Many of our four-legged companions suffer from
gastrointestinal problems and these can sometimes last a long time and are not easily resolved. The care of a
veterinarian is very important because the dog might be suffering from
IBD.
This
chronic intestinal disease can affect any part of the digestive tract and, depending on the segment concerned, can cause gastritis, duodenitis, colitis, enterocolitis and other disorders.
This article will provide you with an overview of IBD in dogs to help you better know and understand the disease and act quickly and appropriately at the onset of the symptoms.
What is IBD in dogs?
IBD in dogs is
a chronic inflammation of the intestines. The acronym stands for
Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
It is
a chronic disease that affects all the parts of the gastrointestinal tract and is characterised by the presence of inflammatory cells at the level of the mucous membrane (lymphocytes, plasma cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, PAS-positive macrophages).
Depending on the localisation and type of cells, lesions can be varied in nature: gastritis, duodenitis, colitis, gastro-duodenitis, or lymphoplasmacitic, eosinophillic, neutrophillic or granulomatous enterocolitis. And there are also mixed forms.
This means that IBD in dogs can be defined as a
group of disorders rather than a single problem.
Symptoms of IBD in dogs
There are many symptoms associated with IBD in dogs depending on the affected gastrointestinal segment.
For example, the animal could suffer from:
- chronic diarrhoea
- vomiting
- blood and mucus in the stools
- flatulence
- abdominal pain
- ascites (build-up of fluid in the abdominal cavity)
- weigh loss
- low appetite
- apathy
How is IBD in dogs diagnosed?
If these symptoms are present, don’t be quick to jump to the worst conclusions.
An in-depth examination is required
to diagnose IBD and this should be left to the
veterinarian’s medical experience.
Veterinarians generally run blood and stool tests and sometimes, they also perform an abdominal ultrasound and an endoscopic procedure.
This is required in order to
exclude the presence of other disorders.
Causes of IBD in dogs
IBD in dogs is considered to be
an idiopathic disease, in other words, a disease of unknown origin.
Many hypotheses have been raised but, unfortunately, a conclusive explanation has yet to be found.
Veterinary medicine believes that the
immune system has a role in IBD development and classifies the condition
in the group of immune-mediated diseases.
However,
environmental factors, such as the presence of bacterial and food antigens, are also believed to play a role.
Too often, the symptoms of IBD in dogs are stopped through high doses of drugs but these are not always enough or of any use. We will discuss this later on in the article.
Is there a breed predisposition?
According to the scientific literature, some breeds are more prone to develop IBD than others.
These include
the German shepherd, the Weimaraner, the boxer and the Border collie, but the disease can affect all breeds.
IBD and diet
It's important to remember the true nature of an intestinal inflammation, in other words, it is “simply” a process by which the body prepares to “repair” a lesion.
Although the inflammation causes pain, discomfort and unease, medicating it away might not be the best choice.
Moreover, another aspect we shouldn’t overlook regarding gastrointestinal conditions in our four-legged companions is
the fact that chemistry and pharmacology are being used massively and increasingly to ramp up food production.
The body of dogs and cats (just like our body)
can activate mechanisms to destroy or remove the residues of these foreign substances found in the foods eaten.
Every living being will exhibit reactions in its most sensitive organ in different ways and at different times, based on individual sensitivity.
The body may react through
expulsion processes (vomiting, diarrhoea or
tearing),
inflammatory processes, or
damage to organs and their function.
Among the latter, we should also consider
the immune system, which is constantly under attack by viruses, parasites and bacteria as well as by the chemical and pharmacological substances we mentioned earlier, which can deeply degenerate its function, resulting in altered responses.
The solution
So if inflammation is not the real enemy, how should inflammatory processes and the body’s chosen removal mechanisms to get rid of the toxic substances in foods be treated?
In our opinion, inhibiting the inflammation with drugs that interrupt the episodes of diarrhoea is not the answer.
The focus, instead,
should be on finding a solution that eliminates the causes triggering the problem in the first place.
Changing the dog’s diet is the first step!
In fact, it’s crucial to choose
foods made with premium quality ingredients, subject to stringent controls and sourced from pristine regions and possibly
enriched with proper amounts of Omega3 and botanical substances. Botanicals, for example, if suitably selected, combined and dosed, have been recognised in literature to benefit dogs in many ways.
In addition,
dietary fibre also makes a difference in these circumstances.
For example, our products contain
Ascophyllum nodosum, a northern sea alga with an adequate ratio of soluble and insoluble fibres that, in the right amounts, helps restore the
intestinal microbiota and normalise intestinal activity
This will contribute to
bringing the body of our four-legged companions back to its natural balance, allowing them to function the way they were designed to.
With the right diet and the resulting re-balancing of the body, you will notice a regression of the disorders in a short time and understand the reason why drug treatments were ineffective in stopping the constant re-appearance of symptoms.
If you don’t eliminate the underlying cause, you can’t eliminate the effects!
Intestinal Colon FASE 1 is the diet designed by Dr. Graziano Pengo in partnership with the SANY
pet Research and Development Department as a
nutritional tool for the reduction of intestinal absorption problems. It is the food we recommend you use if your veterinarian diagnosed your dog with IBD.
Its efficacy was demonstrated through the
Multicentre study on the efficacy of Intestinal Colon.
The study analysed 206 dogs suffering from gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders for 20 days.
Significant improvements were visible after a few days.
These can be summed up as follows:
- 100% resolution of colitis
- 92.1% resolution of enterocolitis
- 92.1% resolution of enteritis
The study
Rapid Resolution of Large Bowel Diarrhea after the Administration of a Combination of a High-Fiber Diet and a Probiotic Mixture in 30 Dogs was also conducted in support of Intestinal Colon Phase 1.
In this case, 115 dogs were initially recruited, of which 30 dogs had been exhibiting symptoms for an average of 38 weeks (watery diarrhoea, mucus in the stools, blood in the stools, vomiting, low appetite, weight loss, abdominal pain and lethargy).
After 30 days on the diet, the results were the following:
- Improved stools, up to a normal score in 8 days on average.
- Optimised histopathology in 93.3% of cases.
- CCECAI (Canine Chronic Enteropathy Clinical Activity Index) improved from an average of 8 points to 2 points.
Clinically insignificant Light IBD Moderate IBD Severe IBD
We hope this article was helpful in giving you a better understanding of IBD in dogs and, most importantly, we hope it will make you reflect on how important it is to feed your four-legged companion a natural, healthy and balanced diet for its gastrointestinal well-being.
