IBD

Question
Hi.  I have a 12 1/2 year old husky who has really struggled with a new diagnosis of IBD.  He is somewhat of a finicky eater anyway so this makes managing his disease more difficult.  He was 78 pounds 3 months ago and is now 65 pounds.  He is making a slow recovery but I am struggling with correctly balancing an IBD diet.  He does not appear to digest rice so I am managing his diarrhea with pumpkin.  I was told that chicken may be a trigger for him so we have stayed away from chicken.  He seems to like veggies so I have been giving him a variety of finely minced or mashed veggies.  He absolutely does not like potatoes so this is another reason pumpkin has been useful.  He appears to like lamb, and salmon.  He may or may not eat beef so I am just trying to give him something he will eat while making sure it is balanced.  He has developed pica over the last few days which tells me that I may not be giving him a balanced meal.  He is on Pet Dophilus two to three times daily, Salmon Oil caps 3,000 mg daily along with a prescription that has gotten control of his IBD.  I have asked a number of vets for diet, supplement and other systems support recommendations without much of a helpful response in return.  

I appreciate any recommendations that you may be able to give.  

Thank you,

Angela  

Answer
Hi Angela,
Are you the same Angela whote about her 12 1/2 year old pooch with UTI's? Has to be LOL. I don't mind at all, just wondered.

First of all, you are talking to the right gal about IBD--not that I am a vet or even close. But I have walked in your shoes EXACTLY with a rescued Yorkie who had severe IBD for almost six months and who, to this day, still has episodes but is SOOOOOO MUCH IMPROVED THANKS TO DIET AND MY MENTOR DONIA, whom I believe I wrote you about. This woman is amazing and taught me sooo much.

am struggling with correctly balancing an IBD diet
AS DID I, BOY DID I EVER!! (Am using ALL CAPS to distguish my response from your writing, i am NOT MAD, OK??)ALMOST FROM THE MOMENT I RESCUED BUDDY HIS STOOL WAS BLOODY AND MUCOUSY AND SOMETIMES WORSE. HE VOMITED IN THE MORNINGS AND REFUSED TO EAT SO OFTEN I WONDERED WHAT IN HECK WAS HAPPENING. THEN BEGAN THE ROUND OF VET VISITS, ALL OF WHICH DID LITTLE TO ALLEVIATE HIS STRESS AND SYMPTOMS. I HAD TESTS RUN ETC BUT DREW THE LINE AT AN ENDOSCOPY BECAUSE OF THE INVASIVENESS OF THIS TEST. THE VET I TRUST THE MOST SAID THAT HE DEFINITELY HAD A SEVERE CASE OF IBD AND THAT WE SHOULD JUST TREAT THIS ACCORDINGLY. I TRIED EVERY MED AND DIET SHE RECOMMENDED AND NOTHING HELPED MUCH...NOTHING--NOT FOR LONGER THAN A FEW DAYS. THEN SOMEONE RECOMMENDED DONIA, AND AFTER I GOT THRU MY OWN STUBBORNNESS AT GETTING HIM OFF COMMERCIAL AND PRESCRIPTION DOG FOODS HE VERY SLOWLY BEGAN TO PUT TOGETHER MORE DAYS OF WELL BEING. I WAS THRILLED.

Now that is some history and background in my little Buddy who still must be fed with kid gloves and watched like a hawk that he doesn't get ANY FOOD but what I give him, which is REAL FOOD--ORGANIC MEATS, VEGGIES AND FRUITS. This was where Donia was solid gold. She helped me with diets, supplements, amounts, and mostly my recalcitrance at balking at my beloved vet's nutritional advice.

