Shepherd Lover Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 My GSD has had blood in her droppings and vet has diagnosed colitis, which I know is inflammation of the bowel. She is a dreadful scavenger - chews plastic, wood and scavenges bird poo off the path etc. so its no wonder she has it. Before anyone suggests that the blood might be worms or coccidiosis - forget it - its not - been checked. Can anyone suggest good management strategies or additives which can help for colitis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusky Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 What suggestions has the vet made? I guess she needs a high fibre diet, humans do with the same condition. You may need to get a greyhound type muzzle to prevent her eating everything she shouldn't while you get your yard safe. What do you feed her on now? I mean it may be the rubbish she is eating which is causing the problem and not her diet at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 My girlfriends dog became very ill of late and after all the tests, the only thing the bloods etc picked up was Inflammatory Bowel Disease, her vet recommended just feeding him Eukanabu and nothing else. If your dog is a scavenger this would not help and my dogs have had blood and mucus in the stools after a bin raid. We now have the bins where the dogs can not get to them. What diet is your dog on? I found one of mine was eating stones/rocks, until his diet was changed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 22, 2005 Author Share Posted January 22, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions re the Eukanuba but that is all she gets now. She doesn't scavenge food from the backyard but will chew sticks and consume parts of them etc. I have removed all plastic bottles that I used to give them to play with as she used to chew those too. I thought it might have been something to do with the diet so I recently changed to 50:50 Eukanuba and Proplan but she has still had outbreaks of colitis. I would like to know whether anyone else has some "miracle" additive which can control this condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Have you tried digetive enzymes? Not sure if they would help or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 (edited) My dog/pup was on pure Eukanabu as per the breeders recommendations. I started to add chicken mince to his diet and the stone/rock eating stopped. I wouldn't recommend chicken mince for your dog at this stage but maybe 3/4 commercial biscuit to 1/4 mince, as Dr Hedburg recommends in our breed puppy booklets is worth a shot. Until your dog is over the bowel irrations, it would be wise not to feed bones, sticks, boots etc Thrive D can be good too Rebanne, as the body does not have to work so hard in digesting the food. Edited January 23, 2005 by holly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 (edited) Hi Shepherd Lover, There is an actual veterinary Eukanuba food for this problem, the food is called eukanuba low-residue. You can get it from any vet. I have a girl with intestional problems and is on this food and it works wonders (for my dog it is the miracle). I have just picked a bit out of the brochure for this food that relates to your baby. The Problem Diarrhoea Vomiting Blood and/or mucus in the stool Recurrent bouts of soft stools every few weeks Constipation Reluctance to eat Loss of weight The Cause (this isnt the complete list) Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Ingestion of rancid food or other rubbish. This diet is formulated to be highly digestible, making it easier for your dogs intestines to absorb nutrients. It also contains special fibre sources to help rebuild a healthy intestinal lining and help balance the microbial population of the gut. It is a really great food, and i would highly recomend it. :D I hope this helps. PS. Before i put her on this she was on the normal eukanuba which did not help or improve the problem, the Low-residue is the way to go. She now has put on weight and has completly normal stools, and is no longer sick. Edited January 23, 2005 by melt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 Thanks Melt, Eukanuba low residue sounds the way to go. The vet suggested I try that, so now that I know that someone else has had really good results with it, I will definintely get some. The reason I hesitated is because someone told me that low residue Eukanuba is not a complete diet. Can you please tell me if the packet says it is a complete diet? Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cutecav Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 My old cav had IBS and we used to give her Protexin, available from the vet. We found if she didn't have it, all the symptoms came back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 Cutecav, What is Protexin? Is it a veterinary line or can you buy it over the counter? Is it an additive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Shepherd Lover, The low-residue is a complete food but it does say on the packet "This product is intended for intermittent feeding only or as directed by your veterinarian". I have been told this is for the dogs that are only going on it due to a short term problem such as vomiting, dirrhea, gas or constipation, as their problem is quickly fixed, but more serious problems such as your baby need to be on it always to manage the condition. The Eukanuba website says this "LONG TERM FEEDING- Outstanding nutrition for long-term use under a veterinarian's supervision". My dogs conditioned improved very quickly once on this food, and she has now been on it for 2years, i was feeding only low-residue but she is now getting about 80% low-residue and 20% other such as table scrapes, tinned sardines and bones. I have found that she does so much better on this food as i recently ran out and fed her my other dogs food (eukanuba maintenance), she started losing weight again and she had LOTS of mucous diarrhea and just seemed off colour, i bought another bag and she is now back to her healthy self. Also i have heard of a doggy rescue shelter in the US that put all there under weight cases on this food to help fatten them up, as it is highly nutrious and digestible (i actually used it to put some weight on my other dog, who has no problem, just was a bit hard to feed up due to being a hyper little nut she just kept running it off). Though this food is not high in fat it is just really digestable. Good luck with your baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 Hi Melt, I can see you are cruising. Thanks for all your helpful advice! I will certainly look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 23, 2005 Author Share Posted January 23, 2005 Melt, Forgot to ask you - I've been told Low Residue is expensive - is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alibi Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 2.2kg bag is $26.95 6.8kg is about $68 12kg is about $114 Tins are $35 for a pack of 12 It is more expensive than the normal maintenance, but i have found is well worth it. (I have a toy breed so it doesnt cost me much at all ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 thou low residue may sound dearer and if you can not find a natural diet to do the trick, than I weigh up the dearer food but less vet visits, drugs, discomfort and pain the animal maybe saved from in its life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cutecav Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 You can get Protexin at the vets, but I noticed when I was trawling on the net that some companies have it to buy-maybe do a Google. Sorry I can't find any of them in my records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cutecav Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Sorry, forgot to add it is an additive that can be mixed with water or into their food. They are 2 different products. Sassy used to have lamb and pumpkin and I mixed it in with that. The soluble one is a little more hit and miss, unless you can monitor their drinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shepherd Lover Posted January 24, 2005 Author Share Posted January 24, 2005 Melt, Thanks for the pricing info. I'm going to order some. Cutecav, I will get onto Google and have a look at Protexin as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy's mum Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 (edited) You might think about some homepathic stuff - someone posted this website under the "hotspots - natural remedy" thread and I 've just ordered some of their nervous dog formula. http://herbal-treatments.com.au/index.html I only suggest this because I have colitis (long gone thank goodness) and I found the slippery elm and herbal stuff helped. Not a quick cure - takes a few months but gradual improvement over time depends on how long he/she's been sick. There is a homeopathic vet at Balmain Village who I've seen mentioned on here, too. Hope this helps. Good luck - it must be distressing for you and your dog. Edited January 25, 2005 by Ginger's mum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspectorRex Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 I had a young dog with this some time ago. Has your Vet suggested "pulse therapy" with metanidazole: they have the tablets for two days, then no tablets, then tablets for two days and so on. it did settle my young dog and that was one sick dog with other major health issues too. we fed her Hills presciption I/d -both dry and tinned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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