We rehomed a Bedlington Terrier (Abby) in January and almost immediately she suffered stomach problems with diarrohea and mucus and a little blood. The vet has diagnosed colitis. Abby is two next month, and whilst the breeder from whom we rehomed was not totally honest with us, he assures us that she only had bad diarrohea once and that was a long time ago. Initially we thought it may be due to stress but now she seems really happy and settled.

Abby was put on a sensitivity diet by the vet back in January (Royal Canin/Waltham Sensitivity Control food) but this has yet to work. She had a steroid injection early last week. However, the day after the injection she was like a zombie and not with it at all. She was also really peckish and drank a lot of water(and wee'd a lot as well). She was back to her normal self on Wednesday but the colitis also returned.

So on Thursday last week it was back to the vets again and this time she was given a longer lasting steroid. Friday she turned into a zombie again but she did not go to the toilet at all. On Saturday she was getting back to her normal self but did two pools of dark diarrohea. On Sunday morning she was sick and then did a poo. This time it was pretty soft but formed stools. Today she has done two poos. The first one consisted of soft stools followed by diarrohea and the second was much the same with some mucus as well. So all in all we are not getting very far.

Abby used to eat Royal Canin Mini before but we found that she drank a lot of water with it and we originally thought this was the cause of the problem. But of course it is still continuing even with the sensitive diet. The only difference now is that she is has a huge appetite (due to the steroids) whereas initially she went off her food when she had tummy trouble.

We are feeding her a tin of Sensitivity Control each day, split into three meals and tomorrow we are going to try five small meals to see if this helps.

We also have considered that the water may be a problem. She has moved from Yorkshire to Essex and it is very hard here. From tomorrow we are going to start boiling it again and then on Wednesday it is back to the vets. I cant help but think there will be an easy solution to this but we are heading towards tests.

If anyone has any ideas, these would be most welcome.

Hi Lewisk you could try probiotics I buy mine from www.aviform.co.uk postage is free in the UK and they sell very good products.
Or you can try using a few spoonfuls of NATURAL yoghurt I hope your little friend will get better very soon
hope this helps
Edith

Thank you Edith. We have tried probiotic powder for a few days at a time without much luck but I think we should perhaps try it (or the natural yoghurt) for a prolonged period. Thanks for the web address.

http://www.bowchow.com/specific.html

take a look at this link, it may help you.

Thank you for the link

Hi,
My friend's dog has got colitis, and they went through a terrible time with her, where she started losing loads of weight.  Then someone told her to use Wafcol Potato & Salmon (dried food), and she's hardly had problems since.  She also adds a bit of Naturediet Lite to it, as the dog doesn't like dried food on its own.  Has put her weight back on, and still gets the odd spell of the runs, when she has a steroid tablet, but loads better than before.
  Hilda

I have seen the Wafcol website and wondered whether we should try this. Its good to hear that the product has been seen to work and icolitis can be kept under control. I think this may be the next food to try. Thanks for the advice.

My rescue westie was diagnosed with Collitis in March last year. He had problems similar to your dogs and it took the vet ages to diagnose him. He had probiotics, steroids and all sorts and I really was getting very worried about him. At first when he was diagnosed the vet put him onto tablets called Salozopyrin he had half a tablet twice a day, he also put him on prescription food(Hills Caninine ID) it was rather expensive at £1.30 a tin but I thought well if it works! He was fine for about a month or so and then it came back. His medication was changed to a quarter of a tablet 3 times a day but it still didn't clear up properly. I tried other foods without any success and then someone on this forum mentioned Naturdiet Lite. I put him onto this straight away I didn't bother mixing it with his old food as he was having an attack anyway and it really did cure him overnight. I cannot tell anyone enough what a miracle cure this is, my Westie was really bad and was getting really distressed because he kept making a mess in the house. It is fantastic stuff and since being on this food he hasn't had another attack and he's even allowed 1 bonio a day! Something he couldn't have had in the past. Please try it I'm sure it will work its relatively cheap as well 59p a carton. Once your dogs diet is settled the water shouldn't affect it my dog has been all over the country and is quite happy. Hope he gets better soon.

Many thanks for your message. Your situation seems to mirror ours. As you were the second person to mention Naturdiet Lite and it worked wonderfully for you, I made a made dash to the pet store before it closed and got a few packs. Abby seems to prefer wetter food to the dry sort and so we decided to go for this before we try Wafcol. The vet has said that we could spend a lot of time and money on tests and probably end up no further ahead. So if this works it will be wonderful.

It looks like Naturediet Lite may well be working. We started it on Tuesday and yesterday she had only a little diarrohea in her second motion. Her first was fine. Today (Friday's) first motion was also perfect! We are very hopeful though a little cautious not to get over excited just in case things reverse. I will give a further update in a few days but things are looking very good and we must thank you for your advice. What would we do without the internet these days? Whilst she liked her old sensitivity food you have to say she loves Naturediet. She actually stands on her back legs waiting for it and I am surprised there is any paint left on the bowl the way she licks it clean.

hey that's good news Lewisk keeping my fingers crossed that your dog settles on the naturediet!
Edith

Lewisk. I was wondering  how it was going. Glad to here that it seems to be working. You must keep us all posted. Naturediet has a website that explains a little about their food. I also e-mailed them and told them how I think that they needed to advertise more as it was only through this forum that I discovered this cure in the first place.

Three days of perfect stools now. This is the best we have ever seen with Abby and she has never gone more than a couple without diarrohea. I am spreading the word about Naturediet. Bought a months supply today. Many many thanks again for your advice. We have also started to give her a couple teaspoonfuls of bio natural yoghurt now as an evening dessert. It is great to know that we have got to the root of the cause. I don't believe our vets would have. Can never thank you enough for your help.

Be sure that you get a correct diagnosis of your dog's condition before changing diets etc and use the information on the link given.  Not all "colitis" is ACTUALLY colitis :)  It can often be used as a "blanket" term to cover all digestive upsets. 

Good Luck

Just a thought but may be the food you are feeding is not suited to Abby. Not all dogs are suited to some sensitive foods. When we rehomed bengi we were told he had a sensitive tummy and was on omega they claimed it stopped the problem but i found it made it worse. We changed to a gluten free and diary free product called quantum choice and have never looked back. We did try JWB not long ago but that gave him terrible diarehrea. So maybe its worth changing if shes still having trouble.

Thanks for the further advice. The vet has said that tests might not get us anywhere but he is almost certain that it is colitis although the cause is obviously unknown. Having seen the effects of steroids on Abby we have decided to try the Naturediet Lite food. It certainly should be no worse than Sensitivity Control prescription food and if it works we will save her from more stress at the vets. Many thanks.

Hi
My dog had simular and our vet advised before we go down the medication route try mixing a spoonful of bran (tablespoon) and cooking her a different vegetable than normal to add to her meal ( he recommended squash or pumkin). It didn't sound feesible to me lol but I did it and hey normal poohs no blood and no mucus and touch wood for us it has worked everytime.

Thank you for your response. As you my have seen above we are going to try Naturediet Lite first. I notice that it is high in fibre and it contains carrots which she has not had, so in a roundabout way I think we may be taking your advice. Many Thanks.

Many thanks to everybody for their help. It is good to know that other people have got their loved ones through this nasty illness. I will let you know how matters progress. Many thanks again.

Naturediet update! Still brilliant. Everybody should feed their dog this! We can even feed occassional treats now like a raw carrot or a few mixer bits. Many Thanks