[concernedmom]

I wrote a while back when my American Bulldog Kayla was sick and we did not know what it was. Well, after much testing, the vet has diagnosed her with IBD (Irretible Bowel Disease). Before getting sick, she was on Nutro Lamb and Rice. However, now all advice I read says I need to put her a a new protein and carb source. The vet sells Hills (by Science Diet) and I had her on that, but she didnt really like it and it was so expensive. I recently switched her over to Natural Balance Duck and Potato, but I am not sure about it. I picked it because it offered a high amount of Omega 3 fatty acids, which is benefical for her.

My concern is her weight loss. She has lost about 7 pounds, but on a 60 pound got, that is ALOT. Can anyone recommend a food or supplement that is good for putting weight on a dog? I have seen eggs and cottage cheese suggested, but she has a hard time with dairy. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I also have heard that wet food contains more oil and fat than dry and can help put weight on a dog. Anyone have any information or advice on this?

Again, anything would be greatly appreciated.

[Lara's mom]

Personally, I don't like Hill's products. Most dogs don't seem to like it and, it isn't very good food to begin with. I have always home cooked for both my own two girls and any fosters I've had staying with me at any given time. The trick with IBS is to find out what foods she will tolerate.

This is best done one at a time. Buy yourself a big turkey and roast it. When it's cool, take off the skin and chuck it in a stock pot along with the bones. Add 1 low sodium chicken stock cube for every 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer the whole lot for several hours until you get all the flavour and nutrition from the bones. Strain and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, all the fat will have risen to the top and solidified. Remove it. You will be left with a very tasty well jellied stock.

While this is happening, cut up the turkey into bite sized chunks and freeze in good sized meal portions. Do the same with the stock. Now, here comes the tricky part. You will need veggies and a starch to complete the food. Once you know what your dog can tolerate, you can cook all the veggies and starch in the stock until tender and then add the cooked cut turkey in and freeze it in meal sized portions (generous ones since the dog needs to gain weight). However, since you aren't at that point yet, just make a couple of days worth at a time.

To begin, try sweet potatoes, carrots and regular potatoes. See how the dog tolerates that for a couple of days. If there are no problems, try adding another veggie like rutabega and perhaps some rice. You may want to consider a multivitamin supplement until you have the optimum recipe nailed down. Just be sure that all of the veggies are very well cooked. It is a process of trial and error but, in the end, you will have a food that your dog love and that is packed with nutrition. If you add something that doesn't agree with the dog, take note of it so you don't add it again by mistake. You can also try pasta for the starch. Just do it a meal or two at a time until you know for sure what she will tolerate and likes.

Once you know that you have the right recipe, get yourself a huge stock pot and you'll be able to make a couple of weeks worth of meals at one time and freeze them. Then, you can move onto different meats such as very lean ground beef or chicken, stewing beef, well drained ground lamb, lamb stewing meat, chicken legs without the skin, etc. Again, if you change the meat, I'd go back to one or two meals at a time until you know if she can tolerate the change in the protein source. The veggies will be o.k. since you already know she's fine with them. BTW, if you have no bones for stock, a low sodium beef cube for every two cups of water will do nicely. Feed your dog generously since she needs to put on weight. Best of luck to you!!!

I had a dog on Hill's I/D for the majority of it's life because of GI problems. I know it will help with irritable bowels. The money spent on it is definitely worth it...

[CorkyMax]

Just a quick suggestion--stressed for time. Anyway Lara's Mom has given a lot of good 'stuff'. Try giving a few Tbsp. of regular canned pumpkin mixed in with its food--Suppose to help regulate the bowels--whether diarrhea or constipation---would think it would be good for the dog's problem. Make sure you do not get the pie filling but just plain unadulterated
pure pumpkin (canned). Can't remember if Lara mentioned probiotics or not but would look into that as an aid too.

[concernedmom]

Thank you so much for the information so far. I actually had her on a probotic pill, but just came across a powder version with enzymes and probotics. I tried it on her last night, but she got very sick. Threw up twice. I think it was gassy build up. We are switching her from Natural Balance as it makes her very gassy. Any suggestions for a natural relief of gas for dogs.

I will try the pumpkin. Hopefully there will be an organic option. I have switched her to organic peanut butter and have her on spring or purified water, which is supposed to help with the enzyme balance as well.

Poor thing (both of you actually!). I don't have any food advice for your puppy, but my husband has human IBS and I know how hard it is for him to figure out the triggers and what starts off an episode, so it must extra frustrating for a poor puppy that can't tell you. I don't know if it's the same in dogs, but stress is a major contributor for people, so if I had any advice it would be to just give lots and lots of love to keep your baby stress free.

[DoG Chef]

Hi Just another few quick questions.