What i have learned over the last two years is that VETS KNOW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT DIET. We all WANT TO THINK THAT THEY MUST KNOW ABOUT WHAT TO FEED, BUT PLEASE LISTEN WHEN I TELL YOU THAT VETS SELL FOOD--THEY SELL!!! They are contracted and push only what they sell. When the Science Diet or Iams doesn't help the dog they then jump to prescribing the rot gut they call prescription foods and we, the parents of these dogs, are almost always impressed because the vet "cared enough" to put our beloved pet on prescription food--whoopee. These foods are worse for the dog than buying supermarket foods but they do serve a certain purpose temporarily and we all fall for the schtick.

Having said the above I will tell you now that I followed my vet's orders to a "T" and Buddy onlyu got temporarily better. Buddy was on Flagyl(metronizadole) so many times I lost count. He was on three kinds of prescription foods to quiet his colon (ok, i must say that the prescription food did calm his innards down temporarily but then all the symptoms came roaring back). I had Donia and another nutritionist analze the ingredients of the prescription food and you DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT!! IT IS LIKE FEEDING YOUR DOG EMPTY CALORIES WITH ZERO NUTRITION--NO MATTER WHAT THE VET TELLS YOU.Buddy was on Walthams, Hills and several other vet recommended foods and NOT ONCE, NOT ONCE did she recommend home cooking or raw or any probiotics or enzymes...NOTHING ANGELA, NOTHING--just what she sells. By this time Buddy was making me nuts and scaring me. I took him to a specialist because I was STILL HESTITANT TO LISTEN TO WHAT DONIA WAS TRYING TO TELL ME. I WAS REALLY A HARD SELL.

The specialist agreed that Buddy was really suffering from IBD (not a mild case at all) but also agreed that Buddy should not be put thru an endoscopy. She and I talked and though Buddy had been on metronizadole and even a steroid twice <groan> she was natural food oriented--even if a traditional vet. She did say that I MUST CONSIDER USING TYLOSIN/TYLAN with him long term. Tylan is an antiobiotic in powder form that is the mildest and least bacteria sucking antibiotic out there. Dogs have been known to be on for a very long time with the serious side effects of the regular antibiotics. I HATED the thought of this but my little guy was suffering and if it went on too much longer, the outcome was bleak. I liked this specialist (to the tune of over $2K) right away when she said that in addtion to learning how to dose Buddy with this Tylan she wanted me to get him off commercial dog food and go to a single protein diet--to forget nutrtion and vitamins for a short time because just getting him to eat was a priority--to eat without vomiting and without having him defecated pure blood--yup, it evolved to even this. Talk about scary?? You bet.

I followed the Tylan protocol (much to Donia's 'horror'--she is so puristic it isn't funny and has zero love for any medications at all but I knew this)and began to glean from Donia the diet and food angle she was so helpful with. The story is much longer than this but the bottom line is that I started Buddy with organic chicken only (I too was told that Chicken may be a trigger also but I went organic and it made all the difference), no veggies, no nothing else. Buddy never tasted a snack or treat for the longest time. IMPORTANT: I did not do this overnight. I continued with the prescription food for about a week, slowly cutting down the amts of this food as I increased the organic chicken amts. I was taking a chance with the chicken cause my reg. vet said to me that Chicken might be his trigger because he may be intolerant to this meat even if he is not allergic--big difference.If I had been anywhere but in the backwoods of VT (where I could only find chicken and yes, I was nervous)at the time, I would have tried another type of organic meat. But in my case, Donia was right. Buddy was NOT ALLERGIC to THE CHICKEN AT ALL..BUT PROBABLY TO all of the synthetic and chemical ingredients in the dog food I had been using that said "chicken" on the label. It was the OTHER INGREDIENTS, SHE WAS SURE, THAT HE WAS REACTING TO--NOT THE CHICKEN. IT MADE SO MUCH SENSE I ALMOST DIDN'T LISTEN lol. NOW RICE??Forget the use of all rice ok? Rice is wheat and gluten and can really trigger an episode.

