# New here- need advice re: chronic Colitis



## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

Glad I found the place; I hope you all can help.

My wife and I adopted a dog last summer from the local shelter after our senior Great Dane passed away suddenly (she was 12.5, 4 years older than we adopted a skinny and sickly 8.5 year old).

The new pup, Rusty, has colitis. Had it when we adopted him; there's no information about his medical history available, except that we were his third and final chance at adoption (was scheduled for euth the following Friday, 6 days later). He'd been adopted and returned twice before.

He's a mix, or a Chesapeake Bay Retreiver without the attitude. He acts like a golden retriever with the coloring of a Choc Lab.

We were told to make him comfortable, he'd be dead within months, not to bother taking him to a vet - just to bring him to be put down when he got worse again (nice). That's what we were told about our Dane, too (4 years later she decided to rest after a full recovery from abuse and neglect). We just don't buy into the "dead within 3 months" nonsense.

Back to Rusty. We've had him to 3 local vets, we've done x-rays, MRIs, and colonoscopy. It's an inflammation of the colon wall. He's incapable of evacuating his colon regularly in quantity, so he goes "all the time" (at least once an hour). We've learned his cues and get him outside 19/20 times, we've mastered the art of instant cleanup and sanitation... and I've learned to function on no more than 1 hour's uninterrupted sleep. ugh.

He doesn't get diarrhea unless he's off the metronidazole; his stool is simply soft. He takes metronidazole twice daily and 2 pills of Budesonide with each evening meal (fed three times daily, each meal having some pumpkin mixed in). It's generally stable.

Can anyone here provide some good research, suggestions, reading, advice, rules, etc about canine colitis? The night-time routine is brutal, mostly on my wife. We'll not put him down for what is normal life to him, and we can't take him to the shelter (wouldn't anyway, but they'd euthanize immediately).

We switched his food this weekend from Purina One to Potato and Duck (**** Van Patton or something?)... the local vet shop wants to help and will order anything we request if it might help control the condition. Science Diet I/D or K/D was no use. We've never been instructed to fast him for 24 hours as I've read online.

Thanks all for any and all help.

Sleepless in MD (but with another super pup),
Emerson


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## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

Emerson00 said:


> Glad I found the place; I hope you all can help.
> 
> My wife and I adopted a dog last summer from the local shelter after our senior Great Dane passed away suddenly (she was 12.5, 4 years older than we adopted a skinny and sickly 8.5 year old).
> 
> ...


I have a dog with colitis, a golden retriever. He was five months old when we started seeing bloody stool and severe "dire rear" 

We have found that a raw diet has cured most of his problems and I have heard of otehrs who have found that a raw diet has made a huge difference. He is now almost 8. 

Like I said at five months old we took him for a walk in the park and it was snowy and he squatted to pooop and all we saw was blood..... he was a mess.... we ran him immediately to the vet as finding blood in the snow is really scary..... the vet pulled him off his food, put him on the metronidizol and onto a bland diet which we did but after 6 weeks on bland diet (hamburg and rice thing) we were never able to get him back onto kibble. he just couldnt handle kibble. After months of bland diet and unsuccessful attempts at kibble a friend suggested trying raw so we bought a premade raw burger and within 24 hours he was back to normal and the only time he has problems now is when he gets into kibble..... 

I dont know if raw diet is an option for you or not.... or if you are willign to give it a try but it really made a difference for us. 
s


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## lovemygreys (Jan 20, 2007)

I will second Shalva's advice of a raw diet. I know many dogs for whom that has been a good resolution to colitis.

We have a little podengo that gets colitis flair ups - a round of metronidizole and panacur fixes her up for a good while. One of these months we'll be organized enough to go back to raw for our crew, until then we just deal with the flair ups as they come along and try to keep her stress to a minimum.


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## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

Thanks.

We'll never say we're unwilling, though I must admit we're reluctant. If we can find an alternative, that'd be (easiest) great. We did BARF for a month last spring with the two and Simba (now gone). Never saw a difference and one evening when we found ourselves unprepared, we offered kibble... expecting a full-on revolt, but they gobbled it up even faster than the BARF food. That gave us the excuse to go back to kibble...

Vets repeatedly warned against BARF for Rusty.


