[Greg F]

Rrlover
Yes I was I started a topic on IBD dog 2 months ago when we had a flare up and almost lost her. She bounced back with new medication and 4 days in the hospital. About a week ago she started deterioring. The vet thinks it might have been lymphoma the was masked by the new meds.
I read an article by Karen Becker that said this can happen by a length bout with IBD and continued use of drugs. I can’t help wonder if different drugs or diet started 5 years ago would have made a difference.
With all the hype about raw food I wonder if any dogs that were always on raw ever picked up this disease? Have any does with IBD switched over to raw were able to get off the meds?

[Greg F]

We recently lost a 5 year battle with IBD. I think between the disease and long term meds this disease started throwing off the liver and possibly brought on lymphoma. Diseases with dogs like humans are often a mistery and what works for one doesn’t on another. When foods and meds aren’t working changes need to be made. We had the lymphocytes IBD and PLE. Most experts think this should be treated with a novel protein, very low fat and lower fiber. I came across (too late) an excellent vetinarian food by Rayne Clinical Nutrition out of Australia. They have a Low Fat Kangaroo dry and can food. The dry has 26% protein, 6% fat and low fiber. My dog liked the kibble and wasn’t eating the can. They say the can is less processed and probably better however is very expensive. The dry runs about $3.50/#.
If you aren’t aware there is a 1000 member on Facebook called Dogs with Inflamitory Bowel Disorder. You have to go trough a wait period to get excepted into the group. There is a lot of input from owners. It is here where a person had his dog on the Rayne wet food for the past year with excellent results. He said “I think all IBD dogs should be on this food”.
If wet is too expensive for you you can go dry or mix the two together.

[Greg F]

Good news. Today’s blood work showed an increase in alb from 1.2 to 1.8. While still is low it is headed in the right direction and it appears this was the cause of enlarged liver and not lymphoma.
The plan is to not change the diet of Hills d d for one month until we know it won’t reverse. We have been supplementing it with cooked Primal venison, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Once this is reached we will probably do a home cooked meal with a recommended balanced diet with venison and lower fat content. The vet mentioned the Univ of Tennessee has a diet recipe program along with Balanceit like Susan mentioned above.
I think the only thing I learned was the prednisone no longer worked and the THK Zeal probably didn’t have much to do with the flare up. We will however keep the changes in diet to a minimum and fewer ingredients to keep it simple. We don’t need a third episode like this.

[Greg F]

Well not to dwell on the cancer until we know she has it for sure. Next Wednesday will be the first time they see her since this past Tuesday and they will be doing a blood work up.
I don’t want to get too optimistic, however she is playing and eating like she never ate. Her stools are also the best I’ve seen for quite some time. I’m hoping it is only IBD & PLE and this threw her liver off and not the lymphoma. The vet said if it is lymphoma the type and in her condition would only buy 3 months. Due to the timing & quality of life from chemo it isn’t worth it. On another note we are retired and have now invested over $15,000 just in medical since she first got IBD 5 years ago.
Ps I just found another interesting dog food site site called dog food scoop.

[Greg F]

Virginia
It is good to see your experience unlike many supports my plan of feeding. I think you probably have more options than I do since we need a novel protein. If your current diet stops working or you want more protein two foods I’ve use that may work are THK Zeal and Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost Healty Weight. Our other two Havanese are on NV and have excellent weight, energy and stools. It has 34% protein and 12 % fat which should be good for pancreatic issues.
The Zeal is 35% protein and only 8.5 % fat while giving you the benefits of more moisture and less proscessing than kibble. Zeal worked well with the IBD dog for sometime until we had a flare up. I think the fish was not a novel enough protein as venison or duck as needed for IBD.

