Anyone have a dog with IBS?

Beetlemama

They think our little Lab has IBS, she's had to go on rice and fish for two weeks to see if she improves.

Anyone else have a dog with IBS or on an hypoallergenic diet? are you making food at home or buying a brand (and what are you making or what brand are you buying please?).

I've just cooked up and frozen a weeks worth of "Jessie risotto" but it's only a short trial, not a permanent meal change - after two weeks I'm going to have to find her a proper diet. The vet recommended a couple of brands but I'm also interested in what others have tried and tested.

krlyr

Fish4Dogs might be a good diet to look into - expensive but then you'd feed less due to the higher quality.
Another option could be a raw diet - you know exactly what you're feeding, and many dogs with sensitive tums do very well on it
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/raw-dog-food-dietary-concerns-benefits-and-risks

Rev

My boy has IBS, I found anything besides a tiny amount made him worse and he can't stomach chicken unless raw.

I tried all sorts, wet food, dry food various types of both. He'd be fine for a while then it would kick off again. Brown rice is much easier for dogs to digest for a dog than white but even that set him off.

I feed raw now, have done for a year and in that year not one tummy upset. I use a local supplier of manifold valley meats which is pre prepared raw so no chopping up anything.

But I know raw isn't for everyone for various reasons.

The commercial foods he did best on were wainwrites trays from pets at home, they are 70% meat and have chicory in giving a high fibre content which is great for dodgy tums.

Dry food, the only one he could tolerate was simpsons grain free

http://www.simpsonspremium.com/sensitive-dog-food

Reasonably prices and completely grain free.

I tried fish4dogs, but it didn't suit plus the new recipe change has lowered the meat content quite a bit.

If rice isn't a problem skinners field and trial duck and rice and salmon and rice (the rest of their range aren't great) is a very pure food, just rice and meat.

I'd also recommend a pro biotic, either protexin or bionic biotics.

Home cooked can be very difficult to get right. You'll have to add various suppliments to make sure it's balanced.

Good luck, it took me months and many vets trips to figure out what was best for my dog. I hope you get it sorted sooner.

Rev

Just to show F4D has dropped their meat content by quite a bit

Old recipe

Fresh Fish 30.5%, Potato30.5%, Herring Meal 21.4%, Salmon Oil 7.6%, Beet Fibre 6.4%, Brewers Yeast 2.1%,Minerals 0.8%, Vitamins 0.7%

The over al meat content has dropped from


(100 -70 [the moisture level] = 30%. Then 30% of 30.5% = 9.5%

Add that to the fish meal and the food had an over all meat content of 30.9%.

New recipe

Ocean White Fish (27%), Pea Flour (22%), Potato (23%), Fishmeal (8.7%), Salmon Oil (9.3%), Beet Pulp (6.6%), Brewers Yeast, Minerals

I assume the ocean white fish is fresh, else it would state 'meal' as it does with the fishmeal. Which means you need to remove the moisture.

100 -70 [the moisture level] = 30%. Then 30% of 27% = 8.1%

So once dehydrated and in the dogs bowl it only adds 8% meat, add that to the 8.7% fishmeal means the overall meat content is 16.8% meat,

For £47 a bag, that's outrageous.

rising_from_the_ashes

Maisie has Colitis

When she first arrived it was a nightmare trying to find something that agreed with her and didn't result in errrr explosive episodes :eek:

I'd already put her onto a hypoallergenic diet (Skinners Duck & Rice which my old lab had done really well on - he was wheat intolerant!) but that didn't help!:mad:

Out of desperation I decided to try Fish too - and got JWM Fish & Rice and it really settled things down :T - the big problem for me was the cost as at over £50 for 15kg it wasn't cheap! (I'm also not a fan of the brand unfortunately - but if it had been the only thing she could eat - then I would've continued to get it) http://www.wellbeloved.com/products/dog-food/large-breed-adult/fish-rice-large-breed-adult

I've now managed to move her onto Skinners Salmon & Rice (like the Duck & Turkey in their Field & Trial range, it's hypoallergenic) and she's doing really well on this now :T It's a much better price at around £27 / £28 for 15kg http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/products/field---trial-products/salmon---rice/


Alternatives to try could be Fishmongers http://www.petsathome.com/shop/dog/dog-food-treats/dry-dog-food/?ref1=1|Brand-|Fishmongers or Wainwrights http://www.petsathome.com/shop/wainwright-s-adult-complete-dog-food-with-salmon-and-potato-15kg-87555 - I did briefly look at these & they were my next try ..... I knew Maisie was OK with Rice which is why I went for those ones first!

