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  1. #1

    Dog Diagnosed with IBD

    Hi
    My 9 year old Boxer has recently been diagnosed as having IBD after lots of tests at a referral clinic. We have now been told to feed him a prescription diet only, the one they recommended was Hill's Z/D. My problem is he refuses to eat it and is slowly wasting away in front of my eyes. 5Kg lost in the last few weeks.
    My ask is has anyone had a pet with the same problem and if so do did you find anything that they would eat and enjoyed that also agreed with there condition.

    Cheers Mark



  2. #2
    Member Rank = Sansai f15hie's Avatar
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    our old Jack Russell was taken ill one day with liver problems, he went yellowish overnight, he was placed on a strict diet for his liver and wouldn't eat it. the classic from vet on phone to Mrs was, he needs to go on a liver diet to which my mrs replied that's good he likes liver onions and gravy . he began wasting away so we decided to mix half and half with his normal dry mix and gradually upped to the special diet. he didn't enjoy it but it worked and at 14 he got a further 2 years out of it and looked better on the controlled diet, no longer a barrel more a pencil . So maybe mix it up a bit may be the best bet or disguise it under gravy or something.
    When I’m dead I hope my Mrs doesn’t sell my fishing gear for what I told her they cost!

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  4. #3
    Thanks
    We are mixing with white fish but its not making any difference to his conditiion

  5. #4
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    Try sending '' Feline '' a PM on here, she is a vet and maybe she will be able to give
    you some ideas she' not on that often but I would still send a PM so she see's it when
    she logs in. Have you had a look on line at forums for that particular problem, maybe worth a look,
    and what about your vet ? any suggestions from them.
    Hate it when pets etc get ill but hope your boy gets better very soon

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  7. #5
    Thanks Anne
    The vets usual response was to keep him on the prescription diet, but after speaking with specialist at the referral clinic he has been put on a cancer drug for a week and then see how he is and make a decision after that as to if he is eating and putting on any weight. Fingers crossed as there's not much more can be done after that.

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  9. #6
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    Everything crossed for you all, as f15hie said maybe a bit of gravy might be enough to tempt him ?
    but there again would it upset his tummy, your between the Devil and the deep blue sea as to what to do for the best.
    such a shame and I really feel for you all...…

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  11. #7
    Gravy has always given him the trots even before all of this. Now he is on the chemo drugs we have been told to feed him whatever he will eat, so has on venison cubed or minced to see if he bucks up. Last 2 days he has eaten like a horse. What's coming out the other end has not improved though, so time will tell.

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  13. #8
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    Hiya, I can't (and shouldn't) give advice in this situation as I don't have all the lab results and clinical details. Your vet is best place to advise you what to feed and what not to feed.

    One thing I can tell you though is that no 2 cases of IBD are identical so working out what to feed is not a case of following what has worked for other people, if you see what I mean.

    Hills z/d is a truly hypoallergenic diet because it contains no full protein molecules, just the precursors. This is why it is so expensive. But if its not palatable to a particular dog then other options need to be considered. The 'textbook' approach is to try to get a clinical improvement on a hypoallergenic diet, and then add in ingredients gradually once at a time to work out which can be tolerated. But if a dog goes anorexic that approach won't work.

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  15. #9
    Hi Feline. And this is where hes at lost so much weight and energy we are running out of time to keep trying somthng only to find it didnt work. My understanding is get him to eat and get some energy back to alow us time to sort his motions out, if thats do able.

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  17. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Handy Kenny's Avatar
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    Bluefish,

    My Cocker Spaniel contracted Campylobacter and Giardia probably through eating some chicken that my neighbours liked to feed (poison) our local foxes with. It took ages to clear with fortnightly visits to the vets for around nine months. In that time we tried all sorts of different foods some of which he just turned his nose up at and some others that he took to for a couple of weeks until he was ill again. Funnily enough I think that he associated the food he was eating at the time with his sore tummies/diahorrea etc and thought "I am not eating that again". We ended up feeding him mostly boiled rice with fish or chicken added while we cycled through loads of different dog foods, and went through all sorts of expensive vet suggested foods which eventually "failed". One day I looked at a web site called whichdogfood that no longer exists (I think Which the magazine people objected). There was loads of good info on there and a league table of dog foods that were ranked by owners and for their content. However I ended up trying what was No1 on their league table which was not the most expensive, not that cost was an issue but like you I was getting desparate anyway.

    Akela Dry Dog Food - https://www.wholeprey.com/

    I use the dry variety and it has a high nutritional rating. It is only available online. They do a number of different sizes but there are a few trial sizes of their dry dog food that you could try. Turns out that many dog foods are similar to Koi food and could be what is termed good or bad and you cannot tell by looking at it.

    Hugo (the Cocker) loved the Original from the beginning and after the first month was still loving it and has been eating it now for the past 5 years+. His Guardia cleared up although he has been left with a bit of a sensitive tummy if he eats a lot of other food that isn't his normal stuff. His wee brother loves it as well. Where I take my dogs for a walk I meet a lot of other owners and have suggested to a few of them that they try Akela and a couple who have come back to me have said it worked for their dogs who were having trouble with the diholea's.

    I am not a vet but ours was pleased when (probably luckily) we found something that Hugo could keep inside him without constantly changing his diet and that helped him on the road to recovery. I have noticed that many of the dog food companies are turning to more wholesome foods for dogs, probably in response to customer demand. Anyway Hugo is fine now and thriving on his Akela so it may be worth a try. Personally I know I felt so helpless and sorry for my wee pal when he was having problems I would have tried anything.

