Hi Fred and Helen, My eight year old girl Lily was diagnosed with eosinophilic gastroenteritis after a bout of e-coli plus 3 following a raw chicken back (no flames here I was trying a BARF thing and learned very quickly that a dog suffering from immune mediated disease does not need raw chicken in their diet) We got the brakes on the diarrhea with 100mgs of Prednisone daily and reduced to 50mgs and slowly weaned off. Lily had endoscopic examination of her stomach and duodenum and samples taken for pathology. Early cell change was noted. This disease progresses steadily reducing the body's ability to absorb nutrients and the dog will lose condition. We stabilised Lily for awhile and her alarmingly low albumin levels picked up but they plummeted down again and we put her on 25mg Prednisone daily for a week and then went every other day but she was not able to manage being dosed every other day.
She had never been a Berner to eat socks or towels etc but just lately she started and had also taken to gulping snow down despite having water constantly available to her. The progression of this disease varies with each patient but it cannot be cured. Palliative care works best, when they are on Prednisone you cannot use Metacam or other anti-inflammatories so if you have other treatments for other conditions you should check with your veterinarian. Watch your dog closely for eating socks etc, I think Lily's internal "soreness" prompted her new habit. Rose
