I would be interested to hear if anyone else has a dog with colitis. My 3 year old Coton bitch has just been diagnosed with it, though I already suspected it. She has just started a 2 week course of anti inflammatories, and I am trying to be very careful with her diet because I think this is a major factor for her. What I really wonder is, will she be likely to have this for life, or do dogs sometimes recover and get it under control with no flare ups again? Thanks.

Hi Honeybee

colitis is a mainly generalised term for an unknown cause of upset tum and loose bowel problems.  Personally with ongoing or frequently recurring bouts of colitis I'd want a definitive diagnosis of the cause although sometimes the symptoms can be associated with stress factors so perhaps you would be able to work out the reasons and remove the stress catalysts yourself.

For reasons other than stress, diet is the most often looked at method of prevention often needing a change of food and also a stricter regime re meal times and what (if any) treats should be given.

See how your girl gets on with the anti inflammatories and in the meantime keep a diary of her health noting any changes which you think could be associated with causing problems.  If there is an obvious pattern it gives you something to work with together with your vet to prevent further flare ups or, if necessary, will help your vet decide if any tests are needed to better assist the root cause.

best wishes, Teri

Teri thankyou that is interesting, I didn't know there could be different causes or a stress factor involved. She has always had a tendency to occasional bouts of upset tummy (always during the night so I get no sleep!!) and lately they have been more frequent also with blood in her poos.
I certainly thought it was just diet related, but now I am thinking, could there be any link with the fact that we have also recently got another dog? She seems happy and they get on well but her worsening symptoms probably did start at the same time. I am thinking of this because there have been no other changes.

i had a male weimaraner that suffered with this all his life. I found a definate food link, as nothing else was different in his life. he started symptoms at around 6-8 mths (from memory, it was a very long time ago). I found that, when on boiled chicken and rice he was fine, any treats of the 'produced' kind would upset him, although he was, when 'normal', ok with a knucle bone. I tried a few quality foods, finally using Eukanuba but once they changed what went in (just before P and G took over) he started again. I then changed to what seemed closest, Arden Grange classic adult, and he never looked back.

Not saying this will work for yours, because each case is different, but this is what did it for me. if I ran out of food, and fed another commercial diet (think it was Beta) the symptoms came back (didnt do that again!) he couldnt take Autarky either, so he stayed on the Arden Grange.

Good luck, I know just how awful this is.

Hi again Honeybee,

perhaps the new family member is causing a bit of stress to your older girl (sheesh, been there, had that, got it again as it happens LOL) however the fact that you say

> She has always had a tendency to occasional bouts of upset tummy (always during the night so I get no sleep!!)

makes me think that, unless these bouts have happened in connection with an obvious stress period (say thunder storms, trips to vet, car journey, etc) that perhaps there is a greater likeliehood of this being diet related - as covered by Calmstorm.

Have you tried her on any of the various OTC sensitive diets?  If not, it may be that she is intolerant to an ingredient in her normal food or even table scraps given occasionally.  It might be worthwhile checking the ingredients of her food and changing to something different.  The most common intolerance suspects are wheat, maize/corn, glutens in many forms, chicken and beef. 

HTH, best wishes for your girl's speedy return to comfort, Teri :)

Some twenty odd years ago (God am I really that old!) my first Goldie suffered badly with colitis. She was prescribed sulfasalazine on and off whenever she had a bad bout. Hers was definitely diet linked. We finally found a food that suited her (Gilpa Valumix of all things) and she lived happily on that for the rest of her life with no medication needed.

Yes I think the problem is probably diet. I did post on here recently about her sickness, I had worked out pretty early on that fatty foods go through her and she threw up with fish. Then more recently I have cut out anything with beef or pork because they seem to be bad news - to be honest I am pretty clueless in this regard, I did think dogs could eat any meat.  At the weekend she was given a tiny bit of ham and then had terrible diarrhoea with blood.  Then she was up almost all night last night, and I was racking my brains to think of what she had, she did have a little bit of chicken but this never used to be a problem. Her basic food is purina pro plan adult small breed, should I stick with this or can anyone recommend something which tends to suit an extremely delicate tummy? Thanks for all the advice, it really is a nasty problem, she quite obviously is in a lot of discomfort and spends ages in the garden retching, straining and eating grass - and for some reason the symptoms are worse at night!!

