Diagnosed with IBD

Boris has had diarrhoea for over a week. We took him to the vets after 4days and he was given a load of medication. After 2 days he had a normal poo, but then he was straight back to the diarrhoea again. We took him to the vets yesterday thinking he might have a blockage but the vet thinks he has IBD!

I'd been collecting poo samples so the vet has sent off the samples for a faecal test to check for any bacteria, and also some blood tests. He also did some x-rays and an ultrasound but found nothing.

The vet said he wants to put him on a hypoallergenic prescription diet to see if that helps but I said No. Firstly, he;s on burns which is a hypoallergenic diet. Secondly, why would I try him on another new diet when he hasn't even had the results from the tests back yet? He doesn't even know for sure that it IBD!

Has anyone had experience of this? There is no vomiting, just diarrhoea, and only once a day instead of twice a day. Boris is absolutely normal in himself, still charging about like a loon on his walks.

yes, my yoda had it very seriously.

You should make sure anything you try to try and improve him is done individually...ie. dont put him on a new medication aswell as a new food at the same time as you wont know which is helping and which isnt.

Is he on metronidazole and prednisalone(streroid)?
thats what my boy was on...i 'll tell you what happened with him..

He had it in sever form and was vomiting and the runs. Medication had limited effect so he was operated on and they took biopsies.
He was on maximum dose prednisalone and antibiotics. He was also tried on science plan XD (or it might of been hills, i cant remember..whichever does the XD)
he had a bad reaction to this and it made him much worse- but that is not typical so it may be worth a try.

He was up and down and medication was making him worse from the side effect.
I made the decision i would give him quality and not quantity of life and took him off all medication. I managed his relapses and he wasnt too bad for the next 6 months. Sadly i lost him in june aged 21 months due to kidney and liver failure. Its not known what caused it but i believe it wasnt helped by the steroids he was on..thats why i would strongly recommend trying the food and seeing if there is improvement.
I hear of lots of dogs managing well and only needing to go back on steroids when they have a bad bout.

Although i lost yoda, he was getting over his ibd(though there is no cure) so please dont think this is going to be the outcome for your dog as most dogs go into a sort of remission and only have bouts once in a while once effective managemnet is sorted.

I was really hoping it wasn't IBD but the poo he had last night didn't look a bit like poo. It was very dark brown almost black with a light brown splodge of mucus.

The poo he had just now was even darker brown and the whole thing felt like (through the bag of course!) it was mucus!

My poor little doggy!

Just an update really. Almost a week later and some progress.

Still no faecal sample results back yet so not sure for definate if IBD, but vet said it sounded like colitis after his poo was just a pile of mucus.

He's being fed boiled potatoes and tuna for the last week as recommended by the nutritionist at Burns. His poo was perfectly normal so I increased the amount of boiled potato and tuna. Again, poo perfectly normal. Boris was feeling so much better too so we even went for a run on Friday.

However, yesterday I started reintroducing his normal Burns food (chicken and brown rice) and this morning his poo was slightly loose again.

I just dont understand how food that he's been on for almost 2 years can suddenly affect him so badly.

Milo has IBD and it was diagnosed by endoscope and biopseys taken at that time.
You must try and find a protein source that your dog won't react against as yes dogs can suddenly become intolerant to a food they have had for a long time.
Its no good just changing the food alone it must be to a protein source he has never had before to see if he can tolerate it. Also make sure it has no cereals wheat/gluten in it.
Your vet should also give your dog Prednisolone in the first instance if they are saying its IBD. I presume vet definetly said IBD and not IBS as they are different.
Unfortunatly for Milo he is intolerant of all foods in varying degrees and also to prednisolone and other anti inflanatories

Had a friend whose terrier was affected by wheat when very young & later developed problems with rice as well. he was on a tuna & potato diet all his life. If she gave him anything else he was ill stomach upsets & extreme itching. However on this diet he lived a good life till he was 19.
Mind I have had dogs who had problems after a severe stomack upset who have been fine after probiotics to replace the good bacteria killed off after the treatment, so you could try this first.

Such a hard one this, my boy Scratch hasn't been diagnosed with IBD but has had bowel trouble for ages, tested for lots of things, was told it was colitis, he went on metronidazole which didnt do much. He was on an ultra allergy free diet, this did limited amount for him. He had been on steroids before but could not go back on them. It got to a point I was beside myself and decided to try an elimination diet that was extra low fat. He has improved greatly since then and I am trying to say that it is worth going through different diets slowly to see if he improves. As others have said about medications and diet, it is trial and error as it is an individual disease, which can be frustrating and can seem to get some where but then got back two steps.
Listen to your vet but also do your own research and try to see what works for you dog and I have also utilised the wise people of Dogsey who have given me ideas that I would not have otherwise thought of.
I hope your dog improves and you get some test results soon
Emma

Thanks guys. He seems to be doing well on the potato and tuna homecooked diet - I guess I just have to try a different flavour of Burns. The nutritionist suggested their pork&potato which is for allergies.

The vet definately said IBD. I have IBS so I'm also on a restrictive diet and have to be fussy with my food - I just didn't think I'd have to start cooking for the dog too! Ha ha ha!

I shall persist with the homecooked diet and maybe try and introduce some other food.

Hi Lucy Wafcol and Arden Grange make a salmon and potato food without unnecessary additives .
Chloe has had a problem with Colitis (having eliminated other causes with tests vets seem to attribute any reoccurring runny mucous feces with IBID or Colitis) and Wafol seems to suit her very well giving nice firm little poos. You can find a stockist by visiting their wesite.
Remember to reintroduce any new food very gradually by substituting a little of the old food for the new and check for any reactions.

My dog Dibby is prone to colitis. He is on JWB and Denes He can eat dog treats and biscuits but if he manages to eat any crumbs of choclate, biscuits and cake he gets bloody diarrhea, mucus and has a tummy ache.
He is fine most of the time , its just a question of being vigilant.
Alison