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<\/p>\nGas, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting and gastrointestinal upset in dogs is a problem.\u00a0 Our canine companions are no different than you or I.\u00a0 We all have a gastrointestinal tract that sometimes can get out of whack, not functioning at desired levels, resulting in problems at times.\u00a0 It can be difficult to contend with, especially in the middle of the night or if your pet is left unattended while you work, coming home to a mess.\u00a0 Why does this happen and is there something we can do or not do to improve the situation?<\/p>\n
Gastrointestinal upset.\u00a0 It comes in the form of gas, diarrhea, vomiting and bloating in dogs. The problems seem to happen to some dogs more than others, even more often in certain breeds. It is par for the course, especially with specific breeds, but there are some things we can do to minimize how often it happens.\u00a0 In order to see certain solutions, we must first understand how things are supposed to function and how things go awry.\u00a0 It can happen to any breed of dog, but some breeds are more repeat offenders.\u00a0 This list is fairly long but can include English and American Bulldogs, Labradors, Bullmastiffs and other large breeds.\u00a0 Those are often the gas producers in the bunch.\u00a0 The smaller breeds tend to be more prone to conditions like constipation, which then actually can impact anal gland health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The digestive tract is pretty similar across species borders, with the exception of a few things.\u00a0 All in all, the digestive tract is meant to do exactly that…digest our food.\u00a0 Through this process of proper digestion, the food consumed is broken down, nutrients are extracted and made available to the body for normal function.\u00a0 This process of digestion is complicated and beyond the scope of this article, however, each section of the GI tract has its distinct function from stomach to colon and even rectum.<\/p>\n
One key point when considering the digestive tract as a whole, is that bacteria, fungi and protozoa all live there, playing a vital role in food breakdown and nutrient extraction.\u00a0 There are literally trillions of different species of bacteria, fungi and protozoa that are normal occupants of the digestive tract, way too many to count.\u00a0 Certain species are normally present for ideal digestion and when this population gets out of balance, things can go astray, leading to the clinical issues we see at home.\u00a0 This situation is referred to as ‘dysbiosis’ or in some cases also referred to as ‘small intestinal bacterial overgrowth’ or ‘overgrowth’ in general.<\/p>\n
This dysbiosis is actually very common in veterinary practice, actually contributing to more health problems than we think, beyond just the GI signs of gas, diarrhea and even stomach upset. It is very common to see, especially around holidays or when the pet gets into garbage, seeking out our left overs. We often referred to that specifically, as ‘garbagitis’.<\/p>\n
The bacterial population in the digestive tract is very sensitive and can alter itself on the flip of a coin, going from a healthy to a toxic situation quickly.\u00a0 As the bacterial population shifts, we can then see things like excess gas production due to fermentation of normally non-prominant bacterial species.\u00a0 In some cases, if the shift happens acutely and severely, with more ‘bad’ bacteria becoming dominant, we will see diarrhea of different severities.\u00a0 This shift can also result in altered water metabolism, leading to increased constipation in some pets.\u00a0 On a more severe level, especially over time, the altered negative shift can lead to localized inflammation and immune response within the GI tract, that can then lead to damage of the intestinal wall, impacting digestion on a basic level.\u00a0 This is referred to as ‘leaky gut syndrome’ and refers to a more permeable or ‘leaky’ intestinal wall border, where bacteria, food dyes and chemicals, and even food particles can now cross over and into the blood stream.\u00a0 As this happens, it causes an immune response and inflammation at various levels, contributing to other health problems from allergies, skin and ear issues, cardiovascular disease, eye complaints, dental problems and even joint conditions. As digestion is impaired, we begin to see more clinical evidence in the patient such as more mucous production, wax production in the ears and eyes, tartar on the teeth and also skin conditions such as allergies.<\/p>\n
Many health conditions are linked back directly to improper digestion, which include allergies, ear complaints and even some cancers.<\/strong><\/p>\n I used to think years ago that it must be horrible to be a dog, eating the same thing day after day with minimal variety.\u00a0 In reality, it is likely the best situation for the digestive tract.\u00a0 By consuming the same foods each day, we somewhat train that bacterial population, getting it where we need it to be for ideal digestion….IF the chosen food is correct<\/strong>.\u00a0 It is when we stray from this habit that we often get into trouble.\u00a0 Most pets presented for GI upset have a history of just that, straying from the normal diet.\u00a0 In most situations, the owner fed some table scraps or other food that the pet was not used to getting on a daily basis.\u00a0 As mentioned above, this bacterial population can shift on a dime and will do so in a matter of hours in some cases, contributing to the acute episodes of diarrhea, gas and even vomiting.\u00a0 Yes, even just a few Lay’s Potato Chips can do that….trust me on that.\u00a0 Even worse when we give Fido a bowl of our holiday Chili.\u00a0 Not a good idea.<\/p>\n I know their diet may seem boring to you and I, but it is the best option and helps us to maintain GI health on a certain level.\u00a0 When the GI tract is happy, most often, the entire body is happy.\u00a0 So, the first way to avoid is to find the correct diet and stick with it with little variance.