[Fanette R]

Hello,

I’m from France, I’m very glad to know English because I couldn’t have find much info in french about dogs with IBD, and about nutrition in general!
I really need your advices about what kind of food I should feed my dog with..

Furby was diagnosted with IBD in August, and the past year he also had 2 pancreatitis (he hasn’t got any since april though).
I adopted him almost 8 years ago now, he was about 3 years old. Always had a sensitive stomach, so he has been on hypoallergenic, grain free dry food for a few years now (protein: lamb).

Everything was going great but last year has been a nightmare, for him and for my partner and I. He had to go through different kind of surgeries (hernia, and few months after a tumor removed), and I think the medecine he got for those made his stomach sick. He never had any diarrhea or anything, and from one day to the other, the vets told me he had IBD. Right after that , he did have some diahrrea and blood, the vets put him into strong medicines (cortisone and immunosuppressives.. he is still on that, which means he has been on that since august which I’m not really ok with because it affects him, he has been getting more disease since then. My partner and I are slowing taking those out of his system, plus he doesn’t have much diarrhez anymore, and no blood at all).

Anyway, we haven’t been able to find him the right food. I feel like once we’ve found what works with him, his health would be better.. Right now he’s having horse’s meat, which seems to work, but it’s wet food so it gives him diarrhea.. The vets want me to try anallergenic from Royal Canin Veterinary, but the composition seems so wrong to me, what do you think? you can have a look here :
https://www.viovet.co.uk/Royal_Canin_Canine_Veterinary_Clinical_Diets_Anallergenic_Dog_Food/c6829/
Plus, he has suffered from pancreatitis and those kibbles have a lot of fat in them, so I’m not sure this would be good for him.

Is there anything you can suggest?
I’ve thought of kangaroo, ’cause I know that with sensitive stomachs, you should go for protein that the dog isn’t used to. But the only one I’ve found are “kangaroo and peas” and I’m scared that peas would made him have more gaz
Or maybe rabbit? Venison?

As you can tell.. I need help 🙂
My partner and I feel very lost and alone, no one really understands around us so it has been a difficult year..
Thanks in advance!
Fanette

[anonymous]

More Nonsense from Holistic Vets about Commercial Therapeutic Diets

Please read the above article and others on that blog.
Royal Canin is a good company, please work closely with your vet for best results.
There is a lot of misinformation on the internet.
Beware of homeopathic sites and miracle cures, you can make things much worse.

[Fanette R]

Hello,

Thanks for the answer!
I wasn’t saying Royal Canin was a bad brand, I was just sceptical about the composition for this specific dry food, “anallergenic”, especially because my dog also had pancreatitis and that there is a lot of fat in this dry food.
But yes, for sure I’m working on it with my vet very closely, I realized it might not have been clear on my message, sorry about that! I’m very close to my vet actually, I was just looking for advices with food, but never against my vet’s opinion 🙂

Thank you for the link you sent me, I’ll check that out! This is very true that you can read everything and anything on the internet, that’s also why I wanted to ask here and see what answers I’ll get 🙂

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

I think Earthborn’s Venture line has a couple novel protein sources that are potato and pea free. Are you trying to stay grain free? I’ve heard whitefish based foods have helped many dogs with IBD and some are very low fat. Is he a large dog?

[Fanette R]

Hi Taylor,

Furby has been on a grain free diet since 2012 so I thought it might be best for him to stay on this because I don’t how his body would react if I put back grain on his diet, but I’m not against the idea of putting grains back either. I just want to find the best food for him, it’s tricky because he has IBD and he suffered from pancreatitis.

He is a small dog. He’s a mix, he was found on the street so we can’t know for sure, but he looks a lot like a cairn terrier, that’s for sure, just with long and soft hair! (he also has the size of a cairn terrier).

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[anonymous]

Zignature whitefish works well for my dogs, before that they did well on Nutrisca, one has allergies (environmental) and the other one has a sensitive stomach.
I use the kibble as a base, I always add a bit of something and a splash of water.

There is a cairn terrier site you may enjoy https://www.cairntalk.net/

PS: I have heard good things about Pro Plan Focus sensitive skin and stomach salmon

[Fanette R]

Thanks, I will check those two brands out 🙂
And the website too, my dog has such a cairn terrier personnality, it made me in love with this breed 🙂

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

Under the Sun Whitefish is low, at about 11% fat. I think there’s a couple of the Canidae Pure’s that are very low fat, but I can’t recall the protein source. The one I’m thinking of had 8.5% fat but I think was chicken based. Pure Vita has a grain free venison with no peas or potatoes.

[Susan]

Hi Fanette,
I also have a rescue dog Patch he is 9yrs old now, he was diagnosed with with IBD 5yrs ago he was diagnosed thru Biopsies, Patch also has had Pancreatitis when he was eating Royal Canine, Hypoallergenic HP vet diet, the fat was way too high at 19% sometimes these vet just say “here feed this vet diet or feed that vet diet”, and our poor dogs are guinea pigs & the vet see if the vet diet works, great if the vet diet works or vet diet food doesnt help then our poor dog gets worse, no vet diets have ever helped Patches IBD if anything he got worse, “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb dry kibble was the first dry kibble that helped firm Patches poos up & made his itchy skin better, I have to rotate Patches foods now, when he first starts a new foods he seems to go good then after 1-2 months he goes down hill again so I change what I’m feeding him, I have found when you feed Sweet Potato & Potato to dogs with IBD they seem to do better & do firm poos…
Do NOT feed any kibbles or wet canned foods that have Lentils, Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) as these ingredients can irratate the bowel & cause bad WIND/GAS pain… have you tried adding boiled white potato to the wet canned horse food?? this is what I do as Patch can’t eat wet canned foods either especially if it has boiled rice in it the boiled rice irratates his bowel, I boil 1 potato in small pieces & put in a container & keep in the fridge I add about 2 spoons of the mashed potato with 1/2 a canned wet tin food for breakfast, I also buy canned Australian Tuna in Spring Water add boiled Potato for lunch…
Look for kibbles that have limited ingredients & have Sweet potato or Potato there’s “Natural Balance” Sweet Potato & Fish & Sweet Potato & Duck the fat is 10% here’s the Natural Balance site read thru all the formula’s as some fomula’s have pea protein.. https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/special-category-limited-ingredient-diets
Have you jpined any Canine IBD Groups? there’s IBDOGS” on Yahoo & theres a few Canine IBD groups on face book the people in these groups are going thru the same as you & your dog… Just make sure when you do try something new only give 1 new thing at 1 time over a 1-2 week period so if it doesn’t agree with Furby you will know what is causing the problem, just becare as you have reduced Furbys medications & gotten so far you can fed him a kibble that will cause an IBD flare & he’ll be back on high doses of steriods again, Good Luck & keep us informed with what’s happening with Furby please try the boiled Potato with his horse meat, it will firm up his poo’s..

[Fanette R]

Thanks you so much for all those info Susan, it really helps.
We have felt very lost and alone since Furby got diagnosed, everything is getting so confusing. I’ll for sure check ou the IBD groups you’re talking about!

