I have a 1-1/2 yr old female boxer that was recently diagnosed with colitis. We have tried Entro powder and now Tylan powder. They both work pretty good, but there is still blood in her poop sometimes. I was wondering if you could tell me about your dogs experience with the colitis. My biggest issue now is feeding her. Ive been cooking chicken/rice/sweet potato for her and she doesn't get anything else, not even treats. Wny time we try to gradually switch her to dry dog food, the bloody diarrhea returns, so we don't know what to do. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

You may benefit from reading this Colitis in Dogs (http://www.petplace.com/dogs/colitis-in-dogs/page3.aspx) I don't think we have any actual vets working here so follow your vets advice. Or ask your questions at site like the one I linked which deal specifically with this issue.

I have a dog with colitis...

Every so often, she has an episode. I found a dog food that agrees with her 99% and that is Nutro Natural Choice.

Unfortnately this is a disease your dog will have for life. She is going to have episodes and when she does, you're going to have to put her on a bland diet that is easy to digest and gradually put her back on the kibbled food.

What are you feeding her? That does make a difference. If it is a grocery brand food, then that could be your issue. Grocery brand foods, such as Pedigree, Ol Roy, and Beneful is like eating junk food. If you have a sensitive stomach, junk food is going to create a problem. Even foods such as Science Diet and Iams aren't the best. You're just going to have to find a food that agrees with your dog. It took me awhile to find a food that works my dog. It was trial and error until I found the Nutro that agrees with her.

Tylan powder is suppose to work wonders, but with Colitis, you have bigger issues then an upset stomach. I'm not sure what your vet did for you, but my vet prescribed my pooch Baytril. Colitis is inflammation of the large intestine.. powders for bowel irritation don't work the same. You might need to go back and see what the vet has available for you. Its OK to ask questions and its OK to do your own research to talk to your vet about.

I'm just assuming, but due to your dog being a boxer, I'm sure this is a specific type of colitis; Ulcerative Colitis. My dog was diagnosed with that as well. Baytril did wonders. I believe that is the only antibiotic that helps the symptoms.

Good Luck

I thank everyone for responding so quickly. You all seem to have the same answer, so I contacted my vet and discussed using Baytril. He said he has had some success with it, so I am going to pick it up after work and will be starting Bonnie on it this evening. I pray this works! Thanks again.

Good luck. My vet put my dog on it for 2 weeks to bring down the inflammation... Hope you are getting enough for at least 2 weeks.

Hi everyone... Well, my girl has been on Baytril for 10 days now. She is doing pretty well on it. I was wondering if anyone that's used Baytril could tell what to expect next. Will she have to take it forever? Her poop is still soft, sometimes pretty loose, but I haven't seen any blood in it. Her diet is homecooked by me and she eats only chicken, rice and sweet potatoes. (nothing else, not even treats) I did try a couple times in the past to introduce holistic dog kibble into her food and it always results in blood in her poop. So my questions are, has anyone been able to stop medication completely and have you been able to switch back to dog kibble? Thank you all so much!

My dog was on baytril for 4 weeks straight and it seemed to cure her problems. Its pretty much hit or miss. If your dog responds and can maintain normal poos, then you might not have to give her the baytril. Howevever (and this is what my vet told me), she may need to be on it for life. My vet told me that sometimes the dogs have to be on baytril for 6 weeks before you see any changes.

Have you had her stool checked for worms? Worms could be creating soft stool as well. A mixture of worms and colitis will give you interesting results to say the least.

If your going to continue feeding a home cooked meal, I would suggest to look into the Raw or Barf diets for dogs. If you follow the reciepes, the food will be nutritonally balanced for everything the dog needs.

Good luck!

Thanks. Yes she was tested for worms twice... both negative. I got her at 12weeks old and didn't have any poop problems until she was a little over 1 year old. She is now 1-1/2. She was eating a high quality dog food. I never gave her grocery food crap.

So your girl is off all medicine and only has flair ups occasionally? That is great. Im hoping the same will happen for my girl. I think she is responding very well to the baytril so far. She has been on it for 10 days and I'm going to keep her on it for a while. Problem now is I am trying to mix in some grain free kibble in her food to try and get her back to eating kibble, but she won't eat it. She's been spoiled with the food I've been cooking for her and I hate to keep messing with and changing her food. When I first started her on the home cooked diet I was giving her a multi vitamin, but it seemed to make her poop worse. I stopped giving it to her. I will look up the Raw and Barf diets... thanks so much for your care and concern. Ill be in touch.

Well I wish you luck with her recovery!

My girl does have flare ups, but they are very minor and I just put her on a bland diet for a few days until she feels better. Its very noticeable when she is having a flare up, she looks dull.

Maybe you should just keep her on the bland diet until the medicine has run its course. Changing her now with an already upset GI will give you different results. My Colitis dog can ever get her food changed on her. She has major upset stomach problems. Your dog has the ultimate sensitive system! Once her stool is solid 100%, then try and find a food that agrees with her. It took me probably 6 months to find a food my dog can handle. It was just trial and error. Sad thing is it typically takes 2 weeks for any side effects to appear, if there are any.

Hope all goes well!

Hi Lucky098,
I am VERY HAPPY to write that since starting Bonnie on Baytril, her poop has been pretty solid and well formed. I am so extatic for her. She is happy and feeling great. I started her on 2 pills per day for 3 weeks and cut back to 1 per day for 4 days and now I am supposed to cut to 1 every other day. As long as everything stays the same, that will be her dosage for life. I am not going to mess with her food though. I am going to continue cooking for her chicken,rice, sweet potatoes. It has become part of my routine anyway, so it's not that big a deal and she loves it. I will start giving her a multi vitamin once dosage has been cut to it's minimum. So thank you soooo much for your advice about Baytril. It seems to have done wonders for my girl.

Well I'm glad to hear the good news! :)