Medicine for Colitis?

[brindlepup]

My 2 1/2 year old boy Butch has colitis. We discovered his condition shortly after we adopted him as a 1 year old from a rescue. He would have this horrid, foul, explosive diarrhea usually around 2 AM. After much testing and trying out meds we got the explosive part under control by giving him metradonidazole (I know I slaughtered the spelling) daily but he still has pudding poop. He eats a dry food that has no soy, wheat or corn in it and does not get people food or even many dog treats. My vet suggested we add some bulk fiber to his diet so he gets two tsp benfiber (metamucil makes him VERY gassy - not fun) mixed in with his breakfast and lunch. It helps but not a lot. Now she suggests we try a new product from Iams calls Prostora (again, not sure of the spelling) that is a probiotic kind of like Activia for humans. It is VERY costly; $30 for 15 pills and you give one pill a day until the problem is under control then you gradually cut back to 1 or 2 pills a week. Has anyone heard of this product? Tried it? What other products/suggestions to help firm up pudding poop does anyone have? Thanks!

 

[HokieGirl]

Probiotics

Something you should consider is adding 1 Tbs Stoneyfield Farms Yogurt to each feeding as it contains probios and should help with diarrhea specifically when there is an insufficient amout of good bacteria in the gut. It helped Rocki within 48 hours after antibiotics. I also see at petco there are some probios with enzymes which may be helpful as he may be having some allergies. I have not tried these. I would do whatever the vet says + maybe add yogurt.

 

[Althea]

I second Hokiegirl -- I use yogurt to add in probiotics, and Stonyfield is supposed to be one of the best.

 

[EAO76]

Has he been tested for giardia, worms parasites, etc? You need to rule that out 1st.

Boxers are prone to developing colitis. Does Butch have blood in his stool? If not (or if its just a little blood) you can try several days of just feeding plain mashed russet potatoes (nothing else, no treats or anything). That will calm his system. After things improve on the potatoes then you can try slowly adding in some natural balance duck & potato dog food (petco). This usually works. Now if there is a lot of blood in the stool he may have"Boxer ulcerative colitis.". This is when Deep ulcers have developed in the colon wall. In that case the antibiotic baytril is the only thing that has seemed to cure Boxer ulcerative colitis. They need to be on the baytril for 6weeks. Most vets have no idea about this therapy. But it works. Baytril is expensive but there have been dogs that were literally on deaths door, nothing else worked & this did. To save money you can also use the human version which is cipro. here is a thread that may interest you... http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/do...s/148154-chronic-bloody-diarrhea-colitis.html

In regards to the probiotcs it wont hurt. You can try the Prostora or you can get human probiotics too. He may not be able to tolerate yogurt, depending on how sensitve he is. Also you can try canned pumpkin for fiber. Or at the kennel we use psyllium for the rescue dogs and that seems to work great.

 

[SherylM]

I would suggest a round of probiotics..we used Geneflora for Lucy and still give it to her daily. If you don't have any luck there perhaps switching her food to a single source protein would help, Natural Balance is a good one to try. As was mentioned, if there is chronic bloody diarreha your pup may be suffering HUC (boxer colitis) and Baytril would be in order. If this is the case perhaps your vet would prescribe the Baytril without all the expensive testing first...this is what my vet did and it was a miracle for Lucy.

 

[brindlepup]

Thanks for all the feedback. To answer the question regarding being testes for giardia, worms, parasites, etc. Yep, if it's out there and can cause GI issues, we've tested for it. His stools do not contain a large amount of blood, thank goodness, and the metronidazole takes care of the explosive aspect of his colitis and he does not act as though his stomach hurts as he did before the metronidazole. I have tried giving him pumpkin. He hated it and refused to eat it. Thus we went to trying bulk fiber suppliments like Metamucil and Benefiber. Metamucil leaves him VERY gassy. Benefiber, less so.

We began the Prostora this AM. He wasn't that thrilled with the flavor but he ate the nuggets for me. However, 10 hours later I am home fro work and his gas is awful. I hope this is not a lingering effect of the Prostora. He has not had any treats and ate his usual food/benefiber mix for breakfast. His system is just so sensitive that I think adding anything (even a probiotic) is going to upset his system at least at first.

I might also see if the yogurt idea works for him. I'm willing to try just about anything right now. Thanks

 

[Cami]

What is he eating currently (and or) what have you tried?

The Prostora has some of the things that it seems as if you were trying to avoid....
Sucrose, Vegetable Oil, Bifidobacterium animalis, Dried Skim Milk, Dried Reduced Minerals Whey, Cocoa Butter, Artificial Colors, Soy Lecithin (emulsifier), Artificial Vanilla Flavor.

Perhaps you might consider Fortiflora (also from your vets office). Touted as being quite palatable.

 

[Dianna]

My boxer is extremely fussy about his food, but he actually enjoyed the Fortiflora. I just sprinkled it on his food. It worked wonders when he had an extremely high yeast count after needing antibiotics following surgery for two abscessed teeth.

We've also had Archie on the Walmart generic extra strength gas relief, 125 mg, softgels. That's helped as well.

 

[brindlepup]

Thanks to everyone for their input and advice. We are now on the second week of the Prostora and frankly I am not impressed but the vet wants me to see it through. The only thing it has done is make his pudding poo into the consistency of oatmeal on a good day and no real changes on a bad day. After reading Cami's response I looked closer at the Prostora and saw that yep, it does contain whey and soy both of which I have been told to avoid giving him. His food is from Diamond Pets and has no soy, wheat or corn in it. It is meant to be for animals with very sensitive stomachs and GI systems. I have tried Science Diet D (the one the vet sells for sensitive systems), Nutro lamb and rice, Iams, and Purina One (I know, basically junk food) and they all had the same result - no change to the pudding poop. When I first switched him to this new Diamond Pet food he had some improvement but we went back to the pudding consistency pretty quickly. He also gets his Benefiber but perhaps I should switch to a psyllium fiber like Metamucil and just live with the gas.

I will look into the Natural Balance duck and potato. He has just enough of his old food left to use to transition to a new one. I will also ask my vet about the Fortiflora, Geneflora and Baytril. Thanks for all the help!

 

[DENALIGIRL]

I have dealt with my share of pudding poop, for lack of a better term, for quite some time with Zoey and not one single dry kibble would eliminate it. It might improve slightly but it was always back to the pudding state in a matter of time. She never did have "explosive" issues though. She was also having problems with throwing up her kibble at least twice a week, right after she ate...about 10-20 mins to be exact and in whole form (if you know what I mean). She would then throw up bile at least once to twice month (only in the morning - like she was hungry)...so I took the advice of a friend and tried a raw commercial diet. Within one week she was solid as ever... Don't know what your options are regarding feeding either raw or trying a raw commercial diet for a period of time to see if it improves his state. It can't hurt or cost much more than all of the money invested at the vet's office!