-in terms of absorbing calories and nutrients. 

I think she still eats quite a bit more than a normal dog of her activity livel and her poop is still not that nice rolly polly ball that pops out and bounces on the ground, but her weight gain was easier than Jesse's for sure. 

Here's to better times for all!


----------



## Strongheart (May 2, 2007)

I have to dig out her records to see how many feet, I've just had the 60% in my head. But now that I'm really reflecting on it, the real difference is not how many feet but what parts of it. And that is what I fought so hard with that vet to find out - exactly how much of her ileum and jejeunum did she have left? Turns out she has all of her ileum but apparently the vet didn't want to let on that she has almost none of her jejeunum (sp?) and that is critical. 

And now I also remember the nutritionist explaining, as well as another vet, that right after sx, it is extremely critical that certain nutrients are fed and pass over that area or it does not heal correctly and she did not receive that. Of course, I had no idea what the heck to do and was hoping that everything was taking place that was supposed to be taking place. But she was tube fed Hill's A/D or this extremely low calorie, low nutrient bland food instead of the balanced nutrition critical to the little tentacles that line the intestines (whatever they're called). And that's why she cannot now absorb Vit B12. 

And then it makes sense that adding in the tripe has helped since that is high in B12. And we had been feeding superfood thinking she was absorbing it but I don't think she was, or it was not enough of it. The tripe seems to balance it out, since it has the partially digested greens from the cow's stomach as well as other goodies. So really, I think it was when she had the tripe added in. But we have to be so careful about how much and the quality seems to vary from can to can. We're still stabilizing her on it. And DH is still being a PIA about everything and arguing with me about my observations versus his. 

Jean what do you know about the actual sections of what Kyah had removed? Ileum, jejeunum, duodenum, etc.? Jessie has less than 1cm of jejeunum. Something is working now though and we're so relieved. I don't want her to be a bag of bones forever. I want my ironclad GSD Mack truck back!

BTW, isn't that a pretty good quality photo for being taken with my phone?


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

That's a very good picture from a phone!!

Maybe, just maybe, the nutritionist and the vet, may not be aware that slow healing maybe can take place in the absence of those initial nutrients. Sometimes the body can amaze us, given the right support.


----------



## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

I remember one of her other pictures & she looks SOOOO much better now


----------

