[Joanne C]

My 3 year old male Pomeranian was recently diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and I have him on a vet prescribed food called “Royal Canine GI Low Fat” dry dog food. Prior to this he was on a high quality Fromm grain free & chicken free diet, which is now the complete opposite of this. I was wondering if you had any other suggestions for a higher quality GI Low Fat food that would be okay with his IBD. Additionally, I see you have a rating/review for the royal canine high energy dog food and was wondering what your thoughts were on the Royal Canine GI Low fat food he’s currently on.

[Joanne C]

clicking ‘notify’ if follow up replies are given

[anonymously]

Is the veterinarian treating your dog a specialist? If not, and a few months go by without a positive response to treatment, I would ask for a referral to a Veterinary Internal Medicine Specialist.

PS: There is nothing wrong with prescription food. That being said, my dog with a sensitive stomach does well on Nutrisca, see the reviews at chewy.com.

[Susan]

Hi my boy has IBD diagnosed thru biopsies, my boy was on the Australian Royal Canine Low Fat & started to smell yeasty & was still whinging with his acid reflux, he can’t eat barley we have barley in the Australian R/C Low Fat…It will depend what ingredients your boy is sensitive too?? Fromm is very pea heavy & the fiber might have been too high irritating his bowel, if you look at the fiber % in the Royal Canine, its low at 1.7%…. Be careful with some weight management kibbles, some have low fat but have very high fiber over 5% like Wellness Core Grain free Reduced Fat, the fiber-8.5% max if your dog needs a high fiber then it’s great but if ur dog needs a lower fiber Wellness Core Low Fat is NO good….
Over the years trying all different kibbles I have found Taste Of The Wild Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, TOTW has lower fiber 3-4%max but the fat is higher at 15%max & Canidae Life Stages Platinum the fat is low at 8.5% & they both digest easy like the R/C Low Fat digests…
What I do is I email companies ask for samples & then do the kibble test….
Get a glass of very warm water & put a few kibbles in the water & look at clock & see how long the kibble takes to soften all the way thru….. a good kibble should float to the top of water & soften with in 50mins, see how quick the R/C Low Fat kibble takes too soften…
A lot of people that have a dog with diagnosed IBD feed the “California Natural” Lamb & Rice or Chicken & Rice they both only have 3-4 ingredients the Weight management fat-7-10%max & fiber-3%max less ingredients is the best & no peas, chickpeas, lentils all can cause gas & wind pain… also when you do find another kibble, very slowly introduce over 2-3 weeks…also kibbles with Beet Pulp firm poos most vet diet kibble for stomach/bowel have Beet Pulp….
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products

[theBCnut]

The Honest Kitchen Zeal is low fat, high protein, and good quality ingredients.

[Sandra R]

Is anyone doing a selected protein diet? We were using RC Venison, but they can’t seem to get it. We went through the select rabbit and the select duck. RC has issues, but somehow we did get selected protein White Fish. Not sure if it is working, but my dog just developed diabetes as a result of her medication for this disease (IBD). She takes Atopica and Prednisone. Augh! I need to do something, but what? Any help? I’m willing to make the dog food if it will help. Apparently, it needs to be a selected protein.

[Susan]

Hi Sandra,
Hills have their D/D Venison & Potato & D/D Duck & Potato wet & dry, Hills does not use soy protein in their formula’s like the Royal Canine does……My boy also has IBD he didn’t do too well on the vet diets, he does really well on “Taste Of the Wild” Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb, it only has 1 meat protein Lamb meal, Sweet potatos, potato, peas, egg etc he also did real well on “Canidae” Pure Wild” Boar & Pure Land… here’s Canidae’s formula’s the Pure range is grain free & limited ingredients.
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

If your dog can eat a cooked diet I would be cooking & making his food & freezing meals…. follow “Judy Morgan” on her Face Book page she has a few really easy to make recipes, on video, her pup loaf is real easy to make. https://www.facebook.com/JudyMorganDVM/

