IBD inflammatory bowel disease advice please

:roll: Hi I am not sure if this question has been asked before? I cant find it so SORRY if it has.

I found out today that the Reason my kaytee has been put on prednisolone (I wrote a previous thread as was worried about the drug) was because she has inflammatory bowel disease.

My vets are the AHT and I asked them to explain and they did but whenever I talk about Kaytee's problems my mind shuts off and I don't take in what the vet is saying.. I cant help it...it all sounds like a different language to me and I know it is my minds own way of trying to protect myself in case they tell me something I don't want to hear...

ANYWAYS Kaytee is on prednisolone (SORRY cant spell) for life because of this condition and has to eat sc24 (sensitivity control diet) and I realise now SHE MUST HAVE her tablets.. Does anyone know how these assist in helping this condition?

I know humans get irritable bowel disease and I wonder is this the same?
PLEASE help if you can Reading information is always better for me and you are all great thanks xxx :flwr:

PS do you have a dog with the same thing? EVERYTHING I have tried makes her sick she cant have any treats and I feel guilty when treat the others any idea what I could give her? Someone said goats milk IS THIS SAFE? xxx

I had a dog with what I suspect was IBD but I didn't treat with steroids. Monica Siegal has a list that may help you http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/
and she posts on this board occasionally. I've read where sometimes ths is misdiagnosed , where it was food sensitivity instead, and sometimes the pred can cause Cushings disease.

Nancy it's a bit more complicated than a GI problem; this is a dog that also has SM and a number of other issues too; there's a previous couple of posts that run through her different issues so the preds may be needed because of other problems too.

Funnily enough my GP diagnosed me with this today. He explained it as a 'problem with the gastrointestinal tract somewhere from the mouth to the bottom'. It's not really known what the problem is so they just treat the symptoms which means they don't do a great deal. Stress and anxiety doesn't help but the info he gave me recommends trying a high fibre diet but also that this may make things worse but it's worth a try :roll: I don't know if any of this applies to dogs but if they can't do much for humans then I reckon there can't be much out there for the furry ones either. He was very nice though and had a feel of my tummy

What sort of food has the vet said Kaytee can have? When I was trying a wet food for my dog (this food worked for while) I used to put slices on a baking sheet and put it in the oven on a low heat to dry it out and crisp it up so I could use it as treats. As he is now on a dry Kibble type I buy a small bag of the same stuff only it is meant for large or giant breeds instead of small or medium and use that as treats.

kaytee576 said:

My vets are the AHT and I asked them to explain and they did but whenever I talk about Kaytee's problems my mind shuts off and I don't take in what the vet is saying.. I cant help it...it all sounds like a different language to me and I know it is my minds own way of trying to protect myself in case they tell me something I don't want to hear...

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I see everyone is jumping in and helping you out with Kaytee, but if I could be so bold, I'd like to help you with this issue. You see, it is actually a very common problem that many people have when they visit their vet, doctor, lawyer, accountant.

What you do, is before you go to the vets, write down a list of all the questions you have to ask. Take your pen with you, and when the vet is explaining things to you, write them down, even if that means saying "give me a sec to write that down". If the words are too complicated, then ask your vet to write it down for you. That way, when you are home & feeling more calm, you can read through it, come in here & ask questions, or do your own searching on the internet.

Trust me when I tell you that any vet or doctor worth his salt, will not think less of you for doing this. In fact, he will probably be quite impressed.

:flwr: :flwr: :flwr:

thanks so much for all your help. I will do this in the future or bring someone with me who can take it all in, i just wondered if anyone could help me who has had simliar problems and treat ideas would be a big help thanks everyone xxx :flwr:

Awww, sorry to hear it. If it's like the human disease the sickness should get less with medication. It will probably be ok for a while then flare up again, and go down again. My son has chrones, he was on predisonalone for a while. He is on medication for life, classed as a chronic disease. From mouth to anus he can get ulcers. So it sounds similar. Keep going with the medication but if you find it does not work, go back to the vet to see if the meds need changing. Hope everything works out for you.

Amen, Caraline. I always carry a notebook and pen with me whether I am going to a dr for myself or taking one of the animals. And I usually take Bubba with me too for back up! I've had some human dr's get insulted by the fact that I'm writing things down, but that's their own insecurity they need to deal with.

I had a shihtzu who had IBS (irritable bowel syndromw - same type thing). Hers always acted up when I was stressed out. We used canned ID from Hills at that time - I don't even know if they still make that.

I'm concerned about the long term use of pred. You might make a note to ask your dr about the risk of Cushings disease because of the pred next time you see him.

Bonnie's problem was not constant, which helped. When hers acted up we gave her metronidazole (flagyl) which would clear her up pretty quickly. I can't help with the treats; we were never really into giving the dogs treats a lot that I can remember.

Good luck to you and your baby. I know this is hard on both of you. We did all kinds of testing on Bonnie and ruled out a lot of other things before we finally decided it was IBS. I had a vet that I trusted to the utmost - I worked with him in emergency - and he would sit up half the night while we did a GI series on her or anything else he could think of or get info about that needed to be done.

Chin up and get some confidence. A vet is just another person who puts his pants on one leg at a time. YOU are paying for the visit. Try (and this is hard) to divorce yourself from the fact that you are discussing your dog and treat it like it's a classroom setting.

I have the dubious pleasure of knowing more about IBD and GI diseases in general, than I ever wanted to. In a nutshell, IBD is a very general diagnosis in that it means the bowel is irritated and inflammed, without knowing why this is the case. The only way to get a precise diagnosis is to agree to having an endoscopic exam. This may or may not translate to a difference in protocol which is why most vets and dog owners try to handle it via drugs and dietary measures at first.

The reason for steroid use is the drug(s) calm down inflammation. This is important because when there's inflammation, the gut is more permeable and so, intact protein molecules can seep through. This irritates things further, so the goal is to calm down the inflammation. Here's the catch: the underlying cause of the inflammation isn't addressed by steroids, so chances are that flare ups continue to occur. Most of these dogs are very senstive to dietary fat and most have at least one food allergy. The best way of addressing IBD, and most GI problems for that matter, is to use a novel protien and carbohydrate source. Something the dog has never, ever eaten before - not even in a treat. That's why many vets prescribe diets such as venison and potato or rabbit and potato. Most dogs haven't consumed those things before. It's also critical that the diet be low in fat.

Ok, there's another catch: A highly sensitive dog can react to anything, including the source of vitamins, minerals and fats added to these prescritption diets. That's why the very best way of dealing with these issues is to feed a home-made diet. I'm not trying to talk you into something you may not want to do. But if you get stuck and can't seem to find succes with whatever else you feed or whatever medications are given, keep home-prepared foods in mind. That's what saved our Zoey who was so ill that we were told she should be put down when she was 9 months old. She died when she was 9 1/2 due to MVD - not GI trouble.