Hi everyone I am new to this board and have had a good look around - but am getting a bit desperate now.  I have a nearly 12 yr old Male bedlington terrier who has had a number of evil tummy upsets during his little life - we get bloody and runny poo with mucus in it and sometimes mucus vomit with traces of fresh blood in it.

It has been suggested in the past that he has a stomach ulcer but more recently the vet reckons it is colitis as the blood is quite fresh when it comes out of either end !!! (sorry about the gross info !!!)

Over the last few months we have not been able to settle it - he has had a number of injections which seem to settle it for one or two weeks then it comes back.

Food wise - he has complete dry with dog food in it to make it tastier - however he has not been on the same thing for long as I tend to vary it to make sure he does not get bored.

He has been on chicken and rice or white fish and rice for the last four weeks - things seem to be settling but we have now added QUANTUM - gluten and wheat free complete dry food to his chicken and rice to try and give him some more fibre.  He seems to be ok but there is a little bit of bloody in his poo today and its a bit runny.  He has had 5 little meals with the Quantum in and I am not sure if this is setting him off again.  We are exactly 2 weeks since last injection and he is having half a yellow sulphur tablet twice a day to keep his bowel calm.

The vet has suggested collecting his poo for three days, then getting a urine sample and doing some blood tests to try and work out what it is that he is allergic / intolerant to - so I am going to go ahead with this.

What I am after is a bit of advice really - it breaks my heart to see him poorly, although he is more full of life now he has the quantum added in but I am afraid its setting him off again .

I guess at the end of the day unless blood is pooring from him and we cant stop it he is going to be ok - but I would just like to be able to settle it down.  Do you think Its worth the blood tests etc ?  I really dont want to be spending ages faffing with his food to work out what works and what does as he is nearly 12 and I want him to be settled and enjoying life.

Any advice would be great thanks

Anna J

i would def have the blood test certain allergy food panels can tell you what he is allergic to (if anything) and then you can work it from there with his feeding regime

Have looked at the Quantum website and cannot find a complete ingredients list for any of their foods :(  Personally, I find the words "made from" and "including" not very helpful as there is no indication what else is in the food or what proportions   In your position I would want to know exactly what ingredients are in the food and what proportions ;)  

For example, many dog foods say wheat-gluten free, but contain Barley - which also contains gluten (as does Rye) and would be a huge problem for a dog who was reacting to gluten.  Also wheat gluten free does not necessarily mean wheat free, there could still be wheat starch in the food, so if wheat was the problem then the food would be a big problem ;)

I have had a dog (not a Bedlington) who was allergic to foods, but in those days my vet didn't really want to know about testing, had tests been available I'd have jumped at them ;)  I do have a coeliac, wheat allergic and dairy intolerant child so I do know how difficult it can be trying to find what the problem is  ;)

As your dog has been settled on rice and fish, rice and chicken, why not keep him on it until you can have him tested?

You may be interested to know that there are quite a few Raw-fed Bedlingtons in the UK and they are in amazing condition, so Rice and Fish or Rice and Chicken would not be a terrible diet for a Bedlington.  My own would be raw fed if I only had room for storage of the frozen meat. 

ETA  What on earth are Sulphur Tablets?   are they from the vet?   Have never heard of giving sulphur as a tablet

watch the adding things to the complete food.  if its tinned dog meat it will likely have all manner of things that he may be allergic to in it.
regarding complete food you need one with a complete ingredients list-anything that says 'cerials, meat and animal derivates' as its list is going to be dicey .ignore any statements such as 'sensetive or nameing a flavor like chicken on the bag unless the ingredients list actually reflects that.vague listing means the feed will vary from one bag to another depending on what the manufactorer can get cheap.
Dogs don't need their diet varied. they don't think same way we do - far better to keep him on a simple diet that suits him and then not mess about with it.

Hi - thanks for the comments - agree that cant seem to find a complete list of ingredients in QUANTUM - will put him back on chicken/fish and rice for now to settle him back down.

Will get the samples and testing done this week then at least we should have a bit more of an idea which direction to go in !! rather than trying to guess.

The sulphur tablets are - Sulphasalazine 500mg tablets and he has half twice a day - he has had them quite a few times and are to settle the last bit of his colon apparantly. 

Hi.
What you describe sounds like a case of colitis, that has been going on for a long time.
The episodes of mucus in his stools is a typical sign of this.
Changing his food just not to bore him, is in this case not a good idea.

