ibd/megaesophagus in chow

bailey · Post by **bailey** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:03 pm

Please help...I have an almost three year old chow with a larger medical history than I have. I'll try to keep it short... we have a team of specialists (primary vet, gi specialist, dermatologist, opthamologist, holistic vet, and cardiologist) who are absolutely amazing. They have been working with Bach since he was a puppy. He has been suffering from severe IBD (inflammatory bowel disease diagnosed last April through endoscopic biopsies) and megaesophagus since he was 10 weeks old. We have tried every medication under the sun including steroids, antibiotics, flagyl and a chemotherapy drug (last resort this summer). Nothing helps him, it only makes things worse. We tried a dietary change in July and were feeding him rabbit which we obtained from a local meat store and would cook for him. It made things terrible, we ended up in the emergency center twice. Then this August we started a strict venison and brown rice diet with Manna Cleanse supplement and have had some luck. For about a month he was a "normal" healthy chow. Then in September he lost his coat and was diagnosed with Alopecia X Disease. We tried melotonin to regrow the hair, but the ibd flared up again and we had to stop. The hair has since partially regrown, but the ibd is acting up. Within the last couple of months however, the ibd symptoms are reappearing (vomitting and diahrrea). We have most recently started him on Duralactin (an anti-inflammatory) and are having mixed results. Has anyone ever encountered this in a chow before? If so, what did you use/try?

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:33 pm

I'm so sorry for you and your little guy!! I wish I could help. It's sounds like you have your hands full! I will be sure to keep my eyes open for any references to all the conditions and post anything I find. I'm so sorry and hope he feels better soon!

Mandy, Chewie & Ceyanne

Rogansmommy · Post by **Rogansmommy** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:56 am

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. I've never experienced this with a chow, but my life with my rottweiler doesn't sound disimilar. She was diagnosed with PLE (protein-losing entropy) at the age of 2. We've had explosive diarrhea, anaphylatic schock, ear infections and staph infections.

I won't bore you with the gory details, but I can say this: it is the food. Have you tried a BARF diet? If you do a google search, you will find bucket loads of information about the diet, how to start and the creator - Ian Billinghurst. It has saved many dogs from certain death, since many commercial dog foods are poison in a bag.

Have you also thought about Hollistic treatments? Sometimes, the vets mean well, but they make the situations worse.

Good luck.