Can I have advice from a vet please or anyone with experience of colitis in dogs

[nicky2512]

My 8 year old miniature schnauzer was diagnosed with colitis and pancreatitis when very ill as a pup. Over the years it has been manageable - small, regular meals of boiled chicken and rice or hills hypoallergenic. Probiotics also. Only carrot or Rice Krispies as treats and never too long between meals.

He would have the odd flare up but usually only if he had a sore ear or something else wrong with him. Also if his glands needed expressing (never any other indication of this needing done).
The last while has been awful. He had a few very bad spells last summer and now is on an antibiotic twice weekly and a sickness tablet. He has at least one day a week where he won’t eat and is gurgly and windy. He had X-rays a few weeks ago to make sure there was nothing else and vet said def his colitis. He gave him antibiotics for ten days then back to two a week. He gives him an injection when I take him but has no suggestions about how to prevent it.

He’s bad again today. Not eating, clingy and several bright yellow vomits with blood flecks. I obviously will be back at vet tomorrow but just wondered if there is any preventative treatments I could ask about.
The vet is the only one local to me but I may have to try and get somewhere else.

Thank you and sorry that was long.

Anyone? Thank you.

Get some of this. I always keep it in stock was a godsend for my little one who had IBD all her life. A couple of days used to settle the symptoms. Has he IBD? Recurring colitis was how she presented. She was put on salazopyrin daily which kept her trouble free. She died last year aged fifteen after having the problem from a puppy.
https://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-supplements-cat-supplements-dog-diarrhoea-cat-diarrhoea-c-5_145/vetuk-probiotic-kolin-paste-for-cats-and-dogs-p-20356

Incidentally she couldn’t tolerate chicken so the chicken/ rice that vets usually recommend used to make things worse. Took me a while to cotton on to that.

@Darklane Thank you. He has the powder of that in his food every day but will def get the paste.
Vet always just calls it colitis but talks about the inflammation etc so I assume IBD?
He take sulfasalazine but will ask about salazopyrin.

I have asked about changing his diet but vet always says not to as he was fine for so long on chicken and only flares up every week or so. He says if it was diet it would be constant. He’s a funny wee boy and is hard to feed at the best of times so I’m reluctant to change without the vet being on board. He’s def not good orientated. May have to try though if nothing else works.

If still insured would referral be an option ?
Alternatively steroids can help
Also a drug called chlorambucil
Neither without side effects but colitis is horrid
And worth playing with food possibly
Try high fibre
Or low fibre
Fish based
Insect protein based

@3smallpups Thank you.
He is still insured and I’ve never claimed so yes.
My vet just doesn’t seem very proactive about treatment so I want to be armed with questions/suggestions.

If I don’t get anywhere I will try changing his food. He has never tolerated any dog food other than a small amount of the ha one. He tends to vomit up kibble so I’ll probably still need to cook for him.
Any suggestions of a wet food to try are welcome.

If you haven't ever claimed be careful before running up a big bill as they might say that you should have started a claim earlier. Worth a call to the insurance company.
Weirdly chappie wet food sometimes really suits dogs with colitis , cheap as chips but oddly digestible !

@3smallpups I will check his insurance. I actually think there is an option to speak to a vet so will see. Problem is it has always been small charges every few weeks so I have just paid.

Unfortunately chappie didn’t agree with him but thanks again - I have more to think about now and feel like I’m right to push for more. I sometimes think vet just thinks “oh no it’s her again”

He has now decided to have his tea and is happily snoring beside me.

Did you say he had been on the hypoallergenic food? It might be worth doing a diet trial of this (and this only) for 6-8 weeks. Also be really careful with fat levels in his diet.

otherwise, I agree with PP about checking your insurance policy (to make sure you have the right level of cover) then maybe discuss referral with your vet.
sulphasalazine is quite old school and does come with some potential side effects (I could be wrong as I haven’t used it for years but I believe salazopyrin is the same thing).

There is a lot of research into gut biomes these days, sometimes using drugs such as metronidazole and omeprazole can be more disruptive than help. Some specialists even advocate faecal transplants to get good bacteria in from healthy dogs.

I expect the specialists would probably start with full bloods and faecal analysis, moving onto abdominal ultrasound plus endoscopy/biopsies.

very often all this is done and the dog is still prescribed steroids and hypoallergenic food, but it would be good to have a clear diagnosis and be sure nothing is missed.

@Sageyboots yes he has hypoallergenic food as one of his small meals per day. He’s not that fussed though so would be very hard to get him to eat more.
Thank you very much for all the other information. Lots for me to look at.

Did you try raw food? My boxer had colitis and he was much improved with a raw diet.

Thanks @Blazingunicorns I haven’t. He’s not that interested in food apart from what he’s used to. You could eat anything beside him!
if I do change his diet I definitely will consider it.

