[Michael F]

I’m wondering what foods you’ve tried for your dog diagnosed with I.B.D. Has anyone ever tried Balanceit.com and worked with your own vet or nutritionist to create a diet from there and had success? We are waiting for test results to come back for our boy, who is only 5 years old and was diagnosed with I.T.P. at age 1, and put on Azathioprine for that condition for the past four years, and now the interest thinks he has I.B.D., I’m thinking it is time to try and taper off the Azathioprine which is a steroid like Pred, although they also use it to treat I.B.D. I would appreciate your thoughts

[Michael F]

Sorry Internist not Interest

[Susan]

Hi, I have a boy with IBD he suffers from food sensitivities & suffers with the Helicobacter-Pylori so he gets bad acid reflux, he can’t take steroids (Prednisone) it gives him diarrhea & nausea….cooking for him is the best, I went thru a Animal Naturopath Jacqueline Rudan (Australian) to put Patch on a Raw diet but he kept regurgitating the raw back up into his mouth when he burped, kibble seems to stay down better, so now I cook her raw diet minus any bone & I use her supplements Digestavite plus powder & the Omega 3, 6 & 9 Oil…
A few people use the “Balance It’ we don’t have it in Australia….I give Metronidazole tablets to Patch when needed & he’s on an ant acid med Losec. I finally gave in after 3 years…I believe foods help heal & natural supplements…. L-Glutamine is suppose to be good, you make a bone broth & add to the meal… there’s a group on Face Book called “Canine Nutrition and Natural Health” Cat Lane can help with a balanced diet but I don’t know what she charges, I only paid $60 & the Naturopath rung me & spoke to me for 1 hr what to feed & what supplement to give here’s Jacqueline Rudans Raw Diets, she put Patch on the Maintenance Diet minus any bone & organ meats to start with & I had to add the Digestavite Plus Powder… http://www.naturalanimalsolutions.com.au/education.php

[Jenn H]

My dog has been dealing with idiopathic IBD for more than a year and a half.
She went 7 months without a flare up and I thought maybe we were over it.
2 emergency visits within 1 month proved otherwise.
She’s back on i/d and added boiled organic chicken until I can figure out what food to try next.
This vet gave us Purina Fortiflora probiotics to take daily. She said it’s fine to give it for the rest of her life.
Recently one of my other dogs was vomiting & regurgitating and had diarrhea for a couple days. She never has belly issues. On the bland diet she went and I added THK Perfect Form. After the first meal with it she was much better. After the 2nd meal she’s good as new. I’m considering adding it to the meals for my girl with IBD from now on.
Another thing that makes a huge difference is exercise. Even if it’s just walking a few minutes a couple times/day. It helps with gut motility. (Obviously you don’t want them doing any exercise 30 min-1 hr before or after meals.)

[Ann F]

BalanceIt was a life saver for my dog with IBD, and concurring pancreatitis! Everything in the supplement is hyperallergenic, which you can’t count on when you do the supplements yourself. LID, and Veterinary diets didn’t work for more than a few months without another flare. There was some type of preservatives in the other foods that my Internist though was setting off some of the IBD, It’s a single protein, single carb diet mix, but you can add veggies and fruits later. Easy to make, and fairly cheap even when we used fish. The Academy of Board Certified Vet Nutritionists has a list of nutritionists you can contact, and many use this supplement in their formulated diets.

[Jenn H]

I keep seeing people suggesting Balance It. Think I’ll check it out.
My girl has always done well on Wysong Episgen. But I know it’s necessary to have other high quality choices in the rotation.

Ann F
What was the protein & carb you chose?
Do you know the cause of your dog’s IBD?

[mary s]

I had two Irish Setters with IBD…they were brothers. It showed up at about 5 or 6 months of age. Bloody, mucus filled poops. I went through several vets because I did not want to use steroids. One boy was 58 pounds and the other was 52 pounds at the onset. After I finally put them on a homemade raw diet (the commercial raw diets did not work for them…I think because of the organ meats in them) and supplements, their poops normalized and they went to 82 and 75 pounds. They have recently passed away…one had a fibrosis in his lungs that I think was caused by the IBD. They had good years once I got the IBD under control. I hope you are able to do that with diet. The raw diet and supplements are what saved them. I forgot to add….I also used the homeopathic remedies Nux Vomica and Arsenicum Album.
Best of luck

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by mary s.

[Mom2Cavs]

My youngest, 2 yr old Jasper, has IBD diagnosed by ultrasounds, blood tests, xrays. No endoscope as of yet. He presents with protein loss and anemia. He vomits when in a flare. Currently he’s eating Fromm Whitefish and Potato with Firm Up and pre/probiotics and enzymes added. He also gets Standard Process Ferrofood and a herbal supplement called Blood and Energy for his anemia. Other foods he can eat are Sportmix Wholesome Fish and Rice and a food from Drs Foster and Smith called Digestion…..it’s actually vegetarian. Currently he’s not on meds but we have given him flagyl, cerenia, Pepcid or Prilosec in the past. At the beginning (almost 1.5 yrs ago) he was on some prednolisone and Tylan.