If it were my dog, I'd put him on a dietary food, from Royal Canin or Hill's, for example.
(the one from R.C. is called "Intestinal" I think .You need a food that's designed for
sensitive tummies, not for allergic dogs)
At the same time, I'd give him "Pro-Kolin" three times a day, for a week or so.
This should help the tissue in the intestines mend, after the first week the dietary food should be enough.

I've been through this with one of my earlier dogs, and with a few owned by others.
It does work. I don't think your dog is actually allergic to anything, he's just a boy that doesn't agree well with change of food.
Should the problems not get any better after one 15 kg. sack of food, then maybe it's time to
go down the route of testing.
This IS a twelwe year old dog we're talking about, allergies usually manifest themselfes much earlier in life.

Remember, this is just what I would do, based on my experiences.
Good luck,
Karen

I agree with Karen about choosing one food and sticking with it - one designed for sensitive tummies. I am a fan of Skinners Lamb and Rice sensitive but that's just my individual preference. I also like Burns food (they have a helpline who are very supportive in identifying the right food for you).

For now, stick with the fish and let his tummy settle again. Once you have chosen your food, add it VERY gradually over the course of a couple of weeks.

xxx

While the signs you are seeing are likely to be colitis, has your vet ruled out Copper Toxicosis?   sometimes the only early sign of this disease is Diarrhoea and Vomiting.  Blood tests will help to confirm or eliminate this possibility. 

http://www.familyvet.com/Dogs/Liver.html

http://www.bedlingtons.org.uk/

I would also agree with the other posters he needs to stay on the same food which agrees with him as we had a Boxer dog who had life long Colitis he was kept on James Wellbeloved with nothing added however much iwanted to add a little roast chicken to it or some mince like the others get i was totally strict with his diet. Sometimes stress gave him a attack of Colitis (being at a show or even walking a different place) also people used to for all their goodwill slip him doggy treats this would start it off as well.Has your boy a urine test yet? I would ask your vet to run one as I see someone has posted about liver problems as they can tell if he is passing high ammounts of Bilirubin and this is a sign of something going on with his liver that can cause the same syptoms as our one presented this in his later years. Hope all goes well i know how you feel. Debby

Thanks guys - he is a bit down today - he did not eat much tea last night but has had some chicken and rice this morning - although he went out then and did three lots of poo !!! the first two were fairly solid and seemed ok - then the third one was a bit runnier with some blood at the end.

He is booked in for his blood tests tmrw and I am off shopping in a bit for a pile of rice and chicken !!! anyone got any tips on which white fish is good ??

I agree that the allergy sounds a bit of a long shot as you would have thought he would show it when he was younger. 

He had a run of blood tests after a poorly episode last year and no sign of the Copper thingie.

Will keep you up to date

Anna

The 'Copper Problem'  would only show up if they did the right tests and even then it would only show up as a liver problem - other tests would then have to be done ;)  if they weren't looking for it then they wouldn't do the right tests ;)

When you take him for testing ask if they are checking for liver problems ;)

Is this dog DNA tested for CT?  Were his parents tested?  12 years ago responsible breeders were routinely testing all their dogs before breeding them to reduce the incidence of CT.

Re Allergies, they can occur at any time, older dogs can become allergic too ;)

Any non-oily white fish will be fine, it doesn't have to be Cod, could be haddock, Coley, Plaice - whatever you can get and is cheap ;) 

Iceland the freezer shop is good for fish. I get large bags of frozen white fish fillets for £2.99

Have the vets ever taken a stool sample for testing ??
I would have a little look at campylobacter if I were you. Sounds like he has all the symptoms and might be worth a look ;-)

Hi there - he has had stool, urine and blood samples sent off today - results should take about a week.

Thanks everyone for your comments - I will post when we have the results.  For now he is back to Chicken / White fish and rice and seems to be quite settled.

Not going to change anything else until we have his results.

Bought him a new squeeky toy to cheer him up and he has been running up and down the hall like a little puppy this afternoon !!!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to reply.

Anna  and Barney the Bedlington xxx

Hi everyone - we have had the stool sample results - there is no sign of campylobactor or any other bacteria, no trace of worms or eggs, and all digestive things are working ok.

Urine samples show no sugars or anything else wierd.

Just waiting for the blood results now to show if there are any allergies.

