Inflammatory Bowel Disease

[greying-fast]

Just heard from the 'mum' of a greyhound, now 2 years old, who I fostered as a pup. He recently had some horrible episodes of vomitting, runny poo and pain, ending up at the emergency vets.

He's now been through a couple of vets, had an endoscopy [sp?] and been diagnosed with IBD.

His mum is now comfortable with the diagnosis given the amount of testing, and her daughter in law is a vet nurse so she's able to reality check the diagnosis and treatment (antibiotics, steroids, antacids, diet ONLY of a prescription brand of dog food, nothing else - they've tried raw bran, lean chicken and rice and all with bad results).

I've searched the forum and there are some hits, but with suggestions that might relate to other disorders as well. So I'm looking for specific info re this disorder and any suggestions as to supplements or diets - although he's happily eating his prescription food, it would be nice if he could be offered some variety or other stuff to help him through.

She's got two vets acting in consultation with each other and they both say they're seeing more cases of IBD which is also increasing in the human population. One hypothesis is that early weaning is a contributor with foods passing through the gut before it is sufficiently able to cope with anything other than mothers milk. I've fostered over 20 pups here and he was absolutely the whiniest pup so maybe he'd had some pain all along?

Any suggestions or experiences?

[Daisys Mum]

My Long-hair Miniature Daschund was diagnosed with IBD 12 years ago.... we were told at the time that he would be on a low dose of Prednisone for the rest of his life, including a high protein diet... we even had a rabbit hunter catch us some wild rabbits which we boiled up for him ,

because that was all he could eat plus Science Diet for sensitive digestion.

Sorry i might not help now because im sure things have changed since then, the only thing is with their diet you need to be very careful with what they eat, im sure your vets will come up with a eating plan for him

Good luck with everything

Edited to add, this was when i lived in New Zealand so im not sure what the rules are for catching rabbits here in Australia

Edited May 3, 2009 by kiwigirl

[dwynwen]

There's a good yahoo discussion group for canine IBD.

It's a disease that ranges in severity - every patient is different.

[Erny]

I have found that Dr. Bruce Syme has a very good knowledge base regarding the digestive system of dogs. He helped me with my previous avatar girl (bless her cotton socks) and IMO was well worth the 2 hour (each way) trip to Castlemaine to see him. Perhaps try giving him a call to see whether he might have a view that hasn't been explored or covered by the Vets you've already seen.

I intend to take my boy to see him soon as he too seems to be suffering from sensitivities to some foods/ingredients.

Edited May 4, 2009 by Erny

[Erny]

Double Post.

Edited May 4, 2009 by Erny

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I had a dog diagnosed with IBD 8 years ago. He passed away in Feb aged about 16. He was on Hills Ultra ZD biscuits for years, it was a terrible stress as he didn't like them.

We tried the steroids and he was unbearable, keeping me up all night for food. I saw a new vet who said there were 2 other drugs we could try, the first didn't work and for the last 5 years, he was on Salazapyrin 3 x daily. I'd just bought a new prescription before he died so if they are of any use, please let me know. He was much easier to live with on that medication.

About a year ago we discovered Ultra ZD in canned form, he loved it at first but then became difficult with that, that was what he was like.

For some relief from his diet, I added odd things occasionally like low fat cottage cheese, parmesan sprinkled throughout, a little tuna or sardines, sweet potato and some other veggies. It helped to get him to eat his biscuits/canned food.

He had some relapses throughout the 8 years and ended up in the vets on a drip for a week but it was usually after he'd found something he shouldn't have like chicken bones thrown on the grass verge.

Edited May 5, 2009 by dogmad

[greying-fast]

Thanks for the information and tips, I will pass it on.

So sorry about your boy dogmad, it sounds like such a grim disease. I will see what medication Abe's on re your kind offer.