[Michael F]

Hi Everyone, Thanks so much for replying to my original post, it helps my boy and I not feel so alone out here. I’m happy to say that for now he is doing much better, knock on wood!!! I’m currently feeding three times a day, some lamb and rice kibble, mixed with cooked chicken and rice and Honest Kitchen Brave, I’m slowly weaning him off the cooked chicken and rice and increasing the Honest Kitchen, and trying to get him down to one protein as I was told that dogs with I.B.D. do best on a single protein. His vitamin B-12 level was low normal and I asked the vet if that could have come from eating only cooked chicken and rice but he didn’t think so, I also asked if there was a Vitamin B-12 Supplement that I could give him that would help build that up but he said no, only Vitamin B shots would work. I evaluated the cooked chicken and rice I had been feeding him and found it obviously to be very low on all vitamins he would need and also found that Boiled Chicken is a very low source of Vitamin B-12, in addition the amount of that I was feeding was way too low on Calories, before having to go on the bland diet he had been eating Tuscan Natural Lamb and Rice which he did well on for 60 pounds worth, and then starting having strange clay like poops, I realized that it was very low in fiber, so now I’m mixing it with the Honest Kitchen Brave, seems to be giving him the fiber he needs. I also did some research with some Holistic Vets and put him on Mercola Pet Probiotics and in addition I found a Vitamin B-12 Supplement for pets from Wonder Laboratories called Pet Factor B-12 with Folic Acid Intrinsic Factor, they both seem to have really helped and his B-12 level has come back up. I didn’t want to overdue the B-12 and I didn’t want to mix it in on his other medicine day so I only give him a single capsule every other day. I read about the Wonder Lab B-12 product on a website for dogs with SIBO which apparently can also be coupled with IBD in some dogs. I will say that the internist wasn’t overly helpful in what to do except to keep trying to find a food he could eat. I really believe that the Mercola Probiotics have been the most beneficial thing in settling down his digestive system and I think having him on a very small amount of kibble and mainly the soft dehydrated food have also helped calm things down, and for him the B-12 capsules have also helped to increase the B-12 level, I know the vets say the shots are the only way, but these tablets seem to work. Please let me know what things you guys are having luck with, Thanks! I forgot to mention, my Internist said that most of dogs he was seeing with IBD were eating dog foods that had a lot of fruit in them and he felt blue berries and other fruits just were not appropriate for dogs, he did think some apple’s would be OK but that was about it as far as fruit went. (Note my dog was never on a food with a bunch of fruit in it, so who knows)

[Michael F]

Hi, I was also wondering have any of you done the endoscopic procedure for your dog diagnosed with I.B.D.? From all the reading I’ve done it seems to tell you what type of IBD your dog may have, but no matter which type your dog has it seems that traditional vets treat it with a change in diet and some form of Steroid and that holistic vets seem to recommend probiotics, not prebiotics and also a change in diet and then hopefully stay away from the steroids which really just mask the problem, they seem to gravitate towards trying to rest and heal the digestive system, I’ve also seen that they recommend an herb called slippery elm for loose stools which I have not tried. I have used in the past a great product for diarrhea called DiaGel, its all natural and is great for firming things up and also used for dogs who get into things and have “garbage gut”. I really think the Mercola Probiotics helped my boy the most, they seem to have the biggest variety and highest amount of strains out there. My Vet recommended some Pet Probiotics that were only available by prescription and one had only one strain and the other only two strains. I am wondering how long he’ll need to be on Probiotics, just for a few months or forever?

[Jenn H]

I have found that a lot of the management & treatment of my girl’s idiopathic IBD is trial & error unfortunately.
For her I have found that she does best on:
*foods that have a SIGNIFICANT amount of meat based protein. Not just a moderate amount. No extra fiber.
*minimal kibble and it’s soaked. I add water to all her food anyway. Even wet.
*1 protein at a time (very slowly switch)
*Pepcid
*exercise. Helps gut with motility.

She did well for 7 months then had a set back. Right now she’s back to i/d cans and boiled chicken. The vet suggested Royal Canin Ultamino, but that’s way beyond my budget.
Per the vet’s suggestion she is on Fortiflora probiotics daily.
Luckily none of the vets who have treated her have put her on a steroid.

Her recent relapse may have been a result of too much fiber and/or eating a kibble that had a moderate amount of meat for its main protein source. It could also have because I was trying different proteins and it was too much change.

The problem with IBD is that it’s a broad diagnosis with many causes. There is no one size fits most treatment.

If possible maybe you should find another vet who can better direct your management. Sounds like your vet isn’t very knowledgeable about this particular condition or nutrition in general.

Be careful with supplements especially fat soluble vitamins. You can over do it. Many vitamins have accompanying minerals. Too much of a vitamin and not enough of the mineral can cause a new set of problems.

My vets have mention endoscopy only as a second to last resort. The absolute last diagnostic would be biopsy. They will only do either of those things if the condition becomes severe.

It’s a very frustrating diagnosis, but it can be managed. The difficulty is finding what works for that particular pet. While finding what works can cause a flare up. Thankfully pets are forgiving.

[Ann F]

We had the first endoscopy done when my dog was about 15 months old. He’d been still having some IBD symptoms on his Duck and Potato kibble. Poor thing! His intestines, and stomach had deep crater-like sores from the smoldering inflammation. Biopsies of the large and small intestines showed he had Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis, along with another type of IBD. Steroids were the only treatment for the Eosinophilic cells since it was mainly an auto-immune problem. Budesonide did nothing, but we had major improvement with just a very small amount of prednisone, and of course the novel protein diet. This type of IBD can damage the small intestine so much that it is not able to absorb the nutritional components well in the foods the dog eats! With the BalanceIt vitamin, mineral and amino acid supplement the nutritionist could compensate and bump up what he couldn’t absorb from his damaged intestines. Honestly, I’m not selling anything. This just worked so well in our case after years of searching.

