[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.

[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

[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 🙂

[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 🙂

[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]

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!

[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]

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.

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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 🙂

[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/

[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]

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 🙂

[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.

[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 🙂

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