Ok so I’m definitely not gonna put him on the Royal Canin diet. I was very concerned already, when my vet said “well, those kibbles are actually high in fat so, because furby suffered from pancreatitis in the past, we should do a blood test right now and one in 3 weeks to see if it is ok for him”… This is again something that would cost me a lot of money and that would be painful for Furby…

Ok so I’ve just spent an hour looking through a few brands.
I was actually considering “Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain” ’cause I heard good things for dogs with IBD. I just have two concerns, maybe you can help me out with this.
1. I see there is lentils il the ingredients, but you said I should stay away from lentils for Furby, right?
2. I’m seeing that the protein for those kibbles are “lamb”. Furby was on frain free, lamb hypoallergenic protein for 3 years, we just took him out of it a few months ago, as he got diagnoste for IBD. I must say I’m not sure that this protein affected him and caused him IBD because he got IBD 3 years after starting those kibbles, but I’m still wondering if I shouldn’t go maybe for another protein?

Beside Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain, I’ve found this :
– California Natural : Herring & Sweet Potaoe recipe : http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/1201
– Natural Balance Limited Ingredients :
Sweet Potatoe & Bison : https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/dry/limited-ingredient-diets/sweet-potato-and-bison
Sweet Potatoe & Fish : https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/dry/limited-ingredient-diets/sweet-potato-and-fish
Sweet Potatoe & Venison : https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/dry/limited-ingredient-diets/sweet-potato-and-venison
– The Honest Kitchen : Limited Ingredient Turkey & Parsnip : https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/marvel

What do you think of those? Is there one that could feet better a dog with IBD?
Also, Is that ok if, in the natural balance recipes, sweet potatoe is the first ingredient? I always heard that meat should be the first ingredient.

Hopefully you can help me out a little bit more 🙂
And no I haven’t tried boiled potato with Furby’s wet food, I’ll try that and see if it helps! Thanks!

[Fanette R]

I was also thinking of maybe Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Canine Formula, I didn’t mention it on my previous message. But, on their website they that there is lentils in it (so does Sierra Mountain)
https://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/dog-formulas/pacific-stream-canine-formula-with-smoked-salmon/

[anonymous]

“Ok so I’m definitely not gonna put him on the Royal Canin diet”.
That’s unfortunate.
Prescription food/therapeutic diet would be the best choice, at least till your dog is stable (imo)

Lentils are an excellent source of protein (btw)
Potatoes are a cheap starchy filler and many kibbles are loaded with them.

Good luck, do what you think is best. Personally, I would go by my veterinarian’s recommendations.

[Fanette R]

I’m actually not going against my vet’s recommendations.
It is written on the information of the “Royal Vanin Analergenic”, that it is not recommended for dogs who suffered from pancreatitis. My vet suggested me to do it anyway and do blood test to make sure he is fine. But she also mentioned that it was just one of our options, and that we could first try other proteins and see how he does. We haven’t tried venison, we haven’t tried turkey, fish, bison etc.. so she said that there is other options to explore before going into the “hydrolyzed food”, that is very extreme.

I’m not sure yet what I will choose, that’s why I send here a list of food that I thought about, to hear people’s opinions on it, and I would definitely let me vet know before doing anything, even if we talk a lot about and that she trusts me. I actually know a lot about canine nutrition, back when I was in Canada I had a diploma for it. But with IMBD, it’s very tricky, but I’m looking at every composition very carefully, like I always did anyway.
I do know about the issue of potato in dog food, but in some of them the amound is perfectly fine.

Yeah Furby is doing better than he was in august, definitely, that’s why we are slowly decreasing his medication (again, with my vet’s approval, plus she is doing a check up on Furby every other week to make sure everything is fine). His stomach is going very fine, still a little bit sensitive but my vet says that it’s really nothing. The only issue I have know is diarrhea, but I’m pretty sure it’s because of the wet food. Once I gave him horse’s meat from a grocery shop (I asked my vet first of course), and next day, no diarrhea. So we hope that would go away once we put him back on kibbles.

I’m more and more thinking of going for Taste of the wild, probably the pacific stream car they say it’s made for sensitive dogs, plus the composition is very good for Furby. It’s 15% fat, but I think it should be fine. I’ll ask my vet what she thinks, but if you have suggestions, comments, anything to help me out, let me know 🙂

[cynthia w]

hi,

im new to the forums and accidentally found y’all yesterday researching.

let me give you some history regarding my dogs.

i have malinois (yes the high energy dogs) i have a young puppy who has had on and off troubles since i have been trying to ween him off of the science diet low-fat gastro food. he just wasnt gaining weight on it. he is very high energy and have realized i will have to feed him more than the other two mals who are just normally “spun out” ))) soooooo, i started with nature’s instinct duck, (i now know that was not a good decision) to mix with the sdlfg food. he just never had a consistent poop. never a blow out poop, just soft and sometimes cow patty looking. then i tried him on the natures variety venison. no one did well on that one. so recently i tried the orijen tundra. i knew this was high protein and fat ratio but i thought i’ll just introduce really slowly, like turtle slow. first off i noticed that his scratching he had had since very young and attributed to detergents, bully sticks and dust mites started to subside. (so definitely wrong on all my guesses) but i also noticed his poop was starting to get softer. i am still not convinced it is not because of the amount i increased his food too from three cups a day fed am/pm to 4.5-5 cups a day fed 4x per day. slowly i started increasing the orijen and weening off the sd. however, i started to see more softer poops. it would be good in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon, but it would be softer (sometimes cow patty) in the evening. i also increased the feed for the other two (both full sisters). everyone started to get softer poops. sometimes very loose. so ok, i’m feeding too much of the rich stuff. but the male actually started straining the more of the orijen i would add to the feed. so i did a 10 day course of metronidazole. somewhere in the 3rd day he stopped straining, so i was pretty sure he had a bacteria overload the rx was helping. he was off the rx for about a week and i’m still feeding the increased orijen and he slowly but sure starts to strain again, no where like it was a few weeks ago, but still i didn’t want to go there again. so i found your knowledge regarding sibo and went out and bought the totw sm food. i also put him on the rx again last night. i’m not feeding the orijen. i went cold turkey, (i know that is bad, but what is worse, the high fat content or starting w the rx)? so his poop this am was really good. he actually didnt poop at 3 am when my husband takes them all out or when i took him out at 7am. he pooped around 9:30am and it was good looking poop. however comma……… i did put my other two females on it and the litter mate had very loose stool this morning. (litter mate food increase fed 3x daily) last night i gave her a propectalin (love that stuff) and no poop at 3am but at about 12pm today, it started good and went soft, really soft. (she had an increase of food about 2 weeks ago) i also gave her the rx as well after soft poop. the older sibling has been on straight orijen for a couple weeks with food increase (fed 2x daily) she would sometimes have half loose stools at night. i first thought this was all due to all the action in the kennels. they are constantly barking at each other. (did i mention they are high drive 😀 😀 😀 ) plus i work them each a few times a day.

i just ordered the tylan powder as well. just wondering if there is anything im missing.

susan….. you seem to have so much experience with sibo do you have any suggestions????? please anyone who has advice, it is truly appreciated.

thanks,
cynthia

[anonymous]

“We haven’t tried venison, we haven’t tried turkey, fish, bison etc.. so she said that there is other options to explore before going into the “hydrolyzed food”, that is very extreme”.

It is not extreme. All commercial foods are subject to cross contamination of ingredients.
Different scenario with prescription foods, they are especially formulated so that cross contamination does not occur, that is part of the reason they cost more.

[Fanette R]

I don’t understand Anon, I told you my vet and I are working together and both decided to find a meat protein for furby before trying anything else, because of his pancreatitis.

