sudden food sensitivity?

[rubysmom]

My Ruby is 7.5 years old, and she's been eating Innova for probably five of those years (regular adult formula, not EVO). This summer, she developed colitis (soft/runny stool w/ blood and mucus). The vet says it's likely due to something that she's eaten. We have stopped giving her anything other than her food (no treats, no fish oil, no scraps for the past couple of months). She has had two courses of meds (metronidazole sound right?), but her poo looks like it's getting mushy again. The vet says that our next course of action is to put her on Science Diet z/d, because it's likely that she's developed a sensitivity to her food. From everything that I've read (especially on this board), I don't think I want to feed her Science Diet. I'd like to try switching to a different premium food to see if she does better on it.

What do you think? What would you do? Should I put her on the Science Diet, at least temporarily, or should I go against the vet's recommendation and try to find a different food myself?

[Team Peanut]

i would go with a different LID or make your own food. science diet is garbage even the presciption diets

[Misskiwi67]

Has she been checked for parasites, including giardia?

[rubysmom]

Should have mentioned--she did have a "diarrhea panel." The results were that her normal intestinal bacteria (don't remember if the vet told me the specific bacteria) was present in higher than normal numbers, which is why he diagnosed her with colitis. They didn't find any parasites.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

i would go with a different LID or make your own food. science diet is garbage even the presciption diets

Call the commerical companies and ask them if their diets are suitable for a dog with colitis.

[PitbullLover*]

My dog (german shepard) suffers from colitis, she also had loose poop, blood etc. It only got worse and worse with feeding kibble ( I tried many brand including 3 different types from the vet's office) she's now on a home made fish diet with some rice (every other day)...If you can't feed home made diet, then check if the desired food/kibble does NOT contain grains or other food additives since dogs with colitis can't digest it, actually normal dogs can't either. But dog with colitis can get very sick from it, last week I tried duck and brown rice from a hypoallergenic food but she cannot digest this either and it resulted also in skin irratitations on her whole body....so now back to fish and rice, and in a few weeks i''m going to try home made chicken see how that goes. With this disease its really important to find out what triggers the symptoms and to get the whole system stomach etc. as calm as possible. My vet also recommended a new brand of food, but it still contained grain and other things I thought would not help her, so I went for a home made food, I feel if you think this food the vet wants to give isn't going to help her then I would go with what you think will work....good luck this is a very tricky disease which takes time before its under control

[Misskiwi67]

My vet also recommended a new brand of food, but it still contained grain and other things I thought would not help her, so I went for a home made food, I feel if you think this food the vet wants to give isn't going to help her then I would go with what you think will work....good luck this is a very tricky disease which takes time before its under control

Read the thread about "Are grain free diets really grain free" and see multiple studies about the contamination of commercial dog foods.

Veterinary prescription diets have also been tested, and do not have this problem. The ingredients may not read as well, but if your dog DOES have a sensitivity, and you don't know whats in the bag, trying new foods is a crapshoot anyway.

I dislike z/d unless its a last ditch effort. I prefer some of the other limited ingredient diets, Purina and Royal Canin make several good options.

[Team Peanut]

i wouldn't do any prescription diet. i would go with making my own food. you can control what your dog is eating and know exactly what is really in it.

[Misskiwi67]

i wouldn't do any prescription diet. i would go with making my own food. you can control what your dog is eating and know exactly what is really in it.

Absolutely... for those who are willing to put in the time and effort to do so correctly. This is not the majority of people, and this is why we have veterinary prescription diets. Just because YOU wouldn't do so doesn't make this the right choice for the next person.

Any long-term home-cooked diet for a medical condition should also be formulated by a veterinary nutritionist. There are several options for online consultations regarding particular dietary needs.

Anyone considering a home-made diet should subscribe to Monica Segal's Newsletter... http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2010-03NL.php

She has some awesome tidbits:

Fact of The Month
Wholesome Ingredients Do Not Always Translate To a Balanced Diet

Very often, someone asks me to promote their business. Sometimes it’s a new shampoo or leash, but usually the request comes from someone making a fresh food diet be it raw or cooked. Most are happy to offer “Human Grade” or “All Natural” foods. This time it was a cooked diet, and curiosity led me to check out the site. To be polite, I could say it was an interesting discovery, but the truth is that it was just scary. The site claims that "Calcium alone should not be added to the diet. This can create toxicity and imbalance". This is complete nonsense. Calcium should always be added to a diet if the diet lacks it, and the diets on this site certainly do. My guess is that the owner of the company believes that the small amount of cottage cheese will do the trick.

Not only is that impossible, but it happens that cottage cheese provides more phosphorus than calcium. Even if fed alone the calcium to phosphorus ratio is incorrect, so there is no chance that it can add enough calcium to balance any diet. If that’s not enough, basil and oregano are touted as good calcium sources. Many foods contain a tad of calcium, and these herbs are no exception, but even if we fed our dogs pounds of basil and/or oregano daily, calcium requirements would not be met. Firstly, because dogs aren’t herbivores and can’t eat that much vegetation without having diarrhea, but more importantly, the source of any mineral must be considered if we hope to provide something that can be absorbed. Remember that we are we eat is only partially true. More accurately, we are what we absorb, and this is a factual statement for dogs as well. A diet without added calcium (RMBs, eggshells or generic calcium) will meet roughly 10% of a dog`s calcium requirement.

