[Jack B]

Our terrier mix has been having problems the past 2 years with his poop and we are goign crazy figuring out what to do. One day about 2 years ago we noticed some blood and mucous in his poop. We had him checked out and the Vets found nothing wrong. We can;t afford to do all the testing they want us to do, so we switched his good to a Rabbit based food and it cleared up after about 3 weeks. Then about a year later he started having blood again and his poop is very soft and sometimes mostly liquidy. He also strains to go and goes sometimes 4-6 times in one walk. We did a allergy test where you send out a piece of rope that they chew and get saliva on and the results said he was allergic to a few things, but I dont know if those tests are even accurate. We took him again to the vet and he put his on a prescription food with chicken with was supposed to be easy to digest. His poop started coming out in small nuggets but he was still straining and still had some blood. After 3 weeks we went back to his Rabbit based food and things didn’t get better. His poop get much looser and is almost always mostly liquidy and still has some blood. So what do we do now? Try a different food? What would you recommend? SHould we try a raw diet? Totally different protein souce? Why did the rabbit based food work for a while and now no? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

“We can’t afford to do all the testing they want us to do”

If it was my dog, I would find a way. It will be cheaper than trying different diets and all kinds of gobbledygook that doesn’t work.
When my dog needed the care of a specialist I gave up cable tv and eating out, that was 3 years ago and I don’t miss it a bit. My dog is better now.
How do you think amateurs on the internet that have not examined your dog are going to help you?
BTW: Those mail in saliva food intolerance tests tend to be inaccurate…..as you have found out.
The veterinarian may want to do a GI workup, now that should tell you something. Best of luck.

[theBCnut]

Your dog probably has IBS or IBD and it is triggered by food sensitivities. Your dog may have become sensitive to something in the rabbit food, because food sensitivities change over time. Talk to your vet about doing an elimination diet and have him explain, in detail, what you need to do to do it properly. The tests the vet wants to do would probably give you a definitive diagnosis, but you would probably still have to do an elimination diet to treat the problem. The longer you let this go, the more permanent damage is being done to the intestines, so get with your vet as soon as you can.

[Jack B]

The Vet suggested Royal Canin Allegenic Hydrolized Chicken Diet and that did nothing but make him strain more to go. The Vet doesn’t seem to know what to do with him. What exactly is an “elimination diet”? We actually went to a Vet clinic that specialized in Allergies. We are not “letting this go”…we are trying different things but you have to give each diet change at least a month to see what’s happening.

Just to add to my first post, the allergy/saliva test showed sensitivities to whitefish, turkey, soy and wheat. The rabbit food we were giving him was Natural Instinct Limited Ingredients Rabbit Formula. Recently we tried taking him off his normal dry food and feeding him canned chicken, with some plain yogurt, canned pumpkin and rice. We were hoping this would firm up his stool, but it’s not working too good. Should we keep him on this chicken, rice, pumkin, yogurt mix for a while?

[Susan]

Hi, you need to find a new vet, one that knows about IBD…. some vets are useless when it comes to SIBO, EPI & IBD, was your dog put on Metronidazole for 3 weeks?? Metronidazole is an antibiotic for the Stomach & Bowel…Or Tylan Powder get some Tylan Powder & give 1/8 teaspoon with food once a day. Tylan Powder taste awful so I put 1/8th teaspoon in those empty capsules & make Tylan capsules up, it can turn dogs off their food
when just added to their meal, it taste very bitter, Tylan Powder makes poos nice & firm..
Joined this Face Book group “Dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disorder” they will help you where to buy the Tylan powder some people give the Tylan twice a day, vet said to start with 1/8 teaspoon with breakfast or dinner once a day….find a new kibble with limited ingredients, have you tried, “California Natural” Lamb & Rice it has just 4 ingredients, Lamb, Brown Rice, White Rice, Sunflower Oil.. no peas no potatoes my boy cant eat potatoes…another thing I had too do was lower the fat% the California Natural fat is 11%min Protein is 21%min fiber is 2.5%min http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1211
Boiled rice can irritate the bowel, Pumkin can make poos sloppy as its high in fiber.
I boil Quinoa instead as its gluten free… I buy extra lean beef grounded mince for humans, I bake mini meat loaves with blended broccoli, celery & carrot not much I add 2 spoons of the blended veggies to 1 kilo (2lb) mince mix thru, no egg then I add the cooled Quinoa with the beef mince & veggie mix about 1/4 – 1/2 cup boiled quinoa…. I make little rissole as treats & mini meat loaves….add less of everything then after a week when poos are firm add more of the veggie mix make sure you blend any raw veggies in a blender or mini processor..dogs cant digest veggies especially raw veggies..

I wouldn’t feed raw at this time, until you work out what’s wrong..
I went thru a Naturopath 2 months ago to start a raw diet & I had to add Digestive Enzymes with every meal so his poos were firm & there was no jelly mucus, diarrhea or gurgling rumbling bowel noises & he didn’t feel sick…. raw can make some dogs feel sick..
I also had to add a live Probiotic to help firm up the poo Patch wasn’t allowed no bone or organ meat until we fixed his stomach & bowel…I cook the raw diet now (meat loaf) as my boy was regurgitating the raw meal 3 hours later, water kept coming up into mouth…

Start again you will either need the Metronidazole or Tylan powder & a limited ingredient diet no treats nothing except his meals….
the only way a vet or IMS will know what is wrong is to do a Endoscope & biopsies or to be cut open & biopsies taken from the small & large bowel, you can have Colonoscopy like humans have but I think they can not get to the small bowel that’s way the Endoscope is the best to have done…..a lot of people in the Dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disorder Face Book group just do the Endoscope & Biopsies that’s what I had done…..shop around as prices very…….

[Jack B]

Thanks Susan.

We were going to try this food from The Honest Kitchen. Do you think this would be good?
Dehydrated Grain Free Beef

Will talk to vet about Metronidazole and where can I get the Tylan powder from?

[Jack B]

Also it is OK to give both the 2 antibiotics at the same time? Both Tylan and Metronidazole?

thanks

[Susan]

Hi Jack, sounds like your boy has Colitis, yes you can take the Metronidazole & Tylan together but I did the Metronidazole for the 2-3 weeks then when finished, saw how Patch went in the poo department then I started the Tylan when poos went sloppy again…. vets do prescribe the 2 together, its normally when they’re pooing water (Diarrhea) for weeks….. With The Honest Kitchen try the “Zeal” its has less fat 8.50% a few dogs with IBD go good on the THK Zeal..

[Author]

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