I am assuming...but you never know, that is why I ask

Have you ruled out any kind of parasites in the bowel?

Also, has your vet ruled out the chance of it being a kinked bowel or an obstruction?

Both of these can cause some of the symptoms and need to be ruled out.
I have seen a lot of dogs have a kinked bowel that goes undetected for too long, only to become a very serious life threatening event.
Does your dog have a lot of gas? And does he have normal bowel movements at regular intervals?

Kinked bowels can happen suddenly, and obstruction can be from something simple that they eat that does not go down, or gets caught in the kink. Rawhide bones and chews are really dangerous for this. It requires an barium ex-ray or MRI to find these adequately.

If all these are not the problem, then a diet can be used to increase his weight, but first the cause needs to be determined. Otherwise, just putting more or food in is not the answer, or even changing the food.

First you should figure out for sure why the weight loss, if he is still eating the same food he was previously.

All the best. Let us know how it is going.

Dog Chef
http://makeyourdogfood.com

[concernedmom]

Just wanted to give a quick update and a little more information.

Kayla was diagnosed with IBD. She was put on prednisone (against my better judgment), which caused a downhill slide. She began losing muscle mass fast. However, we know have her under the care of speciality vet & we are still trying to figure out the muscle loss, etc. She has come back negative for any tick born illnesses & we are weaning her off the prednisone ASAP. There is a chance the prednisone has lead to the weight & muscle loss, but there could also be an undiscovered underlying cause but they really cant tell until she is off the prednisone.

The probiotic & enzyme powder I found is speficially made for dogs (Cory/Max... I just read your yogurt posting and was excited to see that maybe I was on the right track).

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by concernedmom

Just wanted to give a quick update and a little more information.

Kayla was diagnosed with IBD. She was put on prednisone (against my better judgment), which caused a downhill slide.How long was she on that 'crap'--prednisone? She began losing muscle mass fast. However, we know have her under the care of speciality vet & we are still trying to figure out the muscle loss, etc. She has come back negative for any tick born illnesses & we are weaning her off the prednisone ASAP. There is a chance the prednisone has lead to the weight & muscle loss, but there could also be an undiscovered underlying cause but they really cant tell until she is off the prednisone.Lyme's disease is sometimes hard to diagnose and a 2nd test can be done a little later than the 1st test for it. I have a home vet book ---I looked up weight loss in the index and it gives many pages for me to check out---I have not got very far on these pages yet. There is one disease so far that I will quote some of what it says (mainly symptoms) I may find more but cannot write all of what is in this book!! I will copy what I see that may apply to your Kayla.
Whatever I find for you---You might ask your vet if he has checked for any of these things and something you mention to him--might give him some more ideas as to what it might be that he just didn't think about! May not get to more than this one disease right now as it is late--Will add more of what I find tomorrow! This is a paragraph just above what disease I am going to quote about.----Systemic fungal diseases are not common in dogs. They tend to occur in chronically ill or poorly nourished animals. Prolonged treatment with steroids and/or antibiotics may also change the dog's pattern of resistance and allow a fungal infection to develop. Suspect a fungus when an unexplained infection fails to respond to a course of antibiotics. [B][COLOR="Green"] quote (the disease)

HISTOPLASMOSIS

This disease is found in the central US. near the Great lakes, the Appalachian Mts., Texas, and the valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri Rivers. These areas have nitrogen~rich soil that facilitates growth of the causative fungus (Histoplasma capsulatum). Spores are found in soil contaminated by the dung of bats, chickens and other birds.
---In most cases, histoplasmosis is subclinical or inapparent, occasionally producing a mild respiratory infection.There is an acute intestinal form, however, that attacks the small bowel and colon. The principal signs are weight loss and intractable diarrhea. A systemic form is characterized by fever, WEIGHT LOSS, vomiting, MUSCLE WASTING, enlargement of the tonsils and involvement of the liver, spleen, bone marrow, eyes, skin and , rarely, the brain.
---The diagnosis is made by chest X-ray, blood studies, and recovery of the histoplasma organism in CYTOLOGY, biopsy or culture specimens.

The probiotic & enzyme powder I found is speficially made for dogs (Cory/Max... I just read your yogurt posting and was excited to see that maybe I was on the right track).

That is all for the time being--Will add more as I find anything.

[pinsnpugs]

Even in humans with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) one of the most effective OTC meds is fiber. A bulk forming fiber (metamucil or generic of) along with a probiotic yogurt such as activia works wonders. I am a nurse and have IBS, the fiber alone does the job.

This would be similar to the use of canned pumpkin in dogs. Make sure it is not pie filling, but 100% pure pumpkin.

