Best dog food for Colitis

[lily24]

Hi everyone this is my very first post but I am very confused.  My dog is 5 years old and has been suffering from probably chronic colitis for the last year, I have changed her food etc but the last month it has got really bad again and I presume it is what is going into her - which is the food - that I need to do something about again.
She also suffers from very bad smelly wind (so have been putting a spoonful of yoghurt on her food in the morning) and also very gurgly, acidy tummies mainly at night which cause her to be sick in the morning with acid coming out - I have been soaking her food at night so it is easily digestible too.  But now I need help - I am searching for the best sort of food to give her to settle all these problems so need any help that anybody can give me.

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Please can you say which products you have tried and what your dog is currently having? Also, what has your vet said about this? 

[lily24]

Hi yes
So at the begining - and I had her as a puppy - she had been on Royal Canin - I changed this after a while  as it didnt seem to have any goodness in it
Then went onto Simpsons  Sensitive Chicken and Potato - after a while she must have started to have issues as she was at the vets quite frequently, ear infections, itchy and then really strange poos - so the vet said it could be that she is intolerant to chicken and the food may be making her ear infections etc, and the colitis may have started then near the end of me giving her this food.  so did some research and changed it again.
SO decided no human food, and she is on Arden Grange sensitive white fish kibble which she loves but has maybe not made the issue any better after a while as I am now back to her having what I call 'Colitis mornings' about twice a week - dont get me wrong after these episodes which must be hurting as she doesnt run or want to do anything just sort of sleep it off - she is fine eats her food and plays like normal - but I assume it is what is going in is causing these flair ups?
The last few months also she has really smelly farts and lots of gurgling in her tummy mainly at night with acid - then in the morning when I come down she has been sick with the acid etc so have been trying to give her a little supper before bedtime.
Anyway she is on the Arden Grange food, 4 smallish portion a day - on the morning portion she has 2 tablespoons of yoghurt to try and settle tummy and  help with the smelly farts - the night meals I soak in warm water which I gather helps with digestion.
The only other things she has are 2 Lilys Kitchen bedtime biscuits at bedtime and about 2 a day Lilys Kitchen Cheese and Apple treats (these are very small)
The vet has said she has Colitis and all the symptoms of that are there, bloody mucusy poos, for the tummy acid he prescribe Ranitidine which helps.
Other than all this going on she is in good health, fit and active, has not lost weight, eats and drinks (when not having an 'episode')
But as the Colitis seems to be having a big flare up at the moment I was just considering maybe there is a gentler, better food out there that I could try - it cant make it any worse than it is at the moment.

[Dottie]

Thank you for the update. Colitis can be caused by intolerance of certain ingredients but not always. Assuming that your dog has a food intolerance, this thread might be useful to you. There is no best food for dogs with colitis because every dog is different, especially when it comes to food intolerance.

Here are some suggestions:
- Conduct a proper elimination diet with the help of your vet. It takes a while but can have a useful outcome.
- Discuss with your vet whether it would be worth testing  for intolerances.
- Change to a wet food. They tend to have simpler recipes. Dry dog food often contains storage mites in varying numbers and this is a common allergen.
- Add in a good quality canine specific pre/probiotic such as YuDigest. My understanding is that while many dogs are ok with plain yoghurt, some are lactose intolerant. Also, dogs have a highly acidic stomach which may kill off the healthy bacteria found in yoghurt.

If you are interested in trying wet food, use the Dog Food Directory and set the ratings slider to the higher end eg 4-5 stars. Tick no red ingredients.  If you go for grain free choose sweet potato. The ones that contain brown rice might be useful too because it is a good source of fibre.

If you prefer dry food the other option is to look at the cold pressed foods because some of them contain ingredients that are reputed to promote gut health. There are some that don’t contain chicken eg Gentle Fish. They soak very nicely with tepid water and you can therefore easily make it into a wet food which will not dehydrate the dog.