Chronic diarrhea/IBD?

[Boz]

I adopted a 2 1/2 year old male greyhound 7 months ago and he has had problems with his digestion ever since I got him. He passes stools anything between 7-12 times a day - the first one or two on each walk may be firm, but they get progressively softer. He was on James Wellbeloved initially, which I switched to NatureDiet. I have also tried Burns, Hills I/D, Chappie....

I changed vets a few months ago and he has had blood tests, stool tests and various drugs. He had a nasty bout of Colitis 2 months ago, which resulted in him being on a drip for 2 days and losing a lot of weight. Since then he has been on a strict fish/potato diet, and the vet prescribed steroids 2 weeks ago (Prednisolone) in case it's Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, there hasn't really been much change.

The vet is going to do one more stool test then wants to operate to look at his bowel. I trust the vet and if this is the only option then fine, but I know greyhounds can be different so I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and can offer any advice?

Thank you!

[Nettie]

I'm afraid I can't offer advice but just wanted to say best wishes to your boy and I hope the vet can sort out his problems once and for all.

[vickyb]

When we adopted River 9 yrs ago he had been beaten and starved (was about 15mths old). He had silvery runny poo, looked a bit like mercury, and the most awful wind. Vet said it was colitis.
After trying virtually every food we got good results with white fish, occasionally a small bit of salmon mixed in with it, mixed frozen veg (asda smart price are small and he likes them) and a jacket potato cooked in the microwave, fed in small amounts 3x daily from a raised feeder. We did despair as it seemed for so long as if it was one step forwards and 3 back, and as he weighed 11 kilos and is now a healthy 25 you can imagine how important it was to get weight on him. It took months, but eventually it all settled down. Although he is fine these days and has a wider diet he definitely has problems with wheat so we stay well away and are careful about treats too.
There is a dry food now, fish4dogs which is fish and potato based and River now has this, as does Gracie who is very sloppy on other foods although nothing like as severe as River was. Lisa recommended it as its the only food Scarlett can manage. I get it on-line direct from them, can't find it in any shops near us.
I've been getting the value frozen fish from Tesco, £1.99 for 800g - it's Pollock and I cook it and add a little to their dried food, or give it with potato and veg to River.
Hope you get some good results, I know how worrying it is. It's odd the way it can start ok in the morning and get runnier through the day, Gracie is like that too, more so on regular food. I still have to feed River 3 small meals a day to keep him OK. Two just causes problems again.
Vicky

[LurcherGirl]

My first thought would be an allergy test (York Test) to make sure that his condition is not aggrevated or even caused by a food allergy! We have two dogs with food allergies, one can't eat any animal protein and the other is allergic to most meats and lots of other stuff and is on a fish and rice diet.

I have found that Jesse (American Cocker) cannot really tolerate potatoes either and the fish NatureDiet did therefore not suit him (though it was a lot better than on dry foods). I have finally found Natures Harvest Ocean Fish and Rice and he is doing great on that, re his skin and digestion. I found this one after I gave up trying stuff out and just had a blood test done for him to find out what he is allergic to. Although the York Test is not 100% reliable, it has helped me to work out a diet that suits him and he has been fine since.

So before going down the surgery root, look into food allergies first! And don't just assume because a hypoallergenic diet is not working, it is not a food allergy. My spaniel reacted to even the best quality and most hypoallergenic dry and wet foods...

Vera

[Flaperoo]

Sorry can't offer any advice either, but hope they find out what the problem is and he is feeling much better soon

Mary X

[Lucapup]

Hi,

Wondered if my Kyla's experience would be of any assistance; in early May she became very poorly with chronic diarrhea. After two days I took her to the vet and she was given a steroid injection to ease the inflamation in her bowel and some probiotic paste. This eased it a little, but the diarrhea soon came back with a vengeance. I took her back to the vet and a full stool and blood sample was taken... she was then diagnosed with salmonella. Two weeks of Baytril anti-microbial tablets were prescribed, along with a bland diet and she seemed to get better really quickly.

