IBD Diet?

[Denise L.]

First of all let me say off the bat that Cyrus has NOT been diagnosed with IBD.

Last night my vet called me after receiving the test results from the emergency vet and he just wanted me to be aware of IBD and to make sure I let him know if Cyrus experiences any more digestive issues. The is the second major digestive problem he has had this year and my vet recommends testing (endoscopy/biopsy) if he gets symptoms again.

That being said, I was doing a little research on the net about IBD and on one site it was mentioned that a single protein source food, or hypoallergenic food is recommended for dogs with IBD.

So I am thinking of changing Cyrus's food to California Natural Lamb and Rice.

Any thoughts on this from the pros? He eats Canidae now.

[brunie's mom]

I don't think two experiences of digestive troubles should make you worry too much. But I do think it is worth a try to get onto California Natural. There may be just too much going on for him feeding the Canidae, and this may just set things right for him.


Gina

[Luis Rodriguez]

Have you ever thought about switching him to a raw diet?
Luis

[Denise L.]

Originally Posted by Luis Rodriguez

Have you ever thought about switching him to a raw diet?
Luis

Of course! Being a member here has made me look into a lot of options regarding diet, training, everything!

I didn't opt for a raw diet because of costs and storage issues. But I will revisit the issue.

Thanks!

[rotnhouse]

Originally Posted by Denise L.

I didn't opt for a raw diet because of costs and storage issues. But I will revisit the issue.

Try talking to the meat market manager at your local grocery chain. By simply asking, I was able to get mine to order cases of chicken backs for me weekly at a VERY reasonable price - $0.40 per lb. A 40 lb case is $16 and feeds 5 dogs for a week.

By using the chicken backs as my main staple, it makes the total cost of a raw diet quite reasonable.

[moondog]

Denise,

For dogs with sensitive digestive systems, limiting the type and number of proteins in their diet to a single source that they tolerate well is the best first step and may solve the problem without further changes being necessary. Switching from multiple protein source Canidae to single protein source California Natural will accomplish this as long as the protein choice is one he does well with.

As far as home-prepared diets go, my experience is that dogs that do have IBD (which is not diagnosed for Cyrus and therefore premature to assume) do better on a cooked diet, because; 1) often the bacterial load in a raw diet is beyond what their inflamed intestinal systems can handle; 2) cooking foods helps begin the digestive process by breaking down proteins so they are easier for the dog to digest, and; 3) dogs with IBD frequently have problems digesting fat and it is difficult, if not impossible, to control fat content in raw meats.

Not everyone is in a position to properly research and prepare a raw or cooked home-prepared diet on a regular basis, and it DOES need to be properly researched. There's a lot more to balanced nutrition than just finding a good price for chicken backs and tossing them to the dog, which I'm sure those who feed home-prepared diets know, but sometimes forget to mention when speaking about it.

There is no shame, or harm to the dog, in using a high quality commercial food, such as California Natural, if it is a food that a dog does well on.

[BeverlyC]

I have been going through a similar situation with Lothar pretty much since I got him. First he started out with lots of allergies while on Canidae with constant ear infections and bad diarrhea, so I switched from Canidae to raw; he was on raw food for about 8 - 10 months. While on the raw we were constantly battling with vomiting (small amounts with belching) and diarrhea (from mild to severe). We kept taking him to the vet and he couldn’t find anything conclusive, he did suggest we do some evasive testing along with biopsies on his intestines because he believed Lothar was suffering from IBD. Instead of putting him through the tests we decided to try a home cooked diet for him. He has been on it since his kong eating episode in mid November and he hasn’t belched or vomited once. He does however still have mild diarrhea about every 3 days or so. So I am still tweaking his diet, hopefully I will find the right combination for him soon. I didn’t go the kibble route because there isn’t any out there that doesn’t contain at least one ingredient he is allergic to. I couldn’t say for sure if Lothar has IBD or not either, but I do know that this way of eating for him has definitely helped and I am all for the poor boy to have a solid bowel movement for more than a few days.

[Patinka]

Please stay on topic.
The OP wanted advise on changing to California Natural diet for her dog. If you have any experience or info for her please post. If you want to post about raw diets, then start another topic.

[trackermom]

Denise I think it would certainly be worth a try to switch Cyrus to Cal Nat. I have 2 of my dogs on it as my GSD has a very sensative stomach and we have found this to work well for her and becasue my Rott/great dane male has a wheat allergy. and they both thrive on it. My senior female is on Eagle Pack which is also Highly digestable, but is not a single protein food.

[MontanaRott]

We have Stevie on Cal Nat L&R, when he came to us his gut was a mess and he was on Id for awhile and made the switch to Cal Nat and is thriving on it.

[Brutus's Mom]

We have a rescue with IBS or was so diagnosed, he has been on Eukanuba Sensitive Tummy food (which is Kangaroo meat) for the last several months. He is doing fine with it other than he does not seem to be gaining weight as his foster Mom thinks he should be.

We had another with the same problem and until he was adopted, he also did not gain weight as we thought he should, the new Forever Mom put him on Imes Puppy Chow and fed him 1 cup /5 times a day and also gave him snacks that he could handle, he is up to 110 pounds now and doing great! We have decided to try this method with DJ and see if it helps. We also just had another full blood panel done and are waiting for the results to be sure there is nothing else going on.

I am open to any suggestions from anyone familiar with this problem, that will help with DJ.

[Tara]

I would definitely try switching food. Diesel has IBD and he was on Canidae and throwing up all the time. After his surgery he was on food from the vet, i think it was a venison and potato. He stopped tolerating that and we have him on Pinacle Trout and Potato and he's been doing great. Our vet looked at the ingredients in the Canidae and suggested we try a food with one protein source, preferably one not in Canidae.

[Carina43]

Denise & Brutus's mom...there is a whole ton of info on gastrointestinal disorders here:
http://www.bowchow.com/specific.html
No discussion of specific brands of food, but suggestions about supplements & such. Lew Olsen (mentioned & cited here) is a very experienced Rottweiler person, FWIW.