If in your last message you’re just talking about prescription’s diet in general, then ok, I see your point. Again I think I’ve never said anything bad about precription’s food, I just said that with furby’s pancreatitis it was a risk. My vet told me the same. She wants to try food where we won’t have to do blood test to him every month.
Prescription’s food aren’t bad, but it depends on each dog too.

With your message I feel like I’m doing something wrong, when really I’m just listening to my vet for that one. We both made this choice for now, to prevent any risk for Furby’s pancreatitis.

And I don’t think that prescription’s food cost much more money than Orijen, or Taste of the Wild. Maybe a few bucks more, but nothing crazy.

And, this is my personal opinion, but I do think that feeding food to a dog with no meat on it, is extreme. And “analergenic”, the prescription food I was talking about in my first message, has no meat in it. I’m not saying that it’s wrong, I can see why sometimes you have to do it, but it is an extreme option. Dog are meant to eat meat, and a lot of it.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[anonymous]

“Dog are meant to eat meat, and a lot of it”.

Not if they are sick. If I were you I would consider consulting a specialist .
I am not a veterinarian or a nutritionist, so I can’t begin to explain it to you.

Best of luck and Happy Holidays.

[cynthia w]

sorry fanette, i think i accidentally posted in your thread. i cant figure out how to delete it. 🙁

[anonymous]

@ cynthia w

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on contact us, then go through the questions until you are able to request to have your post removed, they will usually do so promptly.
Thanks for your participation.
Happy Holidays.

[cynthia w]

thank you anon101 i created a new post after i realized i messed up. Merry Christmas!

[Susan]

Hi Fanette,
the Australian made & Europeon made TOTW Sierra Mountain & Pacifiic Stream does not have Lentils or Garbanzo beans, send an email to TOTW & ask TOTW is the TOTW sold in France like the TOTW made for Australia & has No Chickpeas or Lentils in the TOTW Pacific Stream & in TOTW Sierra Mountain formula’s?? then ask can I have the TOTW formula’s made for Europe.. I have the Australian TOTW formula’s link if you want to see the different TOTW formula’s, when TOTW was changing their formula’s back in 2015 a few of us that are in a face book group called “EPI in dogs” contacted TOTW in America & we told TOTW we have very sick dogs, 1 lady dog had EPI, my boy had IBD & another lady dog had IBS & since putting all our dogs on TOTW Pacific Stream & Sierra Mountain formula’s all our dogs have finally gotten better, (Probably cause these TOTW formula’s have 1 single meat protein, it’s lower in fiber under 4%, uses Potato & Sweet Potatoes, has Probiotics & uses purified water & Kcals per cup are low) we have read all the complaints with the poor dogs in the UK that are eating the new TOTW formula’s most of these dogs have bad Diarrhea from the new ingredients Lentils & Chickpeas, we were told TOTW are adding Garbanzo beans to their Pacific Stream formula’s & Lentils to their Sierra Mountain formula’s, Lentils & Garbanzo beans can cause intestinal stress especially when you have IBD, IBS & EPI, can TOTW please keep the Australian & European TOTW formula’s the same without the added Lentils & Chickpeas??? then TOTW contacted me & said they will be keeping the TOTW formulas the same & they will not change these 2 formula’s that are imported to Australia & European countries…… we were all sooo HAPPY & thanked TOTW for doing this plus I think the TOTW veterinarian Dr’s agreed with us & they knew we were right that Lentils & Chickpeas can cause Intestinal Stress, I’d rather eat potato or sweet potato then eat taste less lentils or chickpeas Lentils give bad wind pain & you have the farts lol
As you know its very hard finding foods that agree with an IBD dog, people that have never had IBD or have never had a dog with IBD don’t understand & think it’s easy just feed a vet diet & the dog will get better, IBD is an awful disease, some ingredients can cause bad wind/gas & dirrahea, all these pet food companies are adding Lentils & Garbanzo beans (Chickpeas) to their pet foods is cause Lentils/chickpeas are high in protein so this puts the protein % up higher so pet food companies are adding & using cheap Lentils & Chickpeas now to their pet foods, when we read the Protein % on a kibble bag it doesnt say meat protein % or plant protein % separately, the protein % & is both meat & plant protein & people see a high protein % & think its all meat protein but it isnt..

“Earthborn Holistic” have a new formula out called Venture, Rabbit Meal & Pumkin, EH write the protein % from peas, meat & pumkin, in Earthborn Holistic Venture Rabbit Meal & Pumkin formula it says Pea Protein-37% Pumkin Protein-18% Rabbit Meal Protein-40% the only problem with Earthborn Holistic Venture formula’s the fiber is very high around 8-9%, have you worked out does Furby do better on less fiber or more fiber in his diet?? my Patch needs less fiber & Lentils & Chickpeas are very high in fiber….
I wouldn’t worry if the protein is low & is under 25% & that the Sweet Potatoes is first ingredient we have sick dogs just finding a kibble that works is a miracle, I’d try the “Natural Balance” Sweet Potato & Bison formula first it has teh least ingredients or there’s the “Californian Natural” Chicken Meal & Rice if you dont want to feed teh Lamb Meal & Rice they both have only 3 ingredients, I’ve read alot of people saying their IBD dog is doing really well eating the Natural Balance LID formula’s, then once Furby is doing well you can slowly start adding more fresh cooked meat to his diet, Patch does best on kibbles that have low Kcals Per cup under 360Kcals per cup when he’s eating a kibble that is higher then 380Kcals per cup & higher in Protein after a few days he starts his whinging, crying & lifts his right paw up for me to rub his pancreas/stomach area so I’ve been only feeding him kibbles now that are under 360Kcals per cup now & under 25% in protein, it’s Summer at the moment in Australian & he always doesnt do too well thru the Summer months cause of his environment allergies…..Patch stopped eating the TOTW Lamb formula when we moved, so I saw that as a sign & he was telling me mum I dont like this TOTW no more, TOTW Pacific Stream & their High Paraire formula’s tested very high in Toxins back in August when all the popular dog foods were tested so maybe thats why Patch stopped eating the TOTW also TOTW have changed something in their Sierra Mountain formula, it smells different & the kibble size is smaller, small kibble is a good thing but something is different & Patch kept eating grass after eating his TOTW, so now Im feeding him the “Nutro Essentials” Lamb & Rice formula at the moment
it has Lamb, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Grounded Sorghum, Chicken Fat, I’d rather be feeding him Nutro Grain free, Lamb, lentils & Sweet Potato formula but I know if I feed the thwe better formula we will be up every night 11pm 1am 3am 5am with him with wind pain, diarrhea & him looking for grass, Kangaroo is a good novel protein low in fat BUT Kangaroo is a very rich meat & all the pet foods companies can’t afford to use Kangaroo so they add Lentils, Chickpeas to up the protein % Zignature does it, Zignature Kangaroo formula is very high in Red & Green lentils, then when people dogs start having Diarrhea people think its the kangaroo meat but its the high about of Lentils or Chickpeas the pet food companies have added to their Kangaroo formula, here in Australia Kangroo is in our supermarket cheap pet foods the same with Horse meat, yrs & yrs ago horses were used in Pet Foods now you dont see horse meat in pet foods anymore a few people who have dogs with IBD use horse meat & their dogs are doing really well but I would try adding a carb as well with the horse meat, Furby mighten get diarrhea the Kangaroo protein might be too high for him to handle….