He had a good week but then Friday morning he had a really squeeky belly and went out to eat grass - he settled then but then did a normal looking stool followed by a huge dollop of really thick and stringy mucous with a  little bit of blood.  He then settled inside but had a sudden onset of blood and mucous - came out like diaorhea (excuse spelling !!!)  He was then sick a little bit later which was mucous and bile with a little bit of red blood. 

We went back to vet on Friday afternoon and he had a couple of injections - seems settled today - he ate well yesterday and has had a fairly normal poo today.

The only thing we can identify that was different was he did not have supper on Thursday evening - he had breakfast and tea at about 4pm - but then went to bed with an empty tummy - by the time I woke up at 5am with him he was already squeeking and the 'Zantac' did not settle it.

The vet thinks we may have an issue with a build up of bile which gives him belly ache then sets off a sudden reaction in his intestines - causing him to pass mucous and blood. 

Once he gets rid of it all he seems to settle down and feel better.

Again - any thoughts from anyone would be good - he is staying on chicken and rice until his blood results are back and then we can look at what the next steps are.

Anna

I used to have a toy poodle who was diagnosed with collitis when he was quite young and the symptoms he used to have were the following, his stomach would make very loud gurgling noises, he would arch his back and stretch his back legs out as if he was trying to get rid of the pain and would also sit staring at the floor looking very miserable poor thing. When he was like this he would refuse all food even chicken and cheese his favourites until he recovered. The vet prescribed Buscopan for him which certainly helped so I always kept some in the cupboard. Hope this is of help to you. My little dog lived until he was nearly 14 years old so he didn't do too bad did he.

Hi anna, I so hope you receive the test results for the allergy test very soon. Dont worry too much just now with what you have your dog on, what's important is that the stomach is not stressed so I would stay well clear of any processed foods and just keep doing the home cooking.

I have been through this many times with my dog and have nearly lost him numerous times all due to suffering severe allergies. With dogs that have this condition you cannot mess around with their food you have to find what works for them and stick to it. You have to also be so carefully out on walks as in the case of my dog it takes one small morsel to set his stomach off.

If you find in the future that your dog can not handle processed food please do not be overly concerned as you can feed a healthy nutrient full one meat protein cooked or raw diet daily that includes vegetables and natural vitamins/minerals by adding herbs but this would have to added slowly over weeks so not to stress the stomach.

My advice is see a homeopathic vet that also is an allopathic vet, this type of vet will come up with a plan that will just suit your dog.
In the mean time have you tried giving daily Priobotics and Treebarks Powder? These both will help settle, sooth and slow down the food going through the stomach.

I know how you must be so worried I so hope your dogs test results come back very soon and that you find what will stop this.

Certainly, my older dog can't tolerate long periods between food as he will vomit bile.

The vet, at one stage, suggested feeding him Chappie as it seems to suit older dogs. I was horrified at the thought of feeding him Chappie lol

Anyway, we solved it by feeding him a supper as well as breakfast (he needs breakfast no later than 7am or will tend to vomit) and dinner (he needs an earlier dinner than the rest of the dogs though).

It doesn't cause him to have diarrhoea though.

I recall my friends older dog developed pancreatitis which presented as loose, mucousy stool and lethargy. A change of diet (VERY strict) was all that was needed to control it. Presumably they have ruled this out?

xxx

>I was horrified at the thought of feeding him Chappie lol

Why?

Hi everyone - thanks so much for the new comments - you are a bunch of brilliant caring people and are so kind to take the time to give me advice and reassurance.

Its amazing how many people's dogs go through the same sort of things - he does the stretching thing when he is feeling a bit off too !!!

Thanks again everyone and sending Christmas wishes to all the fluffy friends out there

Anna and Barney xxxx

why?

Ingredients.
Cereals (min 4% wholegrain), derivatives of vegetable origin, meat & animal derivatives (a minimum 4% poultry), oils & fats, minerals. Also contains antioxidants & preservatives.

That might have something to do with it :)

Hi everyone - hope all our little furry ones have had a good Christmas. 