Once everything else is medically ruled out...since some conditions require a special diet therefore making some weight gain products a no no.
Frozen Bil Jac added to their regular food will add weight (if there are existing kidney issues, you may not want to use this though)
Also a roll food called Red Barn or a similar one now out, though the name escapes me...it is in the pet stores, in a sausage looking roll near the pig ears, rawhides, etc.
Also a product you can order called Dyne. It is a high calorie supplement, like a syrup that I add to some canned food and it also does well to add weight.

Rule out all other possibilities first..parasites, intestinal blockages, thyroid issues, etc.

[Lara's mom]

I don't feed my girls anything that I would consider unfit for me to consume...apart from those bullwinkles...You have to draw the line somewhere and they both love them!

[pinsnpugs]

Keep in mind that them being dogs though, many things that are fit for you in the way of both food and meds can be poisonous and dangerous to dogs, so that rule of thumb of fit for you = fit for dog isnt quite fool proof.

There are kibbles that are very high quality, all natural made of human grade food...but I certainly wouldnt be eating the kibble myself, lol...however that kibble is an excellent food for a dog.

[Lara's mom]

Perhaps you wouldn't choose to eat that kibble but, it would not be because it's full of disgusting things like the cheap junk. That's what I meant when I said that if something isn't fit for me, it isn't fit for my girls either. It's a matter of the quality of the ingredients. I don't see myself snacking on a bowl of kibble either! lol

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

Perhaps you wouldn't choose to eat that kibble but, it would not be because it's full of disgusting things like the cheap junk. That's what I meant when I said that if something isn't fit for me, it isn't fit for my girls either. It's a matter of the quality of the ingredients. I don't see myself snacking on a bowl of kibble either! lol

I agree with Lara 100%! I get tired of having to repeat all the time about commercial dog food and how it is unfit for any living thing to eat-----Maybe it is unfit because it is 'dead' as far as any nutrition goes and is just a bunch of empty calories plus a lot of dangerous ones at that!! I can't believe that people who feed this crap can't see what their dog is trying to tell them when they refuse to eat the crap!!! And the dogs that do finally eat it, LOL!! are forced to or waste away (has calories) and die!! God, I feel so sorry for dogs and what all they have to endure!! Another reason they may eat it is because of the high sugar content in some of it---No good for them but like us humans--sugar is addictive!!

[Lara's mom]

What concerns me are the utterly revolting ingredients that aren't listed. I will be double damned if my girls are going to eat roadkill and euthanized animals! Most companies consider just about anything that isn't fit for human consumption to be just fine for pet food. There are some good companies out there that offer high quality human grade ingredients and sound nutrition but, they aren't the ones that cost 79 a tin or 10 bucks for a huge bag. You have to be willing to "do your homework" and understand that high quality pet food doesn't come cheap.

I made my girls wet food myself but, since I've had zero success making my own kibble (what an unholy disaster that was!), I buy the very best quality kibble for them that I can. Sure, it's expensive but, you can't put a price on good nutrition. I want my girls to live long healthy lives and, what they eat is important. I don't buy cheap treats either. I tend to not trust anything with a list of ingredients that reads like a chemistry exam!!!

[CorkyMax]

Ya know, a lot of smart dog owners are finding out about the crappy commercial dog food (and about time--but still a long ways to go) and are starting to buy a better grade of dog food and adding to it in the way of some human foods that are good and nutritious for the dog! At least this way--The dogs are not being starved as far as nutrition goes!

[Lara's mom]

There is an excellent book on the subject. It's called, "Foods Pets Die For". I believe the author is Ann Martin. There is also a follow-up to the first book but, I've already packed it in preparation for my move and I don't remember the title. They are both well worth reading.

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

There is an excellent book on the subject. It's called, "Foods Pets Die For". I believe the author is Ann Martin. There is also a follow-up to the first book but, I've already packed it in preparation for my move and I don't remember the title. They are both well worth reading.

You are so right about this book and it is by Ann Martin. I got it from the library. Call or go to your local library--If they don't have it on hand--They can check on their computer where the closest library having it is and then have it delivered to your local library (costs nothing to do this!) If you call them about this--Give them your phone # and they can call you when it arrives (if they don't have it on hand) If they forget to call you--just call them every so often to check on it! You could also ask them to find other books on raw feeding/dogs or/and home cooking/dogs

Lara--Where are you moving!!! And when if I may ask?

[Lara's mom]

I'm just moving to a smaller apartment in the same building. I'm currently in a 2 bedroom apartment. However, since my mom died, I really don't need all that space. Also, it is expensive. As for when, that is a good question. I have to wait for a one bedroom apartment to become available. In the mean time, I'm slowly packing up anything I deem non-essential so that when an apartment becomes available, I won't be in a mad panic to get packed up.