Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is not well understood in dogs. There are many articles and scientific papers on the web and some may apply to your dog’s circumstances. The main symptoms of IBS are chronic, occasional diarrhea, defecating more than once a day, small feces with mucus and sometimes constipation. Typical symptoms of IBS include bloating, abdominal pain, vomiting and the dog having pain when picked up or when touching the abdominal area. Typical causes are allergies related to food and sometimes distress.
However, dietary issues are by far the most common causes of IBS and are the easiest to solve. First, stop feeding your dog plant proteins. Plant proteins digest differently than animal proteins and can upset the balance of your dog’s digestive tract. When your dog eats meat, its digestive tract operates at peak efficiency and fewer problems are likely to develop. If your dog already has a compromised digestive tract, then it is even more important that you feed only animal based proteins. Our Young Again food will work well on dogs with IBS and you should not hesitate to try it. If a dog is suffering from IBS it may take weeks to months before the benefits of a dietary change are seen; so be patient.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease is usually characterized by chronic intermittent vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, depression, excessive gas, abdominal pain, distressed coat, bright red blood in the stool and rumbling and gurgling abdominal sounds.
IBD is considered, for the most part, a reaction to a specific food and proteins are considered the main culprits. If the reaction is caused by a specific protein source, then changing the food can be a major step in the right direction. Young Again foods work well for canine IBD patients because we do not use any plant proteins. If you try our food and your dog gets better, then great. If you dog does not support on Young Again then you have, at least, narrowed down the possible list of allergens to three protein sources; chicken, pork and or herring (fish). Now your task would be to find a food without any offending protein sources. Keep in mind it that it may take weeks or even months to see the full benefits of a dietary change in your dog.