    Obligatory dog photos. Hugo and Ralph (Designer Dogs!). Our next Cocker will be brown and be named Coco!

    WP_20151003_009.jpgWP_20150905_008.jpgDSCF3180.jpg

    Kenny
    Last edited by Handy Kenny; 18-10-2019 at 02:46 AM.

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  19. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by bluefish67 View Post
    Hi
    My 9 year old Boxer has recently been diagnosed as having IBD after lots of tests at a referral clinic. We have now been told to feed him a prescription diet only, the one they recommended was Hill's Z/D. My problem is he refuses to eat it and is slowly wasting away in front of my eyes. 5Kg lost in the last few weeks.
    My ask is has anyone had a pet with the same problem and if so do did you find anything that they would eat and enjoyed that also agreed with there condition.

    Cheers Mark
    Mine was put on the Hills stuff to lose weight. She wouldn't touch it. So i mixed it with roast chicken breast (with the vets reluctant consent) Proper chicken breast not proceeesed. But you have to cut the chicken up really thin. Then mix it all up with a fork or your hand pushing the breast into the Hills. That way,, if they want the chicken breast then they cant help eating some of the hills too.

    The vet said to phase out the chicken over a few weeks.

  20. #12
    Hi Kenny

    Thanks for the link. Have just ordered some of the samples, have never heard of this make but some of it looks like it could be just what were looking for, especially the duck mono protein and fish, have stayed away from the original as he has always had a problem with chicken. Know what you mean about feeling helpless just watching him waist away.
    Your 2 spaniels are looking well together and this is in my opinion part of Harleys (my boxer) troubles, as we lost our older boxer at the end of June who he had never been apart from since he came to us at the age of 12 weeks old and I think he misses her like crazy.

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  22. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Handy Kenny's Avatar
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    Bluefish,

    I actually checked the all about dogfood website - https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory after posting last night and see that the nutritional value of the original Akela is over 90% so to me that sounds good and there seems to be little added that doesn't need to be there.

    You may be right re your remaining dog missing the older one. My younger one Ralph (the red one although he is really blonde) has always had his older pal and when Hugo is not there you can see that he is completely lost. I actually got the younger one as the older one would run hundreds of yards to speak to his doggy friends when we were out for a walk.

    Kenny

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  24. #14
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    What beautiful dogs you have Kenny and thanks for your very informative write up about the Dog food,
    very interesting, and I feel has been a great help to Bluefish and Harley .
    Let us know how Harley gets on bluefish...……….

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  26. #15
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai LouiseR's Avatar
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    Hi bluefish. So sorry to hear of the problems you are having with your boxer. When I picked up my boxer pup in 2017 he had been weaned onto Purina Puppy, which is rubbish. I spent an age researching what might be the best dry food to switch him to, and decided that Orijen Large Breed Puppy was the best on offer - it’s grain free and is 85% meat/15% fruit and vegetables. Having had a quick look at their website it seems Akela is fairly similar. Unfortunately, and much like Kenny’s spaniel, my pup had two bouts of giardia, developed a very sensitive stomach and was in and out of the vets every 2-3 weeks for about the first 9 months or so. He has always been lean, still is, but I struggled to settle his tummy and get him to gain weight consistent with his development during this period. Eventually I spoke to Orijen, they were very helpful. They advised that the 85% meat/15% fruit and veg ratio, plus variety of protein in the Orijen food was probably too much for him, and suggested that I switch him to Acana (which they also make) Grass Fed Lamb - single, very easily digested protein, 50% meat/50% fruit and veg. I did and he has never looked back - no more runny tummy (apart from when he does something stupid like devour windfall plums - typical childish boxer!), and slow but sure gradual weight gain. He was two last month, weighs 34.5 kilos and is still filling out. So, if you find that the 80%/20% ratio in Akela is a bit much for your boy to cope with, do try Acana Grass Fed Lamb.

    To help settle his stomach I also used to add a tablespoon of pumpkin purée to his food - it needs to be 100% pumpkin, no additives; I used to buy a couple of cans from Waitrose, measure out a tablespoon into an ice tray, freeze it, then just take a couple out and defrost before adding to food.

    To help him gain weight by adding calories to his food I also used to feed him sardines 2-3 times a week (half a can, not a whole can in one go) - this does work, plus most dogs love smelly fish!

    Fingers x’d you find the right food for him.

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  28. #16
    Thanks for the comments from everyone. It is a minefield out there and with so many different foods trying to find one that suits him could take forever that's why its good to hear what other people have has success with. We used to feed ours Wolf of wilderness which did seem to agree with him before he lost his best pal.
    I will keep you all up to date as we go on and tips always appreciated Louise were the sardines In any type of source.

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  30. #17
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai LouiseR's Avatar
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    I used sardines packed in sunflower oil - drain all oil before use! But, as Harley has an upset tummy I’d use sardines packed in water first. I buy 120 gram tins and feed half a tin one day, pop in fridge and feed the other half the following day - mush the sardines into the biscuit.

    The pumpkin purée should slow his runny tummy down - it’s an odd one because if you feed too much it will trigger a runny tummy, feed a heaped teaspoon to start per day and it should slow things down/firm things up - it worked with my boxer and might be worth a try.

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  32. #18
    Just been and got Harley a jumper as he must be feeling the chill with his weight loss. Not sure he approves though.


    DSCN0856.jpg

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  34. #19
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    Harley...…………..you look stunning...………….

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  36. #20
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Adult Champion anne's Avatar
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    Harley...…………..you look stunning...…………. and yer bum don't look big in it either

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