IBD dogs

[history-fan]

 I think we are starting down this path and  am open to any information. We are waiting results of allergy testing. She started HP food dry and a wet food mix 6 weeks ago. Still having tummy issues, gassy, lack appetite, little energy. She’s lost 10 pounds since mid April, now at 53 pounds. Not very interested in food. I’m taking her to a new vet tomorrow for second opinion. I have no experience with IBD and have read the pamphlet the vet gave and am looking online for info but was wondering if anyone has experience and could offer advice. Thanks.

[Selkie]

I have a 12 year old dog with IBD who is doing very well. He was diagnosed several years ago.

His symptoms were lack of appetite, weight loss, horrible runny/liquid stools, dull coat, just general depression and acting blah. It took several weeks to get the correct diagnosis, but once we started him on HP food, he rapidly improved - enthusiasm for eating returned, he quickly put on weight, his stools became normal again, his coat got glossy, and he was back to his normal bouncy, goofy personality. 

He hasn't needed steroids, but some dogs with IBD do.

HP food is pretty boring, so we mix it up at every meal to keep him interested. We have three different kinds and flavors of HP dry food and two wet foods. Royal Canin and Purina Pro Plan are the brands. We also use a lot of healthy toppers, like green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, blueberries, squash, some raw nuts and seeds (walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds). There are a couple brands of treats (V-Dog and Wild Earth)that he can tolerate and absolutely loves. It took some trial and error to figure out which foods he does well on.

Good luck with your pup. I hope she feels better very soon! Let me know if you have questions about anything else and I will try to help.

 

 

 

[EKS]

Our dog had the symptoms of IBD, though I don't know what he was actually diagnosed with.  We switched him to a prescription kibble for digestive issues (after trying everything else the vet could think of) and within 24 hours he was cured.  It was a stunning change.

[history-fan]

I got the allergy test results she is allergic to chicken, turkey, peanuts, rice and soy and in the environment 3 different mites, 2 kinds of dust, and one of which is found in dry dog food. I went to the vet to get different hydrolyzed wet food without these ingredients and she ate about 1 cup but I did give her some entyce about 5 hours earlier. This vet is thinking that she may need to be on just a wet dog food HP diet. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am one year into the IBD diagnosis. It is a roller coaster. One thing I have learned is that each dog is going to experience IBD differently. There are symptoms they have in common but the severity of those symptoms as well as the treatment will be unique. Some can tolerate one brand of food whereas others cannot. Some require daily meds and others are stable on the HP diet alone.

My guy is 2.5 years old and began showing symptoms before he turned a year. My vet didn't believe me and told me it was either all in my head or my fault for the way I was feeding him. He was 40 pounds at 18 months - down from 47# at 9 months - he should have been closer to 60#. His symptoms were many of those Selkie listed: lack of appetite, failure to thrive, horrible runny stools tinged with blood, dull and thinning coat. He was anxious and reactive. He was also a singleton and a cryptorchid; not IBD related but part of his health and social history. The vet told me I should consider putting him down. I had just lost my 15 yo dog and I was not going to lose my new dog as well. I switched vets and am so glad I did.

The new vet took one look at him and said she was fairly certain he had IBD but chose to run multiple tests including those for EPI, the IBD biopsies, bloodwork, and a gut microbiome. The tests came back positive for IBD and multiple food (beef, peanut butter, wheat, dairy) and environmental (undetermined but the rashes and infections on his belly are seasonal) allergies.

We put him on Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein canned and kibble. He began to gain weight immediately although his stool issues remained. He was then put on Tylosin and prednisone. It took months for him to put on enough weight to be considered 'normal'. His coat has almost grown back in but is shiny and healthy looking. He is frequently on antibiotics for the rash and then subsequent probiotics. He also suffers from yeast infections in his ears which the vet tells us is common for IBD dogs so we have an open script for that medication.

He is still finicky and does not eat the extras that Selkie's dog does. He has to have his steroid or he has no appetite/inappetence. There are days he'll eat the RCHP if I add some warm water and stir it up. Other days, he won't eat unless I pulverize or mash the canned food. He does not tolerate things like Milk Bones or other processed treats, Whimzees or other dental chews, or things like Pup Cups from DQ or Starbucks.

 

Short list of what he can eat so far:

RCHP canned

RCHP Kibble

Venison (dehydrated) for training treats

A turkey, cranberry, sweet potato jerky from Aldis (go figure with this one but I am happy he can tolerate it)

I introduced some mackerel to his diet in the hope it will help his coat. I give him about 1 TBS every couple of days and so far his stool looks okay.