<\/strong><\/p>\n Now, the question comes as to what is the ‘correct diet’<\/strong>?\u00a0 That’s a good question and if you ask 10 veterinarians, you will likely get 10 different responses.\u00a0 By simple definition, the ‘correct’ diet is one that provides for proper health for the animal, with no GI upset, a healthy coat and skin, good eyesight, organ function and mobility.\u00a0 A diet that provides proper nutrients without harm to the body.\u00a0 So, what diet does that?\u00a0 Again, good question and the answer to that can vary from one pet to the next.<\/p>\n I’ve never really favored commercial diets, as they are highly processed, often using synthetic, isolated nutrients and protein sources that really don’t exist in nature.\u00a0 Many of these diets have additives and preservatives, not to mention dyes and even flavoring, all of which can be harmful to the body in the long term.\u00a0 These are all chemicals and ‘foods’ that the body is not used to and not really designed to consume.\u00a0 Processed or commercial foods were created for convenience, nothing more and nothing less<\/strong>.\u00a0 They are presumably balanced, but not by nature, but by man and our perceptions as to what should be.\u00a0 Personally, I think that many of these diets are creating more harm than good for our pets and often contributing to many health ailments.\u00a0 I also think that things get worse when we start to use processed “prescription’ diets, which are all of the above, but now are targeting specific areas of health or concern, while often then neglecting the other 99% of the body and what it needs.\u00a0 Just my opinion again.<\/p>\n One interesting thing to notice is that if we are presented a pet with acute ‘garbagitis’, that is normally fed a commercial, diet, part of our therapy for that pet is to home cook, usually with boiled chicken and brown rice.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because these two foods are not processed, full of nutrient value and generally easily digested.\u00a0 Throught their use, we can actually ‘calm’ things down and shift that bacterial load back towards normal.\u00a0 Most pets respond within a matter of days, then are placed back on their normal diet.\u00a0 So, what we did here is use a home cooked diet to remedy the problem.\u00a0 We didn’t use a commercial food, but used real foods.\u00a0 Hmmm. Get’s one thinking. Why then do we move them back to processed foods?<\/p>\n In some pets, we don’t.\u00a0 In reality, many actually do quite well on a home cooked diet and I was a big advocate for them in our patients, starting off as puppies.\u00a0 There are many recipes online or simply, we just relied on a few clean, low fat meat sources mixed with brown rice, mixed vegetables and a calcium source in most.\u00a0 They did quite well.\u00a0 Why don’t most owners do this<\/strong>?\u00a0 Plain and simple, it is time consuming.\u00a0 However, it is not hard to make up a week’s batch on the weekend, divide out into ziplock bags, freeze then unthaw as needed for each day.\u00a0 Most of our owners did exactly that, producing large volumes on the weekend and freezing.\u00a0 In reality, we should all be eating like that, so if we are eating that way each night, we just simply make an extra plate for our pet.\u00a0 Generally, no harm, no foul…unless we are a vegetarian or watching our own health and eliminating animal protein. Dogs are carnivores specifically, thus a meat source is generally required for optimal protein intake.<\/p>\n We’ve resolved or greatly aided many health conditions, including those confined to the GI tract, by moving to a home cooked meal and eliminating the commercial foods.\u00a0 So, what about ‘RAW’ diets?\u00a0 Personally, as a veterinarian, I’ve never used them or had a need.\u00a0 Raw diets are okay, for SOME pets, but not all.\u00a0 There are upsides and downsides.\u00a0 One big downside is bacterial contamination of the foods, especially meats, which can pose a risk to both owner and pet.\u00a0 Second, raw diets are cold in nature and energy.\u00a0 They can be more difficult to digest for this reason, thus contributing to GI upset in some pets.\u00a0 One big reason for using a raw diet is acute inflammatory and heat producing health problems, such as skin or ear conditions, which are evident clinically with redness, heat and often discharge production.\u00a0 The cooling nature of the raw diet can be a benefit in some situations, but not all. In our patients, I found that most of these pets respond very adequately to just a home cooked diet, as mentioned above.\u00a0 We don’t need to go to the extreme of a raw diet, because a home cooked diet is a very healthy move from what they were being fed.<\/p>\n Diet is one of the main factors with health and helping to manage any health condition.\u00a0 Whether if we are dealing with arthritis, allergies, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, primary GI problems or even cancer, diet should be the first thing addressed.\u00a0 The reason is that the diet is often a contributor to the present health ailment and if we don’t alter it or at least take a really close look at it, we could be just continuing to fuel the fire despite our chosen course of therapy.<\/p>\n A quick word about some ‘medicinal therapies’ that may be chosen for certain patients.\u00a0 Many of these medications, including corticosteroids and especially antibiotics, may be doing more harm than good.\u00a0 They can help us to clear away bad bacteria that may be causing infections, or even helping us to resolve high levels of inflammation, but they do have their bad sides.\u00a0 Antibiotics will impact that bacterial balance within the GI tract, often to the negative, resulting in more imbalance and more digestive issues.\u00a0 Corticosteroids and other medications can also impact balance, either directly or indirectly.\u00a0 We have to strongly reconsider any medication use for the long term for these reasons.\u00a0 They may be fighting what we are trying to achieve.<\/p>\nHow do we correct the problem?<\/span><\/h2>\n
Anything Else?<\/span><\/h2>\n