Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Dogs
Greetings -- My 11 year-old Lab, Jed, has been diagnosed with IBS. At least that's what we're going to treat, as I'm not willing for him to undergo exploratory surgery and anything else invasive a...
Forum Discussion
Good information so far. I've not found many side effects from metronidazole given long term. There are some specific medication for IBS, some that were used years ago and not so much in favor now (sulfasalazine). I had a golden several years ago with IBS on sulfasalazine and she did well for years on it.
The surgery suggestion was probably to get an intestinal biopsy, the only way to get a definitive diagnosis. This was not an improper suggestion, but I agree that treating symptomatically with the presumptive diagnosis is reasonable.
I too would recommend not to do too much switching of foods. Without a vomiting component to the symptoms, stick with the limited ingredient foods without frequent changes unless symptoms recur.
Probiotics would be the only thing I would add to the mix. There are dog specific products, but human variety or an active culture yogurt would be reasonable.
Doug
BTW, just for information sake: IBS in cats is a different ball game than in dogs. In cats it almost always is a precursor to intestinal cancer (intestinal lymphoma), so finding a definitive diagnosis is important.
The surgery suggestion was probably to get an intestinal biopsy, the only way to get a definitive diagnosis. This was not an improper suggestion, but I agree that treating symptomatically with the presumptive diagnosis is reasonable.
I too would recommend not to do too much switching of foods. Without a vomiting component to the symptoms, stick with the limited ingredient foods without frequent changes unless symptoms recur.
Probiotics would be the only thing I would add to the mix. There are dog specific products, but human variety or an active culture yogurt would be reasonable.
Doug
BTW, just for information sake: IBS in cats is a different ball game than in dogs. In cats it almost always is a precursor to intestinal cancer (intestinal lymphoma), so finding a definitive diagnosis is important.