[Fanette R]

Thank you so much Susan, you are a big help 🙂
You’re vey right, it’s so hard to deal with a dog with IBD, Since Furby got diagnosed with IBD, I’ve never felt that misunderstood by people. My partner and I are trying our best, it’s been 4 months and yes it’s a real struggle and it’s not easy at all to find kibbles that would agree with your dog.

Wow you’re right! I just went on a french website and checked the ingredients for TOTW “Pacific Stream” and “Sierra Mountain” and no lentils in it! Very weird!
The pet store close to my house carries “TOTW”, so I’m gonna get the “Pacific Stream” today and I’ll slowly transition Furby.
I’m thinking a lot about pancreatitis, I’m thinking that maybe it would be ideal for Furby to go into “low fat” diet, so something like Natural Balance does. The thing is I searched online and I found nothing on french’s website to buy those, so I’d have to buy it probably from the States (maybe from the UK, I’ll have to look). Which means it could take a while before coming in France and I really want to take FUrby off the wet food as it probably gives him diarrhea.
So I think I’ll go for TOTW, and later I’ll probably switch him for a low fat diet like Natural Balance. Do you think it’s ok to do that? Unless you think I shouldn’t feed TOTW because of their new formula you’re talking about that made Patch stop eating it? Or do you think it could still be good for dogs with IBD?

[cynthia w]

are peas the same as lentils? “not chickpeas” just “peas”

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by cynthia w.

[anonymous]

“Legumes are plants with seeds in pods. They include beans, peas, lentils, peanuts and soybeans. Legumes have been a major source of protein in the diet for more than 5000 years, according to the University of Minnesota Extension. In addition to protein, legumes are also high in fiber, micronutrients and phytochemicals. Despite the nutritional benefits, western cultures limit the use of legumes in their diets”.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/135846-legumes-list/

Some dogs do well with legumes as an ingredient in kibble. Some don’t.
Some dogs do well with potato laden kibble. Some don’t.
It’s all trial and error. But, if you have a sick dog it is probably best to go with a therapeutic diet (otherwise known as prescription food) as most veterinarians will recommend, at least till the dog is stable.

PS: Loose stools/diarrhea indicate that the current diet does not agree with the dogs, I would switch to a bland diet immediately and see what else the treating veterinarian advises.

[Fanette R]

Yes I totally agree, loose stools/diarrhea indicate that the current diet does not agree my dog. Since I rescued Furby (almost 8 years now) he has been on dry food, and from time to time, more as treats, wet food. Because we had some struggles those past few months because of his IBD, my vet told me to keep him in that wet food for now as he seemed to do well will it. But it worked when I mixed it with dry food, not by itself. So yeah I need to go back to dry food.
Yes IBD is a lot about tests and errors, everyone needs to be aware of that.
But you’re right, I should feed him a bland diet for a few days and let my them know of course.

To go back into this prescription/no prescription diet, I’ve spent hours and hours, days and days, researching informations about IBD (and I mean researches official informations and vet studies). And in all the studies I wrote about IBD, the vets were saying that there were two options with IBD : “hydrolyzed food” (that you can find in some prescription diet) and “novel protein diet, with usually potato or even better sweet potato”, and they mention that you can find very good novel protein diet through commercial brands. None of them have said that a dog needs to go on a prescription diet. I read this very interesting studied about IBD in dogs by a very good vet from the University of California, who study IBD, that said the exact same thing.

Furby has had a sensitive stomach since I got him. I never put him on a prescription diet because most hypoallergenic formula had rice on them, or chicken and furby doesn’t do well with those two. So he was better with a very good hypoallergenic commercial brand.

All I’m saying that for me there is no “prescription diet is better” or “commercial brands are better”. It depends on the dog, that is all.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[anonymous]

Also, the research you mention, even if they are legitimate studies, veterinarians.
They have not examined your dog. They do not know your dog’s history.
Therefore, their opinions do not mean much when it comes to your specific dog.

I have found out the hard way, that it is best to find a vet that you trust and go exactly by his/her recommendations.

BTW: No one is here in a professional capacity. Check the “commenting policy”

[Fanette R]

But I never said that those vets saw my dog, did I ?
I was just mentioning that because I was talking about prescription diet et commercial diets, that’s all. I wasn’t talking about my dog here. Of course I’m not gonna take for granted what I read and will talk to my vet about any little things I would have in mind.

I think I mentioned several times here already now that I have discussed everything with my vet. That all I’m deciding and all I’m mentioning here about my choices, have been discussed with my vet too.
When your dog has those kind of disease, such tricky ones, it is very important to research as much as possible and to ask around to people who had a dog with IBD. And after that, of course, you talk to your vet about what you found. My vet is doing research on her own, I’m doing research on my own, and then we talk about it. It is a tricky, tricky disease, and vets are admitting themselves that don’t have all the answers yet

My vet and I are actually emailing each other every single day. I’m very close to her since the beginning of Furby’s problems and she is doing all she can. Which includes researching and discussing with me.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

I’ve said it before, some people posting replies here fail to realize that others come to sites like this to read about other people’s experiences with what works and doesn’t. Unfortunately, sometimes the examining vet doesn’t always have all of the answers. While it is always a good idea to run things by a vet, they may not always come to the same conclusions others have. If I had only listened to my vets, plural because i changed many times while dealing with this issue, my cat would be dead right now. They all missed what was truly wrong with him and it took me finding someone who had the same issue I had on a forum, and then going to the vet and telling them what I wanted them to prescribe (ended up being metronidazole for this particular issue).

I’m glad you’re finding people with some solutions to both your IBD and pancreatitis issue that your vet is being supportive. both are difficult problems and it helps having support groups you can turn to.

[Fanette R]

Exactly Taylor 🙂
Those are very tricky disease and you need to tak get all the info you can get, and then talk to a vet about it.
I’ve changed vets several times this past year too. Furby actually had a pretty tough year because of vet. Last year, around october, Furby’s was shaking and I could tell his stomach wasn’t ok. I went to my vet, explaining that to me, but because Furby have had back pain, he was sure it was the problem. So he gave him cortisone. Came back because Furby wasn’t ok and kept telling him that I was wondering about his stomach being the problem and he was like “look, see how he react when I touch his back, I’m telling you it’s his back”, he gave him cortisone again.

Then one night he was shaking a lot, I brought him to an emergency vet because I was worried. This vet actually told me straight there were something wrong with his stomach. This vet was very “brutal” with furby (he wasn’t violent or anything, but Furby is a rescued dog and need vets to be gentle with him, otherwise he tries to escape and hurt himself by fighting against the vet). I said to the vet that it should be careful with Furby cause he has back issues, but it still went harsh on him, said nothing was very bad, gave some light stomach medicine and I left.

I came home and furby couldn’t walk properly and was screaming so much. Called the vet and saying that something was very , very wrong. He told me that there were something wrong with me, not with my dog and that I should calm down….
Next day I go to my vet, and straight he is like “oh my god but what’s going on? looks like a very bad hernia” and told me to go straight to a clinic where he could get surgery.
Then we went to that clinic this is were I met my wonderful vet that I kept since then.
He had surgery for his hernia (hernia caused by the other vet…) and then after a few weeks got his first pancreatitis, diagnosed by my new and actual vet.
So… my dog actually had severe stomach pain from the beginning, his back pain wasn’t the cause of the problem.. and by giving him cortisone again and again actually made it worst because Furby doesn’t do well with cortisone (that’s why my vet and I are very careful about the medicine he has now with his IBD), and ended up because of all that with his first pancreatitis.