[Debi W]

Yes, we had the endoscope done on our Baxter. His IBD is narrowed down to PLE (protein losing enteropathy). Finding the IBD was purely by accident. He broke out in a horrendous rash on his body, in his mouth, and a paw was terribly swollen. After all was said and done there seemed to be no correlation to the rash and the IBD. But he was put on strong antibiotics which eliminated the rash. He was started out on budesonide. After the protein count came up he is still on the same dose and metronidiazole (flagyl) was added. If the next labs come out with no protein loss the hope is to cut back on dosage of both. The flagyl makes him nauseated tho, even though I give it to him with food. He also lacks an appetite, so I hand feed him, or more like force feed. Currently he is on Natural Balance Duck and Potato. I offer him dry and canned, which he does really detest. He likes the Basics Duck and Potato canned, so I am going to switch the canned over to that. The doc recommended Royal Canin PV, but we have had one dog who died from the RC Ultamino, we feel this IBD with Baxter was brought on by RC HP and another got extremely ill on the RC Renal, so our specialist was very upset we wouldn’t put Baxter on RC. He does not tolerate sweet potatoes and we want to keep him on the cooling proteins (duck, whitefish) as the warming proteins seem to affect him negatively. Any suggestions from your experiences is greatly appreciated.

[Jenn H]

Debi W what happened on the RC Untamino? My vet recommended it for my IBD dog. The only reason I haven’t tried it is because it is astronomically expensive and absolutely not affordable right now.

[Charisma M]

Debbie, my dog was also recommended Ultamino, what was your experience with it?

Anne f, are you able to email me so we can talk more about the diet you have your fur baby on? My boy has chronic pancreatitis and ibd so trying to figure out a diet has been hard. I’m having issues finding him the perfect diet. We were thinking about working with balance it but they do turkey as the main protein in the recipe and his internist had said turkey is like chicken or in the same “poultry” family so she was hesitate to put him on it. Right now he’s on RC gastro low fat but it’s pork and he’s still having days when he rushes out desperate for the grass. Tummy is always gurgling and he’s hungry every 2 hours on the dot. Anyone struggle with their furbaby wanting to eat that often? He even wakes up in the middle of the night, literally every 2 hours.

[Acroyali]

Charisma, that sounds awful 🙁 Hopefully you’ll find something your dog does well with.
One of mine is violently allergic or intolerant to chicken but does great on turkey; this isn’t set in stone of course. One of my cats has a terrible time with raw diets of any description (even boneless with Alnutrin added), but on a cooked diet he’s done very well.
Every 2 hours is pretty often but with chronic pancreatitis, several small feeds per day vs. 1 or 2 large(r) feeds might not be a bad idea. My cat with IBD (no pancreatitis, thankfully) does much better on 3-4 little meals per day. When we were still doing 2 feedings per day, he would eat then seem to have abdominal discomfort from the larger portions.

[Ann F]

Charisma, sorry I have not been on this site for some time. I don’t know if you can PM in this group, but I wouldn’t mind helping out. You said that Turkey was the only protein suggested with the BalanceIt. I’d check again! For a formulated BalanceIt diet, they gave us a choice of Duck or Fish. Some of their diets use more exotic proteins, low-fat cottage cheese, or tofu.
We used fish which I steamed or microwaved. For an 80 lb dog I needed about a lb of fish a day (before cooking). I’m hoping you have a smaller dog:-). I was in contact with the vet who formulated the diet at least weekly. We tweeked what was not working, and kept track of the stool changes. I gave NOTHING besides his daily food. If I’d started adding slippery elm, probiotics and miscellaneous supplements my Internist would never be able to evaluation the value of the diet. Too much stuff! After this worked we did add a very tiny amount of prednisone because the IBD was eosinophilic also. This had inflamed his small intestine, and even though he did not test for SIBO, he needed a bump in the amount of BalanceIt to compensate for some absorption issues.

We used pork enzymes for a trial after some pancreatitis. Ended up he was very reactive to Pork after a month. We couldn’t give him even hydrolyzed chicken in a vet diet. He recognized it for what it was eventually. There are still preservatives in the highest quality manufactured pet food. I think we finally did well when I made a fresh diet up. I’d been scared to do this for years, wish I hadn’t waited so long to cook my own formulated. Quality of life would have been so much better for him. It was hard to cut out treats, but there are a few you can give.

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne! Thank you so much for replying! I’m desperate! Since last July 2016 it’s been nuts! Stressed doesn’t even begin to explain how I’ve felt. We’re in and out of the vet every two weeks since then. We’ve seen 5 vets and 2 specialists. I’m not sure how to know if his diet is working or not because his only symptom since the beginning has only been tummy gurgles 24/7 (which have gotten a little better) and nausea/grass eating which that he does about once or twice a week. Other than that his stool is fine, the vomiting had gone away till late march when he got the pancreatitis. I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. We’ve spent over 10k in less than a year with no true improvement. 🙁 we haven’t tried prednisone because I’m afraid of the side effects but When he started vomiting in march we decided it was time. Then we found out it was actually pancreatitis and not his ibd. Then I got pretty hesitant about it cause I read that steroids can make the pancreatitis flare up. What has been your experience with the steroids?

[Ann F]

Charisma, I don’t know if your dog has been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. With the diagnosis of IBD was there blood and mucous? I never could tell if the IBD, or pancreatitis was flaring up at times. Some dogs with pancreatitis show atypical signs. Mine refused to eat or even drink water so we would do a Spec-cPL test to measure pancreatic specific lipase. If that was normal we figured it was the IBD. Several times a year we would end up in the ER because the pancreatitis is so dangerous. Couldn’t tell what set it off, probably stress at times. It was very expensive, but the Specialist I finally found worked in collaboration with the UC-Davis Vet School, GI Department. I think they are doing the most research. My understanding is that they no longer believe prednisone causes pancreatitis. There are no studies about auto-immune pancreatitis in dogs, but it is present in humans. You don’t have intestinal biopsies to tell if your dog has eosinophilic enteritis. If there is an auto-immune component to the IBD there should be a response to the prednisone. They also use a drug called Budesonide in some cases.

