I haven't dealt with IBS with Gigi, (but I have it, lol, not really funny though) But I have dealt with the seizures from her borderline liver issues.
Her seizures started with weird behavior and could last for hours or days and then the seizure, and they always started after she ate something. I refused to put her on Phenobarbital or other seizure meds, instead I chose to find out what triggered the seizures. I found by experimenting that she needed a much lower protein and fat level. She also had weird behavior right after eating natural treats, and most of them contain Rosemary, just like a lot of the natural dog foods include it for some reason, and some dogs are allergic to that herb and can have seizures from it. Then with further experimenting I kept reducing her protein level. The combination has stopped the weird behavior and the seizures for months now. She runs and does zoomies and gets into healthy trouble once in a while, all normal for a dog. She never did that before, but would sleep a lot and want to be cuddled a lot. I get the greatest kick out of watching her act like a normal dog. When she does those zoomies and jumping around, she makes me smile so much that my cheeks hurt. Such a big difference from seeing her for over a year in constant discomfort. Now her tail wags all the time and she holds it up high too. I looked at the Hills ID, and for me, just because a Vet says to put a dog on those products doesn't always mean that they will work for your dog because every dog is different. My vet wanted Gigi on that stuff to and I am glad I went with my gut feelings and figured it out for myself, plus with a lot of help that others in this group that contributed info. To me Turkey is gassy, and pork and rice is hard to digest even for some humans so why they think that is going to help IBS is beyond me. And it has a high protein content as well. I found a natural food that Gigi has been on for months and doing well on it. It's called Earthborne Adult Vantage. It is 22% protein and 12% fat. I would suggest a lower protein, because most dogs that have kidney, liver,heart, & digestion problems find it hard to digest high proteins and high fat. Chicken based dog foods are always more gentle on the digestive track,and it burns up faster, which aids in faster digestion and softer stool, it doesn't create gas like turkey does, nor irritate the intestinal lining like rice does.. The only thing with this food is that the kibble is larger, but Gigi doesn't have a problem chewing it, in fact she chews this better then a small kibble which she use to just swallow whole. You can always soak it in warm water until it is soft for even better digestion to start her off on it, or any other food that is chicken base. I hope you find something that will work for her. If you decide to change her diet, and you see less of the weird behavior and seizures then you may be able to very slowly wean her off of the seizure meds. But that part would have to be Vet supervised, so you know how to do it. I know that you cannot just stop those meds because the sudden shock to their system will actually cause worse seizures that last even longer and come more frequent. Very, very slow weaning off of them, one at a time is the trick. That's the main reason why at the beginning I hung in there with Gigi and tried the diet method first. She gets absolutely no other foods or treats, except for 1/2 of a milk bone biscuit 2x a day. She is on a very, very, strict diet and as long as it keeps working, I have no intentions of changing it regardless of what the Vets say. JMO Did you get copies of her blood test, so you have a record of them and can monitor any changes in the results? I would ask for a copy of every blood test, and look at the levels for her kidneys and liver functions and compare them. If any of those levels are above or below the average, then question the Vet and see how you can help to regulate them back to normal. Gigi's levels have improved from two years ago with the change of diet and the Vet that took the first test missed noticing that a couple of the levels were abnormal. Technically, she should never have been under anesthesia for a spay because of it, that also contributed to the seizures. But the main reason is that she has a liver that doesn't function properly to aid in the digestion of proteins and fat unless those levels are low so that the liver can handle them better. Had I known that from day one, I would have waited for her levels to be better and then get the spay done, and it would have avoided the seizures. The other thing is that any dog that is prone to seizures, cannot take any of the flea meds that are out there. It can be risky, because most of the flea meds all say they can cause seizures. Peggy & The Girls -------Original Message------- From: stewartgang Date: 9/2/2012 12:42:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] IBS /chihuahuas Have any of you experienced dealing with irritable bowel syndrome with your chihuahuas? Sabrina, my now 11 year old chi, has problems with this. Ever since we nearly lost her to the dog food recall several years ago, she was left with seizures and IBS. I become very stressed dealing with all of this. She has to be syringe fed every 4-5 hours, administered phenobarbital 2X a day, and if she has seizures, it turns into several hours of her odd behavior afterwards, since I have to dose her with Diazapam to stop the seizures. The IBS sneaks up on us at any time. It takes several days of dosing her with Cerenia and Reglan to try and stop the runny bowels and vomiting. I guess it is a good thing I love her so much, because I am not sure how many others would be able to deal with all of this. We have had so many emergency visits to the vets, that we joke and call her Visa! But it really is not funny. I have NEVER in all my life had a dog as complicated as this one. Right now, I try to control the IBS with prescription food (Hills ID), and use the meds if necessary. Any other suggestions are much appreciated. Sabrina is truly my "ball and chain", but I love her with all my heart.
