Metronidazole Round 3

Choya got the runs again. Round 3. And the culprit is a clostridium overgrowth. Again. Within two months of the previous bout, and a week of tapering off the last bits of metronidazole. WTF. She has gut dysbiosis, so it isn't strong enough to bear any bit of clostridium overgrowth. If I don't heal the gut and make it resilient enough, she's not going to be able to fully heal.

I was glad that I made the call to take Choya to the clinic at 8pm to do a fecal swab and insisted on antibiotics on standby. The fecal swab was absolutely necessary to eliminate a parasitic infection. She is clear for giardiasis, amebiasis, and worms, eggs and other parasites. That fulfilled our socially-responsible obligations to her fwens. 

I know Choya too well, so I recognize this kind of diarrhea. Once it begins, it wouldn't stop. This is not something ProKolin/ProMax or psyllium husk can heal. She didn't have much appetite and she was in pain with terrible tummy spasms. Purging 6x in 18 hours, and in this worrying manner made me give her the first light dose of metronidazole at 2am. It worked. That gave her some rest and sleep.

She didn't have the runs the next morning. That 9am walk was to decompress. She also ate a small meal. I'm almost glad that it didn't turn into hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. Most things don't faze me. Except Choya. Seeing her in pain made my heart break. 

I was desperately trying to trace back what the triggers could be. Too much cheese... a too-rich dehydrated surf clam and white bait? A blade of grass that she licked that held terrible bacteria? Thunderstorms? Where did I go wrong? When this dog also has chronic IBD, stress and anxiety can also cause a clostridium boom. The tapering off from the previous round was done with just tiny sprinkles; they wouldn't have had this effect of allowing clostridium overgrowth this fast within a week. I need to be stricter with food, and also not allow her to lick or sniff that much. Boring is the word.  

I had a little cry, and got on with it. I'm going to throw everything in the arsenal to sort out her gut dysbiosis. No more complacency. I have never once felt resentful for this choice to stay in town to be with Choya. I'm glad I'm around to handle this one. The husband wouldn't be able to do so. This is crunch time at work for him, and I'd rather him focus on that. I have no issues to be the one to manage the dog. She's Momma's girl.

All right. Here we go again.