[Brian K]

Hello everyone:
We have been feeding our 5-month old puppy Reggie, a cocker spaniel mix presently weighing in around 25 lbs, a mix of Orijen Puppy, Wellness Core Puppy, and Wellness Complete Health Puppy. Over the past six weeks he has showed symptoms of colitis. A round of pills (antibiotics, I believe) from the vet made things better temporarily, but within a few days of stopping he was back to very loose stools with some mucous (no blood) and bowel control problems including his first poop in the house since he was under 10 weeks old. He also vomited a few times this time around which was new…

So, we went back to the vet earlier this week and she told us to switch him to Iams Intestinal Plus Puppy, put him back on another round of antibiotic, and also probiotics. As with last time, he was doing significantly better within 36 hours, but who’s to say if it’s the food, the pills, probiotics, or some combo thereof? I am willing to be open-minded to the idea that the Iams food may be what my dog needs, but I really don’t like the ingredients. If he does well on the Iams food once his antibiotic treatment is through, I will keep him on it, but eventually want to work in something with higher quality ingredients and nutrition. Any suggestions on foods to try or how to handle this situation in general?

Thank you

[Susan]

Hi, My boy had colitis & was put on the Eukanuba Intestinal low residue kibble, being a low residue kibble its easier to digest & lets the stomach/bowel rest & heal….. If you can try & get the Eukanuba Intestinal instead of the Iams Intestinal as the Eukanuba Intestinal has no by-products & the ingredients are just a bit better ….I had to keep Patch on the Eukanuba Intestinal for 1 year to let everything settle & rest & get better… I found with Colitis your dog can be allergic to a protein or ingredient that is making his bowel inflamed, I had to do an elimination diet & found Patch cant eat potatoes, wheat, peas, boiled rice or boiled oats as the rice & oats have ruff edges & can irritate the bowel but he can eat grounded rice & grounded oats in kibbles…I’m very busy at the moment but I do have a list of 1 protein limited ingredient kibbles… your best off trying a protein that he hasn’t yet tried & don’t use all your proteins up….
You’ll need to look for a gluten free, low fat, limited ingredient kibble also look at the fiber% on the Iams Intestinal… I have to get low fiber diets for Patch 4% & under but only once his bowel was all healed & settled about 6months is when I started trying new premium diet, We have always gone back to the Eukanuba Intestinal, when the kibbles didn’t work & you sooooo slowly introduce a new kibble, I take 2-3 weeks using the new kibble as a treat for about 4 days, then I start to slowly introduce, each dog is different with Colitis there’s a really good & friendly Face Book group called “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder” you can get heaps of help & what diets people are feeding for their dogs with Colitis, I just have been looking & looking for a kibble for a older dog with Colitis & now the owner wants her off the vet diet as she been on the vet Diet now 4-5months & is doing really well but she too wants a better ingredient kibble for her girl..

[GSDsForever]

With loose stool problems like you’re describing, I will give a dog a something like cottage cheese and white rice, bland & highly digestible, for a few days. (You could also use boiled plain chicken breast for the protein.)

That usually will clear up whatever is going on. And it allows the dog’s system to recover. In fact, often you will not see the dog produced stool for a day or so, and then it will be minimum. Make sure the dog has sufficient water, whenever a dog has diarrhea (or vomiting).

I really doubt that your dog needs the specific Iams food, but that mix of foods from 2 Wellness products and Orijen (why the mix?) may not be right for your dog. Try a single recipe blander, simpler, moderate in protein & low to moderate fat diet for a bit. You need low residue, which is just another fancy way of saying highly digestible, but it doesn’t have to be a specific formula & brand with that in the title or be a vet diet. Watch the treats too.

Do not overfeed, underfeed until you get it right, divided between two meals a day (no free feeding), and watch to make sure your puppy does not eat too fast. Do not play/exercise/walk/have excitement for your dog within 1-2 hours of feeding, backwards & forwards. Feeding should be during a time of calm & rest.

A tablespoon of all natural plain yogurt, with live active cultures, can also help with problem stool/digestive upset.

It’s good that your vet gave probiotics, as the antibiotics destroy beneficial bacteria. I don’t typically jump right away to antibiotics and would encourage you not to do that either. They are overused, cause problems, and rack up your vet bills unnecessarily.

[Susan]

Hi, low residue means, low fiber foods eg white potatoes have less fiber then sweet potatoes, white rice has less fiber then brown rice, corn grites is a low residue grain, where barley isn’t, here’s a link about what foods are low residue foods & what diet is best for your dog to stop him having a flare (Colitis) & how to prevent it happening again.. this link is for humans but it will give you an idea what foods are low in residue & what makes less poo & stops irritating the bowel….you can also google “Low Residue/low fiber diets’
http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/low-residue-diet-foods

There’s is Soluble fiber & Insoluble fiber they are listed under crude fiber on a kibble bag so you do not know what there is more of soluble or insoluble fiber… Prescription vet diet normally has the % for soluble fiber & % for insoluble fiber listed on their diets, vet diets are formulated especially for either the small bowel or the large bowel…….You need to work out what kibble has more soluble fiber or more insoluble fiber & what works for your dog eg: if your boy didn’t do well on the Hills Z/d vet diet, its cause it has 0.1% Soluble fiber & 3.7% insoluble fiber…. if ur dog is doing real well on the IAMS Intestinal diet you need to email the company & find out what % is the soluble fiber & what % is the insoluble fiber, then you will know what he does better on, higher soluble fiber diet or a higher insoluble fiber diet, so when your looking for a premium kibble you can email the companies to find out what the % is of their fibers…. here’s a link explaining soluble fibers & insoluble fibers & what they do…
http://www.webmd.com/diet/insoluble-soluble-fiber

Cause you have not just ignored your puppys problem & taken him to a vet & have put him on medication, a vet diet & caught this when he’s a pup you will probably prevent bigger problems happening further down the line as he gets older, as long as you fix the problem now, while he’s still a pup…. he’s a very lucky pup cause there’s a lot of dogs out there that their owners just say, Oh he’s just eaten something off, make him some pumkin & chicken or some chicken & rice he’ll be right then they put the dog back on the same diet that was causing the problem & it happens all over again & the poor dogs bowel keeps becoming inflamed & further problems start to happen, just start doing a lot of research so you can prevent a life of IBD…

[marco]

Hi Brian, the problem we had with my two boys was not colitis, but my vet here in Italy (he is professor at the University of Perugia told us that he had been working on a research showing that any pet food formula that includes meat obtained by intensive farming, contains a residue that can really harm pets. If you have the possibility, try and feed your dog with homemade puppy recipes for a few days, if this is the case, you should see improvements within a week. Good luck!

[Author]

Posts