We didn’t start the prednisone until we had also started the formulated diet. I was petrified because so many other foods had not worked. Run everything by your vet when you are dealing with a medical condition like this one.

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne! He was diagnosed with pancreatitis. He started with vomiting one morning, took him to the vet and they said it was probably just a belly ache from ibd. Well then exactly one week later he was vomiting again except this time it was 3 times within a few hours and couldn’t hold down food. He wanted food but just could hold it down. he was extremely sad, tail down(tail is only down when he DOWN) so I knew something was up a week before it all started. Well a few days after his second vomiting incident he stopped eating so we let him stay overnight to get fluids but it never got to diarrhea. With his ibd he did have the exploratory surgery but they never told us what kind he had. The first specialist we saw wasn’t very nice. Our issue now is that he’s ok still, not himself. Hes up every two hours at night. Sometimes pacing in our room. He wants to eat every two hours too. He’s just not himself. About two weeks ago he had about 5 days where he was perfect! It was my old baby boy! We didn’t change anything so idk what helped vs what could’ve changed in him. Then he went right back to the new ways of being sad and desperate for food all the time.

[Ann F]

Poor baby! Is he still just eating the RC low-fat food? How is his weight? Our vet had us repeat the Spec-cPL tests a few weeks after recovery. If it had not gone into the normal range, we would have to revisit his diet. When did you test for pancreatitis last?

The vet you’re seeing now should be able to get the exploratory surgery records from the specialist you didn’t like. Maybe that vet was just having a really bad day. This is awful stuff, and you feel no matter what you do they still get sick.
Some dogs with IBD, and pancreatitis also have gastritis. You could ask your vet if this might be adding to the problem.

[Susan]

Hi Charisma
What are you feeding him, what medications is he on?? has he been checked for Helicobacter & acid reflux? had Endoscope + Biopsies done?
He sounds like my boy 4yrs ago, when I rescued him he was put on a vet diet for his skin allergies, the vet diet gave him Pancreatitis fat was way too high 19% fat & that was the start of Patches misery, I found with my boy the vet diet dry kibbles made him worse….
My boy was diagnosed thru Endoscope & Biopsies, it said IBD {to look further with exploratory surgery} I wouldn’t do & Helicobacter-Pylori…… the Pancreatitis, food intolerances & skin allergies we already knew, he’s at his best now finally after 3yrs, he’s better in the cooler months, no environment allergies, his immune system isn’t in over drive…..
When Patch was having the rumbling, grumbling bowel, pacing back & forth wanting me to rub his stomach/pancreas area, wanting grass 2am 4am & thru the day, later I learnt it was Colitis from food intolerances/sensitivities… do you know what helps the best when this was happening, liquid Mylanta, not pink Pepto Bismol that has asprin in it, plain & simple liquid Mylanta, 5mls, 1 teaspoon would settle all the gases going thru his stomach & bowel…….
Are you seeing a new specialist, someone with new eyes, with all his results?? I keep diaries every single year & read back, this vet told me to keep a diary …. I saw 4 vets until I found Patches vet he see’s now & she also suffers with IBD, she understands & knows what I’m talking about when I tell her about Patches symptoms……

They break your heart watching them suffer, I didn’t know a poor dog could suffer so much with all these symptoms, now when I read a post, I know what that person & poor dog is going thru….
I have to feed 5 smaller meals a day, I can’t feed 1 whole cup of kibble for 1 meal, he gets bad pain, I can only feed 1/2 cup kibble at one time, that’s hand feed, I feed 2 kibbles at one time in a raised bowl so he chews the kibbles & doesn’t just swallow the whole hard kibble, I only feed kibble at 7am, 9am, 5pm, 1/2 a cup & wet tin vet diet Royal Canin Hypoallergenic at 12pm & 8pm, I have to rotate Patches kibbles, as soon as I see he’s not well & starts his whinging & lifts up his right paw for me to rub his stomach/pancreas area I know something is wrong & rotate kibble & foods, I stop feeding whatever he’s eating & feed something else…..
Hills vet diet kibbles & Royal Canin vet diet kibbles made poor Patch worse…only the kibbles…..

[Charisma M]

Hey Susan! He’s on royal Canin gastrointestinal low fat canned food cause he also gets stones but hates water. He is on meds for epilepsy and hypothyroidism. When he got his biopsy done it did say he had h pylori as well. He also used to be on royal Canin rabbit and potato when he got diagnosed with pancreatitis. He just switched over to the low fat on march 31st. And yes girl baby is pacing all the time, he doesn’t sleep through the night anymore. He’s up every two hours asking for food crying and pacing not being able to get comfortable. If he goes more than 4hours without eating he gets a bad belly ache. They’ve never been able to tell me why, so we feed him when he asks which is every 2 hours on the dot. I stay home with him since he requires so much care. He also does wake up in the middle of the night for grass, he use to wake up vomiting yellow bile too around 3am when he was first diagnosed with ibd. I’m definitely at the point where I feel helpless cause we’ve been to so many vets, specialist, Emergency Vet and never any answers. I’m beyond stressed because I want him to get better and I don’t know what else to try. It’s so overwhelming sometimes. ☹️

[Charisma M]

Hey Ann! Yeah he’s still on that diet, we don’t give treats or anything else! Just ice as a treat since we live in Texas and it’s super hot! We use bottled water so no tap water. His last test for pancreatitis was the only one they did when we first took him in at the end of march.

