Colitis

[Jordan]

Another trip to the vet today with Domino for colitis. Thats about six times in 9 months.! The latest bout started 3-4 weeks ago after changing to the Hypoallergenic diet for the seizures. I've had two prescription and its still not cleared so today along with a longer course of the usual meds I got some Pro fibre to sprinkle on his food.............not sure if i understand the logic of this as his stools are soft to watery as it is. i've also to get a sample for testing incase its some other nasty bug causing the problems. One things for sure it can't be down to a food allergy. I think hes starting to feel a bit under the weather now and doesnt have the energy when were out to play and run around like he did. Hope this treatment sorts him out but I bet changing his food yet again will upset the apple cart.

[Kimmikins]

Poor little guy, he's having a really tough time of it right now isn't he. What are the ingredients in the hypoallergenic food?

Have you considered a raw diet? Although this isn't going to help his seizures like the BD food possibly will. Although if that diet doesn't work, I'd highly recommend at least researching a raw diet.

[Jordan]

Its Purina HA hes been on.....see link below for ingredients

www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk/images/descriptions/canine_20_20_ha.pdf

Don't think I could afford to go the raw diet route Kimmikins, hubby is ill health retired so not much money coming in.

[Kimmikins]

Raw is actually cheaper than dried food, I found. It's quite a common myth that it's expensive, we spend more on Sara now than we did when she was 100% raw.

For us, with a 20kg dog, it was 99p a day to feed her when you buy the frozen raw mince from P@H, as it worked out that for her weight she needed a pack per day, and they cost 99p each. Then about 3-4 times a week she'd get a couple of chicken wings or a chicken leg/quarter on top. These were the Tesco value ones, dirt cheap, or ones from the reduced section of supermarkets that were about to go out of date. The only tricky bit to balance was the organ meat, because she hated liver! It didn't matter how it was done, unless it was cooked into liver cake she wouldn't touch it.
Sorry if that sounded a bit hard sell, it wasn't meant to be, I just wanted to show how much it can cost to feed it using my own experience. If it weren't for the fact that my OH hated handling the raw bits she'd still be on raw now.

[Kimmikins]

Has the vet told you that you're doing an elimination diet? I'm assuming it's to see if there's an allergy or intolerance to protein, but if he's still having colitis it's probably not that that's causing it.

[Adrianne]

I had a little Lhasa on my books several months ago, she suffered from ulcerated colitis, I was called in as it would flare up weekly, I treated her for chronic stress,...she obviously had a lot of other behavioural issues indicating stress and prolonged stress and had been to the vets...she has not had any bouts of it flare up since..stress reduction was enough to settle her to a manageable level.
I don't believe Domino suffers from chronic stress ..other than the physical stress of the diet issues, it may be worth while making a few stress reductions anyway ..whether the stress is physical, emotional or environmental ..the same hormones are released and in long enough periods can cause allsorts of ailments.

[kimthecat]

If its diet related make sure  Domino isnt eating any morsels or crumbs of food he finds out on walks or at home as that can trigger a bout of colitis.

The Purina HA has Corn syrup in it , could he be allergic to that ?

 Ali

[Jordan]

Dec 10, 2013 11:28:19 GMT Kimmikins said:

Raw is actually cheaper than dried food, I found. It's quite a common myth that it's expensive, we spend more on Sara now than we did when she was 100% raw.

For us, with a 20kg dog, it was 99p a day to feed her when you buy the frozen raw mince from P@H, as it worked out that for her weight she needed a pack per day, and they cost 99p each. Then about 3-4 times a week she'd get a couple of chicken wings or a chicken leg/quarter on top. These were the Tesco value ones, dirt cheap, or ones from the reduced section of supermarkets that were about to go out of date. The only tricky bit to balance was the organ meat, because she hated liver! It didn't matter how it was done, unless it was cooked into liver cake she wouldn't touch it.
Sorry if that sounded a bit hard sell, it wasn't meant to be, I just wanted to show how much it can cost to feed it using my own experience. If it weren't for the fact that my OH hated handling the raw bits she'd still be on raw now.

I thought you weren't supposed to use supermarket meat as it has bacteria that is only destroyed by cooking and therefore bad for dogs. Dont know much about raw feeding but is there not minerals or something you need to add as well to provide a balanced diet for them? How much would they add to the cost?

[Jordan]

Dec 10, 2013 11:32:32 GMT Kimmikins said:

Has the vet told you that you're doing an elimination diet? I'm assuming it's to see if there's an allergy or intolerance to protein, but if he's still having colitis it's probably not that that's causing it.

