joysseven Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Hi there have only posed once before. I am in need of some advice. I have a little 4 month old. My vet diagnosed a colitis attack. Have placed her on Hills prescription diet Z/D. and she is now on her last day of noroclav. I have introduced a small amount of cooked chicken and cottage cheese. All seems well so far. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they do to stop another attack. The only food that was out of the ordinary that I had given her was a pork chew. I am sure this is what caused the attack. Never had any problems with other dogs with this treat. But will be cutting them out from now on. Any information re this problem would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloss344 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Colitis and IBD usually require a low fat diet, which may be why the pork chew caused this attack. My Bob has IBD and I treat it with a low fat home prepared diet and added psyllium, no processed food, no bought treats. As your dog is young and still growing I'd be getting some advice from the vet as to feeding though. Sometimes the cause is a food intolerance which is probably why your vet suggested the Z/D. Bob hasn't been able to tolerate any commercial dry food since he was about 6 months old probably due to the fat content. Oh, once you find something that suits your dog try to stick with it, as adding too many things makes it hard to pinpoint what has caused a flare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thank you for that Bloss344. My vet has said to keep things simple. and to keep a book of anything I change and should only do so one at a time so I will be able to tell the things that Boo cannot tolerate. How much of the Psyllium do you feed? Boo is a very small girl approx 2.5kg. Also what is your low fat diet that you feed Bob ? Thanks again for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloss344 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Hi Joy, With the psyllium I started Bob on 1/4 tsp and have worked it up to about 1.5 tsp per day divided over two meals. He weighs about 25kg though so perhaps you could start with just a pinch and work it up from there, it's an individual thing varying from dog to dog. Some need more some need less. Colitis and IBD are very frustrating. Bob eats rabbit and white rice and we are just adding a touch of sweet potato. To remove the fat I cook the rabbit lightly and then rinse the cooked meat with hot water. High maintenance my vet calls him. I've tried other foods, but this is the only way we don't get mucous and blood and GAS!!! Bob has IBD due to intolerances. I find he can eat a protein source for about a year before the IBD starts again and I need to change it. Hence the need to keep it very simple. If your girl is doing ok on the chicken you added, perhaps you can try that. Chicken seems to be quite well tolerated if there is no allergy or intolerance. Bob can't tolerate chicken, beef or kangaroo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 I had an idea that little Boo would be a bit high maintenance as well due to her small size. Thank you again for your help. I will check with my vet regards the psyllium. She seems to tolerate the chicken ok cooked. I will have to come up with some sort of treat that she can tolerate home made if needs be. Have you tried any fish for your Bob ? Or would this contain to much fatty oils do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloss344 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 You can make treats out of whatever you are feeding Boo. I make rice flour and rabbit broth biscuits, and sort of bake rabbit and a bit of rice that I have put through the food processor into a treat for training. You get very creative when you need to. Fortunately Bob isn't at all fussy. He'll do tricks for bits of frozen green beans. He also thinks that those bland rice cakes are pretty good. I haven't tried fish for Bob but my old Kelpie girl who has liver trouble has a special fish diet. I'm sure that I have 'special needs dogs welcome here' tatooed on my forehead. Fish is very lean but not all that cheap, so feeding Bob on fish would be expensive but for a little dog like Boo it might be a good idea. At some point Bob will probably progress to fish though. I just try to buy what's on special like hoki or blue whiting. Salmon is quite fatty. I've spent the past couple of years researching IBD and diets so if there's anything else you want to ask feel free and I'll try to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Thank you again for all your help. I realy do not want to keep her on the Z/D diet much prefer to have her on a more natural diet. Even more so after reading the article that Dan has posted. My others are on a more barf type diet. Wll definatly not be feeding her anything to do with pork ever again thats for sure. Thanks again for all your advice. If I need to get some more help will post again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspectorRex Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I wish both of you luck with your dogs. My "Maggie"(avatar girl) was diagnosed with severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease after having an endoscopy done. Nothing really worked for her diet wise or medication wise and we lost her to IBD on 15.7.2005, 2 wks short of her 8th birthday. Maggie had been able to eat anything as a youngster then at the beginning of 2005 she started with gurgling tummies, funny poos, off her food etc etc and lost over 7 kgs in weight. We even tried a Qualified Naturopath but nothing worked. Hope it all goes well for you , you have a long hard and expensive road ahead of you. Rex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 My young girl also experienced colitis at around 12 weeks of age. We initially tried boiled chicken and rice, then had her on the Science Diet