My boy has so many issues idk what else it could be. He has epilepsy, hypothyroidism, calcium oxalate stones, an adrenal gland tumor, ibd and now pancreatitis. 😩

[Susan]

Hi Charisma sounds like his Helicobacter is back & it’s BAD.. Patch gastro specialist told me,
all dogs have the Helicobacter but cause they have a healthy gut it doesn’t take over but dogs with IBD the Helicobacter seems to take over….
this happened with Patch the Helicobacter kept coming back real bad until I left him on the Losec (Omeprazole) ant acid reducer we were going around & around in circle as soon as I killed the Helicobacter & stopped the Triple Therapy, 3-4 weeks later it was back taking over his stomach again, then I did soooo much research & spoke with my Gastrointestinal Specialist Dr & he said give him the triple therapy course meds again BUT this time we changed the Amoxicillin too another stronger antibiotic that is used to kill the Helicobacter, I cant remember name, it started with a C, he also said this time when the course is finished he must stay on the a stronger ant acid reducer Omeprazole (Losec)…..
Your boy needs the triple therapy 21 day course again, maybe he was never given it??? did he ever take Metronidazole (Flagyl) he would of improved while taking it then when it finished he would of went down hill again some dogs stay on a very low dose of the Metronidazole for the rest of their lives….
Ask vet for Metronidazole, Amoxcilin & Losec & after the 21 days when Metro & Amoxicillin is finished he must stay on the Losec 20mg, Losec is best given of a morning…..Losec is called Prilosec in America…. also you can not just stop taken Losec after it has been taken for 3-4 weeks, it needs to be reduced real slowly cause the Hydrochloric acid in the stomach comes back full on, triple amounts of Hydrochloric acids are made & your in a lot of pain until the stomach works out the right amount Hydrochloric acid to make, sorta what’s happening now to his stomach, I always make sure I tell people so they know this, you can miss one dose of Losec cause it last in the body for 24 hours but then you need to take the Losec,….
I cant believe the Vets haven’t pick this up…… after 4-5 days after taken the triple therapy meds he will be a new dog & sleep again he’ll start to feel better again & wont be starving hungry all the time & have stomach pain, the Metro & Amoxicillin must be given every 12 hours with a meal, I think the Losec is taken just the once a day, I cant remember cause Patch was put on Zantac in the beginning taken twice a day but the Zantac didn’t help his acid reflux.. feed 4-5 smaller meals a day & change his diet….can you cook his meals & freeze them? also give some Liquid Mylanta 4-5 mls 1 teaspoon, it will settle his stomach & help kill the Helicobacter, for now if he’s up thru the night, researchers have found when Pepto Bismol is given with the Triple therapy meds it kills the Helicobacter as well, I gave it to Patch for 5 days then he didn’t want the Pepto Bismol no more so I stopped given it to him & went back to the Mylanta only when he needed it thru the night …. I know when something works for Patch he lets me give it to him but when a medication causes any side effects he runs away & doesn’t want that medication…. Mylanta seem to work better & it doesn’t have asprin in it like the Pepto Bismol has..
I’ve had the Helicobacter years ago before I rescued Patch & you are starving hungry 1 hour after you eat, the food takes away the pain but as soon as food is digest it all starts over again & the acid in your stomach is awful, norring feeling in stomach, you feel depressed & miserable….Patches vet tells me Patch was very lucky I rescued him cause she wouldn’t of thought about Helicobacter but cause I’ve had it 3 times in my 20’s I knew all the symptoms….
He needs Losec (Omeprazole) ASAP & the Metronidazole, my vet gives me repeat scripts for the Losec & Metronidazole so I can just go to chemist & get when needed & since Patch has been on the Losec he sleeps thru the night & is doing really well also he needs gluten free diet low fiber, low carbs & no beet pulp diet, the Beet Pulp breeds the Helicobacter more…I would be trying a new diet as well, look at the Canidae Pure Meadow Senior kibble it will keep him feeling fuller longer & is easy to digest & feed some of his other meals with cooked sweet potato & a lean white meat all put thru a blender or finally cut up he’d be gulping his meals…. also can he eat the Royal Canine Hypoallergenic wet formula instead of the LOw Fat Intestinal? the fat is low at 2.5% email Royal Canine America what’s the fat % is when converted to dry matter (Kibble) it say’s 2.5% so converted would be around 7-9%max fat if it were a kibble the American HP wet tin is lower in fat then the Australian made R/C HP wet…. but when the fat & protein is lower the carbs are higher….
I hope ur vet listens & you gives you the Triple therapy meds or even if you can get the Metronidazole & the Losec you will see a big difference in 1 week, I know when Patch feels better he’s naughty & gets all his toys out..

[Ann F]

Charisma, I wondered if you have consulted with a board-certified nutritionist? You mentioned looking into a BalanceIt recipe, but I wasn’t sure if it was formulated using medical records from your vet. Years ago my Internist worked with a vet nutritionist to finally get a diet that worked for longer then a few months. If there are side effects from the medications she is on, the professional would be able to sort through that. There is a list of resources on the American Society of Veterinary Nutritionist site. I have no experience with any of them, but just looking at the PetDiets.com site you can get a consult for $350.00 and provide the contact for them to get records from your veterinarian. No experience with Rebecca Remillard either. I think the more experience a vet has in nutritional management of complex medical conditions, the better they may be in finding answers for dogs like ours.
My dog passed away a few years ago, but not from the IBD/pancreatitis. One of the vets we worked with had chronic pancreatitis herself. She said that she felt bad if she ate a large meal. She ate small meals frequently throughout the day, and that worked the best.

