Colitis

[LWilkins]

I have a 2 year old flashy fawn. Her name is Spice and she's the most beautiful, sweet, and wonderful boxer (I'm sure you all know how I feel). Her problem is SEVERE colitis and/or IBD (I'm really not sure if they are the same thing). The vet has been helping us for about 4 months now, but still no real success. She's on prednisone, flagyl and something called immuran (which they say is very potent and can cause bone marrow cancer). Her colon is filled with ulcers and she can not control her bowels at all. She gets us up 3 - 4 times in the middle of the night, in addition to asking to go out just about every hour during the day and night. She has at least 3 accidents a day in the house as she tries to make it to the door. Her stool is very runny and VERY bloody. The vet has her on a venison and potatoe diet, although she says this disease isn't diet ed. I've been reading some of the posts about yogurt and medimucil and aloe vera juice. Does any one have any idea what might help. She seems to be so uncomfortable all the time. I'm at a loss and feeling very panicky.

Thanks,
Linda Wilkins

ps- I also have a 6 year old white boxer named Sugar who is also wonderful...and in perfect health

 

[Albie]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I hope Spice starts feeling better soon. Lacy was treated for IBD when she was younger. I don't think it was quite as bad as Spice though. We were able to control her IBD with metronidazole (flagyl) and a prescription food (Eukanuba Low Residue). The Eukanuba Low Residue was the first food she ate that didn't run right through her. I'm not sure if you have tried it yet, but it worked wonders for us. I think Lacy was on it for about 6 months. Once we got her IBD under control and then maintained for a while without any problems, I was able to switch her over to regular dog food. She now eats Pinnacle dry food, and we add Missing Link supplement to her meals. I'm a big fan of Missing Link. The company claims ML helps with IBD too. I don't know about this for sure, but we keep using it because I don't want Lacy to start having troubles again. Good luck and I hope Spice starts feeling better soon!

 

[susan fulcher]

did you get my PM?

 

[Donna741]

We use this recipe a lot in rescue. Works great on dogs with Colitis or severe diareah.

Cooked white rice (not long grain as it is harder to digest)

Canned pumpkin (not pie filling as it contains sugar)

Boiled chicken with skin removed

Large curd cottage cheese (not nonfat)

Acidophilus powder, probiotic or digestive enzyme which I give daily to help digestion of kibble but during this time it is a necessity to repair the flora of the digestive tract. You can get Prozyme at most pet stores, acidophilus at health food stores (should be in the refrig section). (If you are looking for a great one to use daily (it does help with boxer gas!) go to http://www.b-naturals.com and it is called Berte's Probiotic Blend.)

Do not add water to meals during this time feed about 1-2 cups of white rice and 1 cup chicken twice a day. Add a heaping 1/4 cup of pumpkin and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese per meal. The amounts of rice an chicken will vary by the size of the dog. Better to start with less and see how the system reacts.

 

[Augie]

Hi
Sorry to hear your Spice has colitis. I know from experience with Boxers this can be quite distressing for dog and owner.
"Wafcol 21" is a very good food for helping to control this problem.
Ask your vet about Salazopyrin - it can only be prescription bought but we found it was the best. During bad times with one of our dogs and after a barium meal x-ray we discovered she had ulcers right through her gullet from one end to the other. She was treated with "Tagamet" [Cimetidine] for the stomach ulcers and Salazopryin for the Colitis. Both drugs are prescription only. It definitely does control the symptoms - when you get her controlled be very careful what you give her to eat. Ours could not tolerate any form of dog biscuits/treats etc. We used to buy soya flour and "make" biscuits for her. Absolutely no red meat whatsoever. Sometimes you can add a little minced chicken or white fish to the Wafcol 21 but be careful.
How long has she been taking Prednisilone?
Hope you manage to get her controlled soon.
Augie

 

[LWilkins]

Thanks for the info. I will definately talk to my vet . Spice has been on the pred for about 5 months now. I'd love to get her off all the meds. She has to take 5 pills a day, 3 in the a.m. (pred, flagyl, imuran) and 2 in the p.m. (pred, flagyl). Not to mention that once a week I have to give her an iron pill because she's anemic.

I really appreciate the advice from everyone. It gives me some real good info to take to my vet.

Thanks,

Linda

 

[Jen&Scott]

Oscar has colitis/IBD and we've been through various medicines and prescription foods. We've tried Science Diet WD, Eukanuba Low Residue, Venison and Potato (that's all I can remember right now). He's been through rounds of Prednisone, and we've used Flagyl and Centrine when he's had bad flare ups.

Right now we cook for him. He eats ground venison and rice (lots of friend and family deer hunters here in Western PA) and takes a vitamin supplement. On the prepared (kibble) foods, he would improve for a bit and then go back downhill. He would get us up 3-5 times during the night and have accidents in the house if we left him for longer than about three hours. He also started to look bad -- not skinny, just not quite right. We switched to the bland cooked diet and weaned him off the Pred while we try to figure out what our next step is.

The problem is that, although he's better, he's still not good. He just looks better and he rarely has accidents and if he gets up during the night it's only once, but -- this is gross -- when he goes to the bathroom it's still very runny and sometimes still has a bit of blood in it. His stools are rarely "formed."

I just recently heard about acidophilus and have decided to try adding it to his food. We are debating having him scoped and running more tests. But if they don't yield any new information, it's a wasted expense.

Anyway, I know what you're going through. Let me know what happens with Spice (jdaum@charter.net). If we have any success with the acidophilus (or anything else), I'll let you know.

Jen

TIP: for anyone that regulary cooks ground meat of any kind for their boxers, Tupperware has a 2-part microwave steamer for about $25 that works great. You put 1-2 ppounds of ground meat in the top part, microwave it for about 7 minutes and all the grease sinks into the bottom part. I bought one about a month ago, and can't rave enough. I wanted to buy a bunch for Xmas presents, but my husband reminded me that not everyone cooks as much gound meat as we do.

 

[Augie]

COLITIS

Anyone with a dog that has Colitis - please ask your vet to try the dog on SALAZOPRYIN [prescription only drug at least it is in the UK]. Your vet may tell you it is an antibiotic and no better than any other but it REALLY DOES WORK! It is not cheap but even if they need a course up to 3 weeks it is well worth the money.
We dont have venison here so I cannot comment on that - leastways it is classed as a deli food and unless very rich money would not buy it!
Augie

 

[Donna741]

Jen,
Have you tried adding the canned pumpkin? Not the pie filling kind but the regular canned pumpkin. It is high in fiber and should help firm up the stools.

 

[Jen&Scott]

Donna --

I've been thinking about adding pumpkin to Oscar's meals because everyone mentions it. But I wonder if it will help fix whatever his problem is, or if it will only mask the problem by making his stools firm when he still has something wrong with him?

I will probably try pumpkin and/or acidophilus, but not until after Christmas. At least the way Oscar is now, we know what to expect. I hate to make a change and have something "bad" happen over the holidays!

Jen