Once things are settled, you should be able to try new things - one at a time and a very small amount at first ... that way you can identify what upsets her tum.

It takes a while & can be incredibly frustrating until you find something to suit her but you will get there - honest!

Any changes to food have to be done very gradually or she gets an upset tum and it seems that most meats do upset her ... however, I've managed to introduce a small amount of wet food (I'm not keen on them getting kibble only) - Wainwrights Turkey & Rice http://www.petsathome.com/shop/wainwright-s-adult-tray-dog-food-with-turkey-and-rice-395gm-12-pack-27693

It gets great reviews everywhere & we're gradually increasing the amount (she's on around 1/4 tray split over 2 meals now) - don't try the tins as they're made by another manufacturer and not nearly as good unfortunately!

Also, try soaking the kibble before feeding as this is much more gentle on the tummy

Sorry I've waffled a lot - I've now had 2 labs with "delicate" tums so have been through the whole exclusion thing / frustration that you're not getting anywhere etc

Feel free to PM me anytime if you're stuck / struggling / want a moan!

Let us know how you get on

rising_from_the_ashes

Rev wrote: »

I feed raw now, have done for a year and in that year not one tummy upset. I use a local supplier of manifold valley meats which is pre prepared raw so no chopping up anything.

Great you've found something that works .... raw upsets Maisie so unfortunately doesn't work for all of them

Rev wrote: »

If rice isn't a problem skinners field and trial duck and rice and salmon and rice (the rest of their range aren't great) is a very pure food, just rice and meat.

I'd also recommend a pro biotic, either protexin or bionic biotics.

Skinners Turkey & Rice is also hypoallergenic

Thanks for the reminder of the probiotics

She gets this now http://www.medicanimal.com/product/~product_id=751;jsessionid=7B267AEA86CB1BD14DBDFF325092EB10.jvm1 but we did start off with this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Protexin-Premium-Companion-Animals-Dogs/dp/B003ZJCC1S/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1358021111&sr=1-1

Rev

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Great you've found something that works .... raw upsets Maisie so unfortunately doesn't work for all of them



Skinners Turkey & Rice is also hypoallergenic

Thanks for the reminder of the probiotics

She gets this now http://www.medicanimal.com/product/~product_id=751;jsessionid=7B267AEA86CB1BD14DBDFF325092EB10.jvm1 but we did start off with this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Protexin-Premium-Companion-Animals-Dogs/dp/B003ZJCC1S/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1358021111&sr=1-1

No, raw doesn't work for all. I'm thankful to have found something that works for him. And having a dog with a dodgy tum, all options are worth a look.

We used the protexin profibre too! But I know a lot of people who have tried the bionic biotics. Thankfully he doesn't need it now, but I'd not hesitate to use it again if I needed to.

OnAndUp

My dog has a sensitive stomach we have found that Burns "sensitive" which is Pork & Potato suits her might be worth a shot?

rising_from_the_ashes

Re Fish4Dogs - there's been a lot of complaints about the new recipe on another forum I'm on.

People whose dogs were on it for allergies that have now started up again - why can't manufacturers leave things alone!:mad: F4D are apparently insisting the new recipe is better (there's a big explanation of it somewhere from them where they try to say the fish content is actually better!) but it's obviously not!

YorkiePud_3

My chihuahua does ... and the only food he seems to be okay on (and thrive on, come to that ... !) is one made by Hi Life. It's called Nature's Essentials and has chicken, rice and vegetables.

It isn't specifically for sensitive tums, but I have tried the vet food and the specialist foods with no joy but struck lucky trying this out of desperation ... !!

Just reading the back, it is 45% chicken, 4% peas, 4% carrots, 4% rice, sunflower oil and fish oil, seaweed extract, chicory extract, green tea extract.

As I say, we've tried all sorts, all brands, all flavours ... and he's been badly with everything but this so if you get completely stuck, then it's another option for your girl ...

Back again ... on the front of the packet it says it is low allergen, single source protein, wheat and gluten free, no dairy or eggs, no soya or cereals and no artificial additives.

MissSarah151

Hey,

One of my Westies has a wheat intolerance so is on a hypo-allergenic diet. She is on James Wellbeloved and if on the (now very rare) occasion she has an upset tummy, she goes on chicken and rice for a couple of days. Supermarkets don't tend to sell Wellbeloved (not here anyway) - but pet places do and our vet does, it is quite expensive compared to normal dry food but honestly it has worked wonders for her, and like I say its very rare that her tummy is bad nowadays. My other westie is on it too, it must taste good because he can be fussy but he polishes that off!

Sarah