What’s the Best Diet for Dogs with Chronic Diarrhea? – Clinical Nutrition Service at Cummings School

Diarrhea is a typical drawback in canine.  It may be acute, the place it happens abruptly and is (often) short-lived, usually because of consuming one thing they shouldn’t have or secondary to different medical points.  Diarrhea may also be persistent, occurring continuously or on-and-off for weeks to months.  Continual diarrhea is without doubt one of the most irritating medical situations for each canine homeowners and veterinarians (and particularly for us veterinary nutritionists!)

The problem with persistent diarrhea is that it could have many, many various causes akin to parasites, inflammatory bowel illness (IBD), infections, metabolic illnesses, intolerance of excessive fats diets, or, in uncommon instances, a food allergy.  When making an attempt to determine the reason for persistent diarrhea, veterinarians attempt to get extra particulars in regards to the diarrhea to slim down which a part of the gut it’s coming from, get a whole diet history, and do some laboratory exams.  Relying on the person state of affairs, a analysis may have further blood or fecal exams (keep away from blood and saliva tests for food allergy) or extra particular testing, akin to belly ultrasound and even trying on the insides of the gastrointestinal tract and getting biopsies with a protracted, skinny digicam (endoscopy).  Figuring out and treating any underlying points is crucial to a profitable end result.

If no underlying trigger is recognized or if testing suggests a analysis of IBD, dietary modification can usually be useful to assist handle persistent diarrhea.  Some canine reply properly to weight loss plan alone, whereas others have solely a partial response to weight loss plan and require a mixture of treatment and weight loss plan (and different canine haven’t any response to weight loss plan in any respect), so it’s necessary to have reasonable expectations.  Along with the challenges of diagnosing the reason for persistent diarrhea, discovering the optimum weight loss plan for a canine with persistent diarrhea is irritating as a result of there isn’t a one dietary method that helps all canine with persistent diarrhea.  Generally, there are three major dietary approaches to canine with persistent diarrhea:

1. Elimination diet trial for food allergy: Whereas meals allergy is the very first thing most homeowners consider because the trigger for persistent diarrhea, it’s truly the least doubtless trigger.  Prognosis of a meals allergy requires an elimination weight loss plan trial which is a strict, unique trial with a veterinary novel ingredient, hydrolyzed, or elemental weight loss plan for 8-12 weeks.  Even when the diarrhea improves on an elimination weight loss plan, the development could also be attributable to different properties of that weight loss plan (e.g., extra constant, decrease fats, extremely digestible), quite than to meals allergy.  It’s affordable to strive an elimination weight loss plan trial in canine with persistent diarrhea, however homeowners must be conscious that the chance of a meals allergy is low in most sufferers.

The 2 dietary approaches which might be extra doubtless to achieve success for persistent diarrhea are:

2. Lowered fats, extremely digestible weight loss plan: Some canine with persistent diarrhea reply finest to this dietary method.  Canine meals fluctuate broadly in fats content material: from lower than 2 to greater than 8 grams of fats per 100 kilocalories (with a canine’s minimal requirement of just one.4 grams per 100 kilocalories)!  The diploma of dietary fats restriction wanted to handle persistent diarrhea in canine that reply to this method varies broadly, so some trial and error with the weight loss plan’s fats degree and digestibility could also be wanted for particular person canine.

3. Elevated fiber weight loss plan: Canines with colitis (irritation of the colon) usually reply finest to diets which might be larger in fiber.  However it may be extra sophisticated as a result of there are different types of fiber (which may’t be decided from the assured evaluation on present pet meals labels).  Your veterinarian or a Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist® will help to determine the perfect elevated fiber weight loss plan or fiber complement (and the proper dose) to your canine.  The elevated fiber method additionally is useful for some canine with persistent diarrhea not related to colitis.

The optimum weight loss plan for persistent diarrhea entails a whole lot of trial and error with these three completely different approaches so it’s simple to get pissed off.  But when one method doesn’t work, one other one could – every canine is a person however remember to make just one change at a time to have the ability to work out what’s or isn’t serving to (I like to recommend maintaining a journal of diet and symptoms).  And even when weight loss plan alone doesn’t utterly management your canine’s persistent diarrhea and a mixture of treatment and weight loss plan is required, optimizing the weight loss plan will help to maintain the quantity and doses of medicines as little as doable.  Due to this fact, whereas it may be difficult to seek out the optimum weight loss plan for a canine with persistent diarrhea, it’s value the additional effort!

Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)

Dr. Freeman is a veterinary nutritionist and a professor at Cummings College of Veterinary Drugs at Tufts College. She is on the cutting-edge of science, with a whole bunch of articles in prestigious journals, talking engagements at nationwide and worldwide conferences, and awards for her scientific achievements. Nevertheless, she is also keen about offering goal and correct data on pet vitamin to veterinarians, pet homeowners, and different animal fanatics.