[Heather C]

thank you everyone for your input and sharing your stories. So glad to find a forum to get advice, I also joined the Facebook group. It’s so sad that more isn’t known about this terrible disease. I would do just about anything to cure this in my dog, I certainly wouldn’t wish it on any creature or my worse enemy. Everyday I try to see this as a blessing because so far we are able to give him the care he needs. He is such a sweet boy and everyone comments how special and loveable he is, they can’t believe he’s sick. It does seem like doing half wet food has completely changed his appetite and he’s really excited to eat. Hopefully it keeps up and fingers crossed he can be on this diet for a while. If not we’ll do everything to make sure he’s happy and healthy. It’s super helpful to get advice from everyone and hear your experience, I feel like there are tons of articles about bowel disease but not many about living with it day to day and that’s where this forum is super helpful. Thanks again for all of your input.

[Heather C]

Hey Susan, that’s actually a really great idea! I’ll totally keep that in my back pocket. My husband suggested we try more wet food mixed in with his kibble. Normally I don’t do a lot, but this time I gave him half and half and he snarfed it down! Fingers crossed it’s that simple, but am definitely going to mention your suggestion to the vet on the next visit.

Also I wanted to ask if any pet parents who have a dog with bowel disease have any good suggestions for food dispensing toys. My dog loved his bullysticks and rawhides and obviously that’s off the table … But something he can sit with quietly and work on for hours. We have the original Kong, a food wobbler and the Kong duets kibble dispenser but he goes through them so quickly.

[Heather C]

Thanks for getting back and so sad to hear about your pup! The only thing our dog eats is the prescribed food, kibble and wet, even when we stuff his Kongs. Outside of that its water and occasionally he too will eat grass – though I haven’t seen him eat grass in a while (we used to joke he was part cow but now realize it was because of his digestive system … Poor guy). When we thought he had chronic pancreatitis we actually had him on a home cooked meal with a supplement, but it never agreed with him (and we did try slowly changing him to a few different recipes per our vet). The Royal Canine Potatoe Whitefish doesn’t have any beet pulp, and it’s not a kibble that can just be picked up at the vet, even the vet has to special order it. It’s also hydrolized so the protein is broken down to its smallest digestible form. Stool wise it is the best we’ve seen – before he would strain to go, have diarrhea, blood, mucus like substance, etc, it was terrible. I’m not against a home cooked diet and I’m not against something more holistic, but we’ve been down that road to disappointing results – though we thought we were treating chronic pancreatitis and not bowel disease at the time. {Sigh}

The strange thing is other than not wanting to eat as much he seems normal, he’s sleeping through the night, he’s not grinding his teeth or vomiting like Patch … It’s just really frustrating and I agree, I wish he could just talk to me.

You’ve given a lot of helpful information and I’m curious about the Pepcid. I may reach out to the vet much to the chagrin of my husband – I’d rather be safe than sorry. If you have any other advice let me know.

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