It was hoped that I would suggest these foods to clients, but given that they are not only low in calcium, but also in B vitamins, zinc, copper, and iron at minimum, that`s not going to happen. My take-home message is this: Don`t assume that wholesome ingredients add up to a balanced diet. The diets in question were formulated by a chiropractor, so the site refers to this as Dr. so-and-so. Regardless of the title, these are diets that remain unbalanced and can be risky in the long term. Buyer beware! Just because someone thinks they know enough to feed your dog well doesn’t mean they really do.

Yet more hype on the site in question comes from the statement that allergies are a sign of poor nutrition. A dog can be provided wonderful nutrition and continue to have allergies. This is especially true in cases of food allergy because although the diet may be wonderful in theory, the dog is reacting to one or more components. So, food allergy resolution comes not from good nutrition alone. It comes from the elimination of the allergen combined with a properly balanced diet. I could go on regarding the misinformation that was presented to me for approval, but I`m sure you get the drift. Be sure to check facts before buying products that are hyped to be good for your dog. This is arguably even more important when it comes to food because as we all know, a healthy diet is the cornerstone of health.
Monica

[Team Peanut]

i agree they should seek a licensed nutritionist rather then just talk to their GP veterinarian. i love my vet but i do not want their advice for food. if i needed a specialized diet for my boy i would rather seek a nutritionists advice.
i WISH more veterinarians would recommend people see nutritionist then just prescribing kibble.

[Misskiwi67]

i WISH more veterinarians would recommend people see nutritionist then just prescribing kibble.

I do too, and I wish more owners wanted more than a quick fix. The population here is VERY different from the day to day population I see, and overall my clientele is excellent.

But for some people, its just not an option, and that needs to be taken into account as well. Myself, I work 50-60 hours a week and feel its much more of a priority to make sure my dogs get exercise and training instead of home-cooked food. So my dogs get kibble. Frankly, I can barely feed myself most days, let alone my dogs!

[Team Peanut]

i think something a lot more veterinary offices should hire is nutritionist and they should start talking to people with puppies and kittens and be then available to people that would like a better diet for their individual dog or cat. (i know i am asking for a lot)
but when people go looking at foods in the beginning it can be overwhelming and i learned the hard way with my boy and we have had adventures in food starting with nutro (where he was constantly vomiting after each meal) to blue to evo to orijen now to primal.
if i would have had access to a nutritionist i may have had a shorter adventure in foods. i had to learn by trial and error and researching new things on my own.

[Misskiwi67]

i think something a lot more veterinary offices should hire is nutritionist and they should start talking to people with puppies and kittens and be then available to people that would like a better diet for their individual dog or cat. (i know i am asking for a lot)

There are only about 75 veterinary nutritionists in the US, and most of them are employed by big food companies. For individual veterinary offices to have access to a veterinary nutritionist outside a consultation service would be an impossible task.

[Team Peanut]

i am aware of that that is why its a "wish" seriously though it would be nice. especially for people like the OP who needs someone to look at their dogs records and current condition and activity level and make a custom diet for them so they don't have to eat generic LID or Rx diets.

[PitbullLover*]

My vet also recommended a new brand of food, but it still contained grain and other things I thought would not help her, so I went for a home made food, I feel if you think this food the vet wants to give isn't going to help her then I would go with what you think will work....good luck this is a very tricky disease which takes time before its under control

Read the thread about "Are grain free diets really grain free" and see multiple studies about the contamination of commercial dog foods.

Veterinary prescription diets have also been tested, and do not have this problem. The ingredients may not read as well, but if your dog DOES have a sensitivity, and you don't know whats in the bag, trying new foods is a crapshoot anyway.

I dislike z/d unless its a last ditch effort. I prefer some of the other limited ingredient diets, Purina and Royal Canin make several good options.

They night not have the problem with contamination but it still has alot of useless ingredients, and if you need to figure out what's causing the problem its better if they don't use cow fat in their supposely ''duck&rice'' diet. Not to mention chemical additives (antioxidants its called I think). Atleast thats what I think is very upsetting, I do read alot on how to properly feed my dog, and I have the money to buy her food heck that dog eats better then I do I want to try different foods with her one at the time to see if her problems worsen if not its added to the foodlist, for now only fish and veggies...I just read that rice is also considered grain and now i'm not sure if that a good idea to feed a dog with colitis... I agree with if you don't know whats in a bag trying new foods is useless. Royal canin is a pretty good food but still they use chemical additives atleast the normal commercial dogfood does, and as far as I know the food you buy at the animalclinic also has it, and the dog can also have a sensitivity for those additives. Thats why I decided to go against my vets advice for the duck&rice kibble...