So, yes sure listen to your vet.. but first of all, find the right vet, and more importantly , a vet who would be open and ready to make researches and ask around, especially when your dog got a tricky disease.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[Fanette R]

Ok, so I’ve spent all day researching some foods that could be good for Furby’s IBD and with low fat.

I have now those 3 products in mind :
– Wellness Simple Natural Grain Free Limited Ingredient Salmo and Potato Recipe
(12% fat) https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food/product-catalog/simple-limited-ingredient-salmon-potato-recipe
– Firstmate Ocean Fish Mean Original Formula (10% fat) https://firstmate.com/product/pacific-ocean-fish-meal-original-formula/
– Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish (10% fat) https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/dry/limited-ingredient-diets/sweet-potato-and-fish

They all have great ingredients and reviews for dogs with stomach issues and diarrhea.
I know that a dry food can be considered as low fat when the fat is 12% or under, but do you think it’s better that I go for 10% fat instead of 12% ?
I was actually thinking of going for 12% fat, at least at first, so Wellness, just because Furby has lost weight when he first got diagnosed for IBD and I’m scared that with only 10% fat we won’t be able to gain back his weight (fortunately he already got back most of it). What do you think ? Of course I’ll ask my vet about it, but wanted to know your thoughts on this too 🙂

Thanks so much everyone for your help!! It makes me feel better and less alone with this disease!

[Susan]

Hi Cythnia,
I just seen your post, Yes the Tylan will probably help keep the bad bacteria at bay, make sure you go to chemist & buy the empty capsule to put the Tylan powder in capsules as the Tylan powder taste awful, Tylan powder is very bitter if you go on You Tube there’s videos how to put the Tylan Powder into the capsules, you get a shoe box make small holes to hold the big end of the open capsule, then I had a cake icing piping end & it had a small funnel so I put the little funnel into the big end of the 1/2 capsule & put the 1/8 a spoon of Tylan powder into the capsule its fiddly & wear gloves I got a bad headache after making a few capsules up with the Tylan powder, start with only 1/8 a teaspoon of the tylan powder you dont need much of the tylan powder & just give 1 /8 of the Tylan powder in a capsule with breakfast & the same with his dinner…….

Are you on face book join the “Exocrine Pancreactic Insufficiency In Dogs” group, lots of really good help in that group alot of the ladies feed TOTW Pacific Stream cause teh fiber is 3% or Kirkland Nature Domain Signature, Salmon & Sweet Potato its made by Diamond who make the TOTW & Kirkland is cheaper then TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon & the Kirkland Signature Salmon & Sweet Potato has similar ingredients & the fiber is low under 3%…
With S.I.B.O you need low fiber diets under 4%- fiber & Gluten Free diet is also good to feed, I wouldn’t feeding high protein kibbles like “Orijen” they can make dogs poo alot cause of the high protein, when he’s straining has he done his sloppy poo & he still feels like he has to poo more so he strains & strains??
Feed kibbles that are low in fiber-3% around 25%-Protein around 12-15% fat & low carbs under 40%-carbs.. I’m trying to remember other things about SIBO just make sure you put the Tylan Powder in the empty capsules some dogs stop eating cause the Tylan powder is very bitter & leaves an awful taste in the dogs mouth, when the Tylan Powder is in the capsule it goes straight into their stomach but Patch was burping up the Tylan taste & Im pretty sure he got his acid reflux as well so I stopped giving him teh Tylan, I cant remember its been a while, I just give the Metronidazole 200mg tablet for 10- 14 days every 12 hours with a meal when he starts doing his smelly sloppy poos now…..

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

Is Natural Balance sweet potato and venison still being made? I know there have been venison sourcing issues this year in some areas. Many people I know have done well on it.
Susan, does wet food ever help dogs with pancreatitis or IBD? The reason I ask is because her dog is smaller and it probably wouldn’t be too much of a headache to have it on an all wet diet. My big guy, Zeek, Shepherd mix, can eat kibble just fine (but serious gas on sweet potato foods I’ve done.) tyrion, the bitty dog, gets very constipated on kibble so I do all canned, raw, or freeze dried. I’ve tried all kibble varieties with him from Orijen to Natural Balance, TOTW, Canidae, Fromm, earthborn, etc.

Would canned help the opposite issue?

[Fanette R]

Thanks Susan and Taylor for your help.

It’s so tricky having to take care of IBD and pacreatitis at the same time!
I was also wondering about the “min 12%” actually, but thought it won’t be too much higher.
I also was skeptical about the Fiber in “First Mate Pacific Ocean” ’cause it might not be good for Furby’s issue.

I’ve checked the food “Kirkland Salmen & Sweet Potato Formula” but I saw that it’s a 14% fat formula, isn’t that too much?

Yeah ordering those food might be tricky too.. I don’t think I’ll even be able to order Wellness, I’ve tried to check if I could order dry food for Furby through Amazon, from the US but it doesn’t seem to be possible.. France is very bad for dog food…
Lately we have had Acana, Orijen and Taste of the Wild coming into our pet stores, but that’s basically it.. And from what I read none of those brands would go with an IBD dog who suffers from pancreatitis…

I might be able to order Natural Balance online through providers. There is no providers in France but in Europe there is once so I could contact them.
I just hope Furby would do ok with sweet potato as it’s the first ingredient.

Anyway, I’ll keep looking, it’s just frustrating ’cause I can’t order much good dry food as there isn’t much of them around my area..

The only one I’ve found that I could order easily is the “GO! Sensitivity + Shine Salmon”
On the french website they say “12% fat” but on the english one they say “12.4” so I dunno.. This brand also have a LID section but there is lentils is all of those recipes.
Go! Sensitivity + Shine Salmon https://www.petcurean.com/product/go-sensitivity-shine-salmon-dog-food-recipe-eu/

And Merry Christmas to you all! 🙂

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Fanette R.

[Fanette R]

For some reason I cannot edit my previous message.

I checked the calories for
“Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream : 360 cal/cup
“Go! Salmon Sensitivity + Shine” : 356 cal/cup
Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato : 350 kcal/8 oz cup (from what I understood it’s 334 cal/cup).. Cup is tricky for me ’cause we don’t have it in France.

So would “Go” and “Taste of the Wild” would still be ok for Furby ? Or should I go for Natural Balance? Just because “Taste of the Wild” and “Go” would be easier for me to get in France (TOTW is the easiest ’cause my pet store carries it).
But I can still email the European provider of “Natural Balance” to see if they can do something for me 🙂

[Tyrionthebiscuit]

I’ve used Go in the past with success. However each pet will react differently to it. I think you may need to try it and see how Furby does on it. I’m more comfortable with Go myself but I’ve had issues with the makers of TOTW in the past. I love the food, hate the company. But that’s on the US side. I’ve heard internationally they’re easier to get straightforward answers in response to questions

[Fanette R]

Hello Taylor,

Thanks for those info!
Yeah I heard that TOTW was better internationally too.
I think what I’ll do is try the TOTW Pacific Stream first as I can get it at my pet store, and it Furby doesn’t do well with it,
I’ll order and try the ” Go Sensitivy and Skin Salmon” 🙂
Hopefully one of those would help Furby with both his IBD and pancreatitis.
I’ve also hear vets saying that prebiotic, probiotic, enzymes etc.. could be good to had to Furby’s diet for the issues he has. So I’ll see what I can do about that. He already takes fidh oil every day 🙂

[Tammy C]

When I measure my dogs food I never use cup. Most good dog foods will say on the bag how many grams they consider a cup to be. I have been very pleased with always measuring my dogs’ food in grams on a kitchen scale. My vet is happy because our dogs are not overweight. Measure a cup of food on a scale numerous times, filling it to what you think is about the same level each time you fill the cup and you will see a significant difference in actual grams. Best of luck, finally found a food for my lab after 5 yrs of searching!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by Tammy C.