Calmstorm I see your dog was best on Arden Grange, is this a food that might be recommended to try? I have never seen it.

> Her basic food is purina pro plan adult small breed

Hi again Honeybee,

the Purina site lists the ingredients for that food as being a chicken and rice food but also containing "Maize gluten, Maize, Wheat , Animal fat "  As mentioned earlier, maize, wheat and gluten in various forms CAN be problematic to dogs with sensitive digestive systems and as far as the "animal fat" statement is concerned, this could be any kind of animal, i.e. beef for example which may not suit your girl.

I'd avoid a dry diet which contains the above and switch perhaps to a lamb based diet and see how that goes.  Fish based diets are often good too although I see you mention she was poorly after eating fish.  Some dogs cannot tolerate oily fish such as salmon or mackerel but do well on white fish.  Again something possibly worth looking into.

Full details of Arden Grange products can be found HERE and also THIS SITE offers quite a few varieties of foods otherwise not available at say Pets At Home.  I've used Timberwolf from there and, apart from problems at one time with obtaining stock, found it to be a good food which suited one of mine with sensitivity problems.   Although I've not tried it personally, I know that Orijen, also available from zooplus is rated quite highly with several CD members.

As with anything, no particular food will suit all dogs so you may have to do some lengthy research and experimentation before finding the ideal diet.  Hopefully some of this info will help meantime :)

best wishes, Teri

My pup had colitis for a couple of months when we first got him home.He was always at the vets on ab's and probiotics. As soon as we put him on Naturediet, the blood and mucus stopped literally after just 2 meals. We now feed him AG lamb and rice with  naturediet and have had no probs. So much so we can now try him with tastes of quite a few things with no explosive results ;) all veg,grated cheese, ham ,egg, his favourite being sausage and greens/green beans with his AG! He still can't tolerate oily fish like sardines and pilchards but a very tiny portion of white fish is ok. If I try him with other types of wet food he gets the squits, so I actually stick with just one flavour Naturediet and vary the tasty toppings every other day so he doesn't get bored.
EDIT used to feed orijen with great results til supplier had trouble getting big bags!

In your position I think I'd try something like Naturediet/Nature's Harvest which has readily identifiable, basic ingredients. I know ND do a sensitive gold variety or fish/rice (although I note your comments regarding fish). It might be worth speaking to them direct, they were always very helpful when I've spoken to them. I now feed raw and really haven't looked back, my lot (tempting fate now!) rarely, if ever, get upset tums.

Just another thought, you mention the problem is worse at night. When do you feed her?

My oldest boy was diagnosed with this several years ago. I discovered that turkey was the culpritSince I have  removed it from his diet he has been fine.

Fagan had what I could only descibe as IBS/colitis.  I got the vet to do some blood tests and found that he is intollerant of chicken and duck, he is now on Burns lamb and has been for the past 2 months with no problems at all.

Hi, I have a dog that since the New Year had been really poorly with Pancreatitus and Colitus, he kept going down with it every 2 to 3 weeks. About two and a half months ago we opted for a biopsy, which showed up that he had IBS, after a couple of weeks on 3 different types of pills and the RC Sensitivity Control (which is a Tapioca & whitefish variety) he has never been better and crossed fingers he hasn't been unwell since.  He loves his food, which he never really did before even as a pup, he eats both his breakfast and tea with gusto, he has put on weight and looks absolutely fantastic.  We have been told that he will have to stay on this diet for the rest of his life, though pricey at nearly £100 per month to feed him I do not mind as his health and well being comes first and will do anything to keep him healthy.  He has no treats just his food, I have just enrolled him back into puppy classes and I use his kibble as a treat.
Hope all goes well
Jane