[Charisma M]

Hey Susan! He was given metronidazole and amoxicillin for 3 weeks they actually didn’t even tell me about doing an acid reducer but then when the course was over they thought he had been on it. I guess they just forgot to mention it so technically he didn’t do the triple therapy. I did put him on omeprazole a while back and i couldn’t tell a difference on him. Maybe I can try again! It’s also so hard because you have to give in the am on empty stomach right? But he eats every 2 hours so it’s so hard to get him on empty and then him not eat cause 1 he will cry non stop till he gets food and 2 I’m afraid of a bellyache if he goes too long with food. Also when he did two the metronidazole and amoxicillin course I didn’t tell a difference either. Like you said, im not sure if h pylori being in his biopsy was from it just being there cause most dogs do or if it was large amounts. At first I was convinced he didn’t have ibd and it’s just really bad h pylori but then when we did the treatment, all the pains and issues were still there so idk what to do anymore! 😩 I’m drained mentally and physically. It’s been a long 10 months.

Oh and I wouldn’t mind cooking for him especially if it’s going to make him feel better but they balance it people and my vet never came to terms about what we’re doing and that all fell through. My vet ended up saying that he was doing fine on the pork diet which is the RC low fat that maybe that was finally his match.

[Charisma M]

Hey Ann! We haven’t worked with anyone because originally we were going to go through balance it but it fell through and his vet said if pork diet (royal Canin low fat) was working that maybe that was his match. I could try talking to them again but I’m not sure she’s going to be open about changing his diet cause she always would say if it’s working let’s not mess with it in case it ends up causing a flare up. ☹️ Ideally I would like him to be on fresh ingredients but I don’t know what protein would keep his pancreatitis at ease but not flare up the ibd. And then his stones make it hard for example he can’t have sweet potatoes. Another thing is I had seen all the packages of ground turkey have rosemary extract in the ingredients section and rosemary is bad for dogs with epilepsy so I didn’t know what to make of that.

[Susan]

Hi, yes re do all 3 triple therapy meds, with the Losec (Omeprazole) you don’t have to give on empty stomach or wait 30mins before eating food like you do with other ant acid reducers.
Losec is a Pump Protein Inhibitor (PPI) sends a message to the brain not to make any acids in the stomach, where the other ant acid reducer just settle all the acid already in the stomach & end up not working properly… I take Somac another PPI & I take it then eat breakfast when I was waiting 1/2 a hour before eating like my old an acid reducer Zantac I was feeling sick & my Gastro Dr said just take same time every morning & he explained how a PPI works.
I feed Patch 7am take him for his walk then at 8.30am give the Losec 20mg with water, so it goes into his stomach cause I put down his throat it can get stuck so I use a big 20mls syringe full with water & put in the side of his mouth & he just drinks it & I rub his throat so no Losec tablet is stuck in his throat.. Losec is the only tablet he lets me give him, he doesn’t run away, so it must help him…
With his food still feed the vet diet for a few meals & a few other meals feed a cooked meal it doesn’t need to be balanced for the first month then if the cooked meal is agreeing with him then look at balancing it but cause I was feeding Patch his kibble for 3 of his meals I didn’t bother balancing his Pork rissoles & sweet potato for the other 2 meals, his skin & coat was still nice & shiny & looked healthy…. after he’s on the triple therapy meds for 6 days then maybe see if you can feed his meals every 3-4 hours instead of the every 2 hours, maybe feed more food & see if you can cut out a meal or feed a bit later, I feed 7am x 1/2 a cup kibble, 8.30am x Losec, 9am X 1/2 a cup kibble, 11am a treat a few small bite size piece of peeled apple or green lipped mussel freeze dried treats, 12pm wet tin food, 5pm x 1/2 a cup kibble & 8pm wet tin food & sometimes if he’s not sleeping he gets 2 human Jatz biscuit around 9pm & that’s it he sleeps…
But gee to have a rest & have a break would be nice, since I rescued him November 2012 he’s been a handful with health problems….. what breed is your boy & how old?

[Charisma M]

Hey Susan! What symptoms did patch have that showed the h pylori wasn’t gone or had came back? Cause I’m not sure my vet will want to re prescribe the meds since he’s already done it and might say it’s cured?

And yes girl I need a break too!!!! He has a million health issues, he’s kept me so busy all these years! I’m dying for a vacation but I get so worried about leaving him with anyone. I think about what could happen, if he gets a flare up, what if they don’t see the changes in him etc. I’m with him 24/7 so I KNOW when something is coming I can read him very well. Does anyone else on this thread feel guilty taking a vacation or even leaving for an hour for dinner when their dog has his many issues? lol sometimes I think I might be the only one. Oh and he’s a Pomeranian, today is actually his birthday he’s 9! 🎉

[Susan]

