Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Dogs

[ForestRiverTeac]

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 at this point in his life. He's been through strychnine poisoning, herniated discs in his neck, and a malignant melanoma in his eye. I'd say that's enough trauma for one dog.

His only symptoms are that his coat has been a mess since last summer and every 4-6 weeks he goes through about 36 hours where he can't keep anything down, even though he wants to eat. We're treating him with Prevacid, metronidazole, and bland limited-ingredient food. His appetite has never wavered, and his disposition is as sunny as the day I brought him home as a tiny puppy.

From what I've been told and have read, IBS can only be controlled, not cured. My question for those of you who deal with more wholistic solutions to your dog's health is whether or not there's something I might be adding to his regimen that might help improve his digestive system and strengthen it.

And for Dr. Doug in particular, is keeping Jed on the metronidazole likely to make him develop a resistance to it? My vet said that if/when it quits working then prednisone would be the next step. I really hope we don't get there, as he has a pretty strong reaction to it.

Thanks for your collective insight.

[xteacher]

First and foremost - every dog is different, I think we'll all agree. With that being said, I used to have boxers, and they seem to corner the market for IBS, colitis, etc. - a very high maintenance breed, digestive-wise.

I found that I had to feed a limited ingredient, grain free, fish based, moderate protein and moderate fat kibble (Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream worked well for my boxers), along with digestive enzymes (the only one that worked for my dogs was Mercola Digestive Enzymes for Pets) to keep my dogs' guts happy. This company also makes a good probiotic, but I found that the digestive enzymes worked better for my dogs.

[BizmarksMom]

I feel for you. I had a female lab with an incredibly picky gut. She was stable as long as she only ate Sweet Potato and Venison dry food, and her probiotics. Period. If she snuck food, or somebody tossed her a treat she was blowing out both ends and on meds to calm her gut down.

So, my advice is to find the food your boy tolerates and do not ever deviate from it.

[ForestRiverTeac]

dturm wrote:

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

Dr. Doug, the only consistent symptom he's had is the vomiting for extended periods. And he's only had maybe 4 episodes since last June. Then when I started reading about IBS, poor coat quality was mentioned, which he's had since last summer.

Again, we're just treating the symptoms. I'm simply not willing to put him through invasive, stressful tests, only to be told that what's going on is terminal. He gets to enjoy life and live it on his terms.

For a treat in his Kong in the morning he's getting nonfat, plain Greek yogurt. I figured (and the vet agreed) that it won't hurt him, and could help with the good stuff in his gut.

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I really appreciate it.

[mikim]

Obviously talk to your vet first. I have IBS and have had very good luck with IB Gard. Each tablet contains peppermint oil has is found in 20 cups of peppermint tea. I have found one capsule every two days has really helped.

[dturm]

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.

[doxiemom11]

Have you happened to think about heartworm treatment being the irritant. You give it every 4 weeks - irritation starts within a few days to a week of dosage and continues for a few days? Flea/tic oral or any other medications being given? Sometimes side effects don't happen until they have been on the med for awhile. Research side effects of anything yourself.

[Pawz4me]

We have a cat who has IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). She was diagnosed a decade or so ago and is now fourteen. I have no real good advice to offer other than being very careful in what you try. Since food and stress are the biggest triggers for IBS you may run the risk of making things worse rather than better if you start trying different things. After our cat was diagnosed we were lucky to find a food she did well on and we've stuck with that over the years and tried to limit other things. I'm normally a huge proponent of variety in healthy pets' diets, but pets with medical issues like IBS and IBD are exceptions to that.

[ForestRiverTeac]

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 ... 😉

[DownTheAvenue]

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.

[kerrlakeRoo]

Try going to a lamb and rice diet, sometimes with delicate stomach's it helps, it did with my Aussie. I do have one friend that claims Dinovite has done wonders for his dog, you could look into that.
Good Luck.