Hello, my experience with my three-year-old German shepherd who has IBD and PLE (Protein Losing Entropy), and we’ve been fighting this horrific autoimmune disease for over three years. We are still fighting this disease. His chronic and intermittent diarrhea has not stopped since we got him at five months old. His current weight is 43 pounds, but he should weigh around 85 pounds. He has a considerable appetite in which he gets five to six cups of food five times a day. We had x-ray’s, ultrasound, blood tests (no EPI), and endoscopy. The endoscopy biopsies of the stomach and duodenum examination showed that he has segmental lymphoplasmacytic gastritis. In other words, moderate lymphoplasmacytic and eosinophilic duodenitis with mild lymphangiectasia. Unfortunately, this year the diagnosis was changed to severe IBD along with PLE. We tried several grain-free diets over the past three and half years (i.e., Fromm, Taste of Wild, Wellness, Acana, Honest Kitchen, K-9 Natural, and Ziwi Peak), including the prescription diet Royal Canin Hydrolized Protein kibble as well as the formulated home-cooked diet from Just Food For Dogs. We tried antibiotics, Tylan, and Metronidazole. Steroids, Budesonide, and Prednisone. We give him bimonthly B-12 shots since his Albumin levels are low. We’ve attempted herbs under guidance of a holistic vet: slippery elm, psyllium seed husks, chamomile flowers, chia seeds, fennel seed, rosemary leaf, marshmallow root, dandelion root, burdock root, ginger root, ox bile, apple cider vinegar, Plantain, Aloe Vera, colostrum, Tumeric, and pumpkin as well as digestive enzymes, pre-biotics, and probiotics. We tried AnimalBiome Gut Restore supplements. We tried stem cell therapy, which failed because the vet could not extract any fat. My dog has 0% fat as well as 0% muscle. His organs are slowly deteriorating from this horrific disease. We currently have him on a home-cooked diet recommended by a holistic nutritional veterinarian along with supplements and bi-monthly B-12 injections. But to no avail, he still has chronic diarrhea daily and no weight gain. We’ve tried everything medical, scientifically, and holistically. The only hope we have is to try stem-cell therapy again if he can gain fifteen pounds. I genuinely believe that stem cell therapy is the best solution for my dog. Even though it was a little late for my dog to have stem cell therapy because of a lack of knowledge from several of my local vets, I still have a little hope. I will add CLA to his cooked food since this is the only supplement I have not tried that Christi G. recommended; what do I have to lose. I pray for my boy every day to gain 10-15 pounds so that he can get the life-saving stem cell treatment again in Southern California. He is such a happy, tail wagging, playful, energetic, and beautiful boy; I cannot give up on him like the vets in Nevada, they said to euthanize him. I won’t until he stops thriving.