Hi Charisma, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your boy…. How I knew the H-Pylori came back was after finishing the 1st triple therapy meds he was doing really well then about 1-2 weeks later he got sick again, miserable, he was hungry acting like he was starving, like your boy is doing, he had his acid reflux & burping, licking mouth & swallowing, feeling sick, he wouldn’t settle, he was worse early hours of a morning when his stomach was empty, after he ate he was OK then 2-3 hours later starving hungry again & I know kibble would of just digested he cant be hungry & the vet that did his Endoscope + biopsies said, H-Pylori is hard to get rid of, we might need to do the triple therapy a few times, with different meds the vet said dogs with IBD all seem to get the H-Pylori it takes over & he said I normally do the triple therapy again & keep the dog on a low dose of the Metronidazole + he feeds his dog, well his wife cooks, white fish + tapioca gluten free diet for their dog, he has a dog with IBD as well, but poor Patch started getting side effects after being on a low dose 200mg Metronidazole after 1 month but I think it was longer more like 2 months cause I stopped & started the triple therapy again, he was acting real paranoid, scared of his own shadow & 1 morning he knows to stop & wait at the corner cause its a busy road but he just crossed the road real scared & I knew something isn’t right & google side effects to Metronidazole & told his vet what happened & she said stop giving it to him ASAP. I said I already did stop giving him the Metronidazole, so now when he takes the Metronidazole he’s only on it for 10-14 days, very low dose 200mg, just enough time to fix whatever wrong with his bowel & stomach…
Just tell your vet the last time your dog took the Metronidazole & Amoxicillin & didn’t get the Losec as well they forgot to give it here’s a link for human studies, there’s also studies done on Beagle dogs, look to your right & there’s more links about what meds work the best cause after taken certain antibiotics your dog becomes immune & you cant kill the Helicobacter then they found if the human or dog stays on Losec or Somac a PPI the Helicobacter doesn’t come back cause it cant breed in the stomach walls cause the Losec stops making the Hydrochloric acid that it needs to live, I put Patch on Taste Of The Wild grain free Roasted Lamb & Patch seem to get better I was just using the Mylanta every time he started his burping & I knew its coming back then I ask Patches vet can I do the triple therapy meds just 1 more time & we used the Losec, Clarithromycin & the Metronidazole & after the 10 days he stays on the Losec & she said OK the vet’s are learning as well, I also tried him on Tylan powder its like the Metronidazole & one lady said that helped her dog, I joined a IBD group & there were a few poor dogs with IBD they had the H-Pylori all the dogs that were on a steroids were worse & I’m so glad I didn’t put Patch on the Prednisone when I didn’t know he had the H-Pylori Prednisone gives you stomach problems & bad acid reflux so why would I give him the Prednisone, whe he has all those symptoms, I had 1 vet that wouldn’t see Patch all cause I wont give the Prednisone & then later when I found the vet Patch has now I told her the vet wanted Patch on 60mg Pred a day for a 40lb dog she said that’s way toooo much… I’m glad you didn’t give it to poor Patch…then Patch got better all last year, vet wrote out a 6 repeats scripts for Metronidazole & Losec & said when he needs the Metro just give it to him for 10-14 days & same with the Losec, then my vet rung me cause she hadn’t seen us for over 6 months, she was wondering what happened, she was so use to seeing us every month, now I tell her about all the new brands of kibbles coming on the market, her dog has colitis & she rotates her dogs foods cause she react to the foods like Patch & she has to change it around, her husband is also a vet & he asked how’s Patch going these days what did I end up doing….
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3925860/

[Ann F]

I believe the RC LF-20 is the most fat restricted diet on the market. Maybe the ultra low-fat works really well for her. Since Pork and Chicken was a trigger for us, the only other option for an ultra low-fat diet was the formulated one with Fish. If this is working your vet is wise.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100727135638/http://www.royalcanin.us/adx/aspx/adxGetMedia.aspx?DocID=134,293,12,1,Documents&MediaID=5953&Filename=Canine+Gastrointestinal+Low+Fat+LF.pdf

We had a diagnosis of Helicobacter, and gastritis when we did the scoping. His stomach was noticeably raw with lesions. Back then we did the amoxicillin and metronidazole, and it went away. Because the gastritis was part of the auto-immune, eosinophilic problem finding the right novel protein diet was important for us.
Later he had tested for a tick disease, and needed to be on Doxycycline. This was before he was stabilized on the diet. To get him through the harsh antibiotic we used Sulcrafate, and an acid-reducer. I had to time things very closely, and feed a slurry of some broth and boiled potato every hour to keep his stomach full. I think it was Pepcid, then 1/2 hour later Sulcrafate. He got a cup of the potato slurry, then the Doxycycline an hour after the Sulcrafate. Something like that I repeated three times a day. It is possible if you can get your vet to make up a schedule, and you have lots of timers to set:-)
It looks like the RC low-fat has corn grits as a carb. Maybe you can use small amounts of grits to keep his stomach full between regular feedings. That’s a question for your treating vet to answer about adding stuff. Do you have somebody at home to help? It is great if you can get out.

[Charisma M]

d to ask at the vets office about helping me come up with a medication schedule but it wasn’t help so I had to do it myself. At one point when he was on the h pylori treatment and sulcrafate as well I was giving meds every single hour! I was going nuts cause even with alarms I would start to question wether I gave it or not cause there was just so many meds! He takes phenobarbital and levothyroxine at 9am and pm now but he eats every two hours so even in the middle of the morning. Do you think I should give omeprazole at night before or after his meds?

[Charisma M]

Hey Anne and Susan! Sorry my response might be mixed up. Something was up with my email, it’s not even showing Susan’s reply till I came on here. Lots of confusion! But anyway, so do you guys know how to spot the pancreatitis before it happens? I know I had seen that one of you girls mention about it taking you to the emergency vet a few times a year. My husband and I canceled our honeymoon last summer cause baby needed to go into surgery for the exploratory since we didn’t know what was wrong (which by the way, I thought it was normal and everyone did it. Now I know and regret doing it cause I’m sure we could’ve figured out his diagnosis differently but our vets made it feel like it was life or death and only option😭) anyway we wanted to make up for our lost honeymoon this summer but now my husband can’t take time off so our only option is this month. But I’m deathly afraid of leaving baby. He would stay with my parents but honestly no one knows him like I do and if he got sick I would feel like it abandon him. He can have such good days then it all changes and goes downhill. It honestly feels like everytime we want to take a vacation is when he gets sick so we end up not going anywhere. But he’s been doing little groans everytime he lays down and idk if it’s his belly or his “back pain”. A few weeks back he had some trembling and didn’t want to jump on our bed for a whole day even with his steps. The vet said it was a back issue and he was doing crate rest but even then baby was acting normal, he wanted to do his normal activities so they always wondered wether it was a back issue or not. We even did acupuncture and they kept telling us maybe it was just a strained muscle cause he wasn’t acting painful just had a lot of heat in the center of his back and would flinch during the spine exam but he is normally really sensitive so idk if it was from not wanting to be touched or actual pain. After crate rest he was still doing good but it still worries me cause he still runs and jumps which is risky for him in case he does have a disc issue but honestly how do you tell him not to run and jump? He’s such an active boy. The issue is ive seen him hesitate a little and it’s a little hard for him to get comfortable so idk if that’s his back again flaring up? Or pancreatitis sneaking up, his ibd.. I don’t know which is why it’s so scary to take a vacation 😩