I make lean pork rissole 1/2 cup size made into balls, I add 1 whished egg, chopped broccoli, 1 teaspoon chopped parsley & kale, put on a foiled linned baking tray & bake in the oven, turn rissoles over about 10-15mins later & drain any water & fat then bake till ready only takes about 25mins. I started just adding 1 whisk egg with 1kg (2lbs) lean pork mince then I started to add 1 new ingredient everytime I had to make another batch of the rissoles, I also boil sweet potato & freeze small 1/4 cup size pieces & mash the sweet potato + 1 pork rissole, I feed 5 small meals a day the kibble 7am, 9am 5pm & the cooked meal 12pm & 8pm, Patch can’t just eat wet tin or cooked food his poo’s are slop so having the kibble inbetween his cooked meal makes his poo’s firm..
Probably best to contact a Nutritionist your dog has a few health problems, Judy Morgan does specially made diets for dogs she might recommend one of her recipes on one of her video’s, also go on the “Balance It” site they have recipes & their Balance it powder to balance dogs diet they make special recipes diets for dogs with a few health problems, also google “Just Food For Dogs” they make special balanced diets another good person to follow is Monica Segal join her f/b group called “K-9 Kitchen”

[Sandra R]

Thank you! I will look into your recommendations.

[Gina B]

We have a 4.5 year old English Creme Golden diagnosed with IBD. He’s been on prednisone and now an antibiotic. His chronic skin condition has worsened and now he’s losing some hair by his nose. The vet recommends hydrolyzed dog food and no scraps (which he’s been on for months), but he’s still not himself. He is famished all the time, even at the lower dose of pred. At his age, I would expect him to be a lot more energetic. He doesn’t want to do anything but lay around, and he inhales his food and is overweight. Any suggestions to help? I need to get him off the prednisone as soon as possible. He’s been on it for six months now. I see lots of comments on food (Taste of the Wild), but seems people are having problems here in the US. Wonder why Australia is not.

Any suggestions or input? Thank you!

[anonymous]

I would make an appointment with a specialist (asap) either veterinary internal medicine or a veterinary dermatologist for testing/diagnosis/treatment. Sounds like environmental allergies could be the culprit and not the food.
Ask your vet to refer you. Prednisone is not good long term and can lead to other health issues, he has not responded to diet changes.
Enough is enough.
PS: There is no miracle food that will fix this.
Go here for science based veterinary medicine http://skeptvet.com/Blog/
You can use the search engine to look up specific topics. The comments are informative too.
The site is run by a veterinarian. There are no veterinarians affiliated with DFA.

[Gina B]

Thank you!!!! I’m looking now. we may take him to Cornell. He’s had the skin issue for a few years. What kind of environmental issues? How would a vet figure that out?

[anonymous]

Intradermal skin testing done by a veterinary dermatologist.
See my posts /forums/search/environmental+allergies/
Good luck
PS: The initial testing can run about $800. the solution for allergen specific immunotherapy can run about $200 or more maybe 3 times a year. We just see the dermatologist once a year for a checkup. Otherwise he is available by phone and will talk to the regular vet if need be.
The treatment is lifelong, but it is natural, similar to the allergy shots people get to desensitize. No prednisone. Don’t get me wrong, it can take up to a year to kick in, but we saw results right away. They can still have flare-ups but they tend to be mild.

[anonymous]

Cornell looks like they have an excellent veterinary dermatology department!

https://www2.vet.cornell.edu/hospitals/services/dermatology

The testing isn’t as complicated as it sounds, we were in and out of there in about an hour with a list of her allergens and a treatment plan.

[Susan]

Hi Gina,
my boy has IBD Plus Environment Allergies & Food Sensitivities, as my boy aged now 9yrs old he has gotten worse with his allergies they dont get better as they age allergies get worse, baths are the best thing to do, weekly baths wash off any allergens on the dogs sick peas face, baths in a good medicated shampoo relieve their itchy skin & paws get some “Malaseb” medicated shampoo its really good for Allergies & yeasty skin problems…

My boy has never done well on vet diets, the vet diets for skin problems are very high in Omega 3, 6 oils, this makes his acid reflux worse, Patch cant take Prednisone it makes him sleepy, tired, nausea, vomit & diarrhea, so he takes low dose of Metronidazole (Flagyl) on & off now….

