Irritable Bowel Syndrome in my Setter

Discussion in 'English Setter' started by RoNulty, May 14, 2019.

  1. RoNulty

    RoNulty New Member

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    Irritable Bowel Syndrome in my Setter

    I'm new to this forum so here goes. My 8yr. old English Setter, Hari, has been diagnosed with IBS. He's been healthy up until last month when he just stopped eating. Since then, with pro-biotics, anti-diarrhea meds and now, prednisone, he's had bouts of eating/not eating. A 58 lb. dog is now 48lbs! Had all the tests, x-ray, ultrasound. Now we're working on finding a diet that works. Anybody had this problem? How did you get results? Thanks!
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  3. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    My Beagle boy has had inflammatory bowel disease since 2013. He loses blood, and has grown tumours, but he has never had diahorrea or been off his food, so I don't think that my experience will be much help to you, but here goes.
    Have you tried carrying out any feeding trials, in order to identify any items that he might be allergic to? I started by excluding the most common allergens - wheat, maize, beef and chicken. Ideally you should begin with a plain protein and rice ration and slowly add to it, noting your dog's response to each new ingredient. A short cut might be to try a good quality grain-free food, with a high percentage protein source which is new to your dog - eg. rabbit, duck, white fish. So many well-advertised foods and treats are totally unsuited to a sensitive digestion.
    I won't list the number of drugs and supplements that my boy ploughed his way through before we hit our present feeding scheme, but I think it is worth using a pre/probiotic like Protexin or FortiFlora, and dividing his days ration into two or even three portions, so his gut has a smaller quantity to try to digest.

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