Little update on Barney - we still have not settled him unfortunately.  He was with my dad for three days before christmas and was fine, ate 4 little meals of rice and chicken each day and was playing and going for walkies fine.  Dad brought him back on Weds and he had not eaten breakfast so knowing he had an empty tummy I have him half a 'Zantac' to try and settle the tummy acid, then his tummy started squeeking and he went off out to eat grass.  He pottered around for most of the day fairly happy but pretty squeeky !!! then mid afternoon he was sick - it was just mucous and nothing else to be honest.  He came back in and clearly had belly ache as he could not settle but then after a bit of a sleep he seemed to recover and ate his tea.  This meant I could give him a sulpasalazine table and he seemed fine then.

I decided not to be over anxious and rush him to the vet as there was no  blood - so this is the first time for a while he has had to ride it out without an painkilling / steroid jab so I was interested to see what happened. 

Christas eve he was fine - ate really well, but had a couple of doses of diorrheah - no blood in them so all seemed ok.  Christmas day again he was fine, ate really well and played lots - he was up and about almost all day pottering and playing.  He had supper at about 10pm and went to bed nice and settled and slept all night. 

I got up with him at about 8.30 this morning to let him out for a wee and he did a decent poo !!! no mucous and not partcularly runny !! then came back in and put his chicken and rice down but he did not want to eat it - next thing he is off with gurgly belly so I whizzed a 'Zantac' down him and he seemed to quieten down.  He went for a walk really well and played with his new frisbee from Santa !!! he did a couple of little poos - which were a bit grassy !! and then a bit of mucous but nothing too nasty.  He came back in and then went outside to be sick - he produced two piles of really mucousy frothy vomit - not yellow - just white and frothy which I can only think is the 'Zantac' pills from earlier.  He then looked to be in pain and wandered for a while.  He has produced a little bit more mucous from him bottom but has settled now.

The frustrating thing for me is that there does not seem to be a pattern - he had supper last night and both lots of his sulphasalazine tablets to keep his bowels quiet but  I cant work out what seems to be causing him to not eat ??

Does anyone have experience of this happening ?  he has been on plain chicken and rice and nothing else - yet he is still having upsets,  Do you think maybe when he does eat he is eating too much ?? and then stressing his insides ?

I wondered maybe if he needs some sort of medication at bedtime to keep his insides quiet overnight so that he does not get up with bellyache and then miss out on breakfast ?

Its really frustrating me now - I know we should not be too worried as he is eating and drinking - but I cant seem to settle him down now, there is very little blood now which is obviously an improvement but on the days he does not eat we get vomit and belly ache !!!

Hey ho - I am sure we will get to the bottom of it - blood results should be in next week so that may shed some light on it, however I am not sure there are any allergies to be honest - something sets him off and I really dont think it is his food.

Hope everyone is ok -

Anna J and Barney the Bedlington (sat sunbathing in the lounge !!!)

One thing you might find helps Barney is Hiltons Herbs, the one for digestion called 'Gastrix'. Just a little sprinkled on the dinner. I know it helps when one of mine is suffering from colitis. another thing that helps to calm tummys believe it or not is 'Zylkene' its for calming nervy dogs but it also seems to help settle nervy tummys. Vets give it out but you can buy it from canine chemists online ie medicanimal and similar.
hope you get him sorted out.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a toy poodle called Brandy who suffered with the same condition as your bedlington after many tests I was given Buscopan by the vet when he had a squeaky tummy as he too would not eat anything. There didn't seem to be any set pattern to when he had a bad tummy he could be okay for weeks on end and then have a really bad patch where it could be every other day for a few days. he was fed on Pedigree chum most of his life which looking back was not a very good food to feed him and probably didn't help matters at all but he was fed on that by my parents when I adopted him, and then of course there was not as much choice as there is nowadays. As Brandy got older he was put on a special hepatic support food from the vet as he had started with liver and kidney problems, this he did not like at all so the vet suggested chicken and rice or white fish and rice, together with a vitamin supplement called Pet tabs. I gave him this for the rest of his life approx 2-3 years and he finally had to be pts at just short of 14 years old. I now have 2 toy poodles who are fed on Natures Menu (in tins) and Royal canin mini sensible, as these seem good quality foods. Hope this helps.

Update today - all blood results have come back showing no allergies !!! suppose thats good in a way but frustrating in another !!!

We are going with a fish and potato diet for a few weeks now and will look at what food is out there that is the same - as he seems to tolerate it really well - better than the chicken and rice.