 

Depending on the size of your dog and whatever secondary ailments it has, plan on creating a special line item in your budget. My dog's care is expensive.  His current food and medications run between $250-500 month; depending on those dratted secondary infections and whether or not I have to purchase the RCHP kibble. We also have two vets: a local vet for things like nail trims, ear infections, and rash care and the specialist in a nearby city for the IBD care. They email each other so both are always up to date on his care and current medications. I am thrilled with this as it saves time whenever I take him in.

We recently (3 weeks ago) brought a new dog (young female) into our home. It has been a trial. There are days my IBD dog doesn't want to eat or he wants her food. It is a lot of work maintaining two dogs with two different diets. Much more difficult than I anticipated and I admit there are days it is overwhelming and I question if it was the right decision.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Granny_Weatherwax

[history-fan]

@Selkie

@EKS

@Granny_Weatherwax

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. My dog is a 6 yo Redbone Coonhound that we rescued 5 years ago.  We started the HP food in mid April she was off and on eating for several weeks and we gave her famotidine, probiotic paste and entyce if not eating. She also got several injections and subq fluids from the vet. Then one day she started eating and 4 weeks later one day just stopped again. 
Tonight I picked up Royal Canin Hp wet food.  I am learning the dog food companies can hydrolyze proteins but not rice or soy so even some of the hydrolyzed foods won’t work if they have rice or soy. The vet tech also said to bring in all the other Royal Canin and Hills prescription food for credit because those 2 companies offer refunds. Thought I would pass that info on.

I’m interested to see what this new/other vet has to say tomorrow.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Also - with the RCHP, my dog's poop looks and smells very similar to what comes out of the can. Just an interesting ?? factoid

[Pawz4me]

I had an IBD cat. We never confirmed via biopsy. The vet got as far as a barium xray and said he'd seen enough to convince him to give her the diagnosis. We lucked out and found an OTC food she did well on (Purina One sensitive skin/stomach kibble) so we absolutely stuck with that. She did need occasional steroid injections, but usually no more than every few months. Stress seemed to also be a big trigger for her, so we kept her life as calm as possible. The vet told me when he diagnosed her that there was a high likelihood that she'd develop intestinal lymphoma. Apparently the incidence of that in cats with IBD is very high, but I don't know if the same is true of dogs. She did develop it, but she was (IIRC) around 12 or 13 when it was diagnosed. She had another 18-24 months of quality life only needing the occasional steroid injection. Overall once we got through the initial diagnosis and figuring out what worked for her she lived a relatively normal life w/o too much disruption.

Good luck at the new vet.

[Kanin]

I recently found a new, seemingly clean pet food brand. They have cats (Feline Natural) and dogs (K9 Natural).

Something that bothered my cat was all the "gums" they put in pet food - guar gum, xanthan gum, etc. 

K9 Natural has no gums, and Rawz has no gums. Maybe it that would help. They also have a lot of different meats - lamb, lamb + salmon, beef, hoki + beef (what's hoki?).

[history-fan]

Just came back from second opinion vet. They seem to think it is more food allergy than IBD, but the allergy can be part or lead to IBD.

Recommended a GI panel which I may do next week. They also don’t give the allergy blood test any credit or worthiness, that  I need do food elimination diet with my dog. So I will stay with the new food I picked up last night and keep notes and go from there

I should be used to dealing with food allergies with a house of people with them it is funny we now have a dog  food allergies.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I may come back asking for more food suggestions.

[Pawz4me]

22 minutes ago, history-fan said:

They also don’t give the allergy blood test any credit or worthiness, that  I need do food elimination diet with my dog. So I will stay with the new food I picked up last night and keep notes and go from there

 

FWIW--I had an allergy blood test done on a dog about twenty or so years ago. My vet, who I highly trusted, recommended it. I'd read there were doubts then about the food portion, but the vet said they'd had very good results with the blood panel. After we got the results we removed the foods that were identified as allergens and started desensitization shots for the environmental allergens. The dog's response was almost miraculous. He went from a constantly infected, itchy mess with lots of almost completely bald batches to a vibrantly healthy dog within a few months.

[cintinative]

4 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

FWIW--I had an allergy blood test done on a dog about twenty or so years ago. My vet, who I highly trusted, recommended it. I'd read there were doubts then about the food portion, but the vet said they'd had very good results with the blood panel. After we got the results we removed the foods that were identified as allergens and started desensitization shots for the environmental allergens. The dog's response was almost miraculous. He went from a constantly infected, itchy mess with lots of almost completely bald batches to a vibrantly healthy dog within a few months.

