Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Dogs

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Metronidazole is usually well tolerated in dogs. Rarely, it can cause liver failure, and long term dosage can cause neurological problems that usually go away after the medication is stopped. Have you tired a very bland diet from noncommercial sources? Boiled chicken and rice with real pumpkin puree is a good choice during an episode. Sometimes, irritable bowel can be abated with a bland diet. Also, if you can get the irritable bowel under control and allow the bowel to "rest", then sometimes the symptoms do not reappear. You may have to experiment to find what "triggers" the irritation.

If I were you, I would seriously consider a second opinion. Exploratory surgery for irritable bowel seems very aggressive to me, especially in an older dog, whose symptoms only appear every 4 to 6 weeks. Please consider Solid Gold SeaMeal nutritional supplement- I have had very good results even though I feed a quality commercial food.

You may also consider taking your dog off commercially prepared food altogether and use only home prepared food. If you choose this option, be sure to find a recipe from a reliable source so that all of your dog's nutritional needs are met.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The exploratory surgery was suggested by a very junior vet in the middle of one of Jed's episodes. Needless to say, I had a conversation with the senior vet who is very agreeable to simply treating the symptoms.

We feed high-quality commercial food that my vet likes, in addition to some prescription bland food when he's having trouble. But I'll check out the Solid Gold as a supplement.

We've gone the chicken/rice route several times, but it doesn't seem to agree with him as much as the prescription stuff. We're certainly watching what he gets into, as he's a virtual canine vacuum. Hard to keep totally everything out of his mouth, but hyper-vigilance is becoming part of our routine.

Should have named him Hoover ... ;)