I have a 15 lb schnoodle 3 yr old who has lower bowel IBD- all other problems ruled out. This started about 1 1/2 months ago with not wanting to eat- soft loose stools with blood and mucous. Vet recommended low fat- high fiber diet. I started him on NB diet formula which worked for about 3 weeks then symptoms came back but not as bad so switched him to Nutro diet food which the vet had recommended- also it is lamb based as opposed to NB chicken based and my dogs seem to do better with lamb. Well he still has occasional soft stools with the blood and mucous and a few times not wanting to eat- have not completely transitioned him to new food. So I started doggie probiotics - probiotic miracle by nusanta- don't know if this is helping yet. I really want to try to maintain him on food and not start prednisone since he is so young. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Oh also vet always wants to give science diet prescription diet food which I hate because it has corn and other not good things- anybody tried this or royal canin?
Dog with IBD- any suggestions?
- Thread starter Jennet19
- Start date
You might want to try a grain free food and add a little canned pumpkin for fiber, or even some Metamucil. I'm not sure how much of either for a 15 pound dog. I give my 70 pound Lab 1 tablespoon of canned pumpkin if he has loose stools. BTW- if you do choose to do that, make sure it's pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling.
This is how it's been going with my cat. We think now he's had IBD his whole life, but just recently it's gotten really bad and he was practically wasting away. My family really thought we'd have to euthanize him soon, that at the rate he was going he wasn't going to last much longer. He wouldn't eat the prescription foods, and the medications weren't helping. My vet thought he had intestinal lymphoma since nothing was working for him.
We haven't had a single issue since putting him on a raw diet. He's gained back weight, he's mischievous and playful again and is obviously feeling much, much better than he was before. Of course, he's a cat and not a dog - but I would try the same thing if it were my dog.
We haven't had a single issue since putting him on a raw diet. He's gained back weight, he's mischievous and playful again and is obviously feeling much, much better than he was before. Of course, he's a cat and not a dog - but I would try the same thing if it were my dog.
My youngest has IBD. We cut out ALL food (and treats) except for Royal Canin prescription venison (I didn't know that Royal Canin wasn't a very good kibble at that time), and it did WONDERS. My girl gained weight back, wasn't lethargic, skin and coat looked better, etc.
Then we slowly started adding in other things (cheese treats, Cheerios) as well as other proteins (turkey and lamb treats, occasionally beef) and we haven't had any huge issues since. If I give her too many all beef hot dogs (she only gets them at agility class once a week and sparingly during difficult training sessions), she might have a bad bowel movement the next morning, but other than that, she's been great.
Now I did switch from Royal Canin to Natural Balance (still venison), and she also gets a bit of wet Blue Buffalo lamb with every meal, but I'm not planning on changing anything else in the near future. She's doing too well on what I have her on now!
Then we slowly started adding in other things (cheese treats, Cheerios) as well as other proteins (turkey and lamb treats, occasionally beef) and we haven't had any huge issues since. If I give her too many all beef hot dogs (she only gets them at agility class once a week and sparingly during difficult training sessions), she might have a bad bowel movement the next morning, but other than that, she's been great.
Now I did switch from Royal Canin to Natural Balance (still venison), and she also gets a bit of wet Blue Buffalo lamb with every meal, but I'm not planning on changing anything else in the near future. She's doing too well on what I have her on now!
Bailey has suspected IBD (we didn't scope for an affirmative diagnosis when we were figuring things out), and I got him stabilized on premade raw. (We went from grain free kibble to home cooked (with tons of pumpkin) to prey model raw and finally to premade raw. I think he needed less variety until he got back on track.) He's much more stable now, but I still have to watch his fat intake or he'll get diarrhea. I highly recommend raw if possible, otherwise no or low grain kibble (I'm not sure that potatoes are any better than oatmeal, so just get the highest % of protein you can) and moderate amounts of fat. For B, I like to feed primarily fish, rabbit, venison, buffalo, quail and similar proteins -- though I understand those choices tend to be more expensive.
Also, ask your vet about putting your dog on metronidazole (flagyl) before starting in on the prednisone. Bailey was on it for a while when we were figuring things out. It's not ideal but it's not harmful and his internal medicine specialist said he could be on it for life if needed and he'd be fine. Though there was a shortage a while back, and I'm not sure if that's an issue?
I'd also recommend probiotics and digestive enzymes (something like this: http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-digestion-blend-1-lb-p-101.html?cPath=22_15). Fish oil is always good, too.
Also, ask your vet about putting your dog on metronidazole (flagyl) before starting in on the prednisone. Bailey was on it for a while when we were figuring things out. It's not ideal but it's not harmful and his internal medicine specialist said he could be on it for life if needed and he'd be fine. Though there was a shortage a while back, and I'm not sure if that's an issue?
I'd also recommend probiotics and digestive enzymes (something like this: http://www.b-naturals.com/bertes-digestion-blend-1-lb-p-101.html?cPath=22_15). Fish oil is always good, too.
