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Reader Questions

Hemorrhagic Diarrhoea Syndrome

Last Updated : 13-Nov-2022

You may or may not remember me but your advice saved my German Shepherd Bruno from a horrible life with allergies. He turned 10 last week and hasn’t been to vet in 4 years because he is fit and healthy and allergies have gone.

I have since rescued my 18 month old German Shepherd whom I have been raw feeding for 12 months. He got Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) on 31st May and it has all been downhill since.

He was treated by the vet and discharged on sensitivity control diet (Royal Canin). He has been re-admitted twice since he had HGE because he simply will not eat.

I think he would eat his raw diet but vet thinks he is just playing up.  There was some suggestion he might be EPI ( Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency ) as his TLI (Trypsin-Like Immunoreactivity) is 4.9, B12 536 and Folate 4.4 which apparently is abnormally low but is to be retested in a month.

The vet  thinks he has a food intolerance and so do I, probably to chicken. He is starving and wants to eat but not the kibble diet. I am at my wit’s end as to what to do next as he has gone from being a healthy bouncy boy to this.

PET Plus Vet Reader : Anne

Dr Susanna's Response

Shame he wasn’t on PET Plus before as prevention is really the way! Glad to see you ordered some, so that’s the most important bit of help.  Vets are unclear on what causes HGE, but it could be due to a bacteria which attacks and damages the lining of the gut.

Give him 2 teaspoons per day spread out in all his meals until he’s better, then go down to 1 tsp a day and stay on it forever.

Do give him raw food! He’s unlikely to be playing up.  He simply knows what’s good to eat and what is rubbish! That’s why he won’t eat the kibble.

I’d suggest raw wild rabbit.   Or maybe try turkey.  Does he like fish?

  • Mix with boiled brown rice and feed a little and often. So 6-8 meals a day.
  • Mix with liquidised greens like broccoli.
  • Make sure he has filtered / bottled water to drink.  Do not give him tap water.