[cynthia w]

thank you everyone for all the info you have supplied. i truly appreciate it!!!

anon101 i am now in the research mode regarding “plant protein” sources. thank you for the info you sent.

susan, i ordered the tylan powder. also the info for the youtube video i will watch as well.

we have not been “diagnosed” with SIBO or IBD. i am a person who will not only see my vet with any small issue but also knows when to “treat the symptoms” vs running to every single specialist out there who in the end usually has you “treat the symptoms” until you become what my vet calls “a statistic in someone else’s book”. i have learned the hard way regarding this with other animals which i won’t get into here. for me i am fortunate it is not about the money, it is about the sanity of the dog being poked and prodded at by so many strangers. malinois don’t do so well with that. there is a breaking point with every dog, i’m just not willing to go there for the dogs sake!

so what i have done after being told to put a high energy dog who can stress (not panic, it is the drive of the dog “another subject”) on high fiber diet. at this point, from the foods i have tried (orijen tundra included. love that food) along with pumpkin (usually made it worse) after hearing susan talk about “high fiber” being bad juju for SIBO i put it together and stopped which resulted in the dog not having so many soft poops. however, the reason i chose to go to rx was after reading several vet case studies and the symptoms fit at that point (straining and soft poops) i was on the rx for 10 days. stopped a week later trying the totw sm MIXED with sd low-fat gastro at first worked then stopped. i went back to the rx for three days and cut back on totw sm still mixed with sd low fat gastro. still issues. today, i went to sd gastro (NOT LOW FAT) and have yet to see a poop. hopefully tonight. i also took note the sd low fat had more fiber than the sd non low fat. now i’m going to straight sd gastro for a few days to see if it is indeed the protein to fiber ratio causing his issues. he has had LIMITED STRAINING since the first round of rx which that is a good thing.

i have also given the “pro-pectalin tab” off and on during the whole course of when i noticed he was not gaining weight a few months ago which could be contributed to growth spurt or mal absorption or not enough food for training. since then in 4 weeks he has gained even with continuing small issues FOUR POUNDS!!! a POUND A WEEK!!!!! i’m super happy about that! so anyhow, at the moment because of the type of work we do, (high stress work) i have a bag of royal canin gastro high energy waiting in the background. it has higher fat 18% 23% protein but like 3-3.5% fiber. hoping this will workout and that i can again try to go back to mixing the orijen tundra in because of the protein sources.

there is so much great information here from all y’all that take the time to post. and like someone said i think it was taylor, people that come here are looking for answers they are not getting elsewhere. so for that thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to help others.

[Max and Lucy]

My dog also has IBS and had MAJOR blood in his stools.He went on royal canin gastro and it cleared up in a day. Here is the analysis of the food he’s on. I want better ingredients than this food so it’s what I’m going to use for comparison
while shopping around.
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (min.) 21.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 14.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) 12.5%
Moisture (max.) 10.0%
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)* (min.) 0.18%
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)* (min.)
Good luck to all.

[Susan]

Hi Max and Lucy,
What is the protein source in the vet diet? its probably chicken look for a limited ingredient kibble that has chicken, but they normaly don’t have chicken in LID formula’s as dogs can be sensitive to chicken or try a new protein source he hasn’t really eaten before he was probably sensitive to an ingredient in the food he was eating when he was pooing blood, google the food he was eating at the time & read what the ingredients were & try & work out which ingredient he probably is sensitive too & avoid it.

Have a look at “Natural Balance” LID formula’s, NB is really good for dogs with Intestinal problems, IBD IBS the NB has limited of ingredients what you need, then when your dog is doing really well you can start adding 1 new food to your dog diet & try & work out what he can & can eat,.. I added the new food to only one of my boy meal at first, this way I saw the difference in his poos if there was a problem with the food I added when he did his 2 poos a day..
https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/special-category-limited-ingredient-diets look at the “Potato & Duck” LID formula, Sweet Potato & Fish & the Sweet Potato & Bison Formula’s as these formula’s are very similiar to the vet diets & they do not have the Garbanzo Beans, some of the other Natural balance LID formulas & their Chicken Small Breed formula has Garbanzo beans, Lentils & Garbanzo beans cause bad gas/wind pain…
My boy has IBD & was on a vet diet & I changed him to Taste Of The Wild Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb & had no problems but I did it very slowley over a 14 day period I’d do the same when you find a limited ingredient dog food..
also once you do find a limited ingredient food that agrees with your dog then just start adding healthy cooked ingredients to his diet what ever your cooking cook extra & freeze in section in freezer, that’s what I do & for Lunch Patch gets a cooked small meal..but first work out what foods he can & can’t eat…..

[debora k]

Hello,
I am hoping you guys can help. My 14 yo shepherd mix was diagnosed with pancreatitis on Sunday evening. She has been at my vet’s office and at our local Emergency Clinic. She has had blood work ( extensive) and Kub and abdominal us. I am comfortable that the diagnosis is accurate. She received 2 days of ivf, pain meds, antiemetic, and proton pump inhibitor and reglan.

She is now Day 3 since diagnosis and she ate some food this am but she is lethargic, obviously uncomfortable, and she had diarrhea last night. She is afebrile, drinking water, and I will try small feed this evening. She has no vomiting since day one of diagnosis.

I wondered what you all may have made for homemade food and wondered if your dogs were not themselves for some time? This is breaking my heart— Minnie is so tired and not as interactive. I take care of pregnant humans so I know this disease is awful and painful. I am making rice ( over cooked to increase digestibility) and white meat skinless chicken. Any advise would be welcomed.

Thank you all,
Debora

[Susan]

Hi Debora k,
Please go on facebook & join this group asap “Canine Panacreatitis Support group” link below also go onto “Judy Morgan DVM” facebook page & click on her video’s she has easy to make meals look for her “Pancreatitis Diet” video & another video called “Pancreatitis Again”
Why is she on Reglan?? Reglan was band in Australia, if she keeps having diarrhea stop the Reglan, we have Motilim instead in Australia & when I wanted to try the Motlium on Patch my vet didn’t want him on it, then Patches next visit she said OK then BUT I do not like dogs on this drug Reglan/Motlium do not give it to him more then 1 month, so I tried the Motilium with Patch but it made a bad smell come out of his mouth, a fermenting smell like his food was fermenting in his stomach, so I stopped giving him the Motlium.. Motilium/Reglan is made for humans digestive tract not a dog digestive tract my vet said…
I’m suppose to take Motlium but I dont take it yet, I told my Gastro Dr when I can’t swollow my food completely then I’ll take it later, I have C.R.E.S.T Scleroderma, Motlium/Reglan makes the stomach & esophagus work, my esophagus doesn’t work like it should cause of the Scleroderma, if your dogs stomach is already working she’ll have Diarrhea….
Join the Pancreatitis f/b group there’s heaps of help & people cook & have recipes get an egg & separate the white from the yoke & scramble the white part of the egg, I cook the whole egg in a non stick frying pan when Patch is unwell he loves his scrambled egg, the yoke does have some fat, I dont know how much fat, I also add cooked gluten free noodles or sweet potato to fill him up more & firm his poos,
The Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) she is taking is it Losec? is she only taking 1x Losec once a day? in the morning is best to give Losec or in America its called Prilosec?
The pain meds are probably making her feel like crap very tired aswell, I’d reduce the dose & see if she improves, some vets over medicate, ring the vet up & tell him can I reduce her pain meds & she has diarrhea can I stop the Reglan, she probably doesn’t need it poor old girl.. Here’s the Pancreas group link https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740
here’s Judy Morgans, send her a msg on f/b she will help as well f/b page https://www.facebook.com/JudyMorganDVM