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## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

Emerson00 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> We'll never say we're unwilling, though I must admit we're reluctant. If we can find an alternative, that'd be (easiest) great. We did BARF for a month last spring with the two and Simba (now gone). Never saw a difference and one evening when we found ourselves unprepared, we offered kibble... expecting a full-on revolt, but they gobbled it up even faster than the BARF food. That gave us the excuse to go back to kibble...
> 
> Vets repeatedly warned against BARF for Rusty.


Vets know nothing about nutrition ..... and they freak out about raw in general.... however, I have to say I have fed raw for almost 8 years now and my vet is just starting to come around lololol 

I always find myself unprepared but have figured out alternatives now so if I forget to take meat out of the freezer its not a big deal. 

Tehre are many premade raw products out there now that might be worth a shot. I wean my puppies onto steves, Natures Variety and Prairie are good products and there are a host of others that might make things easier.... 

s


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

I have a dog with colitis although not nearly as bad as your dog's situation.

I found that if I stayed with a dry food that was light and easy to digest it helped immensely. I tried several and he's done best on the **** Van Patten Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato. For treats he gets an all natural sweet potato treat. 

You said you tried the duck formula in the same brand, but duck tends to be greasy and 'heavy'. 

Just a suggestion... Good Luck.


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## crazydays (Jul 24, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your dogs colitis. My Standard Schnauzer does not have colitis however her GI has never been good. She had chronic soft stools for 7 years, sometimes with some blood in it. Her stools showed yeast every testing. I kept changing the protein in kibble trying to find out the problem( expecting food allergies). Cags always(daily) had rank gas to clear a room. I took the plunge to try grainless food. I have put her on Wellness Core Ocean. She now has formed stools and I haven't noticed ANY gas. This to me is a miracle. It could be 2 reasons- fish based food or grainless or both.
Grainless is supposed to be better for the digestive track. I was very sceptical about this. I am no longer sceptical. For 7 years my dog has had issues and this cleared up almost immediately on the new food--it is working for her!


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## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

Thanks again everyone.

So glad I've found this place. We've got two other dogs, and they, too, occasionally have "issues" so I suspect I'll be posting more.

Rusty's doing a little better with the new food, but (a) we didn't fast him to clear the system and rest the colon, and (b) he's still getting standard treats (milkbone), and (c) it's only been 2 full days on the new food. He did, however, sleep almost through the night last night... and that, good people of the forum, is a miracle.

I'll give him a week or two on this food to see how he's handling it. If it doesn't work, I know the sell the fish/sweet potato at the great little local pet store. We'll try that, and a switch in treats, too. Then they carry "BG (Before Grain)" foods as well, so we'll hunt through some foods first... if that fails, we'll go raw again.

Also, anyone here ever heard of slippery elm bark for dogs? I know a person with colitis (in remission) and he swears all the steroids, pills and everything did nothing compared to the SEB pills he takes daily... Apparently it's good in humans with GI problems. I've read very little online about it for dogs, only a couple references... hesitant to try it on him w/o further support.


He got a haircut yesterday, too... a shaved Chesapeake/mix looks remarkably like a Wiemaraner (apologies re: miserable spelling)... his brother and sister, Teddy and Summer, love it, and he seems to think he's quite the handsome fellow now.

Thanks again. We'll be working through some of the suggested solutions. His colitis appears to be a stricture, not based on bacteria in the GI tract... I'm hopeful that if we can reduce his stress and find a non-irritating food, we might reduce it to a mild symptom.

My most sincere appreciation for everyone's thoughts. Rusty's a lovable pup, well worth our efforts.


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## crazydays (Jul 24, 2007)

Hey Emerson- Rusty is lucky to have a caring owner. Keep up the hunt for the right combination...trial and error!!! I am confident you will come up with a plan that will really help him control these symptoms. Keep us informed...other colitis owners can learn from your experience!!!!!!!


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## MegaMuttMom (Sep 15, 2007)

Milkbone treats kill my dog. Just a heads up, treats can cause the problem too. My dog's colitis was caused by some bird seeds he was eating under the feeder. Slippery elm bark has been mentioned to me by other members though I never ended up trying it because we found the cause and cleaned up those seeds.


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## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

update, as posted on another thread:
Our Chessie mix, Rusty, has similar problems... it turned out to be a mass on his colon wall acting as a valve, and colitis, essentially, from that.

He just had surgery Tuesday this week, and for the first time in years he doesn't have a blocked colon (? don't know how long, we adopted him that way last September to save him from euthanasia).