[Greg F]

Jenn
I’m also a little skeptical of Dr Becker and Meracola and how they push and sell products. I wanted to see what is in her book however on Amazon you can’t “See Inside” before you buy like most books. I wanted to see if she had recipes specifically for IBD.
As for the lymphoma the vet said if she has it the type she would have only would gain her 3 months with treatment. Other than weight and hair loss she is pretty good appearance wise. I do wish we had a good holistic vet in southwest Florida to consult without pushing services and products.
Unless I get comfortable with home cooking I plan to buy THK Kindly dehydrated base mix and mix in cooked venison from the bucher. This should give her a high quality product that has moisture, high protein and low fat and carbs which most people agree is good for IBD. I don’t think for quite some time we can consider the raw protein source.
I will however continue my research on cancer fighting foods and will be very interested in the follow up tests next Wednesday.
Thank you for your input.

[Greg F]

Well I think everyone’s prayers worked. After 2 days in the hospital and no positive signs we waited for the vets 10 am call knowing we gave it all and we prepared ourself so for putting an end to her mistery. Then the vet said she turned the corner and we should give her another 2 days in their care and would come home Tuesday. She is down to 8 1/2 lbs from a normal weight of 11. After 2 days she is eating, firm stools and perky.
We are giving her Hills D/D duck, Primal raw venison cooked, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and a little cottage on top at first to eat the food.
We may still be dealing with lymphoma in addition to IBD and PLE and won’t be doing additional testing and chemo since it won’t buy much time.
I’m considering a consultation with Dr Becker or buying her home recipe book. In the near future I think we will go with fresh venison (low fat) cooked and THK base. This way it is safe and should give her a complete novel high protein, low fat low carb diet with an option to go to an all home cooked meal. Not sure on the supplements.
Thanks for all your thoughts and help.

[Greg F]

Jenn
Thanks for the reply. We admitted Maddie today around 2:00 to give her the best chance for recovery and hope the new drugs start working. She is on IV, feeding tube and pain meds. They are redoing the ultrasound to check out the pancreas and see if there are other diseases ongoing. In 2-3 days we will evaluate and make some decisions.
The diet you mentioned makes sense to me. In fact I was just checking out the Wysong Epigen kibble for the high protein low carb content.
I think if she makes it past this I will go all out and start making a home food that is an approved balanced recipe. I believe a dog in Maddies health cannot tolerate any problems that commercial dog food can have. Raw is good for many dogs but you can’t take the chance with dogs in Maddies condition.
An interesting comment from the new vet: some dogs with IBD respond to a diet change and the others will always be on medication.

[Greg F]

RRLOVER
I just lost my lengthy reply so I’m going to be more concise. Right now we are trying to get her to eat anything to get her to survive; eating cooked chicken, sweet potatoe and duck treats and ice chips (not drinking either). We were on HK Zeal which is dehydrated grainless fish with 35% protein and 8.5 % fat. When I transitioned in Gramma Lucy’s dehydrate fish and Primal raw venison with more fat and calories she turned worse. I’m not sure it is food related. The new vet thinks her 5 years survival with IBD is much better than most??
Tonight she will only eat very small bits every 2 hours.
If she makes it through this (now also has an extended liver and numbers off the charts high) I will reintroduce the Zeal with more smaller meals. I’m assuming the dehydrated novel protein is beneficial and not detrimental. I just wonder if the fish is novel enough.
Thank you for your suggestions.
Greg

[Greg F]

Thank you Everyone. I didn’t see these replays until now. We had another slip in Maddies health and took her to a Diplomate specialist who studied at Texas A&M. Her albumin is down to 1.2 is not eating, extended liver and very lethargic. The vet said predizone is not working and added Atopica, Mirtazipine and Cerenia with hopes to wean off of the prednisone. After he consulted with our vet up north he said they could admit her put on IV and more testing for another cause of the liver issue for approximately $5000-6000.
We are grasping at straws and may try Some enzymes if she starts eating.
We are not sure if we want to put her through the testing on this 8 y/o dog.
I’ve had her on Geneflora probiotic for the last 2 weeks.
Not a good day.

[Greg F]

My two overweight Havanese are doing excellent on Natures Variety Instinct Healty Weight Salmon. These 8 & 11 y/o’s have more energy also. Only negative is the price.

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