colitis

[Cindy Beauloye]

My 5 yr.old female labradoodle has been diagnosed with colitis this past year.We have tried several types of dog food and have settled on Natural Balance sweet potato and bison with an added dollop of pumpkin.

When she would have a bout with bloody diarrhea we treated her with metronidazole and have now switched to Tylosin. We cannot figure out what causes this bouts. The vet says probably stress, but how do you determine that when there seems to be patterns to her problems.

I am wondering if any labradoodle owners have this problem ( is it common in the breed).If you have, what was successiful in treating the problem?

Hope someone will have a answer for me.

Thanks,

Cindy

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Cindy,

My labradoodle has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is an immune-mediated disease that can affect any or all parts of the GI tract. Chronic colitis can be part of IBD. IBD is not curable, it can only be managed with diet and medications. It is a very frustrating disease, as no one certain treatment works for every dog, it is mostly trial and error, and the cause is not known.

The only way to definitvely diagnose IBD is with an endoscopy or exploratory surgery, which obviously you don't do unless the dog is in serious distress. But there are other tests that can point to IBD. Has your vet run any bloodwork? It would be a good idea to have her cobalamin (B12) and folate levels checked. Low cobalamine with or without high folate can be indicative of IBD or a GI malabsorption issue.

If your doodle continues to have these flare-ups, I strongly recommend that you consult a veterinary internal medicine specialist. Often, any food other than the regular diet can trigger an episode.

There is also a syndrome called Irritable Bowel Disease, which is much less serious and is thought to be triggered by stress. This can usually be managed with diet and medication is usually only needed during an episode.

Here is some information: http://www.2ndchance.info/inflambowel.htm

[Cindy Beauloye]

Thanks for the very useful information.I know the vet did do blood work, just not sure what tests he ran.I guess the next step is to consult a specialist if the problem persists.

Love this dog!! And love labradoodles! Over the years we have had a lot of dogs and lots of different breeds and we think the labradoodles are the best.Just want to make sure that this problem isn't something that I will run into again if we get another labradoodle.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There isn't any way to know with most diseases that a particular dog will not get whatever, especially with mixed breed dogs. There is no way to test the parents for most of them.  My own labradoodle has two different immune-mediated diseases, one of which is known to be genetic and the other of which has strong breed propensities. 

With purebred dogs from breeders who put championship titles on their dogs, the dogs are not bred before the age of three, and often later, and they know their lines, and would have eliminated any dogs who developed a serious or life-altering disease. Some of these diseases do not show up until a dog is 5 or 6 years old. The best purebred breeders are not breeding to sell puppies, but rather to produce better dogs, so it is not to their advantage to keep dogs in their lines who might pass on any condition. And even then, there are many diseases that do still show up. When you have mixed breed dogs who are being bred strictly as pets for sale, with uncertain genetic backgrounds, breeds that carry for just about every disease out there, which applies to both Labs and poodles, and parents who are being bred well before the age when some of these things would have shown up, there is just no way to make sure that you won't run into this, or anything else, if you get another labradoodle. I love my labradoodle, too, but after what we have been through, I just don't know if I could ever take a chance on another one. I know there are no guarantees with any breed, and many of these things are not genetic and caused by other factors, but you can stack the deck in your favor. :-(

[Sue & Lily Grace]

My beat wishes are with you and your dog. It is difficult to see our dogs have chronic problems that we can't seem to get a handle on. I hope you are able to resolve her issues.

[Cindy Beauloye]

Thanks...

cindy

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

We are currently going through some GI issues as well.. How did your doctor come up with the diagnosis of colitis?

[Cindy Beauloye]

The diagnosis was determined by a fecal examination.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd get another opinion or another vet, lol. The presence of bright red blood in the stool is a sign that the blood is coming from the colon as opposed to the upper GI tract, but that's it. There is nothing in a fecal itself that could diagnose colitis.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Yes, I would def look into a second opinion.  I would think blood work would need to be done..also, what type of personality does your dog have?  Does she seem to be stressed?  Do you notice a pattern when you see the bloody diarrhea? (food change, different treats, stress, etc)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with everyone about getting a second opinion....the fecal alone wouldn't account for this type of diagnosis.  Both of my guys have IBS which results in episodes of severe diarrhea.  It is under control now but we have to keep them on a special diet and I watch everything that goes into their mouths.  It doesn't take much to trigger an episode.  With IBS extreme stress can trigger an episode but there is an underlying cause which is likely genetic.