Possible Collitis in 6 month old puppy

[lkenny]

For the past 4 months my currently 6 month old fawn boxer puppy has had consistently liquid bowel movements. The only time it was solid-ish ( like a soft serve) was when he was on medication to solidify it. He has tested positive twice for Giardia and been through two cycles of medication to treat it. We have gone through a massive amount of different dog foods to try and see if it was food intolerance. Our vet kind of gave up said she did not know and sent us to a specialist. After seeing the specialist yesterday she informed us she believe it maybe colitis but has never seen or heard of a boxer this young ever having it, it would have been since he was 8 weeks old it would seem. She took blood work and we are waiting on the results for that. The nutritionist there changed his diet over now to hills prescription w/d due to its high fiber content. She said if it is colitis high fiber sometimes assists with the issue and would give a clue if this causes his stools to firm. Well after one feeding of the w/d he has the firmest stools I have seen. This makes me believe he does have boxer colitis. The specialist said the treatment for colitis is baytril ( i believe that is correct) the issues is that it could potentially cease his growth and cause other health issues since he is so young and she has never seen a case where a puppy was given baytril so she does not know how it will react with him. Does anyone have any advice on this or experience? I just want my little guy to be healthy for his whole life he has never had one day where he has been healthy. Its sad to see him at the dog park and he just sits there and watches the other dogs. Is colitis hereditary? If it is I would like to inform the place where we received him so they do not breed those dogs anymore since I feel it is irresponsible to bring sick puppies into the world. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[buddhasmum]

Healing Boxer Colitis

My Buddha also suffered with this for some time. I have only had him 13 weeks and he is now 18 months. Karla Spitzer in her book suggests that colitis and food allergies/ intolerances may be caused by weaning too soon. For instance, starting pups on solid food before about 7 weeks.
That makes sense to me.

For my boy, I believe it was also due to big Boxer stress. He was kept outside when a new baby arrived. Also winter was coming and getting cold and rainy. Here's what worked for us.
First, a reliable feed and exercise schedule. And he is never left alone, always with me or at least one of the other dogs.

2 meals a day, excellent puppy food, only as much as he can metabolize
(maybe a half cup twice a day to start) we feed Innova

With each meal:
1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp Prozyme
1/4 tsp psyllium (metamucil)
1 teaspoon flax oil
3 Tablespoons finely grated carrot

Of couse the giardia must be addressed. You may wish to add additional vitamins and supplements as he becomes stronger.

I had to feed my boy outside for a while because his digestion was so weak, he was unable to control his potty habits initially.

Best luck!!
JoAnne

 

[brodieboxer]

We've been where you are. We adopted a puppy from a supposedly good breeder, but had trouble from the very beginning. We tried numerous foods, including 3 different vet diets - one sent from Royall Canin Corporate headquarters at no cost to us, after the first two didn't work (alll three were supposed to help sensitive stomach dogs/puppies). We tried grain free, including TOTW, Earthborn, and Natural Balance LID. The puppy was also given probiotics, treated for worms (multiple times). He didn't have a UTI (a $140 test confirmed this).

Eventually, we gave up and took the puppy back to the breeder. The only thing he could eat was a RAW diet, and I'm afraid I'm not willing to go there. My husband absolutely refused to even think about it. The breeder refused to give us our money back because the puppy didn't have a life threatening illness. She contacted me about a week later, and said he was doing well on the RAW diet. I'm glad, but whoever she rehomes him to will have to feed him that forever, I guess. The peeing issue is another matter. He lives outside at her house, since he appears to be incontinent.

It broke our hearts, but we couldn't deal with the constant mess in the house (both pee and poo). We were concerned that we were going to have to replace the laminate flooring it was so bad.

I hope you find a solution to your problem. Definitely get the parasite issue under control. You might have to go the RAW route if you plan on keeping this puppy.

 

[lkenny]

thank you all for your advice and input. I suggested the RAW diet to the vet and she was adamantly against it. stating that the processed raw meat is not the same as a fresh kill as well as some other reasons and said I need to stay away from it. They now want to do a biopsy for $2100.00 :/

 

[Noey]

thank you all for your advice and input. I suggested the RAW diet to the vet and she was adamantly against it. stating that the processed raw meat is not the same as a fresh kill as well as some other reasons and said I need to stay away from it. They now want to do a biopsy for $2100.00 :/

I have a post about our giardia/colitis experience in the same forum here...

I wanted to say first that I totally understand and can relate to your struggle.
I was at the point of talking euthanasia with my girl's vet, when I finally took control of the situation and my girl started getting better.

She also was diagnosed with Giardia, and through that battle she had bloody stools.
She was already taking antibiotics for her skin allergies, heart worm prevention, regular boosters, etc. She started the flagyl for the Giardia and within a day she started to vomit, have bloody stools, drop weight and became lethargic. On day 8 she was down 6 pounds (more than 10% of her body weight). The doctor wanted to do an exploratory surgery (1200 dollars) and I just took her home. I fed her cottage cheese, raw eggs (farm fresh) and locally grown organic chicken. 12 hours later she had solid poop and hasn't stopped.

Raw food doesn't have to be scary, there are many companies who sell raw food, prepacked, freeze dried, etc. I don't know if you have tried this, but it worked miracles for my dog.

All of the spots in her skin filled in (where fur was missing)
All of her skin allergies (hives, etc) got better
Her vomited ended immediately
Her poo became firm and easy to manage
She gained a pound back that weekend

I did all that because I wanted to see if my dog could thrive if I made things a lot more simple, and she did.

Many people freak out about raw food feeding, but I am a supporter.

What are you feeding now? I mixed probiotic in Roxi's food for a week after the giardia treatment ended. You can also use :Tylan Soluble Powder : to help digestion.
added benefit is that if your dog is flashy the whites will only get whiter!

I agree with your vet when it comes to wal-mart meats. What I mean by this is that the meat you buy in a super center grocery is not what you should give your dog.
Farm fresh meats, eggs, fish... these things are safe. I don't feed my dog things that I wouldn't eat (aside from bones).

I live in Ohio and there is plenty of agriculture. If you don't live near farms or have local butchers I recommend the following:

Wellness raw foods
Primal pet food
ZiwiPeak Venison
Paw Naturaw frozen foods (amazon.com)
Raw, meaty bones (you can order them frozen)

I wish you good luck and please keep us updated!

*hug*

 

[lkenny]

thank you!

I actually had purchased books on the raw diet a long time ago. I am personally a health nut and would always have preferred to home cook and feed my boy good natural foods over processed dog food. I was actually feeding him meats from whole foods such as bison and locally grown veggies and fruits. I had been following diets from a book i purchased on raw food and hollistic treatments. I have another meeting with the specialist this upcoming wednesday and want to speak to her about the raw diet option again. I will keep you posted on how it goes! thank you again everyone for all of your input and help it is greatly appreciated. I was at my wits end not knowing what to do with him and honestly the getting woken up every hour on the hour during the night so he can outside to go to the bathroom is getting exhausting. All the fiber and filler in the w/d makes him go constantly. Its good to know there is hope yet. Thank you all again!