Colitis after spay surgery

[DundalkGirl]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this forum...so hi everyone! I got my first puppy in March. In June she was 6 months old and I knew that I had to get her spayed. I was scared to do this and felt mighty guilty about it, but everyone including myself knew that it was best for her and her health. Her surgery was June 11th and she has been sick with colitis since then. I am so discouraged. Everything tells you that dogs are healthier after spay surgery, but this hasn't been the case for Molly. It's been one vet visit after another...three different protocols of treatment...the 5 day treatment, the 10 day treatment and now we just finished the 21 day treatment last week. Guess what...the mucus and diarrhea returned this morning. Of course I will be calling the vet ASAP. I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of this before and if there is something either the vet or myself are missing here.

[Love4himies]

What meds has your vet prescribed?

How was the colitis diagnosed?

Have you tried different foods? Raw diet?

[DundalkGirl]

Well the first time was a medicine that I can't remember the name of, the second time was amoxycillin and the third time was sulfasalazine...each time a probiotic to replenish the good bacteria was also administered. Each time I go to the vet they test her for parasites, it always comes back negative. They thought at first it was stress colitis caused by the anesthesia and the surgery...but when it didn't go away they changed the treatments...first to the 10 day and then the 21 day. The vet said that if this didn't work they would have to do more testing.

[Love4himies]

Has your vet mentioned Prednisone? It is a steriod that can bring the immune system under control. Many humans and pets have had great success with it. It is a temporarily (as in not for long term use) used med that requires weaning.

The other thing is to try a change in diet and see if that helps. Have you considered a raw diet?

[DundalkGirl]

Molly is a very picky eater. I have tried 5 different puppy chows before I found one that she will actually eat. I was thinking today, maybe she has a food allergy...gluten intolerance...or something like that. Raw diet? I haven't heard of that. What do I feed her raw? I've heard never to give raw meat. I have tried the bland diet and she doesn't particularly like the rice. She doesn't like canned dog food or any of those gourmet dinners. I guess I am lucky that she eats what she eats...ProPlan Puppy Chow.
The vet has not mentioned steriods yet...I guess we will have to see what they do suggest this time. I just keeping thinking she's only 7 months old and is she going to be sick like this her whole life? That would be so terrible for her.

[Love4himies]

It is quite possible that it is an allergy causing inflammation in her colon, poor girl.
There is a lot of crap that is put in dog food , like feeding your children hotdogs with a vitamin pill everyday

Here is one link that I believe is used by dog owners:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index....the_right_food

For my cats, I read the label, if it isn't food intended for carnivores I don't feed it. I also make a homemade raw diet for my cats, but I think feeding dogs is much easier as their nutritional requirements are much more forgiving than a cats .

You could post a new thread in the Dog Food forum to get more info from the doggy smart people.

[Masha]

I would give raw feeding a try. It eliminates many of the things that dogs are allergic to and is a very basic set of ingredients (meat, fish, bone and organ) that are easier for dogs to digest.

Here is some info on raw feeding that I found helpful when i was getting started. Please dont get discouraged by the amoutn of info, its actually very easy and I would be glad (as i am sure many other members more knowledgable as well) to answer any quesiotns you may have:

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/ <-- I read the site and the book and it was the biggest single source of information for me.

I also found this helpful:
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

Good Luck!

[DundalkGirl]

Thanks so much for the links and all of the information.

[DundalkGirl]

Thank you so much for the information...I'll give it a try.

[cell]

It's also most likely she had colitis before the surgery but the stress of surgery and pain and recovery aggravated it. My Dads GF's dog is a poodle/lasa and it has colitis. She went to a home cooked diet and used process of elimination to see what aggravates her tummy. She also has found some holistic food that the dog is ok eating (but doesn't like it as much as home cooked, also very finicky eater). She makes her dog food into patties and wraps and stores them in the freezer then de-thaws them for the meal.
I would also look into a holistic style food which contains less chemicals, additives, and grains as it can cause intestinal issues.