Food for dog with Chronic Colitis

Ms Tootsie

Ok so as many of you may know on here we struggled to find food that our wheaten terrier could stomach. All the key brands (Arden Burns etc) all had the same effect on our guy - caused extreamly runny poos.

Our vet suggested it was most likely a food allergy so we switched him a diet which is a mixture of fresh and raw. his diet consisted of scraps and cuts from the butchers mixed with veg. Everything from chicken and liver to tripe and hearts. All was going well and his health had never been better.

We had to put him into a kennel for a few nights while we were on holidays and while the kennel owner had been informed of what to feed him he wouldnt eat for the first day. On the second day she gave him tinned dog food which he wolfed down. And like a child after his first taste of junk food he would only eat that food then during his stay.

So when we picked him up his dodgy stomach problem arose again only this time he was vomitting with it. So we took him to the vet again and he was diagnosed with chronic colitis or inflamed bowel disease. Apparently it is quite a common problem among the breed.

It feels good to at least know now what the problem is and after a few days of being on ID food and antibiotics he is on the mend.

My question is, has anyone ever had a dog with this problem before? I am happy to keep him on a fresh diet as it isnt too expensive (we buy in bulk) but I am wondering if there is a brand of dog food out there that we could buy if we are ever stuck. Or even better that we could give to a kennel if we have to board him the next time we go on holidays. We cant expect a boarding kennel to be able to store our fresh and raw food in their freezer to defrost as needed so a bag of dog food would be much handier. I just dont want to put the poor guy through that again, he was in such poor form and it wouldnt be fair on him.

tk123

You could maybe leave him on the fresh food and send him to kennels with I/D or sensitivity control? You can buy it online so would save some money compared to getting it in the vets and wouldn't have the worry of him having an upset tummy at kennels? I have the same situation although no chance of going on holidays any time soon lol I give my guy a handful of taste of the wild every day as treats when we're own walks or in his treat toys with the notion that it might be a good thing on the off chance he might need to be on dry for some reason eg kennels like yourself but tbh I would rather send him with cans of SC which although not my preferred ingredients won't upset his tummy - I'd hate to think of him being sick when I was away! Also I wouldn't have to worry about the transition - he'd need a good 2 weeks being transitioned to the dry then into kennels for a week or 2 whereas with the SC I know he can go on it straight away without and probs and the same with coming off it - so minimum 'junk food' time if that makes sense.

carleigh

My late Cocker Spaniel suffered from collitis, and for the last year of more of his life, he had a very restricted diet. He had liver cancer so he was already on a restricted diet, so no red meat, but we found the old reliable of chicken and rice, or even white fish and rice, did him the world of good. Now and again he would even have some wholegrain pasta. Every so often he would have a tin of I/D just to settle the tummy, but the one thing that did wonders for him was puppy food, he loved it and it helped with his sympthoms. He was taking steroids and daily antibiotics so it was controlled as best it could. It used to break my heart seeing him struggle sometimes, but his good days outweighed the bad. He went to the same boarding kennels for 13 years and he always went with his 'ready meals'! You could find out next time he is going there if the owners would be willing to accomodate his needs.

DBB

Tough situation OP, I've dealt with a good few dogs with colitis in rescue, and tbh, whilst one food would work with one dog, it wouldn't with another, so it's hard to definitively recommend one for you.
What you could try perhaps, is to buy him some NatureDiet to see how it goes down once he's back on his feet. This is a commercially-prepared, complete wet diet... it's not BARF as the meat is cooked, but I know several BARF owners (myself included) who have switched dogs onto NatureDiet for stays in kennels, or holidays away, or other situations where bringing frozen or fresh food with you isn't an easy option.
Can't hurt to try it and see? It's often on offer in bulk on Zooplus, but I wouldn't be feeding it full-time simply because it's an expensive way to feed them. Fine for short spells, but not long-term! It's also in most big pet stores, so you could buy a few packs and give them a go?

Ms Tootsie

Thanks folks!! I might buy some tins of ID or SC online to have them in case of emergency.

Chicken and rice always goes down well, thankfully he can eat red meat otherwise we would be really restricted in terms of what we could feed him.

I think tins of ID or SC may be the option if we put him into kennels again - at least the tins wont take up space in the freezer of the kennel owner!

Luckily he seems fine on the treats we give him but then again they are all natural things and his latest chew toy is a stag bar which seems to be going well so far.

Ms Tootsie

I hadnt heard of NatureDiet but I will defo be checking it out! It would be handy to have something around the house in case we ever ran low on his home cook stocks. Once or twice I have miscounted and thought I had more only to open the freezer and find none - cue a quick bolt down to the butcher and an evening of food prepartion!

If the NatureDiet worked then it would be a good one for him to have in the kennels and then I could keep the ID food only for use when he really needed it - i.e due to the colitis playing up or something like that.

lorebringer

One of mine suffers with chronic colitis. Royal Canin Sensitivity Control (dry) is a life saver - I cannot praise that food enough. She went from weight falling off of her, going to the toilet every hour minutes (day and night!) and miserable to back to normal without medication (wohoo!) because of SC. We have her on it long term and have never looked back. It's bloody expensive but we don't really care as long as she is healthy. I buy it on MedicAnimal because it's cheaper than getting it in the vets. I think Zooplus have started supplying it so also worth a look there!

ferretone

There is a brand of really high quality raw food available. Called gRaw. Some friends of mine swear by it, but I can only find it on their website, so here's the link: http://www.topdog.ie/content.php?367-Dr-Brady-s-gR%C1W

Ado86

Jameswellbeloved hypoallergenic seems to be very effective in dogs with food intolerances.

Ms Tootsie

I know this is an ancient thread but as the OP I thought I would post a quick update in case anyone with similar issues every comes across this when looking for help on feeding a dog with colitis.

About three months ago we completed a full switch over to James Wellbeloved hypoallergenic for our dog. After trying him on it during his kennel stays (morning food raw and evening food JWB) we slowly introduced it to his diet with the aim of being able to use it if we even run out of our pre-packaged raw food.

Since that went so well we decided to see if we could switch him over to it full time and try and reclaim the drawer back in our three door freezer that was just filled with his raw packaged dinners. It was a slow process as we didnt want to upset his stomach and end up back at square one but it has worked a treat! His poo (TMI) are good and solid with him usually having just one a day. His coat is looking fantastic as it did on the raw so I am really pleased with that. At least once a week he still gets his raw chicken leg as it is good for keeping the anal glands in good shape and over the weekend he gets some raw scraps in place of a dry feed.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on this. It is great to have him on a decent dry food while still being able to throw in a fare bit of raw meet as well.

aonb

Thats great - lovely to hear you got sorted with something that suits your dog.
I think the JWB is good for the sensitive tummies somehow - its one of the few kibbles my ultra-anti-kibble-sensitive dog will eat - he is food obsessed, but wont eat kibble happily - he drives me nuts I still keep the RC sensitive tins for emergencies too - for days when the chicken/rice or beef/potatos run out