Dog with Inflammatory Intestinal Disease

I am the privileged owner of two boxer dogs: Snooper and Daisy, brother and sister. DOB: 12-13-2009. They have not been apart a day in their lives and absolutely love each other.

Approximately 2 years ago my dog Snooper had his 1st episode. This happened again approximately 6 month later and again approximately 3-6 month later and again more frequently. Most recently, Snooper has experienced these symptoms going on for 8 weeks continuously now. He is sick every other day or every 3-5 days.

I have always taken him to the vet and they would give a prescription, however they never seem to know what exactly the problem is and always recommend a diet change.

About 2 months ago, when his symptoms started again, I took him the vet again.
They ran blood test, urine, checked for Addison’s, heartworm, parasites. Everything came back normal.

Since Snooper has these recurring issues, they referred me to an internal specialist. They did another extensive Addison’s disease test and an abdominal ultrasound, only to find some inflammation in the intestines.

I have to make another appointment to discuss further treatment, but I have not called yet. I feel so discouraged and have done some searches online in the hopes to help make him better.

They did give me a 14 day Antibiotic Metronidazole, 500 mg tablet- give 1 tablet orally twice a day, which I discontinued on day 9 since Snooper got sick again.

Snooper’s Symptoms:

This normally happens in the morning. He will have a gurgle stomach, not feel well; obviously it is uncomfortable for him. Sometimes, he will pant. Sometimes he will throw up vile from dinner the night before, or sometimes when I can get him to eat, he will throw up his breakfast. Most of the time, he does not feel well and won’t eat at all.

A lot of times he will have diarrhea and on a really bad day he will pass mucus and diarrhea, and mucus and blood and diarrhea on very bad days.

1) I have a attached a picture of the mucus and blood stool when he had a very bad day – This was taken approx. 8 weeks ago – prior to taking him to vet and intestinal specialist.

2) I also attached a stool picture taken several weeks ago when he had a bad day. The stool looks normal however, the outerside seems a little bloody.

3) I also attached a picture of a mixture of (diarhea / mucus / grass) He was eating grass that day to make himself feel better and obviously past this mixture of blood and mucus.

Some days are worse than others. He will also walk around the yard and try to go and have diarrhea (straining) a lot. You can tell he is hurting inside.

He will sometimes eat grass to make him feel better or throw up. Its terrible to see him suffer.

I did research on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) / Colitis and I know the breed is susceptible to it.

Food history:

The 1st year I have them on Purina Puppy (then I wised up.)

2nd and 3rd year I had them on Blue Buffalo, Chicken and Brown Rice.

(After one episode the vet suggested to get away from grain) I changed to Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato for almost a year.

About 3 months ago I bought a bag of Natural Choice Sensitive Stomach venison and brown rice.
That did not help.

Approximately 3 weeks ago, I eliminated all dog food and started cooking, chicken, rice, mixed veg, sweet potato, regular potato etc. (This is not all given at once. I tried these ingredients in stages.)

About a week and a half ago, I bought a bag of holistic Dog food, since I read great reviews about dogs that have colitis, I had to try this.
Canine Caviar Holistic Special Needs Chicken Dry Dog Food. I am still mixing rice and a little chicken and veg and a little dog food together.

Sometimes he gets just dog food, some times a mixture of home cooked and little dog food. Sometimes just the home cooked.

I also bought some digestive enzymes and giving 1/4 teaspoon per meal. I also got some Slippery Elm drops and placing 2-3 drops in every meal for inflammation.

I bought some L-Glutamine (But have not given yet.) I need to still Google the dosages and so nervous to introduce too much to him now.

They have not been on heartworm medication in a few months. I had that test done too (negative) and received a prescription, however have not filled it. I am so scared to give him anything now, since he is so sensitive.

I have also given smaller meals a few times a day rather than just breakfast and dinner.

I will go back to the internal specialist, but I was hoping I am not the only dog owner with this problem. Please let me know if you have any information for me.

I have stayed home from work and my husband has taken off work to go to all the vet appointments. I feel at a loss.

Below is a history of Snoopers medication and the internal specialist results. I just copied from our vet (website).

Snooper and Daisy do not eat anything strange outside anymore, since they were puppies. He had chin acne once and received medication for that.

We keep them in the yard when we at work, however, I have been keeping them inside to eliminate the possibility of him eating something strange outside. Even doing so, he is still getting sick or not feeling well every few days.