I didn't know you could discover what the problem is through blood tests. I might ask the vet about this.  Yes the symptoms tend to come on at night, I do feed her morning and evening but actually she just gets a little bit of James Wellbeloved wet food at breakfast time, and the pro plan in the evening to which I have been adding some chicken or lamb.  Thanks to Teri's helpful post I have had a closer look at the ingredients of the pro plan and I hadn't considered the animal fats could be from beef.  I think I will try to get some Arden Grange to try, the lamb variety. I really hadn't paid such careful attention to the ingredients before. Does anyone know if Arden Grange is easily available or do I have to send for it?    

Hi just seen your post Jane, that's another food I haven't heard of!  I shall be delighted if I can also find something to suit my girl, glad you managed to sort things out for your dog.

One of our boys used to have bouts of colitis every few weeks or so. He'd go off his food and starve himself for 24 hours or so. We were quite strict about what we fed as Sibes can be quite sensitive anyway and only gave certain treats that we knew wouldn't upset him. He couldn't have pig ears or the next day he'd be suffering. Since feeding a food with probiotics in he hardly he has any problems. We used to feed Eaglepak power or adult (which was great but we decided a food produced in the UK would be preferable), and he's now on Arden Grange premium or lamb and rice and rarely has a problem with colitis now.

We buy Arden Grange direct and they ship it within a couple of days, but their website has details of local stockists.

<Yes the symptoms tend to come on at night, I do feed her morning and evening but actually she just gets a little bit of James Wellbeloved wet food at breakfast time, and the pro plan in the evening to which I have been adding some chicken or lamb.>

Could it be the Pro Plan is the problem? Why not try the JWB morning AND evening and see if she is OK with that.

I know it sounds like the Pro Plan is the obvious problem (and it may well be) but I didn't think of that because I hadn't analysed the ingredients properly and also she has been on it for a couple of years with only occasional upset tummies. It has only been the last couple of months that the symptoms have got  frequent.  Another possibility is, because this coincides with our new dog, I realised she has been getting more treats than usual because I have been training him and giving her rewards too to be fair! So it is confusing. I am going to cut out these treats and also get some Arden Grange. I prefer not to feed the wet food all the time because I think some dry food is good for her teeth, and I did try the JWB dry food but she didn't like it. I really appreciate all this advice, it is really a big help.

You may not want to feed wet all the time long term, but as a process of elimination, I'd stick to something she is OK with. If you start changing foods or adding new foods your aren't going to know where you are. You could just try the wet for a week and see what happens. If she's OK with that, add the dry and see if that upsets things. Or do it the other way round, dry only, but stick to one thing.

Dry food really doesn't help with teeth cleaning IMO, and the only real way to keep teeth clean is either cleaning manually with a toothbrush or giving RMBs.

Calmstorm I see your dog was best on Arden Grange, is this a food that might be recommended to try? I have never seen it.

There was no internet for me when I had him, and i just looked at the foods on offer at the time, following advice from my vet that food could be his problem. I looked for a more natural food, one being meat based and with little other things that could cause a problem, knowing wheat could be a factor. Eukanuba didnt have wheat at that time, so after trying other completes, i tried this one and he bloomed on it. When it changed, I already knew the makers of Arden Grange were the first franchise for Eukanuba so I looked at their foods and tried them, with success. For me it was a bit of trial and error, but once I found the right food for him all was well for his 12 yrs of life.

I can't recommend a food, it would be quite wrong for me to do so, but if you were going to try something different i would add this to your list because it worked so well for me. From having a 'bout' of colitus due to the change of euk and the addition of wheat (he reacted straight away, one bag that was clear to the bag that was not) I put him on chicken and rice until the arden grange arrived, then straight onto that and he cleared up and never looked back on that food.

google arden grange and you will see their website :) the food has been around for a good few years now, but not always in many pet shops.