However, once the tablets had been finished off, the diarrhea came back yet again, worse than ever and the vet said that he suspected that it could be IBD. More stool and blood tests were taken and she was given another week of baytril tablets. The sample came back clear; no salmonella or other infections, no parasites. The vet said that the most likely cause was IBD and that we should try a hydrolised diet, which we did. He went on to say that if it wasn't IBD then in all probability she had a tumour. Kyla didn't really get any better, she still had frequent diarrhea and didn't get on with the new diet (which was introduced slowly to the bland diet I had been feeding her). She lost four kilos in the space of four or five weeks and it was obvious that she was not feeling at all well. I was so concerned about the weight loss and worried that she wasn't getting a sufficiently balanced diet; I kept taking her back to the vet but each time he advised me to persevere with the new food.

She started to pass lots of mucous in her stools and finally blood - at this point I took her straight back to the vet but by chance saw a different vet. We had a really good talk about all of Kyla's symptoms and she suggested that as the baytril tablets made her so dramatically better, that she probably didn't have IBD, but must have some kind of bacterial infection in her gut. She prescribed more baytril to get her feeling a bit better and took more samples - once she had the results from these she diagnosed Kyla with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) - a further five weeks of the baytril and a move back to her usual diet and she has fortunately made a full recovery, has put all of the weight back on and is back to her usual happy, cuddly, silly self. I don't like to think about what would have happened if I had not seen the other vet; the usual vet was so adamant that she had IBD and he was wrong.

I don't know if this will help at all. Kyla's symptoms were so close to those of IBD but it turned out to be something else, maybe this will be the case for you too.
Sue x

[mtbbuxton]

Our lurcher Mayo has had SIBO since May last year and is still on AB's for it. It wasn't until a gastroenterologist at Liverpool Veterinary School reviewed his notes in Aug/Sept last year that he was diagnosed. As Lucapup says the symptoms are very similar to IBD, but the treatment is very different - the worst thing you can do with SIBO is give probiotics. Unfortunately, there's no know cause or trigger for it, it just happens and can go as quickly as it started or last for years.
Hoping that your hound is on the road to recovery
Moira x

[Amber]

For the first few months I had Oscar (over 6 years ago now) he had runny poo issues. Had a sample tested for disease (like campylobacter) which came back negative. Has your vet tested a stool sample yet?

In the end, the vet concluded that it was probably stress (rehoming etc.) and in the end, I did through trial and error find a food to suit him, although he is still inclined to do several extra 'dribbles' on a walk. However, this seems to be not unusual with the other greyhounds that I walk with too!

I do think some greyhounds seem to be prone to sensitive stomachs.

Oscar is now on a mixture of nature diet and raw feeding. Soft raw bones (such as chicken wings) are wonderful for firming up poop.

Obviously if your vet feels that there is some underlying illness, you could have it investigated and I agree that 10-12 times a day IS a lot, but in my experience with my own super-pooper, stress and diet were the culprits.

Is he inclined to be a bit nervy/stressy?

Obviously, it's up to you, but I personally would want to try other things before putting him under and having his bowel looked at it. What are they hoping to find? what are they looking for in the bowel? What would they do if they did find anything? I would want to know all the ins and outs of it, before vet operated on my dog TBH.

Plus, if there is no blood or mucus and the first couple of poos are firm then I have to say IME this doesn't sound unusual for some greyhounds! They do poo a lot!

If it were me, I would try raw feeding, though I realise that is a big step and if you are worried about his gut and health, perhaps not one that you would wish to take.

[wendysgreys]

I hate to worry you but when my grey Worzel got ill with runny poo;s which were very out of order for him-usually he was fine-we took him to the Vet and there followed a lot of Vet visits-tablets,diet change you name it.Finally we had an X-Ray done which proved the poor boy had bowel cancer and he was going downhill rapidly.
We decided to make his last few days comfortable rather than make him incontinent and possibly die under anaesthetic.I went on to have nearly 3 weeks with my boy till he gave up.
I hope this doesnt scare you but if there isnt many other options available maybe an X-Ray before an op could help.