Rusty used to eat grass, string, mulch, dirt, anything (retrievers...) and then all bets were off and to the emergency room he'd go. It was miserable for him, and last week he was ready to be put down when the docs decided he WAS a good candidate for surgery... living with a dog with a colonic mass and colitis is NOT easy. We didn't sleep through the night for 10 months until last Friday night.

We don't know the eventual/ultimate prognosis regarding incontinence. He had 5" of colon removed, according the surgeon, and may have lost some, most, all feeling down there, and as such become effectively incontinent. That's the most significant risk at this point, we're told. Given the extreme nature of his condition pre-surgery, the only difference will be less frequent messing (because it CAN come out) and no pain/discomfort for the pooch. I hope, for Rusty's sake, he gets to experience "normal" life as most dogs do: with a controllable urge to "go" and the ability to just do so and not struggle continuously, non-stop, 24/365.

He's still heavily medicated, of course, but was cheerful last night. He comes home this evening after a full week in hospital on an emergency then surgical basis.

Thanks for the advice, we will likely stick with the D Van Patton's Duck and Potato (for all three) from now on. Hell, the medication savings monthly will cover the cost difference.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

I wish Rusty a quick and successful recovery. Poor guy has had a rough start in life. Hopefully, things will be looking up now. You're a very special person to take such good care of your guy.


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## Dog5 (Jan 13, 2008)

I'm so glad that you all may have found a solution to Rusty's problem...and I hope he feel much better soon!
Just in case he does develop incontinence, you can put a belly band on him. Two of my dogs developed it - one from old age, one from Cushing's Disease -and we used the belly band on them with a sanitary napkin inside for extra protection if needed. They get used to it and it helps ease your mind.
God bless!


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## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

Update...

Rusty didn't make it. He'd have beaten the surgical recovery, but had a small setback Friday night - seemed blocked or constipated, and became very restless, and likely in great pain. At 2am Saturday he'd had enough and I took him to the emergency vet to see what they could do to help with the blockage/empty him out. I was cheerful and promised him he'd come home feeling better.

The doc did an ultrasound and found some fluid near the colon surgical site. She followed with an x-ray to see if he was blocked/full/compacted and INCIDENTALLY caught part of the chest with the 1st x-ray image. A second xray, of the chest specifically, showed his chest to be "FULL!" of metasticized cancerous growths. She gave him some pain meds and came to tell me the news. She was shell-shocked, and I was simply ruined. She said he could have 2 weeks to 2 months, but due to the incredibly advanced cancer, that would be it, max.

Please help me with this: Rusty had 5" of colon removed, because it was do-or-die given his colon problem (likely the mass had gone cancerous over the winter since the last biopsy). The recovery from surgery was known to be painful, uncomfortable, and difficult, for 2 weeks, with full recovery being up to 3 months...

His cancer was going to claim him w/in 2-8 weeks, estimated.

We put him to rest. I could barely function all weekend. He was emotionally "happy" right up to the end. He saw my wife and wiggled and wagged and seemed so cheerful.. and then we put him to rest.

I can not get my head around this. I want him back. He was my best friend and constant companion for the last 10 months of his short 6 years. I'm afraid we made a mistake. We might have gotten a couple weeks with him, right? We could have tried to manage his pain? He'd have had some fun with his adoptive brother and sister, right?

I can't stop second guessing our decision. This isn't our first time around this block. We adopt special needs and older dogs and just put down our 12.5 year Dane last June. We always felt she (Simba) brought us to Rusty. I keep seeing/doing things and thinking "Rusty would have loved this."

Here he is with his much admired adoptive brother and sister, Teddy and Summer (he's on the right, chocolate/rust colored):









And just with his sister in the middle of wrestling last fall:


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

I'm so very, very sorry for your loss. We can all see how much love and care you gave Rusty. Please don't second-guess your decision. There is no right or wrong in this situation. You make the best call you can and try to move on. Thanks for sharing the pictures -- he looks like a love. God bless.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

I'm so sorry to hear of this, but I think you did the right thing. One thing to consider w/internal cancerous masses is that they can rupture at any time, causing a lot of pain and eventual death. And you can't tell WHEN they will rupture. It's not a good way to go. I put one down, when there were cancerous tumors in her lungs and around her heart. She too, was alert, and seemingly OK. Vet said she might last 3 days or 3 months, but that it was a time bomb.

So you saved him from suffering. Remember that.