I know what Pica is since i taught autistic kids for 25 years and yes, your dog is reacting to some nutritional imbalance. Angela, YOU MUST CONTACT DONIA. If you are using any meds at all, you can or cannot share with her but keep in mind she is dead set against meds--this is something you must realize when you contact her. But her diet advice is priceless and I would contact her post haste. In the meantime, I would slowly start weaning your dog off the prescipt. medication and increasing his new single protein diet--SLOWLY. Also don't push beef at all, it is too fatty and IBD can easily go into pancreatitis. YOU DO NOT WANT THIS. Keep your husky on a low fat diet for sure. Pancrreatitis is the natural next problem stemming from IBD..the pancreas and the liver cannot deal with fat. Be careful here. Try organic chicken--FIRST WITH THE PRESCRIP. FOOD--and then at the end of the week by itself. Do not add another thing..nada. This is called 'eliminating' all extraneous ingredients from his diet to determine if the food you had been giving was the culprit..and by this I mean, not just the CHICKEN BUT ANY OTHER INGREDIENTS that might be IN THIS CHICKEN, OK? If you find veal or salmon or white fish or venison, so much the better. STay away from beef.

This all takes TIME...AND I MEAN TIME. Be patient. Continue with the probiotic but I want your husky on a much better one than you are using. Either i or Donia can help you with this. I eventually put Buddy on the probiotic I use to this day and this particular one you can get at the Vitamin Shoppe--it is miraculous. Your husky MUST HAVE A REAL FOOD PROBIOTIC AND MICRO BLENDED DIGESTIVE ENZYME PLUS APA PLUS DOWN THE ROAD. For now,. KEEP IT VERY SIMPLE WITH THE ORGANIC CHICKEN SUGGESTION OR ANY OTHER LOW FAT ORGANIC MEAT OF YOUR CHOICE. CONTACT DONIA AND TELL HER THAT SUE BEHLMAR REFERRED YOU. GO FROM THERE. WRITE TO ME PERSONALLY FOR MORE INFO IF YOU LIKE.

Here is Donia's email and when you write her mark it 'VERY IMPORTANT, REFERRAL SUE BEHLMAR"--she is do darned busy it isn't funny but she will respond to when she has time. She does NOT CHARGE..she simply wants to help. She will ask you for details so when you intially write her tell her exactly what you told me--or even even more. Give her a good idea of what is going on with your dog--you will NOT BE SORRY.

Donia's email: DoniaSea@aol.com

My email: DazzlinDaawg@aol.com(my name is Sue Behlmar and I have Buddy, Henry and Dixie at home)

AND last but not least...I am going to take a two month break from this site because I am having a total knee replacement next week <arrgh>. I need to notify the site of this or they will throw me out. They are very rigid about their 'experts' and time. I just wanted you to know this. you have my private email address so you can write me there. For the first month, I am told that I will be in a lot of pain and will be needing PT daily. This is a horrible operation but I need to have it done or I will never bike, golf or race walk again. Just wanted you to know that if you write to this site and they tell you I am not available, it is because I MUST GO ON HIATUS. But you can still be in touch with me, ok?

WRITE TO DONIA..YOU WILL BE SO HAPPY AND YOUR DOG WILL START TO THRIVE. IF YOU FIND A VET WHO UNDERSTANDS TYLAN THEN CHECK THIS OUT. YOU CAN WEAN HIM OVER TIME BUT IT WORKED SO WELL WITH bUDDY THAT AS NATURALLY ORIENTED AS I TEND TO BE, I AM GLAD I USED THIS MILD ANTIBIOTIC which i had him on for about two months..your dog is large, mine is tiny. The dose for you dog would probably be around 1/2 tsp once a day..but a good vet can tell you this. The purpose of the Tylan is to calm down the inflammation..the pumpkin you are using is strictly for diarrhea. Is the pumpkin organic?? Has to be. But please check into the Tylan ALONG WITH a diet change via Donia. This is manageable, trust me it is.

please keep in touch,ok  Sorry you had to read so much. Sue aka DazzlinDaawg@aol.com