Speak soon everyone and thanks again for the comments

Happy New year to everyone - and big hugs for all the doggies xx

Anna
xx

Hi all.
I hve just come across your postings. I have been frantic searching the internet to find others that have the same problem with colitis in their dogs.
my  boy Finch is a 10 year old standard long haired dachshund. Rescued him 5 years ago from a charity. He was pretty stressy and lost the hair on this lovely bushy tail. It did grow back. The last few years colitis has developed. Mainly to begin with by drinking lots to soothe his stomach and wanting his breakfast early or he would bring up bile. He has had loads of tests done to rule or adrenal, liver and thyroid problems . Also had the camera thingy at both ends at a specialist hospital. They identified an inflammed bowl but they could not do a biopsy as it was too risky. Any way he came home happy and was put on a chicken and potato diet for months and did improve with firm poos for quite some time.  Unfortuntely he is a savanger and will dive for any food that drops. So on occasions it would flair up.
We then reintroduced james wellbeloved back into his diet and he was very good for some time.  I changed his diet to a similar brand for sensitive tummies as I thought he was getting bored - then it came back with a vengeance. Since then over the month he has lost 4 kilos. Gone from 18k to 14k which is far to low for a standard dachy. This is because every day for a month he has had diarreah and vomiting. Nothing stays down. Was put on metrnidazol and steriods. worked for a week -firm poos but no weight gain. Vet said to put him on chappie. and he seem a lot better although still lethargic and skinny. Can no longer get up step after going for wees in garden, we have to lift him up and up on to the chair. Very sorry sad state he is in.  I am cried none stop at the desperation of feeling alone even though the vets have been quite supportive. Today I took him as an emergency to the vets has his diarreah this morning contained equal pools of red fresh blood. He had a drink then vomited that up. He look almost dead. Off we went wrapped in his special blanket thinking it best for him to be PTS than suffer any more. Fortunately, the vet said we will continue to fight to save him. Gave him injections not sure what but think an anti nausea and salazopyrin as he just cannot keep anything down. He is home now on the settee wrapped up in his blanket sleeping. He has to go back on saturday for an update and to see where we go from here - if there is anything else to try! in the meantime I have some oralade drink for him to help rehydrate and some more salazopyrin tablets to see if he can keep these down. Not allowed any food til tonight and that will be potatoe.

So not sure what else to do. All of your comments on the bedlington terrier post have been really helpful and reassuring but sad also to know that so many lovely dogs are suffering.  If there is any additional advice you can think of please let me know. I was thinking of homeopathic vet? Any success stories?
God bless and happy new year
Tracy

Hi all fellow dog owners with colitis problems.

I have just come across this website today, being a newcomer to the world of computing!!

I have a 6 y.o. jack russell bitch whom I think has this condition.  She had blood tests at the beginning of the year to rule out allergies and since I put her on a diet of James Wellbeloved with a LITTLE chappie mixed in it twice a day with a sprinkle of probiotic granules on it, she has been better but not completely. (she is having a bad day today) She will never look at any food first thing on a day when she is going to be 'off'' it all day. Like many of the posts I have just read, she DID have very bloody stools and mucass as well as dreadful flatulence. The pong is like rotten eggs or something really awful. Usually. the next day now, she will be o.k. and want her breakfast.  I give her half a buscopan tablet if I think the cramps are bad (she does the stretching thing and also sits looking at the floor and is obviously very uncomfortable). I had no idea the problem was so common as my vet seemed a bit puzzled by her symptoms. i hope a solution can be found soon for all affected. So glad I found this website tho'.

" If there is any additional advice you can think of please let me know. I was thinking of homeopathic vet? Any success stories? "

This has worked on one of my dogs, and on two owned by others:
"Pro-Kolin", which is a paste that "lines" the stomach and bowels.
(here only sold at the vet's, don't know about in G.B.)
Royal Canin's food "Intestinal" which is much more
effective than oldfashioned rice and chicken made at home.

The "Pro-Kolin" is given before each meal. To begin with small meals often. The "Pro-Kolin"
is only used for a few days to start with. Then the diet food is enough.

If a dog has tendencies to develop colitis, don't change the food! It's often just the change itself that starts it off. It's not the new food in itself that's wrong, it's the actual changing of the food that's upsetting.

Good Luck!

Try some Slippery Elm powder.......

