GIANT MAL AND SIBO

[lsmusicmin]

My Mal has just been diagnoised with SIBO and I noticed a few people have had some experience with the problem. I was hoping to talk to some of you to see what you ended up doing and what kind of diet you ended up giving your mal.

Laura Mae

[lsmusicmin]

Hi Holly,

Thanks so much for the information I appreciate it. I have two Mals. A 20 month and a 4 month. The 20 month was just diagnoised and I am now concerned for the baby. If you hear of any additional info please pass it along.

Laura Mae

[LuvmyMal]

HI, I am not as familiar with SIBO as IBD, as my oldest of 3 mals has IBD, I think similiar with SIBO you have to do a virtually grain free and single source protein diet, we use Pinnacle Duck and Potato for Tonka and Nala, which are the 2 oldest. Did you get them from the same breeder? Also have you contact them as they should want the information for future breedings. I would not be as concerned about the youngest mal. Also have you had a test ran to see if the 20 month old has IBD a lot of times IBD sets off SIBO, the main thing is to get it under control and quickly. Personally, I like to treat w/out medicine when they are that young, maybe try to find a holistic vet in your area that is familiar with SIBO because sometimes they will have a lot of vaccine reactions as well and they can give you the holistic approach to treating your mal. If you have any questions, please feel free to pm me.

[lsmusicmin]

Thanks so much for your input. Zekie the oldest started showing symptoms around the time her turned one. It also coincided with all the dog food recall. Even though he wasn't on any of the specified food we were still concerned. The vet thought it might have been IBD, he was treated with medicine and we changed his diet. He was good for a while but then recently got very ill, even worse than before. After many, many tests the vet determined it was SIBO. I have a consultation with him on Saturday to discuss treatment so I am thankful for any information prior to my meeting. My vet is very knowlegeable on holistic treatment as well as standard vetinary medicine so I am comfortable with him. Holly recommended a grain-free food Innova Evo, although I am not familiar with this company it sounds promising. We did get our two dogs from the same breeder. That is a whole other story and one not to be believed, even if I told you. Suffice to say, both dogs were sick when I got them. Thanks for your help.

Laura Mae

[LuvmyMal]

This is what I did when Tonka was diagnosed with IBD, the vet told me she really did not want to put Tonka on meds as she was 10 mos old and asked me if I wanted to do some research, and that I did, I literally looked up everything on IBD imaginable, printed off stacks of papers on foods/treatments and everything. We have been on Pinnacle Duck and Potato for over a year and the only thing she has to take is Pepcid every now and again. It is from Breeders Choice, I swear by it, she could not even tolerate prescription diets and I spent $$$$$ on them. I would give Pinnacle a shot, it never hurts to try, also when you switch you have to do it COLD TURKEY, start with very little food more often, like 1/2 cup then every 2-3 days increase until you get to the amount you will be feeding, it is very very important not to mix the foods of the dog can become intolerant to the new food. This happened to me several times. I found that since Tonka and Nala live together to have them on the same food so we did not have any accidents of Tonka getting Nala's food. The best advice I can give you is to look up SIBO and pick foods out and take the information on the foods to your vet, it could be that your baby may not need medicine if given the correct diet. Sending Malahugs and Malakisses to you for good luck.

[FXgirl]

I have a dog with bowel issues(and allergies) as well.  I feed Innova Evo Red meat formula.  He can't handle much of anything else.  Veggies and fruit and that's about it.  What a difference when I switched food.

I just read up on SIBO and it is recommended that a diet low in carbs and fat is best.  I would avoid grains and potatoes.  Innova Evo has a reduced fat formula which is low in carbs an of course fat.

Good luck.

[lsmusicmin]

Thank you so much for your information, especially on switching the food. I have researched a lot of food and I am leaning toward the Pinnacle, it seems to be the best choice. I looked at Hills Prescription food for dogs with IBD/SIBO and the first ingredient was corn. I couldn't believe it. I did find one other food that is actually fish based and grain-free. That food, however, I would have to order on line, it is not easily purchased. I go to the vet tomorrow with my information in hand and hopefully we will be able to get Zekie on track. I agree with putting both dogs on the same food. I am concerned with the puppy though. Switching cold turkey and only giving her a small amount doesn't sound good. She eats close to 6 cups of dry and 1 can of wet over three meals a day. She may not be too happy if I cut her back. I have heard the wet food for Pinnacle isn't very good. Do you use another kind?

I am so appreciative of all the advice.
God bless,
Laura Mae

[lsmusicmin]

Hi,
Thanks so much for your information. I have researched Evo and I like it. I am also leaning toward Pinnacle. I go to the vet tomorrow with information on both foods including one that is fish based and see what he recommends.

Thanks again,
Laura Mae

[LuvmyMal]

for the puppy I would not do the Cold Turkey switch mix it and feed separately. We did not like the canned Pinnacle either so what I did was put some water on the kibble or go to the grocery store and purchase a duck and cook it in the crock pot with water only and put some shredded duck in with the food. I did also try Evangers 100% duck, Nala did well but Tonka (IBD) did not, she was vomiting like crazy, we also keep a prescription of metranidozole and sulcralfate avaiable at all times for flare ups. 3 days and she is good as new, I have also noticed that she will not eat when her tummy is sore which is good, but most of the time she eats more than Nala which was a change.

With the EVO Red Meat, that is not a single source protein food, it has lamb meal, buffalo, beef, and venison, with SIBO  you want to stick with single source protein/carb and I personally would not use any protein source you have used before, it can create a lot of problems.