Z/D, and also tried slippery elm powder and aloe vera juice. Pretty much nothing worked and after 3 weeks all of a sudden it suddenly cleared up. The vet could feel nodules in her bowel, and felt in the end that it was a reaction to something she ate. I hope your pup improves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 So far little Boo is coming along nicely. I will keep to the bland diet that she is on and hopefully she will be ok. So sorry to hear about you Maggie Inspector Rex. We to are hoping it was just a severe reaction to the pork chew.Her symptoms were that she felt like she wanted to poo all the time but realy had nothing there and a very sore toshie from her straining. When she did an actual poo it was not hard or runny just a nice softish poo. She has had no problems before this either goldielover so I am hoping it was just a reaction to the chew. Thank you everyone for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspectorRex Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 If she is straining to poop she could be out in the back and I would suggest a check over with a Chiropractor.( have you ever tried to poo when your back has been out? same things for dogs ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiery_di Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 My dog, Ruby, has colitis and there is a thread about it that I started awhile back... I now have Ruby on Tuckertime permanently (only available through vet) as we have found out that she is allergic to beef. She only has the chicken Tuckertime, and has been fine ever since. It will be a trial and error scenario to try to source out what your dog is allergic too. We had to test her with different meat types, such as pork, lamb, beef, etc and were able to find out this way that it was beef. Link to thread is here: Canine Colitis Good luck with your dog, and keep us updated on how it goes!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Never thought of her back being out. Will take her to Gary when I take my other boy for a check over. So far she is tolerating the chicken ok. Will try some beef next week for her. Thanks for the suggestion Inspector Rex. Thank you to fiery_di. I will let you know how she goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 Thought I would give you an update on Boo. She has been going very well so far. One small attack after giving her a little cooked beef. So it is off the menu. She is basically on her ZD and I have been adding a little chicken or fish without any problems. Thank you all for your help. Let us hope that Boo keeps a happy healthy little girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspectorRex Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Did you have her back checked out by a Chiro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttaburra Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I used to give Maxi pigs ears as a treat every few weeks. When I got Gracie, I gave her one of them and she was violently ill, vomiting and very crook afterwards. I strongly suspect the artificial smoked bacon flavouring in some things, because she had the same reaction after the guy in the PO gave her a schmako. She does not react pork mince. Hopefully it was just an inflammatory reaction to the pork chew, and if you avoid all Bacon and Pork treats, there won't be any re-occurance. The urge to poo could be due to the inflammation of the alimentary canal, especially if there is no evidence of constipation or full bowell. There are some good diets ideas already recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 Hi Inspector Rex. Took her along to see Gary, she was out only a little in the hip area. Will be taking her back on Wedneday for her follow up treatment. Maybe this has helped her as well. I have not changed anything to much re her diet while she is going so well. Have given her a chicken wing that she loved with no problems either. (supervised ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carabelle Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Hi joysseven One of my toy dogs had a number of colitis attacks (even though the food was low fat and no treats) until I started to give psyllium - since then she has had no problems at all and has been back on normal food for more than 6 months with no signs of the problem resurfacing. I feed homecooked plus some Eagle Pack biscuits. I now also give my other dogs a sprinkle of psyllium on their meals each night. Good luck Carabelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joysseven Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 Hi Carabelle, Bloss344 mentioned the psyllium in her post. Have not added any yet but will get some next time I am in town. I was also reading that a little Lactulose syrup is good. She had a small amount of mackerel today with her ZD. She is gaining weight and looking quite good. (Would like to see a bit more shine to her coat.) She is just so full of herself.Yesterday noticed her reflection for the first time in the glass door. Spent most of the arfternoon barking at herself. Thought she was just soooooooo brave telling this strange dog off. :D I will slowly increase the fresh food as I would much prefer her on a more natural diet. But iff she has to stay on the ZD so be it. Just as long as she is happy and keeps healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InspectorRex Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Glad you got your dog to the Chiro :D . A bit out in the hip area is enough to make any dog/human constipated etc. Hope he has booked her in for a re-check in about 7-10 days to amke sure she is on the mend.My Vet who is a Chiro also likes to re-check dogs 7-10 days after she sees them for "being out" and I agree with her. It takes the sore parts at least 3 days to settle after a chiro workout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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