My Boxer is now 20 months old and he has suffered on and off with colitis. I changed him onto a raw food diet some time ago now and that did seem to help but he stills get reasonably regular runny poos and I have been to the vets several times to be told he has colitis. I used Pro Kalin but it didn't seem to help much. I give him a dollop of yoghurt regularly which he loves and I'm sure it does him good but we still need to visit the vets to be given tablets to clear up colitis every now and then.

I don't like the idea of giving him tablets too often so I researched herbal remedies and I came across slippery elm. After much reading I bought some and I now give my boy a couple of tea spoons in his evening meal and it certainly seems to be helping him.

Just a thought for you guys with suffering dogs! Might be worth looking at. I got mine from Hilton Herbs.

Rosie

Hi all, and a happy and hopefully, colitis free new year!!

This diet thing seems to me to be at the root of the problem.  Some years ago now, I put my Dobermans onto a "natural" diet as advocated in the popular book "Give your dog a bone"  Mainly chicken wings and chicken carcasses with the addition of semi-raw veg.  From time to time. during the life of the last Dobe I had, he did have episodes of the squitters.  When I acquired my rescue Jack Russell bitch, Bella, she was introduced to raw chicken wings as a beginning to adopting a natural diet.  She was fine for 2 years and then suddenly, began to have these dreadful. and I mean dreadful, attacks of loose, smelly stools full of blood and greyish mucous. Thankfully, we have not had such extreme attacks recently, but as I put in my recent post, she is far from being cured.  Does anyone else have experience of a "natural diet" causing a problem?  We do not know what chemicals are in the chickens we buy today!!

Hi - so far we are doing really well here - no nasty poos for almost three weeks - and no vomiting since Christmas day !!! Barney had his tests back and he has no allergies yet I am pretty sure Chicken does not do him any favours to be honest - you may be right - I have heard that Chicken can be injected with Lactose so maybe they dont like that ??

Just been chatting by email to the nice people at Burns - although looking at their website they only do FIsh and rice meals whereas I want potato and fish food - does anyone know what other companies do that combination ???

I have asked burns to send me some samples though

Sending cuddles to all the doggies who put their owners through hell with their toilet habits !!!

Anna
xx

>I want potato and fish food - does anyone know what other companies do that combination ???

Wainwright's (Pets At Home Own Brand) does a salmon and potato variey.

Besides allergies, there are also dietary intolerances which don't show up in allergy test but can be just as bad for the sufferer :(

DS isn't allergic to poultry (he's been tested) but if he eats any poultry meat/fat/oil or anything with them in, they go straight through, transit time about 90 minutes and it takes about a week for his digestion to settle down :( :(   very nasty :(

Wafcol make a Salmon and potato diet, they also make a vegetarian diet (one of my old dogs only did well on vegetarian food, anything else made him itch constantly)

http://www.valupets.com/c/4849/wafcol-complete-dog-food/wafcol.html

Hi Moody.
I also have colitis problems with one of my bitches. Like yours she was on a raw natural diet for about 18 months and all was great then suddenly it all went pear shaped. bad mucousy runs. Straining and passing nothing.
She is now also on a salmon & potato diet. ie
Wafcol
Wainwrights
Also a company call Challenge do a salmon & potato
She also has Hill's d/d tins, mainly of salmon but can cope with the other meats, like duck, venison and lamb but only in the d/d range. She can also tolerate the Hills z/d complete which is supposed to be completely allergen free.
I also thopugh have found it best not to vary her diet too drastically!! :o0
CJS also do a salmon complete food.
Also what about James Wellbeloved fish & veg. complete. I've not tried it but have it on standby in case she gets an intolerance to her regular diet.
And Fish4dogs do salmon complete and they have a new sardine complete out now.
if I think of any more I'll post them on

Hi everyone - things are going really well here at last - we have had one dose of nasty poo and vomit with a bit of blood but the next day all was back to normal !!

I have learned I guess that we have to ride out the bad days and not worry too much - he certainly bounced back from the last nasty day really quickly and I have to admit I breathed rather a big sigh of relief !!

He is currently on boiled potatoes and NatureDiet Fish food !! ugh it stinks !! but he loves it and is doing really well - back to being full of energy and more like the dog I used to have.

I have had discussions with the people at Burns - and we are now going to gradually phase in then move over to Fish and Maize dry food, he has had a couple of them as little treats to see if he likes it then we will phase it in over the next few weeks.  I have been advised to try him on the food for a month before making any decisions - or to see if he settles on it so will wait and see.

