Ibd

[Guest Celestrina]

Once Angie's IBD is under control, what would be a good food? She is sensitive to chicken and eggs. We aren't in any rush to switch, but eventually we would like to take her off the Rx food. What is a good fat percentage?

[BellaBean]

My lab mix has IBD and can't handle chicken either. We tried so many foods. He was on the science diet rx food as well for a long time. I hate SD because it really doesn't have that good of ingredients and his coat looked awful while he was on it, but it didn't make his tummy upset. We finally found Acana Pacifica that he does amazing with it. I've tried to switch him to more cost friendly foods over the years and each time we have had horrible luck so I stick with what works! It's also a really good food and his coat is super shiny and he has that sparkle back in his eye! What I would suggest is check ingredients and try a few foods. Eventually you will find what works for her.

[Remolacha]

I am afraid it is just trial and error. I don't think fat percentage is too important unless she has had problems with high fat before, although some of the grain free foods are pretty rich. Look at what is available in your area, check your budget and read the ingredient labels closely! Since she is sensitive to both chicken and eggs, I would try to steer clear of chicken fat as a preservative as well. It is pretty common, and usually not a problem, even with chicken sensitive dogs, but if you can find something without it, all the better. FWIW, turkey and duck may be fine, as well as fish based.

[Walliered]

We never could control Huck's IBD. He was on B12 shots and I tried every kind of food out there. Wish the best for your grey.

[Remolacha]

I guess I should have added, I never found a commercial food that Fletcher can eat either. He has been raw fed for 9 years, which has controlled his IBD just fine, but that is not for everyone.

[MaryJane]

Try dog foods that have limited ingredients - Natural Balance has a venison and sweet potato and I think that IAMs just came out with a barley and fish. You also could do a home-made diet.

 

You'll find that most commercial dog foods have chicken or non-specified oils in them (probably chicken fat) so if your dog has problems with chicken, it will be an uphill battle. My Larry cannot have chicken at all (massive diarrhea) and is sensitive to noodles also. I decided years ago to just do home-made (cooked) and Larry is now 11 1/2 and still doing OK although he is getting a tad slower.

[Guest SoulsMom]

I tried over and over with SoulMan. Even home cooked for him with recipes from Angel Memorial. The only thing that keeps his IBD in check is the I/D . . .

[Guest Celestrina]

I tried over and over with SoulMan. Even home cooked for him with recipes from Angel Memorial. The only thing that keeps his IBD in check is the I/D . . .

Angie is on the z/d (allergen free) formula. The i/d has chicken. So does the z/d, but it is supposed to be hydrolyzed to the point her body won't recognize it as chicken.

[BellaBean]

Angie is on the z/d (allergen free) formula. The i/d has chicken. So does the z/d, but it is supposed to be hydrolyzed to the point her body won't recognize it as chicken.

The z/d is the only food Butter could eat until I found the Acana.

[tbhounds]

Ok-here's the big question----was your diagnosed with IBD via biopsies??? If not your may be using the incorrect terminology. True IBD cases need to be either on a novel protein/carb diet or a hydrolyzed protein like z/d. If your hound just has a sensitive GI or a food sensitivity then finding an OTC food with a tolerable protein and a low fat content (fat is very hard to digest) may be your answer. You may want to look Solid Golds WolfKing--fish and bison based, no wheat, corn, soy and has a 9%fat content (same as i/d). Good luck!

[Guest Celestrina]

The z/d is the only food Butter could eat until I found the Acana.

Acana is what triggered the IBD. She had been eating Ranchlands and immediately after starting a new bag she started having problems. Its a shame because up until then she had extremely firm poop.

 

Thanks to the prednisone we have to take her out more often or she might have an accident while asleep.

[JenniferS]

Our Ducky had IBD and was on the z/d and I think d/d venison for a while. He also did well on the Natural Balance Venison formula. Good luck! It is an awful disease.

[Guest Celestrina]

Ok-here's the big question----was your diagnosed with IBD via biopsies??? If not your may be using the incorrect terminology. True IBD cases need to be either on a novel protein/carb diet or a hydrolyzed protein like z/d. If your hound just has a sensitive GI or a food sensitivity then finding an OTC food with a tolerable protein and a low fat content (fat is very hard to digest) may be your answer. You may want to look Solid Golds WolfKing--fish and bison based, no wheat, corn, soy and has a 9%fat content (same as i/d). Good luck!