Yes Kimmikins, but as you say its not helped with the colitis so doesnt look like its allergy related.

[Jordan]

Dec 10, 2013 16:32:28 GMT kimthecat said:

If its diet related make sure  Domino isnt eating any morsels or crumbs of food he finds out on walks or at home as that can trigger a bout of colitis.

The Purina HA has Corn syrup in it , could he be allergic to that ?

 Ali

Dont think hes had corn syrup prior to this diet and he was having colitis so dont think its that.

Not aware of him eating anything off the floor etc but its possible, hes definately not been given anything other than his special diet. 

[Jordan]

Dec 10, 2013 12:45:14 GMT Adrianne said:

I had a little Lhasa on my books several months ago, she suffered from ulcerated colitis, I was called in as it would flare up weekly, I treated her for chronic stress,...she obviously had a lot of other behavioural issues indicating stress and prolonged stress and had been to the vets...she has not had any bouts of it flare up since..stress reduction was enough to settle her to a manageable level.
I don't believe Domino suffers from chronic stress ..other than the physical stress of the diet issues, it may be worth while making a few stress reductions anyway ..whether the stress is physical, emotional or environmental ..the same hormones are released and in long enough periods can cause allsorts of ailments.

Well when I got him 9 months ago he was having issues with colitis, vomitting and off food and he definately was stressed! Every bit of him was stung out!!! Hes sooooooo much better now its hard to know if hes stressed or in what way. I know the seizures distress him a bit and when he has colitis the bowel sounds scare him. He gets a bit stressed around hubby at times but again not much I can do under the circumstances. What else would cause him stress?

[Kimmikins]

Dec 11, 2013 0:08:47 GMT Jordan said:

Dec 10, 2013 11:28:19 GMT Kimmikins said:

Raw is actually cheaper than dried food, I found. It's quite a common myth that it's expensive, we spend more on Sara now than we did when she was 100% raw.

For us, with a 20kg dog, it was 99p a day to feed her when you buy the frozen raw mince from P@H, as it worked out that for her weight she needed a pack per day, and they cost 99p each. Then about 3-4 times a week she'd get a couple of chicken wings or a chicken leg/quarter on top. These were the Tesco value ones, dirt cheap, or ones from the reduced section of supermarkets that were about to go out of date. The only tricky bit to balance was the organ meat, because she hated liver! It didn't matter how it was done, unless it was cooked into liver cake she wouldn't touch it.
Sorry if that sounded a bit hard sell, it wasn't meant to be, I just wanted to show how much it can cost to feed it using my own experience. If it weren't for the fact that my OH hated handling the raw bits she'd still be on raw now.

I thought you weren't supposed to use supermarket meat as it has bacteria that is only destroyed by cooking and therefore bad for dogs. Dont know much about raw feeding but is there not minerals or something you need to add as well to provide a balanced diet for them? How much would they add to the cost?

I never needed to add anything that wasn't already in the raw diet,especially if you add the veggies. Pork needs to be frozen for a certain amount of time because of the bacteria in it,and if you get kidney/liver from the supermarket you ideally want to get as high quality as you can afford,but it's not fed that often so it doesn't add that much cost-wise. If you have a local butcher it'd be even better because then you can buy only what you need rather than a pack.

[Kimmikins]

Forgot to add that dog tummies are geared up for the bacteria,apart from that in pork. If you were worried about his colitis you could just start on the chicken and then gradually add other meat types to see how he handles it. Or if he doesn't do well on the chicken there's also turkey,beef,rabbit and lamb minces so you can see which of those he does better on.

Scrumpy Jack gets colitis too,although he's only had 2 bad bouts of it. Whenever he's with us and shared the raw it's never given him a funny tummy...and he seems to love getting a funny tummy it seems sometimes!

[Adrianne]

Stress (pressure, tension,strain) means a state which is defined by a specific syndrome - (increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, increased release of catecholamines, increased blood pressure etc.)

It can be caused by various non specific stimuli(infections, injuries, burns etc..but also by joy, pressure to perform and other stress factors) on the televised last day of crufts last year a little Kelpie paraded the arena for best in show..did anyone else notice the displacement behaviour..it yawned, and did a dry shake on at least two occassions..the dog was getting stressed, and displaying that it would rather not be there anymore, i'm not saying it didnt enjoy it, could have been a 'stage fright' but the language was very clear.

Stress can also mean the exogenous influences themselves to which the body is not sufficiently adapted.
Psychological stress is a consequence of the discrepancy between specific demands and subjective coping. Continous stress can lead to general reactions in terms of a general adaptive syndrome.

