New french bulldog puppy has prolapsed rectum 12 times!

[ivy_fin]

Hi there,

We are posting with hopes that someone can help us with advice or insight on how to handle our new puppies issue
She is a 12 week old frenchie that has an amazing temperament and is full of energy
Since we got her she has prolapsed her rectum over a dozen times.
We have consulted with out vet and they have placed a purse string suture with hopes to hold the rectum in. They have tested her for parasites several times and all have come back negative. We have dewormed her 2 times with panacur
We put her on laxatives, painkillers and a hypoallergenic diet by (royal canin medical)
They took her suture out after being in for 7 days and shortly after she prolapsed again.
They have since put a new suture in and have given her metrodiazanole to treat colitis (inflammation of the large intestines)
It has been now 2 weeks since this all began and she still continues to strain with every poop. It takes her between 5-15minutes everytime
The vets are stumped and I am at a loss for words
We are not in the position to spend much more on surgery (colopexy) which is what the vet is reccomending if this treatment of metrodiazanole doesn't work
Please help, any advise would be much appreciated!
Thanks again
Esther

[Barkingdog]

You should call the breeder and ask them if they had other dogs with this issue and how did they treated it. Is there any low cost vets you could go to?

[ivy_fin]

Hi there,
Breeder is away this week can touch base with on Friday. In the meantime we need answers, cause vet bills are adding up!
We are monitoring her poops but she is still straining. Inorder to solve the problem we have to solve the source of the problem which is her straining.
She is energetic and just the best dog but we need other options that don't involve costly surgery like a colopexy that isn't even 100% guaranteed to work.
Any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks
Esther

[hazelrunpack]

Unfortunately, I'm not sure there's much you can do without vet intervention and, therefore, more bills. Mechanical problems like prolapses can be tricky to fix. If it were us, we'd probably head for the nearest veterinary teaching hospital--although pricey, we've had very good outcomes when dealing with their specialists. At the very least, a second opinion from them might not be too expensive and if they can offer no new advice there would be no further cost.

So sorry you're going through this. We've been in your shoes and it's a very hard thing

[MaxaLisa]

I know absolutely nothing about prolapses, I hope that you can find an answer soon.

I do know some about straining though. My girl had terrible straining problems. She has weak abdominal muscle, and it also turned out that she had a colstridium infection, which made her strain. She was treated with amoxicillin and metro, but I also had to modify her diet and remove all grains, and slowly add apple pectin (soluble fiber), and slowly added probiotics. I would first look and see if you can make some dietary changes (some dogs do well with pumpkin). I would hold off on the probiotics for now, since it might firm things up and make eliminating even harder. I think I would start by feeding something that is grain free, and slowly add some soluble fiber (I like apple pectin). I would maybe make sure that there are good fats in the diet too, adding a touch of fish oil maybe, probably better yet, some virgin, unprocessed coconut oil. Again, I don't know anything about this condition, but just thinking about maybe trying to make the eliminating easier.

[ivy_fin]

Thanks for the advice so far! We have her on a hypoallergenic diet so she in not on any grains right now, we put her on that diet with hopes to eliminate the "cause" of the straining being a food allergy. Unfortunately cause she is still straining it can't be her diet or food sensitivity
I might looking into taking her the university if Guelph veterinary hospital for a second opinion.
Any idea what consultations with veterinary specialists/students at the local university veterinary hospital cost?
She has sutures put in right now and the vets wants to take them out cause it has been 3 days already, I know that she'll prolapse again cause she continues to strain. I think we might leave them in till we solved the issue of the straining. Right now the only think holding in her rectum in the suture
Any advice?
Thanks
Esther

[MaxaLisa]

Originally Posted by ivy_fin

Thanks for the advice so far! We have her on a hypoallergenic diet so she in not on any grains right now, we put her on that diet with hopes to eliminate the "cause" of the straining being a food allergy. Unfortunately cause she is still straining it can't be her diet or food sensitivity

I think that depends on the diet and the dog. There technically is no diet that is hypoallergenic for every dog, and there could be sensitivities too. What are you feeding?


No other advice. I know here, I found a good internal medicine vet at a specialty clinic to work with. I don't know if that's an option for you - I would want to know if your vet has anyone at the university or otherwise that s/he has consulted with and would refer to. That's how I found that vet I'm using now. All these specialists are pretty expensive though. I don't know about Canada

Sometimes paying the extra money for the specialist, in the long run, ends up being less expensive though, because they have more experience with the weird things. This has a "search function" that includes Canada (Ontario, BC, etc.). You would want SAIM (small animal internal medicine), just to see if you have other options near you. http://www.acvim.org/default.aspx

[Longblades]

Poor little dog. I have an older female, human friend who had similar troubles and in the end () surgery was required. I'm sure your little doggy is not undergoing the embarrassment and travelling difficulties my friend endured but still, she can't be enjoying a proper puppydom.

Guelph is not far from you. There is also a specialty Vet clinic in Mississauga but I'm not sure if they have expertise in that area. I went to the Mississauga one for something else.

Unfortunately it is going to be expensive but I agree that dealing with this once and forever might very well be cheapest in the long run and kinder to little puppy to get it over with and fixed.

What does your health guarantee from your breeder say about compensation? If this is congenital you might get at least some $ to help with your expenses. Good luck with this, hope you can resolve it.

[ivy_fin]

Originally Posted by MaxaLisa

I think that depends on the diet and the dog. There technically is no diet that is hypoallergenic for every dog, and there could be sensitivities too. What are you feeding?


No other advice. I know here, I found a good internal medicine vet at a specialty clinic to work with. I don't know if that's an option for you - I would want to know if your vet has anyone at the university or otherwise that s/he has consulted with and would refer to. That's how I found that vet I'm using now. All these specialists are pretty expensive though. I don't know about Canada

Sometimes paying the extra money for the specialist, in the long run, ends up being less expensive though, because they have more experience with the weird things. This has a "search function" that includes Canada (Ontario, BC, etc.). You would want SAIM (small animal internal medicine), just to see if you have other options near you. http://www.acvim.org/default.aspx

We have put her on Royal Canin Medical--vet recommended.
The vet has stressed the importance of her stool remaining soft, so she is on laxatives, 3 times a day
She does have a health guarantee against congenial disorders not common in her breed. I don't believe this prolapse issue is common in french bulldogs but I could be mistaken. I will be talking to the breeder soon to see what we can arrange.
Thanks for the help so far! If anyone has any more advice on non surgical options to fix the straining we would much appreciate it! might save us a few more trips to the vet
Thanks again,
Esther

[MaxaLisa]

Best of luck, it's a difficult situation.

[Benson29]

Hi, what was the outcome of your puppy? My 10 week old French Bulldog has prolapsed 3 times and I worried this is going to keep happening. Any tips would be gratefully received! X

[2dogs&acat]

I also would go to a university vet hospital and maybe set up a gofund me account. There are a lot of animals lovers who might contribute. Best of luck.