Hope everyone's little furry friends are doing ok and have enjoyed the snow.

Anna and Barney xxx

Hi Anna.
so pleased to hear things are going well for him. sounds like the boiled potatoes and Nature diet fish recipe is working :o)
Keep us informed as to how things are going, and how he settles to the Burns fish & maize complete.
Anne

Hi - things are going well here, we decided on Burns Fish and Brown Rice as there was brown rice in his NatureDiet food and he seemed to tolerate it well.

We are now on 60g a day over three meals with a small amount of boiled potato and Naturediet Fish and Potato meal.  This is his second full week with the Burns and he loves it.

His poo is actually proper poo at last !!! (sorry about the discription!!!)   we had a couple of days when he did a proper poo followed by a bit of mucousy blood but the next poo was fine so thats pretty good compared to before christmas.

He stopped his Sulphasalazine tablets last week so that may be a contributing factor to the blood so we went back to the vet on monday for a review and he is back on them - half a tablet twice a day and once he is fully on the burns food we will try and stop the pills again.

The Vet is really pleased with him and thinks we are doing the right thing with his diet so fingers crossed he will keep improving.  He has lost about a kg in weight so hopefully he will start putting that back on now.

He is certainly a happier dog and we dont seem to be getting any stomach ache or squeeking any more which is brilliant.  He did vomit the other morning but it was nothing exciting and no blood and he came straight in and ate his breakfast !!!

So glad we seem to be settling things down - I appreciate we will have good and bad days though but his bad days are nowhere near as bad as they used to be.

Hope everyone's little furry friends are ok

Anna

I am so pleased for you that things have settled down at last.
you must be over the moon.
Well done
Anne

Hi all and a happy new year.

Bella has been colitis free since the 3lst December.  Long may it last.  She is on the James Wellbeloved complete once a day with a very small amount of Chappie for breakfast and several small biscuits for lunch.
I give her probiotic yogurt several  times a week (desertspoonfull).
I do  hope all you fellow sufferers find a way through for your sakes and your fury friends.

All the best.
Moody 

Hi
So very interesting to read all posts. It always seems that when our dogs are ill that they are the only ones with these symtoms. Our Bichon Frise has had soft poo's then really liquid/sloppy (sorry about gross description!) He just stopped yesterday, no bouncing around no running or even a struggle to walk, he just sat looking sorry for himself. I took him to the vets who said I had to carry on with chicken and rice (had been for the last 4 days) and gave Clavaseptin tablets and Pro-Kolin paste. Came away a little less worried and £70 lighter!!
Today he still has explosive diarrhea, never been off food or no vomiting. He is running around and into everything. How long before we see some firmer stools? He is nearly 6 years old and never had tummy problems before. He is on Burns minibites and has been for years.
The ironic thing is my husband has been diagnosed with Crohns disease and has had a colon flare up for the last 16 weeks with spells in hospital. I think Hitler let our new year in !!!!
Regards
Deb

Hi there - we stopped the chicken and rice and went to white fish and potatoes and saw an almost immediate improvement - I dont think Chicken and Rice agreed with Barney.

Gotta dash - give us all an update later and I will check back in

Anna

Little update from the Babysitter (my dad !!) today - Barney has been eating really well but today did not eat his breakfast and his tummy started to squeek like mad again !!!

He did not give him any meds but left a couple of his bicces down for him.

He slept all afternoon and has now eaten his tea and seems fine .

Really pleased as he is obviously much better on his new diet and even if he has a poorly session it clears up really quickly

AJ

Another little update for everyone - barney has been really well for ages - then last thurs we had a nightmare day !!!

He had eaten really well for a couple of days before - and then would not eat his breakfast - we went for walkie and first poo was ok - then second one was runny and some blood and mucous at the end.

He then did about four lots of nothing but blood and mucous in the afternoon and was sick - but just white frothy vomit !!

I decided as he looked so sorry for himself that we would go to the vet - one injection later and some reassurance from the vet and all is back to normal.  His first poo the next day was fine and we are back to eating normally now.

There were only two different things for him in the last couple of weeks - one was that he stayed with my dad for a week but was fine all week, the second thing was a nice kind lady !!! in the paper shop gave him two doggie biscuits on the Monday - wonder if that was what set him off on the Thursday ?  Who knows

However what I can say is he improves much quicker now his diet is set and is eating much more than ever - he even asks for his food !!! just trying to build him up now and all he is on is Burns fish and brown rice and Naturediet stinky fish and potato with brown rice.  Then his treasts are James Wellbeloved Turkey treats - and all seems fine.