Most stress definitions descibe stress as a state in which the dog reacts to an endogenous or exogenous (interior or exterior) threat and focusses its energies on coping with the stuation of danger.
Stress has always existed, and from an evolutionary point of view it can be seen as a vital reaction to stimuli.

EUSTRESS is a necessary activation of the dog, to use its energies optimally and develop the dogs capabilities, DISTRESS on the other hand means a damaging excess burden on the dog. Stress has predominantly been related with a reduction in well being, efficiency and health, in other words ..references to stress almost always mean DISTRESS

More about EUSTRESS
Through the endocrine system (hormone system), stress raises the blood pressure and increases the heart rate and other cardiovascular activity. At the same time the hormonal effect provides the bodys cells with extra energy in the form of glucose and free fatty acids..in other words, stress at first gives gets the body ready for optimum efficiency.

This can be seen as the biological effect of stress. because in nature it is vital for survival that the dog responds with optimum efficiency to a fright or heightened tension, this is the only way the dog can save its life by escaping or a predator can be successful at hunting.

Naturally the body can not keep up this state of alarm forever and negative phenomena occurs if the eustress lasts for a long period of time or if frequently occur, at first the body reacts by exhaustion, if no adequate rest period follows, so called adaptive diseases, such as kidney, and cardiovascular disesases can be expected.

This is because of the release of Cortisol...normally the half life of cortisol is 20 minutes, after 20 minutes the level in the blood has dropped by 50 %. Tests then show that under stress the negative feedback of the release of cortisol does not work anymore so within a few days four times the ammount is present within the body. If the dog is constantly exposed to the stress the effect is greatly reinforced.

A permanently raised level of cortisol in the blood weakens the immune system. Further consequences are diseases of the digestive system, such as stomach ulcers and chronic diarrhea, it can damage the adrenal gland, alterations to the cardiovascular and circulatory system such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and others can result from long term stress.


Even situations that we would consider to be positive, such as playing ball, can cause stress..the chase /prey drive is triggered when the ball is thrown..the body has to get ready for the chase and the whole eustress scenario gets into action...imagine a dogs weekly diary...Monday..Agility, Tuesday..group walk, Wednesday..obedience training, thursday..Groomers, Friday bike ride and run... All normal, but not enough time for the dog to have adequate rest and time for the cortisol to leave the body. Lack of rest itself will then go on to add Distress. our dogs need 17 hours of rest/sleep a day.(average) more can raise stress as can too little.

[Adrianne]

Can you recognise when your dog is stressed?
Like people they display stress differently, some "stress up" and others "stress down"

Some dogs, put in situations new to them, will stress up, becoming more frenetic as a coping mechanism. These dogs are often mistaken for happy dogs as they are frequently quite bouncy, with high, quickly wagging tails. They may get the zoomies and run around at top speed, or may bounce off people or furniture. Some dogs will redirect their excess energy on “killing” their toys, pestering other dogs, or barking. Some may pace. While these dogs may appear happy at first glance, there is a frantic element to their movement that joyful dogs simply do not show. They often have dilated pupils and may shed excessively. They may also show other signs of stress such as scratching, dry-shakes, or lip licks.

Others may stress down, this can sometimes be mistaken for well-behaved or relaxed dogs by owners who miss the warning signals of stress. These dogs will become quieter and more still as their stress level increases. Some may hide or tremble, but many simply stop moving. These dogs often show signs of their discomfort in their ear and tail set. They may push their ears down or back, and their tails may be low or tucked. They will oftentimes also show other signs of discomfort such as avoiding eye contact, sniffing the ground, turning away, licking their lips, or yawning.


Some dogs may stress both up and down, depending on the situation. These dogs may switch back and forth between these two states quickly, going from bouncing around to lying under a chair quite quickly.

Whether a dog stresses up or down, if he reaches a certain level of stress he may be likely to shut down. A shut down dog is a dog in a state of emergency. Dogs shut down when they can no longer cope, becoming quiet and still, with glazed eyes. They may seem disconnected and may not be able to respond to well-known commands. They will often refuse to eat even their favourite treats or play with favourite toys. When a dog shuts down he is no longer mentally present, but has rather withdrawn into himself.

it’s important to learn how your dog expresses mild discomfort so that you can prevent him from reaching a more severe state of stress. Observational skills are critical here, as your dog’s body language will tell you how he’s feeling. Careful not to mistake stressing up for ‘flirting’.....dogs have four threat responses..fight, flight ,freeze and flirt..(.thats a different article.)