Regular VET history of prescriptions:

Item Date Quantity
Clindamycin 150mg capsule
Please give 2 capsules by mouth twice daily until all medication has been given. 2011-11-23 40.0
Cephalexin Capsules 500mg
Please give 1 capsule by mouth twice daily until all medication has been given. 2013-05-02 28.0
Cephalexin Capsules 250mg
Please give 1 capsule by mouth twice daily until all medication has been given. 2013-05-02 28.0
Famotidine 20mg
Please give 1 tablet by mouth twice daily. 2012-12-26 14.0
Metronidazole 500 mg tablets
Please give 3 tablets by mouth once followed by 1 and 1/2 tablets by mouth twice daily until all medication has been given. 2012-12-26 24.0
Doxycycline Tablets 100mg
Please give 1 and 1/2 tablets orally twice daily until gone. Follow with food or water to ensure complete swallowing. 2013-02-12 21.0

INTERNAL SPECIALIST RESULTS
Subjective/Complaints: Snoop presented today for chronic diarrhea and vomiting which started approximately 2 years ago. His diarrhea is occasionally bloody, mucous. Owners report that they originally thought he was eating something outside and since they have been keeping him inside. They have also changed different novel protein diets. Currently, he is only occasionally vomiting and having diarrhea and has been eating and drinking normally. He is not on any medications at this time.
Temperature (Fº): 101.9 Fº
Pulse (bpm): 140 bpm
Respiration: pant
Mucous Membranes: pink
CRT (sec): <2 sec
Pulse quality: good
Attitude: BAR
Hydration: adequate
Physical Exam Findings:
Mentation: bright, alert and responsive.
Cardiovascular: no murmur or arrhythmia noted, pulses were strong and synchronous.
Respiratory: eupneic, with normal bronchovesicular lung sounds in all fields.
Abdomen: soft and non-painful on palpation. No obvious masses or organomegaly noted.
Rectal Exam: no masses, lymphadenopathy or foreign material noted. Stool was normal in color and consistency.
Peripheral Lymph Nodes: palpate normal in size and texture.
Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat: direct and consensual pupillary light reflex present and appropriate OU. No significant abnormalities noted.
Hair Coat: in good condition for age and breed.
Cutaneous: no significant abnormalities noted.
Oral Cavity: grade 2/4 periodontal disease. Mucous membranes are pink and moist, with no evidence of petechiation or ulceration. No foreign objects noted.
Musculoskeletal: adequate musculature, no evidence of weakness or lameness during ambulation, no obvious orthopedic abnormalities noted (complete orthopedic exam not performed).
Neurologic: no obvious neurologic deficits noted (complete neurologic exam not performed).
Hydration: adequately hydrated
Wt 37.8 Kg
Laboratory tests:
Abdominal Ultrasound
Bladder: No Gross Abnormalities
Prostate: No Gross Abnormalities
Kidneys: Both were imaged and had good corticomedullary junctions.
Right: No Gross Abnormalities
Left: No Gross Abnormalities
Adrenals: No Gross Abnormalities
Spleen: No Gross Abnormalities
Liver: No Gross Abnormalities
Gall Bladder: No Gross Abnormalities
Pancreas: No Gross Abnormalities
Stomach: No Gross Abnormalities
Bowel: Diffusely thickened bowel loops measuring between 4.7 and 6.2 mm
Lymph Nodes: No enlarged lymph nodes were seen in the abdomen.
Other: No free fluid
Comments (AbdUS): Changes seen within the small bowel are consistent with inflammatory intestinal disease. The remainder of the examination is WNL
Assessment:
Chronic diarrhea and vomiting (R/O Addisons disease, Boxer colitis, IBD, etc.)
Plan:
It was discussed differing causes of chronic diarrhea including addisons disease and colitis (in particular Boxer colitis). Based off of his ACTH stimulation test Addisons disease is less likely. Based on these results and Snoop’s ultrasound findings we suspect he has inflammatory intestinal disease. This condition is definitively diagnosed via biopsy and endoscopic biopsies were discussed today as a possible future diagnostic step. At this time we will start Snoop on metronidazole as treatment for the suspected inflammation and we would like to recheck Snoop in two weeks.
Medications:
Metronidazole, 500 mg tablet- give 1 tablet orally twice a day.
*Immuno-modulatory and anti-diarrhea
*Antibiotic

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or comments.

Thank you for your time.

Ronelle

PS: Snooper has the blue collar. 🙂