New here- need advice re: chronic Colitis

Emerson00

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

Shalva

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

lovemygreys

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.

Emerson00

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.

Shalva

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

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.

crazydays

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!

Emerson00

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.

crazydays

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!!!!!!!

MegaMuttMom

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.

Emerson00

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.

spotted nikes

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.

Dog5

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!

Emerson00

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:

winniec777

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.

spotted nikes

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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