by Dr Richard A S White

BVetMed, PhD, DSAS, DVR, FRCVS,
RCVS Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons
Diplomate, European College of Veterinary Surgeons.

What is lower bowel inflammatory disease ?

Lower bowel inflammatory disease (LBID), sometimes referred to as colitis,
describes a group of conditions in which the large bowel (colon) becomes
chronically-inflamed and thickened preventing it from functioning normally.
Although there are many causes it is most frequently the consequence of a
dietary allergy, in other words the bowel becomes sensitised to some types
of food.

What are the symptoms of LBID?

Symptoms of lower bowel inflammatory disease are very variable and may
include any of the following :
variable stool consistency,
mucus and blood in the stools,
alternating diarrhoea & constipation,
frequent and difficult attempts to defaecate,
pain during defaecation,
weight loss.

What changes should be made to the diet ?

Dietary management by excluding the 'allergen' (the part of the diet that
the dog is sensitised to) is the most important, and usually also the most
effective, means of treating LBID. Important allergens include beef-derived
proteins and some cereal-based foods. The aim is therefore to select a
hypoallergenic diet which the bowel has not been 'exposed to' and this
usually means selecting non-beef, non-cereal food sources.

Home-prepared diets : you may wish to prepare your own hypoallergenic diet
for your dog in which case you should choose from the following protein and
carbohydrate sources.
Protein : fish, chicken, mutton.
Carbohydrate : rice, potato, pasta.

Commercial diets : diets prepared commercially usually provide a more
practical solution for most owners since they require no preparation, always
use the same constituents, are readily available and contain all essential
minerals and vitamins etc. Although there are many 'prescription' diets
available through veterinarians they tend to be expensive for long term use.
There are however, many commercial diets available through pet suppliers
which are perfectly suitable for the LBID patient. These should be marked
'hypoallergenic' and some will also be'gluten-free'.

The following points should be stressed :
There is no single diet which will be suitable for all dogs since the
allergen varies from one patient to the next.
Be prepared to investigate more than one diet before deciding on the most
suitable for your dog.
Any additional food source negates the whole point of the exclusion diet !

Be strict with the diet and DON'T add in treats or left-overs from the
table.
It may take several days or, in severe cases, even several weeks before you
will see a satisfactory response to the dietary change.
DON'T give up and DON'T keep changing the diet if there is no improvement
after the first couple of days !

Can medication help ?

In some cases it may be necessary to use medication to support the diet
change. Drugs which are used to treat LBID include 'Salazopyrin',
prednisolone or cyclosporin. In most cases it is normally possible to
gradually withdraw the medication once the symptoms resolve but in a small
number of cases the patient may need long term, or even permanent,
medication.