Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Page 1

I am looking for any information about IBD. I have already done a lot of research on the web about it, but wouldl ike some input from others who have/are dealing with it with their GSD.

I have a 19 month old male that had diarrhea for quite awhile and in fear of dehydration and any other possible severe complications I took him to the vet. While we did not do bloodwork or a colonosocpy(sp?) my vet thought it could be IBD. She gave him a 10 day course of Metronidazole(flagyl)which he is still taking, and she also said to change his food. After just one dose of the meds, he had well formed stools and still does, even if I manage to accidentally forget to give him a dose. (That happens only if I get called in to work unexpectantly) Vet said after meds are gone we will see how he does. Does all of this sound about right?

It does to me.  I have a "special" dog who suffers from allergies mainly, but other things as well.  The "IBD" in her case might have been brought on by massive doses of an allergy med, which itself has diarrhea/vomiting as a big possibility when introducing it (not 6 mos later, though).  She seems to have been OK since we stopped that med last year (we did it for years).

But yes, the 1st thing the vet did was try Flagyl, and it helped.  Later episodes it helped even more.  Also helped to go to rice and chicken (we cut out the chicken soon, as she is allergic to animal protein; and for a long time she loved the rice) for a while.

I also speak from very personal experience as an IBD sufferer myself - Ulcerative Colitis, to be exact.  But I haven't used Flagyl yet (usually that's for Clostridium Difficile infection, not a permanent condition like UC).

It sounds right. A good friend of mine has a GSD with chronic IBD. At first he gave his dog Flagyl and it did work very well, but then the IBD continued to flare up again. He has since put the dog on Tylan powder on a daily basis (for the past 2 years), which is milder and much less expensive. The dog has remained symptom free.  Tylan powder can be ordered online. I would definitely talk to your vet first before giving this to your dog, although it seems a lot of vets aren't real familiar with the product.

Whatever you do, don't change his food if he's doing good on it and DON't give him steroids

most likely he'll be OK, sounds like you're on the right track.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease can only be diagnosed with biopsies.  I own two GSD who have been diagnosed with IBD via an exploratory surgery and colonoscopy.  Prior to each procedure, several poops samples were tested and cultured.  Giardia snap tests were done.  They were dewormed.  They had food allergy testing done.  Bloodwork was also done to test for EPI, SIBO and B12 definciency.  They had a pretty extensive work up prior to going under anesthesia.

Once the official diagnosis was received, both dogs were placed medications including immunosuppressants, antibiotics and other stomach protectants.  One dog tested postive for helicobactor.  This test can only be done with a fresh sample collected from the GI tract.  Also, fluid samples were collected for culturing to see if any bacteria was present. 

The work up was done under the guidance of a board-certified internal medicine vet.  My recommendation is to consult a specialist if you or vet are sure how to proceed.

Best of luck!!
Heather

The point of the food change is if it is the cause (or aggravator) of problems.  He could be either allergic or have other inflammation aggravated by the type of food he's had.

So, if the medicine doesn't help permanently, you could try that.

Of course, to help the condition get under control, you can immediately change to the rice-based diet.  Again, if things stabilize, then you can wean him onto a new "gentler" food to see how that works.

Thank you all for the advice and for sharing your knowlege and experience with me.
My boy is now finished with the Flagyl 10 day script. I was told by my vet to see how he does for a few days after completing. My fingers are crossed that all will be well now. If not we will talk to the vet and see how she wants to proceed.

I did forget to mention that at the start of his meds, my vet had me change his food - she said not to do the gradual change. The options she gave me were Science Diet, Iams, Nature's Recipe or Nutro and she said to get the Venison and Potato because it was easier to digest. (please don't flame me on my next statement) When I went to get the new food, the only one I could find with Venison that day was Nutro. Yesterday I finally found Nature's Recipe in both dry and canned with Venision and Potato(sweet) and wish I had found it the first time, but he is doing well on the Nutro-it is for sensitive stomachs.

Meanwhile I am grateful he has felt better and has gotten back to 'normal', however I do have one more question...

I know when I am not feeling well I am grumpy. When I walk my boy at the park he is suddenly reactive to other dogs. This only happens when he is on leash (and he is never off leash at the park). He can go to doggie day care and have no troubles with any other dog and I have a friend who brings his lab over and no problems there either; same thing when I take Z out to friends house where there are several dogs. Another thing is that I am apprehensive of other dogs approaching us because he does growl at them. I need to find a way to get us both over this so we can proceed to get his CGC. Any advice?