Have you tried yoghurt? The plain one.
Most of mine love it, even my old little girl & it sometimes helped. It’s a pity the tinned Chappie didn’t agree with him as that’s an old school possibility that often helps. White fish doesn’t usually cause flare ups I found but anything fatty or any chicken didn’t help at all.
Hope you can get him sorted, IBD is a miserable condition till you can get it under control. I’ve never had insurance so can’t help about that, sorry. As I always showed, & subsequently bred occasionally,so always had too many dogs to make it feasible so had a special “ dog account” instead which worked well for me. Most people who show do the same, all the other exhibitors I know never bother with insurance, except puppy ones for new owners, as it just doesn’t work out economically when you have more than one or two dogs.

@Darklane thank you. I hadn’t actually thought of yoghurt recently though he used to have it when he was little. Will try.

I can’t see me ever using insurance but would be scared to cancel it!

Im actually considering going against the vet and completely changing his diet away from chicken to see what happens. Not sure what I’d change to though.
It would have to be wet, grain free and a very good quality. I know raw was suggested but I’m not sure.

I’ve never fed raw so can’t recommend it or otherwise as never ever tried it. I know lots swear by it but it always seemed a bit odd to me feeding raw chicken wings, which I know some do, when we’re always advised against raw chicken for us 😁
You want wet food but the only ones I’ve used are the Chappie & Forthglade ones which I bought a huge selection of & they all turned their noses up at it 🙄
I have a couple of tiny Yorkies along with my main breed, which my old little lady was too, & I’ve always fed kibble mixed with home cooked good for the tiny ones. I make a stew of minced beef, carrot, potatoes, bit of celery sometimes….sort of Lancashire hotpot ( quite apt as we live high on the Lancashire Pennines, my Yorkies have escaped to the right side of the moors, legal immigrants 😂).
I really hope you can sort it for him, I know how disheartening it can be when the squirts start yet again.

Thanks @Darklane I’ve lots to think about and a big list for the vet tonight - he’s going to hide when he sees me coming!

Thankfully diarrhoea isn’t that common with him unless he’s really bad. It’s more vomiting and gurgling and bad wind and generally being really out of sorts. He gets really tight and sore. He’ll refuse to eat for a day then be back to normal the next day.

Oh and @Darklane I had a yorkie years ago too. He was an amazing wee dog.

I would try using some of these products.
You can email the company too and they will advise you on what might help.
Dogs (aniforte.co.uk)

Thanks @redboxer321 I will take a look.

Let us know what the vet says will you please?

@Darklane Yes, it was raw chicken wings I used to feed my boxer mainly, occasionally minced beef too. Dogs are built differently to us. I don’t imagine their ancestors would have eaten cooked food! They would have hunted and eaten raw meat.

@Darklane well I’m not really any further forward. By the time the vet saw him tonight he was as happy and healthy as can be. That’s the way it is with him. He’s usually back in good form quite quickly and that’s him until the next bad day in a week or so time. Though he’s often a bit gurgly.
Thank goodness vet has actually seen how bad he can be and has also done x rays or he’d think I was mad.

Vet still wants to treat with antibiotics though I got some of the probiotic paste to try.

He is very against changing his diet as says it would be constant symptoms if it was diet. And at 8 years old and very fussy it’s not something to do if not necessary.

Agreed that he’s a stressy wee boy but doesn’t think that’s enough to cause it. I have an adaptil plug in but don’t see any difference.

oh well. Will give it all a lot of thought this week and see where we go from here.

Thanks everyone for the help. I have a lot to consider.

Thank you for updating us. Glad he’s feeling a bit better at the moment even if it meant didn’t see something to help diagnosis.
Sometimes the paste can get them eating on days when they won’t, I found. It’s a shame you’ve only one vet. I’m in a similar position. Rural, I had a really good vet who eventually diagnosed the problem after others in the practice had gone the constant antibiotic route. But he retired last year & the practice has been bought out by Medivet so you never see the same vet twice so now I’m struggling to find another good one. At least my little old sweetheart doesn’t have to go through all that again even though I miss her dreadfully. I’ve had lots & lots of dogs but she was one of those once in a lifetime dogs, my constant little loving shadow.

@Darklane thanks. I’m hoping the paste will get him eating as on his bad days if he doesn’t eat his breakfast then that’s him for the day - all windy and vomiting and won’t eat. Whereas on days that you coax him into it, it passes quicker.
I know what you mean - he is definitely my wee baby. I have never had a dog like him. He’s def my once in a lifetime.

A good vet means so much. I actually really like ours. It’s a small rural practice and he saved my wee dog when he was just a pup. He was so ill for months and he got him through it. It’s just that he’s quite laid back about this. Certain that the antibiotics will do the trick and happy enough to wait for that. He may well be right but I just don’t want to miss anything.

He’s just had a nice long walk and hopefully he’ll sleep better tonight. It’s like having a baby again. When he doesn’t feel well it’s me that he needs to let know!

Thanks again. Just having done one to talk to that understands means so much.