[Fanette R]

Hello Susan,

So I got a bit of an issue with Furby. Not sure what happened but he has been having stomach issue again, since then he doesn’t wanna touch his wet food (the horse meat one he was one, that was totally fine with him beside the fact that he had diarrhea). So I dunno what to do ’cause I was about to the transition from this wet food to kibbles.
Did it happen to you with your pup? That he just stopped eating his food? How can I transition him to another food then? I’m pretty lost and scared of doing something that would upset his stomach more.
I went to the vet and his stomach is definitely not as bad as it was in august, but it has a tiny bit of inflammation, so now I’m scared to do something that would make it worst.
The vet didn’t really know what to advise me neither :/

Any advices?

Btw, on the kibble topic, I messaged the Europe’s distributor of Natural Balance (they are in Austria), asking if they do send bags to France and they just told me they do.
Now I’m really not sure whether I should choose Natural Balance Fish or Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream.. (fingers crossed he does well with fish, I never really tried any on him)

Thanks for being such a great support Susan! I’m also gonna check the facebook groups and yahoo group you talked about for dogs with IBD and pancreatitis, maybe they’d have some advices too 🙂

Take care!
Fanette

[Susan]

Hi Fanette,

I would be trying the “Natural Balance” LID Bison or the Duck formula’s the TOTW Smoked Salmon has more fat-15.1%max then the N/B formula’s-10%min & the TOTW has more ingredients & when TOTW was tested for toxins & contaminates back in August 2017 a few TOTW formula’s were very high in toxins, the Pacific stream salmon was one of them so I’d stay away from American fish pet foods unless you know it’s caught in clean waters, you’d have better fish in your country wouldn’t you??, Patch started on the TOTW Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon first but he kept vomiting then I put him on the Sierra Mountain Lamb & the vomiting stopped so I wonder if he was vomiting from the toxins in the TOTW Smoked Salmon?? the smoked salmon has the same fat & protein% as the TOTW Lamb formula…

Patch is the same with wet cooked foods especially wet canned foods, he starts whinging after he eats certain wet foods & wet tin foods, he can only eat small amounts or he lifts his right front paw up & wants me to rub stomach & pancreas area, so Furby is smart not eating the wet food it could be causing him some discomfort, pain or acid reflux?? Like Patch specialist vet said to me yesterday alot of vets dont know what’s wrong & dont have the equipment needed(Endoscope machine) to do further testing on dog stomach when teh dog has stomach & bowel problems, Endoscope & Biopsies is the best thing to do when it comes to stomach, small bowel & esophagus problems…the vet will get answers to what is wrong with the dog, an Ultra Scan can’t really see the stomach so it’s a waste of money Ultra Scan & Xrays they show blockages, stones etc but not what’s wrong with the stomach & bowel..
Patch stopped eating about 1 month ago he would not eat his TOTW Lamb kibble, so I listened to him & stopped feeding him the TOTW Lamb, I quickly ordered a new LID Rice & Lamb kibble, I cant get the American Natural Balance in Australia, we have an Australian Natural Balance made by a vet but it’s too high in omega oils, I wish I could get teh American Natural Balance kibble but after trying another kibble Patch continued to go down hill with his esophagus, he does this suckling & swollowing thing so yesterday Tuesday he had Endoscope & Biopsies done & now I have to wait about 4-5 days for Biopsies results the specialist vet rung me & he said Patches flap to his air pipe & food pipe in his esophagus was very inflammed, he had 2 legions in his mouth they were both benign & burnt off, his back molars teeth needed cleaning & he has gingivitis left back teeth, this would be from eating kibble & the kibble would be getting stuck inbetweeen his back teeth & mouth, the vet also found something wrong with his soft palate his trachea, he said the new designer dogs with the turned up nose get this problem pugs etc, the list went on & on I couldnt take it all in, then I heard Hernia, there was too much to take all in, I’ll wait now for Patches Bisopsies results & his regular vet Sue will tell me what’s going on, we’ll try & work out what we are going to do & why the stomach acid is washing back up into mouth & why is he getting such bad acid reflux when he’s on an ant acid reducer “Losec” but only one Losec a day, this is when the specialist vet said, stomach problems are the hardest for a vet to work out what is wrong … I asked the specialist vet can Patch be taken off the Lossec & put on the same ant acid medication I’m on Somac (Pantoprazole) it’s better for treating GORDs, acid reflux disease my Gastro Dr told me so I told Patches specialist Vet this info also Somac is used to treat a rare condition called Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, where the stomach produces very large amounts of acid, so I’ve asked can we try Somac 20mg twice a day but first we have to wait for those biopsies result to come back & see if it’s his Helicobacter embedded in the walls of his stomach & this is cause the really bad acid reflux…

