Chronic colitis in goldie

My goldie went to dog crèche two months ago. She vomited during the night and after every meal the following day. Then she got diarrhoea.

She has been to the vet three times and we are going again today. She was diagnosed with colitis and given antibiotics and recovered. Then started vomiting again put on a bland diet but when I tried to introduce dry food again she got colitis and diarrhoea.

I have tried changing her food and she was ok until the bout of sickness last week. Now she can't even tolerate a bland diet. I have been feeding her slippery elm, fish and pumpkin purée with a tiny bit of pasta. Plus Pro-Kolin.

Any suggestions would be welcome as she has lost weight and she is quite slim already. I expect she will be given more antibiotics which worries me but I don't know what else to do as she can't seem to absorb anything at the moment.

sounds like shes picked something up at creche?

Cant put my finger on it right this minute but there is some particularly virulent bug that they can get which involves prolonged periods on anti's. Def recall reading about someone (if not more than one) on here really struggling to get their dogs clear of it

I wasnt to say giardia but not sure

If it did start after she had been at the crèche then it is more likely to be a bug and not Chronic Colitis, which is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

If it is Chronic Colitis, ie a form of IBD, there is a lot of information and advice about it HERE

[Incidentally, IBD is not the same as IBS, which is Irritable Bowel Syndrome]

Thanks for the information
She was stressed at going to the crèche so that may be a factor.
But she is a scavenger and I know they went outside to the field so she could well have picked something up. My other dog also went and she has been fine, but she would have been busy playing not eating!
They were not given food there and it is unlikely to be a bug from another dog as it has only affected one of them.
We are off to the vet now so will see what he has to say.
I feel so sorry for my poorly girl.

Good luck at the vet - incidentally, have they tested her stools?

Incidentally, stress is a major factor in IBS but not in IBD.

The vet was very thorough. We have worming powders to give and an anti inflammatory injection. No antibiotics.
The vet advised half bland food and half of previous dried food. I am tempted to put her onto Chappie as I have been told it is good at these times. I have just given pasta and fish for now so I will see how she goes.
She had her anal glands emptied and I have put manuka honey on her tail with a sock on top because she has been chewing it. She is really in the wars!
Thanks for the good wishes. We are to do a stool sample if it carries on next week.

Fish & potato diets are the best for colitis. There are quite a few on the market to chose from. Our boy is controlled on a salmon & rice diet very well.

Poor girl and I know what you're going through, as I was going through this for 18 months on and off with Zena.

My gut feelings are IBS if you can rule out bugs of course and worms. Whipworms cause this kind of thing along with giardias. Is the diarrhea on the yllow side and does it have a really rank smell? That would point to giardias and the only way to get rid of that is either the metronidazole for a week (then it will return again), or to get rid of it once and for all, the only wormer to use for this is Panacur over 3 or 5 days.

My new vet finally found a cure for Zena by way of giving a low dose Metro every single day for life, so instead of going through what you are going through, we now only get flare ups every 3 or 6 months which I can live with, and just double up her dose. He told me this drug works in a totally different way in dogs than it does in humans and miraculously calms the gut down. She has been on this about 2 years now to no ill effect, so might be worth a chat with your vet about his take on trying this?

The pro biotic powders will help too, either the Pro Flora sachets or the Yum Pro plus given on a daily basis until things subside.

Your dog has the classic symptoms of IBS (don't know about the IBD), but hopefully the wormer you've been given is Panacur so you can then rule out giardias.

Good luck, this can turn into a never ending spiral, as I experienced with my own dog for 18 months until I moved house and found a vet who knew all about it.

Thanks Helen. I changed her to Wainwrights potato and salmon so I am on the right track!

Helena that is so useful to know if we end up back at the vet. I remember the difficult time you had with Zena. She starts with mucusy soft stools which then turn into diarrhoea but they are not hugely smelly. I have some probiotics for humans in the cupboard so will add those to her food tomorrow.

We have been given panacur to use three days running. The vet took a fecal sample with a cotton bud when we were there and went away to do a test which he said was ok. We have a bottle for a stool sample if she continues with diarrhoea.

She has now had five meals of a handful of salmon and potato (soaked) plus what she was on before. So far nothing. But she has gone this long before and ended up with diarrhoea. Fingers crossed we don't have an explosion during the night!

Hi again Talasse. The probiotics for humans apparently aren't the same. If you can get some of the Pro Flora or the Yum pro Plus that I'm on it would be much better.

We had sloppy poops (stress!!!) for the past 2 or 3 weeks but since giving her the Yum Pro at the beginning of this week, she is now producing normal, firm poops even though the stress is still there, but these flare ups are natural with zena when she's going through stressful periods.

The Panacur should rule out any nasties, and please mention to your vet about Zena's medication, it might be your wtg if you can't keep this under control.