[gwyson]

My husband and I recently lost our 5 yr. old lab/husky mix to severe irritable bowel syndrome- apparently made worse by his food intolerances. The vet described it as an “immune mediated enteropathy” – meaning an immune system- caused- bowel disease. I now understand that the condition may be more common in recent years and partly due to the ingredients found in commercial dog food. I guess some of the grain ingredients can cause a sensitivity over time that gets worse. I’ve changed my Pomeranians food to the highly recommended Merrick and have seen an increase in her energy in the past couple of weeks (she’s almost 12). Has anyone else had the same experience as we have had with a dog that shows increasing food intolerance? We changed food maybe 6 times before finally turning to medications (prednisone) and antibiotics. I feel terrible that we may have contributed to his disease by giving him food that we thought was high quality, but in reality may have made his condition worse. Is there anyone out there dealing with the same issue?

[theBCnut]

My pup, Micah, started showing signs of IBS the week I brought him home at only 8 weeks old. The vet said to change his food, which I was in the process of doing anyway, but was not much more help than that. At 6 months, he started showing signs of a systemic yeast infection too. Fortunately, at that point I had learned enough to quickly get him on food that helped with that and then I started finding out how they are connected. I really feel like I dodged a bullet and I’m really thankful for the people on DFA who educated me. My vets, much as I love them, were no help on this one.

[gwyson]

I have to agree that although my vet is also wonderful, through the last few months we had Dawson there really wasn’t a good hard look at the hypoallergenic food he was given. It consisted of SOY protein – hydrolyzed, but that did not really seem to make a difference. If nothing else through this awful experience, I have become SO much more educated about dog food and how to read labels. I wish I had found this website sooner. I’m not sure it would have made a difference, but at least I wouldn’t have the guilt of not knowing about the ingredients in his food.

[rick M]

Agree with you.

[Author]

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