Need advice.
I'm dealing with new-to-me vets because I have recently moved, leaving a very trusted and beloved vet behind.
Todd has been unwell twice over the past two weeks -- mainly he has been lethargic and off his food. There have been some mustard-yellow stools and some diarrhea. This lasted for about 4 or 5 days followed by some Very Large Loose Poops and then normal behaviour and output for about 4 days. Since Saturday evening, he has been lethargic and off his food again.
Took him to the vet yesterday, who did a stool sample, and she found campylobacter spirochetes in it. She prescribed Erythromycin.
I'm concerned about the Erythromycin causing further stomach upset, and I really want Todd eating food with it. I have to give the pills to him three times a day.
Here's the rub. The vets in this office really have a thing about allergies. My boy has seasonal allergies every summer, and he is beginning to show signs of the skin problems which result from these allergies. There is a possibility that he has started to develop food allergies as well, but we are not clear as to whether or not any particular foods really are problematic.
My problem: My vet's instructions are to allow him to eat his usual lamb and rice kibble as well as boiled white rice. Period. Nothing else. Absolutely no other proteins. I am not sure how much of this is because of his intestinal problems and how much is her concern about possible allergies.
Todd is refusing to eat his kibble. I have been "cheating" and giving him a bit of very mild cheese (dairy, I know!) when I give him his pills, both because I want him to eat SOMETHING with these pills and because I want to appease him for having a pill rammed down his throat. He is happy to eat this bit of cheese (Laughing Cow low-fat... it's MY cheese!).
Any advice? I'd really like to ignore the alleged allergy issue for the moment and focus on the intestinal one... I'll take any advice or references I can get, sift through it all, and then speak again to the vets at this clinic.
In the meantime, I guess I'd better go make some rice...
Thanks.