Cainine Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Annie, my little buddy, came home with me at 10 weeks of age full of Vizsla energy. She was nicknamed the Energizer Bunny! She seemed healthy as can be her first 5 years.

At age 5 1/2 I noticed that Annie was looking back at herself on walks like something was bothering her. I took her in to be seen and x-rays were done to make sure there wasn't something structurally wrong. The x-rays looked great. My vet decided to put her on a trial of Aspirin just in case something was hurting. Not too long after that she began to have some intermittent vomiting. I also noticed that her tummy started rumbling loudly, most noticeably at night. The rumbling was bad enough to wake her and she would hover over me looking like she felt miserable.

I took her to the vet and he first started her on Pepcid. When that alone didn't help a food trial with Hills Z/D was started . When on that Annie started to have a problem with reflux. By now they were suspecting IBD and suggested more tests be done on her. I decided to take her to a specialist.

The Internal Medicine Specialist ordered blood and stool tests which all came back normal. Even so he started her on Flagyl and Baytril to rule out infection as a cause. He kept her on Pepcid and added Reglan. When Annie's rumblings and reflux didn't resolve with all of these medications he suggested an Upper GI and then endoscopy. The endoscopy confirmed the diagnosis of IBD. She was then started on Prednisone.

You've never seen such a ravenous dog with such an appetite for paper! As hard as I tried to keep such items out of her reach she would find something. Of course she would continue to gurgle with paper in her tummy. The vet suggested starting her on Imuran in addition to the Prednisone with the idea I believe of tapering down the Prednisone. I didn't like the way she felt on the Imuran. It was during this time that I started looking into alternative treatments.

An acquaintance at work had taken her dog with IBD to a holistic vet in town and had success. I decided to take Annie to see her. We slowly weaned Annie off the Prednisone and started Chinese herbs. She had a few acupuncture treatments. The other change that was made was to a raw diet. A pre ground frozen product was recommended by our holistic vet. It was made up of just chicken and vegetables, no grains. Annie took digestive enzymes along with the raw food. She was on this combination for 7 months and did quite well.

Even though she did well I started having reservations about feeding raw. The traditional vets I took her to were not comfortable with it. I also found it difficult to travel with. I decided to consult with yet another Internal Medicine Vet that also specializes in nutrition. We began trying new diets, a few of which we did not have success with. I thought she did fairly well on Purina HA and I kept her on that for a while. She continued to have the tummy rumbles though and I couldn't help but wonder if there might be something else she could tolerate better. I suspected that she had an intolerance to a lot of grains and potatoes so I continued to research foods that had either no grains, no potatoes, or a carbohydrate she hadn't had before. The food we have had the most success with to date is canned Wellness Turkey and Sweet Potato. She's fed 4-5 small meals a day and is tolerating that well. She also takes Ranitidine which has helped her reflux. She's 10 years old now.

I wish there was one food that would work for all IBD dogs! Unfortunately every dog reacts differently. It can take a lot of trial and error to find what works for your dog and it's hard to experiment when your dog is not feeling well! I feel for the dogs that have gotten sick at such young ages. Annie is fortunate not to have a problem with diarrhea. Most of the time you wouldn't know she has IBD. She does gets occasional bouts of gastritis that get me worried but the majority of the time she is doing fine. For that we count our blessings.

I'm so lucky to have this special dog in my life. I couldn't have asked for a more loyal and devoted companion and I'm so glad to have her feeling better again!