[Lucapup]

Sadly it appears that Kyla's SIBO has reocurred . She's on some strong AB's for a couple of weeks and then possibly a referral to a specialist gastroenterologist if things haven't improved. Poor girly is feeling a bit down, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Sue

[wendyt]

Jul 3, 2008 15:53:30 GMT -5 Boz said:

I adopted a 2 1/2 year old male greyhound 7 months ago and he has had problems with his digestion ever since I got him. He passes stools anything between 7-12 times a day - the first one or two on each walk may be firm, but they get progressively softer. He was on James Wellbeloved initially, which I switched to NatureDiet. I have also tried Burns, Hills I/D, Chappie....

I changed vets a few months ago and he has had blood tests, stool tests and various drugs. He had a nasty bout of Colitis 2 months ago, which resulted in him being on a drip for 2 days and losing a lot of weight. Since then he has been on a strict fish/potato diet, and the vet prescribed steroids 2 weeks ago (Prednisolone) in case it's Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, there hasn't really been much change.

The vet is going to do one more stool test then wants to operate to look at his bowel. I trust the vet and if this is the only option then fine, but I know greyhounds can be different so I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and can offer any advice?

Thank you!

[wendyt]

Jul 3, 2008 15:53:30 GMT -5 Boz said:

I adopted a 2 1/2 year old male greyhound 7 months ago and he has had problems with his digestion ever since I got him. He passes stools anything between 7-12 times a day - the first one or two on each walk may be firm, but they get progressively softer. He was on James Wellbeloved initially, which I switched to NatureDiet. I have also tried Burns, Hills I/D, Chappie....

I changed vets a few months ago and he has had blood tests, stool tests and various drugs. He had a nasty bout of Colitis 2 months ago, which resulted in him being on a drip for 2 days and losing a lot of weight. Since then he has been on a strict fish/potato diet, and the vet prescribed steroids 2 weeks ago (Prednisolone) in case it's Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, there hasn't really been much change.

The vet is going to do one more stool test then wants to operate to look at his bowel. I trust the vet and if this is the only option then fine, but I know greyhounds can be different so I wondered if anyone has had a similar experience and can offer any advice?

Thank you!

Greyhound with IBD
I have a six year old ex-racing greyhound with irritable bowel disease. Getting her healthy has been a long journey, but wanted to share my experience in the hope it will help others.

Annie has multiple issues that have come out over time. The two most obvious symptoms were diarrhea and her inability to hold her urine for more than an hour or two. (She also developed a low thyroid along the way and is getting Soloxine.)

The urination problem was the easiest to solve. Through testing, we found she had alkaline urine. We used a prescription medication, but once she was off it, the problem came right back. The vet suggested we use cranberry pills. Worked like a charm and she has been fine for years now. (I adopted her when she was three years old.) I use Cran Actin twice a day. I open the capsules and mix into her food.

Treating the diarrhea was a whole other issue. Fortunately, she didn't have the explosive type on a regular basis. And even more fortunate is that I have wood floors instead of carpeting.

We tried all sorts of medication (Flagyl, Tylan, etc), none of which worked. She was on high fiber food, low fiber food - five or six DIFFERENT brands of foods. NOTHING. And the worst part was that she didn't like any of the foods.

One vet wanted to charge me over $2000 for tests. Finally, I went back to my regular vet who gave her prednisone and VOILA - she got better. I probably should have tried the prednisone sooner, but wanted to avoid it if I could.

Since I didn't want her to live on Prednisone, I decided to try some different things.

I switched her to an allergy food, duck and potato (Natural Balance). She gets a combination of dry and canned. They also had dog biscuits, so that really helped. I found duck strips so that she could have another treat. I eliminated everything else from her diet other than a tiny dab of cream cheese for pills.

Then I added an enzyme - Prozyme to be exact.

Little by little, Annie's system returned to normal. and the diarrhea disappeared. I weaned her off the prednisone.

She still seems to have gas, so recently added some low fat plain yogurt and that appears to be helping and not bothering her.

We still have episodes now and then where her stool is a little loose if she gets excited - but day-to-day, she is great. And best of all, NO prednisone and a happy dog!