Yes it is very stressful having a dog with IBD & Pancreatitis you dont know what to feed, what to do, will the new food make everything worse, then when you’ve tried every food etc & still the dog is unwell, I have 1 vet diet left to try & that’s the Purina Pro Plan HA kibble the fat is low BUT its very high in Omega oils & high Omega oils give Patch Acid Reflux, so I still having tried the Purina HA, I’ll ask the vets when the Biopsies results come back Patches vets recommended feeding healthy cooked diet, they both feed cooked meals & Sue Patches regular vet feeds an grain free kibble but everytime I see her she is trying another new grainfree kibble for her dog with IBS, Sue is American but had to further her vet studies here whe she came to Australia in te 80’s & she always recommends I look for Australian made kibbles with Australian ingredients I’ll ask her 1 day why does she not like American dog foods she will not feed the TOTW kibble she knows its a Diamond product she has feed the Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch & wanted me to try it then I told her I have tried the Earthborn Holistic Ocean Fusion & Patch kept vomiting after eating Ocean Fusion kibble then I seen the Ocean Fusion had made the top ten worst kibbles with Toxins so I dont know what Patches vet is feeding her dog now??…
Patch has broken my heart, he’s my soul mate, he is so intune with me, I dont even have to talk & he knowswhat to do, its like being married but he’s a dog I often wonder wwas he a human in another life lol its going to kill me when I have to put him to sleep, I’ve only had him 5 yrs & most of the 5 yrs he’s been unwell on & off, if he didnt have environment allergies he’s be a bit better but it’s Summer now in Australia & his allegies do play a big part in his health problems aswell his vet said but 1 good thing his hive like lumps that would come up all over his body have all stop this Summer since moving the vet said thats GOOD normally dogs get worse with their allergies when they move…
You have to keep trying different foods & meat proteins & rotate between a few different kibbles & wet food never feed the same meat proteins 24/7, always have another meat protein that Furby can eat aswell just incase he doesnt want to eat & is ill, Patch starts to react when he was eating the same foods 24/7 so now he gets his new kibble is “Nutro Essentails” Lamb, Rice & vegetables kibble weight management, the fat is 9%min per 100g the protein is 19%min per 100g so per cup, I’m waiting for someone to get back to me from Nutro what is teh max fat protein & what is the fiber % it doesnt say but cause Nutro is made by Mars now the staff dont know much about the pet foods, his pos are very firm & he only poos 2 poos a day now before on the TOTW he was ddoing 3 poos a day for breakfast he gets 1/2 a cup kibble at 7am then he goes for a walk then he gets another 1/2 a cup around 9am, 12pm he gets 1 scrambled egg, 5pm he gets under 1 cup kibble but today cause he’s got his sore throat Im giving him boiled potato & some BBQ chicken breast all mashed & cut up then at 8pm he gets 1/3 a cup of the Nurto Lamb kibble, then he puts himself to bed & he’s been sleeping thru the night thank-god he was up & walking around the house 1-2 weeks ago, Id ask him does he want to go outside for a wee & he was just sniffing everything & when Id ask him come on come inside its 1am he’d just stand there staring at me, so now I take him outside with a lead on so I can bring him back inside…I dont know what was wrong with him 1-2 weeks ago he’s never done these weird things before…I think he was constiped & needed to poo or he had wind pain this Nutro essential kibble has beet pulp & is constipating him a litle bit I think…. look for a kibblewith Beet Pulp it firms up their poo & the poos are smaller & Patch is only doing 2 poos a day now…
Now I’m giving him his losec tablet when he eats his 7am feed, so the Losec tablet goes completely down his throat into his stomach with the kibble, I thought the Losec tablet sat in his throat & caused this problem but both of Patches vet don’t seem to think so, lately when I go to give him the Losec tablet he’s been running away into another room when he sees me get his Losec tablet from the cupboard he’s a very smart dog & he’s telling me, I dont want no more tablets its making me ill but you cannot just stop giving & taking Losec its a Protein Pump Inhibitor & Patch will get the worse acid reflux if I stop his Losec, it needs to be reduce very slowley Ive been thinking maybe the Losec tablet started this inflammed esophagus Patch stopped drinking his water after I put the Losec tablet down his throat so I just syringed in some water into his mouth who to say the Losec tablet just sits in his throat & disovoled & caused this irrattation??
Have you tried feeding another meat a lean white meat like Pork or Turkey & have you tried boiled potato also have you tried scrambled egg, no milk, no butter just whisk the egg & either cook in a microwave for a very short time or I cook in a non stick frying pain cool & Patch loves his Scrambled egg, I’ve been thinking about getting some chickens but Patch has a high prey drive when it comes to birds the only birds he doesnt mind is the white cockatoo & the small Stork birds.. with the new kibble just start the new kibble, feed 1 meal a wet meal what Furby normally eats & then his other meal feed the new kibble then another meal feed the wet cooked meal & this should be OK I never feed wet food & kibble together to Patch he gets his pain…does Furby eat 4-5 meals day?? if you’re feeding just 2 meals a day maybe start feeding Furby more smaller meals a day as smaller meals are easier to digest & less work on the stomach & Pancreas, its a pain but you have a happy dog…
Good-Luck

[Fanette R]

Hello Susan,

I am so sorry for Patch. I hate this disease, our dogs don’t deserve that. Sometimes I just wish Furby could give me his pain and be all happy.
Furby had a biopsy in August, that’s actually how he got diagnosed for IBD. For now I want to try to stabilize him with foods and if nothing works I could try another biopsy. I just don’t want him to go through anesthesia again, he got 6 of them in a year already so I want to wait as much as possible before doing this again to him. I know that you cannot see everything on Ultra Scan, but my vets are doing them to Furby for free just to check that there is nothing big going, that they would see on Ultra Scan.
But I think it’s great that you do that for Patch, you need to have as much infos as possible. I hope you’ll find a food that is ok with him. I know we both don’t like prescription food, but I checked a lot of Royal Canin prescription food formulas yesterday, because people on the facebook groups for IBD and for pancreatitis told me that I should really go for hydrolized protein if Furby has really bad IBD, that it’s the only solution and it works really, really great. So I checked the formula and I found two formulas that would be ok with Furby, but unfortunately they don’t seem to be available in Europe. I did email Royal Canin France to ask if they were nothing they could do, so I’m waiting to hear from them (although, first I’ll give Natural Balance a shot).
The two formula is : selected protein rabbit (there is different kind of selected protein formulas, but this one is low fat.
There is also « hydrolized protein ». You have to take the « PS » formula though because it’s the low fat version.
For example there is no way I give to Furby their hypoallergenic formula because it wouldn’t agree with him, but I feel like those two would be good to try out. I’ve read a lot of reviews and those two did save the life of dogs with severe IBD. So if you don’t find anything , I think it could really be worth the shot. Although I’m assuming that the Purina formula you’re talking about is also hydrolized protein, so it could be good too.
I’m also gonna try to add probiotics and digestive enzymes to furby’s food, apprently it really helps. I read a lot of very, very good reviens on the Dr Mercola formulas.
I hope I helped a little, I’m new in all this but I’m doing as much researches as I can.
What kind of medicines is he on for his IBD?

For Furby, you’re totally right Furby is been having a lot of acid reflux for months now. He takes antiacid since august, twice a day. His stomach noises had stopped, but came back over a week ago. And usually right after he eats , I hear very loud noises in his tomach, and sometimes it ends with a very big acid reflux.
I agree TOTW wouldn’t be a great idea, he needs a low fat diet, it’s time.
Unfortunately the Natural Balance Bison formula isn’t available in Europe. And last time Furby ate duck, he had a bad reaction. So I’m thinking of going for the Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Fish formula, do you think it’s a good option ? I could also go for the Venison formula, but a lot of people told me Fish is easier to digest, so I dunno.
And as I mentioned earlier, I did message Royal Canin France to see if I could get those formulas in Europe. If they say no it would sound crazy to me (although I won’t be surprised), because it means they would rather not helping a dog than sending some of their foods over Europe.
Natural Balance is gonna be shipped from Austria so I’d have to wait one or two weeks, so people on the facebook groups suggest me to home cooked for him until then, rabbit and sweet potato. I’m gonna start that today, I’ll probably transition him with his wet food though. Do you think it’s a good idea ?

Although, I have an appointment on the 30th with a vet that is all about natural remedes, and who do a lot of conventions about dog foods. She also do acupuncture and said that it could help dogs with stomach problems or with depression (furby is being depressed since he got IBD). I’ll see what she can offer to me, and I’ll be happy to share some stuff with you 😊 Have you ever tried to go see a holistic vet for Patch ?

Fingers crossed for your doggie ! I know how hard it is, I also have a special connection with my dog. He’s a rescued and when I adopted him, he was biting people and couldn’t trust any human. I worked so much with him, got a lot of patience to show him he could trust me, and it created this crazy connection between us. The first years I got him, if he was in my arm, no one could come near us, he was growling at them. I asked my vet once about it and she said « it’s very common. It means that your dog is fully aware that you saved him, and that not all human beings would have done that, he doesn’t want anyone to take him from you »
It’s so hard to see him having to deal with all this today. After all he has been through in the first years of his life (the vet that saw him right after he was rescued said that he must have lived on the street for at least 2 months, because he was such in a bad shape), I wanted to him to grow old peacefully.

Keep me posted on Patch.
Have a good day

• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by Fanette R.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 3 months ago by Fanette R.

[anonymous]

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Update: I no longer recommend the site mentioned above.

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