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## cjslaten (Nov 26, 2008)

I was searching through the colitis forum looking for help with my 9 yr old sheltie's bouts with vomitting and diarreah and found your posts about Rusty. I am in hopes that you and your wife are doing better and wanted to respond. You did not make a bad decision to put Rusty to rest. I lost my 16 yr old toy poodle to pancreatis in 1994. I had to make the decision to euthanize her. I lost my 10 yr old dobie to hip displacia in 1999. She was in severe pain and could not stand. I had to make the decision. On August 31, 2008 (my birthday) my pom baby of 13 yrs died at the vet's home without me due to possible liver cancer. She had been with him for four days without me. I won't go into every detail of what happened but she was very sick for 7 days and 4 of those days without her momme (me) and not in the comfort of the only home she had ever known. I know hindsight 20/20 ..... I just wish I had it to do again and I would have made the decision and not put her through that. My vet kept telling me she would be ok and never did the biopsy to confirm the cancer so I let him treat her. It's been 5 months and I still cry for her. She could have gone peacefully to sleep in my arms believing everything was ok instead of dying in a place she did not know. She died while having strokes. Her skin had become even more yellow. I just don't see how I could have let it all happen now, but it did happen fast.

I believe you did the best for Rusty.


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## Emerson00 (May 30, 2008)

thanks all for the kind words. Rusty's still missed (Christmas with him was so fun last year, so the loss remains poignant). He's now with his brother, Teddy, shown in the picture - the big happy handsome black fellow with an irresistable smile.

It's been a sh!t year - too much loss. But, we sign on for this and can accept it's all part of the deal: they give us love like only God himself could promise and, in return, we can only have them for short times and must make painful decisions for them. Though it rips our hearts out every time, in the final analysis, I wouldn't trade the time we had with Lady, Simba, Rusty, or Teddy to avoid the pain of losing them. Perfect love, agonizing grief...

Thanks again for all the kind words. Shhhh... my wife, for Christmas, is getting a couple of huge photo albums from the last 6 years of digital photography and a few framed black and whites of special times. Teddy, particularly, was her baby, so it'll be the best present I ever gave her - to capture the love they had on paper. Over time the pain of memory and the grief become comforting thoughts.

Peace, y'all, and happy holidays. We have 2 new additions this fall to share in Christmas with Summer (fawn color, above). So it goes.


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

Your dogs are so lucky to have owners who can appreciate the value of an awesome relationship. Their memories are priceless.

I've also adopted both of my dogs knowing they had heartworms and didn't expect Ilya, my husky, to react so horribly to the heartworm treatment. We almost lost him. He has been the most amazing dog yet and at times, I think he was Godsent, because in a way, he saved and added to my life too.


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## cjslaten (Nov 26, 2008)

My mom keeps saying don't get another one. You have such a hard time when you lose one. Don't put yourself throught that. But, I cannot see my life without a dog. A dog brings out what is good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. Although when sick they can be the worries of the day. But, I would not and will not live the rest of my life without one.

Happy Holidays everyone.


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## Eve71 (Apr 8, 2009)

Hello, I am new here. At present I have 5 dogs and all were adopted from shelters except for one that my husband and I found in a dumpster about 4 years ago.

Our newest family member(Elvis) is 4 months old and was adopted from a shelter that rescued 150+ dogs from a puppy mill. Before he came to see us he was taken care of by a vet and lived with a foster family. They told us a little about the Colitis he had but didn't go into much detail. Once he came to our home his stools seemed normal at least for the past 2 weeks he has been with us . Not bloody or runny at all. Today suddenly his stool is runny and slimy looking. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and he is a very happy dog. I have a vet appointment for him this afternoon but I was just wondering if anyone knows what causes colitis? Would it have anything to do with him coming from a puppy mill? And is it contagious? I am worried about my other dogs and my cat. 4 years ago we found a 6 month old Chihuahua in a dumpster and after taking him home He gave our other dogs Giardia. So any information you could give me while I wait to go to my appointment would be great. Thank you


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## Dog5 (Jan 13, 2008)

Eve71 said:


> Hello, I am new here. At present I have 5 dogs and all were adopted from shelters except for one that my husband and I found in a dumpster about 4 years ago.
> 
> Our newest family member(Elvis) is 4 months old and was adopted from a shelter that rescued 150+ dogs from a puppy mill. Before he came to see us he was taken care of by a vet and lived with a foster family. They told us a little about the Colitis he had but didn't go into much detail. Once he came to our home his stools seemed normal at least for the past 2 weeks he has been with us . Not bloody or runny at all. Today suddenly his stool is runny and slimy looking. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and he is a very happy dog. I have a vet appointment for him this afternoon but I was just wondering if anyone knows what causes colitis? Would it have anything to do with him coming from a puppy mill? And is it contagious? I am worried about my other dogs and my cat. 4 years ago we found a 6 month old Chihuahua in a dumpster and after taking him home He gave our other dogs Giardia. So any information you could give me while I wait to go to my appointment would be great. Thank you