Regarding TOTW Australia, our TOTW formula’s are made at the South Carolina Plant, TOTW have 4 different Plants around America this could be why Australia hasnt been affected, plus some of the TOTW formula’s are different for Australia & Europe customers, Australia & Europe have very strict importation laws so any pet foods that come into our countries must follow strict guidelines…..
When TOTW did formula changes a few years ago I read on a EPI face book group dogs in the UK were having bad diarrhea after the TOTW formula change, TOTW had added Chickpeas to some of their TOTW formulas.
(Lentils are the new protein booster, add Chickpeas or Lentils to the kibble & up goes the protein % in the kibble, so less meat protein, Wellpets have just done it to their Holistic Select & Wellness Core formula’s, you’ll be reading complaints soon about Wellpet formula’s, my dog is having diarrhea/sloppy poo’s etc”)
So I wrote to TOTW in America & I begged TOTW “Please dont change the TOTW made for Australia, the TOTW Pacific Stream & the Sierra Mountain formula’s, TOTW has low fiber % & we have sick dogs with IBD & EPI in Australia we need a grain free, low fiber dry kibble without lentils & chickpeas, we dont have any other low fiber dry kibbles that agree with our IBD & EPI dogs, we dont want our dogs to react like the dogs in the UK are reacting to the new TOTW formula change,” TOTW listened to us, we have no peas or lentils in the Pacific Stream Smoked Salmon formula & our TOTW Sierra Mountain Roatsed Lamb formula has NO lentils YET Ive just noticed teh American Sierra MountainLamb formula has Lentils now it didnt 2 yrs ago the only thin different was the American Sierra Lamb had Salmon Oil we have Canolia Oil… it can take just 1 small ingredient & a dog with IBD can react..
Lentils, Chickpeas, Peas can irratate the bowel when a dog has IBD IBS etc

Have a look at “Natural Balance” Limited Ingredients formula’s when I run the “Canine International Allergy” face book group a couple of years ago alot of dogs with IBD were doing very well eating the “Natural Balance” LTD, Sweet Potato & Bison or Potato & Duck or Sweet Potato & Fish formula’s…..N/B use to have Potato & Kangaroo formula but they dont have it no more, if you do decide to try N/B please read all the N/B LTD Formula’s as they are all different, some N/B formula’s have Chickpeas/Lentils/peas in them, the formula’s Ive posted dont have any peas, chickpeas or lentils, if you do try a new kibble make sure you introduce it very slowly over 2 weeks, if poo’s go sloppy then go back to the amount of new kibble & old kibble he was eating & doing firm poo’s on also dont reduce the Predisone until he’s stable on new kibble…

There’s a new drug called “Cytopoint” Injections for allergies or “Apoquel” tablets, the same makers Zoetisus make both, first Zoetisus made Apoquel & the Apoquel has a few side effects nausea, vomiting then Zoetisus brought out Cytopoint injections, you give injections every 4-8weeks depends on the dog, we dont have the Cytopoint injections yet in Australia, Patches vet wanted Patch to try Apoquel when it came out 2 yrs ago cause it can also help dogs with IBD, do you have a vet that specializes in your boy IBD? ask him about trying the Apoquel for his itchy skin & IBD, Aqopuel does NOT work if your dog has Yeast Dermatitis, you’ll need to change his Vet diet if he’s got yeasty itchy smelly skin, I dont know if your boy needs to be off the Predisone to take Apoquel, here’s Apoquel site, you can email & ask Zoetisus can a dog take Predisone & Apoquel together?. https://www.zoetisus.com/products/dogs/apoquel/index.aspx

[Susan Cardillo C]

Hello:
Julie(St. Bernard) had a bad bout of IBD around 5 years ago. Since, she has been religiously on Royal Canin HP. Recently(she is now 9 years old) and after getting Bloat this summer(successful surgery to fix), she has her IBD back, worse then before.
The vet suggested Purina Pro Plan HA- we did the canned food for two weeks and it was really working to solidify her poop. We introduced the kibble(same brand and flavor) about 3 days ago and now she has reverted back to total diarrhea.
Has anyone else had issue with kibble? I have stopped giving it to her, but she loves it…now she can only have the cans and she is eating 8 cans a day!
Would love some insight.
Thanks
Susan

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