Could you PM me more about the desensitization shots? My brother's maltipoo has the same issue and they have tried seemingly everything.

[Pawz4me]

Just now, cintinative said:

Could you PM me more about the desensitization shots? My brother's maltipoo has the same issue and they have tried seemingly everything.

I'll PM you tomorrow. But it really has been a long time, IDK what, if anything, has changed. But I'll get in touch tomorrow and tell you what I know.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

That's some good news. I hope it is just allergies and not IBD.

I laugh at myself because I have celiac and now have a dog with food issues. Between the two of us, we can't eat anything. lol

[history-fan]

This is really a roller coaster. She ate some food yesterday about 1 1/2 cups total and this morning ate 3/4 cup then wouldn’t eat rest of day. Gave entyce tonight and still won’t eat. I will call vet tomorrow.  According to the vet she is suppose to eat 3 3/4 cans of food each day.  

[Pawz4me]

Cups? Cans? Are you feeding dry and canned? Or by cups do you mean parts of cans? I'd figure out how many calories per day the vet is saying she needs and work from that. If the calorie info isn't on the bag or can check the manufacturer's website or email them. IME most respond quickly to questions like that. Dry food is much more calorie dense than canned.

[history-fan]

5 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Cups? Cans? Are you feeding dry and canned? Or by cups do you mean parts of cans? I'd figure out how many calories per day the vet is saying she needs and work from that. If the calorie info isn't on the bag or can check the manufacturer's website or email them. IME most respond quickly to questions like that. Dry food is much more calorie dense than canned.

I have been offering her canned dog food and she will only eat small amounts of it like 1/2-1 cup. Each can has about 2 cups in it and according to the vet she should be eating 3 3/4 cans  so about 8-9 cups a day.

She refused food last night would only eat the treat the vet sent home with us. Even with entyce wouldn’t eat and won’t even look at food today. So I have a call in to the vet.

[history-fan]

The vet recommended to try feeding her browned ground beef since she is refusing all food even with entyce. So did that and she was waiting for me to set the dish down and ate. This is the second day and she won’t eat it cold only warm, lol. I was able to hide her meds in them so for now yay. I tried adding kibble to it and she walked away took kibble out and she ate it. I’ll try adding carrots or veg to it and see what happens.

 

[history-fan]

We took her to vet she was sick last night. They found a mass and fluid in abdomen and will do surgery in the next hour or two. We are all sad and scared.

[Selkie]

21 minutes ago, history-fan said:

We took her to vet she was sick last night. They found a mass and fluid in abdomen and will do surgery in the next hour or two. We are all sad and scared.

Oh no, I’m so sorry. You’ve been taking such wonderful care of her, and have been so determined to figure out what is wrong. I hope the surgery goes well and they are able to fix whatever it is. Please keep us updated.

[Pawz4me]

Thinking of you. Please update when you can.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am so sorry for this turn of events. Please keep us updated.

Sending supportive and encouraging thoughts for you and your pup.

[history-fan]

Dixie Belle crossed the Rainbow Bridge Friday night. She was only 7 years old.

[Pawz4me]

I'm so sorry. 😞 

[KSera]

I’m so sorry. It’s always so hard to lose a pet, and feels even harder when it’s unexpectedly early.

[Kanin]

Oh, I'm so sorry. I lost my cat about a month ago and it just about ripped my heart out. Dixie Belle is beautiful. I love the purple harness. She was obviously so loved ❤️ 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am so sorry for your loss. My heart is aching for you. She was beautiful.

Sending so many gentle hugs 

[Selkie]

(((history-fan))) I've been thinking of you the past few days and am so sorry to hear this. What a beautiful, sweet girl.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I am so sorry for your loss.  {{history-fan}}

[history-fan]

Thanks everyone.

The photo was taken 6 hours before we took her to the final vet. 

Losing a pet is so hard but having them in your life is so great.🐶

 

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, history-fan said:

Thanks everyone.

The photo was taken 6 hours before we took her to the final vet. 

Losing a pet is so hard but having them in your life is so great.🐶

 

Agreed.  I am so sorry your lost your sweet Dixie girl.  She was adorable.

[history-fan]

I forgot to update here. Since you all were so nice with what we went through with Dixie Belle I thought I would introduce you to Delta Blue. We got her 4 weeks ago she is now 12 weeks old. She is a Redbone Coonhound. 

[Pawz4me]

Those ears! I want to touch them!

[history-fan]

They are so soft  like velvet