[Ann F]

Sorry I can’t be of much help. I don’t know what signs your dog showed of pancreatitis in the past, and whether your vet ordered a blood test to confirm it. For us it was pain and refusal to eat or drink any water. There was no vomiting or diarrhea. We did amylase and lipase which were both highly elevated. Then we’d do the Spec-cPL which came back around 1000 when he had pancreatitis. For the most part we were able to treat him at home with pain and nausea meds. If blood tests were not elevated it was something other then pancreatitis. It would take some fasting, subQ fluids, and the meds I mentioned to slowly get him out of it. At times it would take a week or so to get over it. They’d repeat the Spec-cPL and it would be back in the normal range.

I’d go on vacation, but make sure you have a plan with your vet about what your parents should do. You’d sign a release to give them permission to seek medical care in your absence. I remember missing so many family events. How long would it take for you to get home, and do your parents mind taking care of an animal that needs TLC?

[Charisma M]

Well about a week and a half before his tail started dropping. He would wake around with a droopy tail which never happens unless he’s extremely sick. So I had a feeling something was coming. Then he woke up vomiting one Friday morning, took cernia (vets order) and was back to normal, never lost his appetite. Then exactly one week later on a Friday he woke up vomiting again, once every two hours. He couldn’t hold down any food what so ever but he still had the appetite for it. We took him in to the vet because he couldn’t hold down the cernia either and his medication was going to be due and there was no way I could skip it. They did some blood work, and a little snap test. Snap test said positive for pancreatitis and his ALT, cholesterol, triglycerides, PSL were all high. I mean the Psl was 6216 and apparently that’s the one thing that really stands out with pancreatitis. Well we took him home with pain meds, fluids and he got cernia. He would do the downward yoga position I believe is what the vet called it over and over cause he was in so much pain. He couldn’t get comfortable. He couldn’t sleep he would pace. He was fine with the eating though till that afternoon he stopped. He wouldnt even take boiled chicken which is his absolute favorite thing in the world! You know he’s really sick when he turns that down. They had said if stopped eating (especially since he needed to take meds) to take him in to the emergency vet and from there he ended up staying there over night. He came home feeling much better but still really sad it took about 9 days for him to go back to normal. And no my parents don’t mind, they keep telling us to go but I just hate not being here if anything were to happen. ☹️

[Rhonda J]

Hi to all of you who post here and I would just like to say how impressed I am with your diligence to your pets and dedication! I have a 6 1/2 month old GSD female who has been diagnosed with SIBO and thank goodness for the internet and me finding info here and other places. I won’t go into all of the details as many of you are so good about doing so, but I was wondering if anyone has ever tried Colloidal Silver in place of an antibiotic? Antibiotics have bad side effects, as has been described here, and no regular vet will support using it since there is no $$ in it for them. I can not find a decent vet who will go outside the box from everything pharmaceutical which I am trying to avoid to in turn avoid the vicious circle of one cure leading to another problem. I am now waiting on the Only Natural Pet EasyRaw Lamb dehydrated food. Who knew there was dehydrated food? I am also using Synacore as a prebiotic/probiotic/enzyme that is sprinkled on her food every day. She is underweight and seemed to improve weight and stool wise with steel cut oats and quinoa but I have yet, before I found the dehydrated food, to find something to give her. I had her on Large Puppy Orijen but as good as it was in the beginning, it just suddenly didn’t work anymore. Now I am mixing in Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Puppy Formula Turkey and Potato with the oats and quinoa, but the more of the dog food I put in the less normal her stools are. Anyway, my main question is on the Colloidal Silver, and thank you to all of you who have been so detailed in your journeys with your dogs who suffer from this.

[anonymous]

As with most choices in the medical realm, there are both pros and cons of using colloidal silver for dogs, but for most people the decision comes down to ready availability, price, and history of success. Colloidal silver is usually considered an “alternative therapy” drug and is often used in place of antibiotics. It has a long history of use, and proponents often describe it as something of a cure-all. People give it to their dogs to treat almost any sort of infection or ailment. In most cases colloidal silver isn’t approved by government regulatory authorities for use as medication, though, and there can be concerns about strength, potency, and soundness of preparation. The lack of regulation can lead to a lot of variety in the products that are available, and there isn’t always a lot of consistency between brands. The risk of overdosing is rare but can happen, and prolonged use can lead to a number of canine health concerns.
Broad Spectrum of Uses
One of the biggest “pros” of colloidal silver for dogs is that it can be used to treat a huge range of issues. It is widely available in many natural food and health stores, and it isn’t usually nearly as expensive as the antibiotics and other pharmaceutical drugs that are often prescribed in its place.
Above is an excerpt from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-colloidal-silver-for-dogs.htm#didyouknowout

[anonymous]

If you are receptive to science based medicine you may find this recent blog helpful

Chinese Herb vs Metronidazole for Diarrhea in Dogs: An Example of the Problems with Alternative Medicine Research

“Chinese Herb vs Metronidazole for Diarrhea in Dogs: An Example of the Problems with Alternative Medicine Research”

[clara j]

hi i would like to suggest a website called EPI. alot of people there went through similar things as described here.it saved my dogs life.

[Jennifer L]

May I ask why you stopped using Tylan?

[Author]

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