She has had extensive blood tests but no biopsies. According to our vet everything is pointing to IBD. She has always had sensitivities to chicken and eggs and we have avoided them for years. According to the Hill's website i/d has 13.9% fat.

[Walliered]

My Huck was biopsied. My vet sent samples to Texas A&M. It was very bad and he came to me with it. That and a canine tooth cracked in half. Yes, he had a dental, but the stupid vet said he just wanted to "watch" it. We never could control his IBD. He died of bone cancer at the age of 6. I do wish you the best with your hound.

[Guest Celestrina]

I'm sorry. The vet only wanted to "watch" a cracked tooth?

[tbhounds]

She has had extensive blood tests but no biopsies. According to our vet everything is pointing to IBD. She has always had sensitivities to chicken and eggs and we have avoided them for years. According to the Hill's website i/d has 13.9% fat.

Should have clarified-hills makes a low fat GI restore which is lower in fat--the canned is around 9% and I think the dry even lower.

[Walliered]

If I had it to do over again with my Huck, I would have just treated it as IBD and would not have put him through the biopsy surgery. He had to stay at the vets for a week because he could not jump at all and that included in or out of the car. He also could not go up stairs. And yes, the vet just wanted to watch the crack tooth. This is a very old vet in Waynesboro and he is highly thought of by some grey people..but surely not me. My vet pulled the tooth and he immediately stopped crying (which he had done since I brought him home). Julie Dearmin has his littermate up in Statesville, North Carolina. They look like twins!

[PrairieProf]

Should have clarified-hills makes a low fat GI restore which is lower in fat--the canned is around 9% and I think the dry even lower.

 

That is true, but note that regular I/D is NOT 13.9% fat. Hill's lists the nutrient percentages of all foods on a dry-matter basis on its website, which is not the same as the as-fed basis. Regular I/D dry is 22% protein and 9% fat (I feed it to Beth so I know). You can find the as-fed percentages on the actual bags of food and cans and on some other websites that sell food (petfooddirect.com or that sort of thing).

 

Canned foods are also listed in dry-matter percentages on the website.

 

Beth doesn't have IBD -- she had a close brush with pancreatitis, and clearly is prone to GI issues -- but I/D has been a wonderful food for her. Despite the expense I've kept her on it for over two years now because she does better on it than anything else we ever tried, loves it and stays in beautiful condition.

Edited April 12, 2013 by PrairieProf

[tbhounds]

 

That is true, but note that regular I/D is NOT 13.9% fat. Hill's lists the nutrient percentages of all foods on a dry-matter basis on its website, which is not the same as the as-fed basis. Regular I/D dry is 22% protein and 9% fat (I feed it to Beth so I know). You can find the as-fed percentages on the actual bags of food and cans and on some other websites that sell food (petfooddirect.com or that sort of thing).

 

Canned foods are also listed in dry-matter percentages on the website.

 

Beth doesn't have IBD -- she had a close brush with pancreatitis, and clearly is prone to GI issues -- but I/D has been a wonderful food for her. Despite the expense I've kept her on it for over two years now because she does better on it than anything else we ever tried, loves it and stays in beautiful condition.

Ha! I thought it was 9%-guess I'm not cracking up after all :-). However, if you do need an even lower fat % the Low fat GI restore would be an option.

[Guest RMarie]

OP, what led you to test for IBD? You said the Acana triggered it...triggered what? Diarrhea? Vomiting? How long did the symptoms last before you thought about IBD? I ask because we went through several bouts of diarrhea and general soft stools with James. We thought we figured out the right food combo, but recently his poops went south and even sulfasalazine has not yet seemed to provide the relief it did several months back.

[Guest Celestrina]

We tried ground beef and rice, ground turkey and rice, deworming, extensive bloodwork, metronidazole, tylan powder, and now she's on Rx food. She is also taking prednisone, which if we're not careful she might wet her bed. It has been several months with little to no improvement.

[Burpdog]

Pred is not good for IBD in a greyhound. Also, I didn't see where there was a biopsy?

[tbhounds]

We tried ground beef and rice, ground turkey and rice, deworming, extensive bloodwork, metronidazole, tylan powder, and now she's on Rx food. She is also taking prednisone, which if we're not careful she might wet her bed. It has been several months with little to no improvement.

If your not seeing improvement after months of treatment I would seek out another opinion with an internal medicine cert vet. May want to consider using budesonide over pred.