Food for Dogs with IBS
Keeping an Eye on your Dog If your dog has IBS, the first thing you would want to do, is bring him/her to the veterinarian for diagnosis. This can help to confirm IBS and/or help to determine a program of diet for your dog. You also need to keep a diary of the diet that you feed your dog. Take note of which products or ingredients appear to produce a negative reaction in your dog. If you find out some ingredients causes your dog to react, immediately avoid those ingredients from your dog's diet.
Modify your Dog's Diet Your veterinarian may also prescribe a bland diet for your dog. This is a good idea to allow your dog's intestinal and digestive organs to take a rest to heal. See if you can hold back the food products that may be the cause of your dog's IBS symptoms, for one month, then reintroduce those allergy products back into his/her diet gradually. While doing this, monitor the dog and track down the positive or negative reactions from the dog. It is possible that your dog can now eat the food products that he/she could not before. If however, your dog's IBS symptoms flare up again, eliminate those food ingredients from his/her diet again for one month, before reintroducing it again. Make sure that when you are reintroducing the foods that seem to present your dog with symptoms, that they are done very slowly. The quantities that are placed into the dog's food should be very minimal and spread out over different days. This allows your dog's digestive system to again become accustomed to ingredients that were eliminated completely for the past month. If you suddenly reintroduce too large of a quantity of previously reactive ingredients, your dog's digestive tract may instead react poorly. The dog may show symptoms in ways that may not be clearly visible signs such as the bowel movements changes, but instead, could be subtle behavior changes. These behavior changes may indicate discomfort experienced by the dog. Spend some time with your dog, and monitor the signs and symptoms that your dog is displaying during your path to finding the right diet for your dog. With a veterinarian's assistance, you may be better trained to identify the tell tale signs and determine the correct food for dogs with IBS, that's compatible with their digestive tract. The diet is the most significant factor in bringing the dog back on track to a healing phase in their health.
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