This is a common question. Since I am not a veterinarian, just something of a healthy pet foods expert and an animal rescuer, I will cite some of my favorite holistic veterinary resources.
First of all, there is a difference between occasional diarrhea and Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD). In fact, Enteritis or Gastroenteritis should be factored in.
IBD actually refers to a group of diseases that are characterized by the invasion of inflammatory cells into your pet’s intestinal wall. There are many possible symptoms and your pet may have one or many, but characteristically there is a very loose, watery diarrhea and a bile-stained mucus vomit with no food in it, just the mucus. There can be dramatic weight loss or none at all. (For a complete list of symptoms, see this article on the BestFriends.org website).
This needs proper diagnosis and treatment and I’ll leave that up to your vet. Whatever you do, don’t attempt to correct this with food alone, your pet has need of veterinary medicines and assistance.
The question is, what to feed these animals so they’ll get better and stay well?
My vet recommends probiotics such as ProViable (available only through a vet). But to be proactive and knowing that this is a factor, I only feed my pets foods that contain high-quality probiotics. I also give them little bowls of good quality yogurt. You want to populate their gut with living organisms that will continue to fight the bad organisms.
Diet is often a factor. Our pets, especially cats, were not made to digest corn and wheat and those are often allergens to them. Get them onto high-quality holistic pet foods. The dry foods have to have some sort of grain to hold the kibble together. Get the kinds with USDA (that’s US grown) brown rice or oats, and make sure the first ingredient is good quality meat. Often, during the beginning of the treatment, the vet will have them eat a bland diet for a few days or a pet food such as Science Diet Z/D. That’s okay, it’s short-term. Gradually introduce them to a healthy, probiotic, holistic pet food.
Dr. Shawn Messonier, a contributor to Animal Wellness Magazine and a very reputable holistic vet, also recommends the amino acid glutamine to help heal the damaged intestinal walls.
This is nothing to mess around with and treat yourself, but fortunately, pets often respond well to supplements, making long-term drug therapy not necessary.
Teresa Holladay
IsYourPetFoodSafe.com
Filed under: Irritable Bowel Disease | Tagged: Cat Food, Cats, dog food, Dogs, Irritable Bowel Disease, Pet Food
For many pet owners, their dog is like one of the family. They love their dog deeply and want only the best for them. Maintaining your dog’s health ensures he will have a long and happy life with you, and a crucial part of this is feeding your dog the right food. Holistic dog food is one of the best choices you can make for your pet.
I am a devoted dog lover and sometimes it is so hard to find the right type of food for my beloved dogs. I want to get what is healthiest for them, but I still don’t want to have to force-feed them anything. Like for example, my oldest Melly, she hates taking vitamins and supplements but I need to give her something for her joints. Keeping myself on a healthy diet is hard enough but trying to maintain a strict diet for two very picky eaters? Nearly impossible. I wish there were more options for pet owners.
I have a shep/rottie mix (9yrs old) and a chocolate lab (1+) they both eat Blue Buffalo brand food and have been for almost a year, prior to that it was Wellness brand. My dogs both have the most disgusting gas ever! For the past three days I have been giving them yogurt and up until today I thought it was all going well. I think I may have given them too much today. Would that make them have more gas?
What else can I try. They do not get anything except for dog food, they are eating no people food. My husband has bought some crappy dog treats, but they rarely get these.
Agree, diet is definitely a factor! I’ve worked with (adopted and fostered) seven cats with IBD and I’ve had tremendous success with diet and nutritional supplements. (So much so, I just had a discussion with an internal medicine specialist yesterday – he could not believe my cat with IBD had normal GI values in his labwork – he has NEVER seen that in the many cats he’s worked with, using prescription diets and steroids.)
For more information, see:
http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=IBD
Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that I had researched about dogs eating yogurt, and here is an example of one of many similar answers that I found on the internet:
“Many dogs become dairy intolerant once they are done nursing as pups.Plus the cultures in yogurt while ok in our longer intestines don’t colonize in dog intestines well. The dogs have their own species of bacteria that work better in their shorter carnivore guts.”
PLEASE, before you try using yogurt, look into the Proviable by Nutramax. I recently asked my vet if yogurt would be as good as Proviable for giving the right bacteria to a dog. He wasn’t sure, so I did research on the internet (he is supposed to get back with me, too, when he has time to research). I have used the Proviable and it is WONDERFUL!!