Hi Eve...
Colitis isn't contagious. Basically, it's an inflammation of the colon that can be caused by a lot of things, but since the rescue already knew about your pup's colitis, it's probably a chronic condition. I had a Sheltie who had it. Your vet should be able to prescribe a diet and some medications to help you manage it!


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## Eve71 (Apr 8, 2009)

Thanks so much for the reply


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## cjslaten (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi Eve 71,

I have been dealing with my sheltie's challenged gastrointestinal problems all of his life. Only since he became so sick in November 08 that I have had to do some "self education." There are many wonderful sites that I have learned so much from. The only thing my vet has been able to do is rule out a lot of things that I could not do. Bloodwork, stool checks, barium and x-rays, etc. He also prescribed a lot of antibiotics which in one way helped but in another stripped his gut of all the good bacteria. He didn't tell me or didn't know to tell me that I should have been double-dosing him on probiotics all the time he was on antibiotics. This was something very important that I wished I had known and it could have helped immensely. I believe that if it started as a bacterial infection the antibiotics were neccessary, but straight out colitis he didn't. Your dog's colitis may be acting up by just entering a new environment or changing his diet. My sheltie can get stressed by thunderstorms and cause his bowels to act up. There are many, many things that can cause these flairs.

First of all, the prescription food my vet offered I would not give any living creature for all of the nasty ingredients, that being soy, by products, glutens, and the list goes on.

I have gotten his stools under better control by feeding Wellness Core Reduced Fat, a grainless, higher protein with moderate amounts of calcium and phosphorus and ash, with a higher amount of fiber. I have found several supplements given daily that are very helpful, especially a good brand of probiotics with 10 strains of good bacteria that have to be in the gut, without any other added unnecessary ingredients. I just started MSM which is working well for him and another supplement is L-Glutamine. 

It is a matter of trial and error. Your dog might do better on a low fiber kibble than high fiber. He might be able to handle grain or you might have to go grainless. He might need low fat or be able to tolerate fat. A raw diet or supplementing with your kibble diet with raw might be your answer, which is what I am contemplating right now. I have read two different views on feeding raw and kibble. One is where they can be fed together and another is that they need to be fed at different times, like raw in the morning and the kibble at night. 

There is a lot of good information out there from holistic and scientific veterinarian sources, breeders and nutrionionalists. I have spent hours, days, months and now over a year in researching and sorting all this information out and still going at it. It's going to be up to you to choose to work this out for your dog and I can direct you to the sites that I have trusted to believe if you would like. I am not sure if we are allowed to give out this info or not on this forum. I am not telling you not to do what your vet says, but unless he has a lot of nutritional knowledge and a lot of vets don't have the time to get into that part of it, you are going to have to sort out the best food for your dog. You say he has already been diagnosed with colitis, so someone must have had all the tests done and ruled out cancer and all the other nasties that can cause diarrhea, vomiting?

Let me know if I can help with this info and I will find out if I can list those websites on this forum.
Carol


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

> It is a matter of trial and error. Your dog might do better on a low fiber kibble than high fiber. He might be able to handle grain or you might have to go grainless. He might need low fat or be able to tolerate fat. A raw diet or supplementing with your kibble diet with raw might be your answer, which is what I am contemplating right now. I have read two different views on feeding raw and kibble. One is where they can be fed together and another is that they need to be fed at different times, like raw in the morning and the kibble at night.


The trial and error is all too true for us when we looked for the best diet for Ilya. He has irritable bowel syndrome which can lead to colitus. When this happens, he looses weight rapidly. Raw helped a lot but it didn't help completely with stools. After finding an all kibble he can tolerate well, we had issues with his weight. We went to part kibble and part raw and everything seemed to balance out well. I don't feed raw and kibble together all the time. His diet sort of evolved over time with the trial and error.


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## cjslaten (Nov 26, 2008)

Dear Eve71,

Just curious to know what your vet said about Elvis and how he is doing. Hope everything is ok.

Carol


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