AJ

Ugh horrid day today !!!

Woke up at 9am to a dog with a squeeky belly !!! he would not eat anything then pottered around for a while and eventually went out and was sick - he brought up what looked like last nights supper of Burn dry and some stinky fish stuff - it was almost undigested !! but he seemed to feel a bit better after that.  Then about 30 mins later he went out and did a horrid poo !!! mucous followed by jelly blood and then sloppy poo !! ugh it was horrid !!

He then came back in and was shaking lots but went to bed - one little bloody accident later and all settled.  It is now 8pm and he is fast asleep and doing fine and has eaten his tea

Its so annoying and I hate to see him feeling rough but he seems to recover really quickly now which is a bonus - just need to tell my head not to stress about it !!!

I reckon I overfed him last night to be honest - anyone else have any thoughts on this ?

Have reduced his food down now and will resist the temptation to over feed just because he is hungry !!!

AJ

Hi. Sorry to hear of your problems. Have two bassets which at various times have suffered badly from colitis. Have tried most of those foods mentioned in the previous posts. Nature diet gave us a good period of normal output but then after almost a year it all began again - vet tells me this if often the way. They now have gone their longest without problems and are on a product called Robbies - I'm tempting fate by saying almost two years! If I have (whoops) if they have a problem it's normaly due to the fact they eat rubbish when out for walks and it looks like its coming back, give them kaloin for a day and if that doesn't settle things start them on salsaprine (sorry about spelling can't be bothered to go and get the bottle). Vet give me some to keep. Robbies, looks good enough to eat and they both love it. Good luck

Hi guys - we have been doing really well lately but things are off again now - I decided that maybe the Chicken James Wellbeloved treats were the cause of his upsets as I think he has an issue with chicken - so I stopped them and put him on the Ocean Fish version - he loves them but not sure if is coincidence or not but he has had a bit of a relapse this last week. 

To be honest he was off his food a little bit before I started the different treats - but then it went on to be a nice grotty day on Weds - didnt eat breakfast, ordinary poo followed by runny one followed by mucous one !! ugh !! then he was sick and seemed to settle down - but later in afternoon he did a massive bloody poo and really looked grim - he was stretching lots and clearly had belly ache so we trotted off to vets for a steroid jab and antibiotic jab.

Everything settled then and he has been fine since - however its now monday and we have a lovely squeeky belly and he does not want to eat - he has done two poos on our walk and both are fine.

I have read loads around the whole issue of colitis and just wonder what other people do when and if their dogs get this squeeky belly ?  do you use something to settle it ?  I have a friend who gives her dog Milk of Magnesia when he has the squeeks and this settles it down. not sure whether to try this or not ?  Vet suggested Ranitidene which is a human Antacid but in a tablet form and this seems to froth almost in his tummy and makes him sick.

I guess for me - I have changed my outlook on it all as I know its only colitis and at the end of the day I dont need to worry so much about him - but I hate to see him feeling down in the dumps so am wandering round looking for some more advice.

Any advice as usual would be good.

Lacy - whats the Kaolin stuff you mention ?

Anna.
Kaolin or Kaolin & Morphine, our vet has confirmed that either will help. Morphine obviously assists with discomfort. I use the paediatric mixture, it's used to soothe and settle an upset stomack and diarrhea, you can get it from any chemist (just don't say it's for you dog as I got a lecture about not allowing over the counter meds at Boots for animal use!). I only use if for a day or so and it normaly settles things without a visit to the vet.

ah ok - I will ask the vet next time I see him - is it a liquid form ?  I seem to remember using it as a kid for tummy ache ! - Barney is asleep on his back now so I think things are settling, would be nice though to have something I could use to ease his tummy pain tho when it comes on.

Thanks for the prompt response
Anna

>we have a lovely squeeky belly and he does not want to eat - he has done two poos on our walk and both are fine.

This sounds exactly what Piglet has. He's been getting this every week or two since Christmas; we've done all sorts of faecal tests and there's been nothing particularly out of the ordinary - nothing pathogenic nor parasitic. He's doing it again today - only eating grass and nothing else. It's so frustrating not being able to cure it.