I'm sorry Mia has IBD, but at least now you have a diagnosis. I have a little rescue yorkie - Ranger - that was diagnosed about a year and a half ago. Its a road to travel for sure. After a rocky first few months, Ranger is pretty stable with only an occasional flare that I've been able to manage pretty easily.
Prednisone was a nightmare. It did not control his symptoms and the side effects were intolerable. Eventually the vet put him on Budesonide, and that's when he started to improve. He started at 1 mg per day for a month, then dropped to .75 mg for two weeks, then .5 mg for two more weeks. Now that he is stable, he does not require daily medication, but I do keep the .5 mg capsules on hand for his occasional flare ups. Usually .5 mg once daily for five days is all he needs. Budesonide is similar to prednisone but is a locally acting steroid that works in the intestinal tract, so it doesn't usually have the systemic side effects of prednisone. We order Budesonide from Diamondback drugs so it can be compounded to an appropriate dose for him.
Diet is the key to controlling IBD. We tried several that either he wouldn't eat or couldn't tolerate, so finally I decided to try a raw diet. He eats only Primal Lamb frozen patties, which was a novel protein for him. As long as we keep him on a strict diet, he does not have flare ups. He ONLY gets the Primal lamb, twice daily, and I have found that he can tolerate a Tropiclean dental chew before bed. He also gets .25 mg of Pepcid about an hour before his first meal of the day, and a probiotic mid day between breakfast and dinner. The only time he gets a flare up now is if he gets something not on his diet by grabbing something dropped on the floor or the kids sneaking him a bite of table food. And seriously, a bite or two is all it takes.
In the past 15 months since we've had his IBD under control he has done great. He is fat and sassy, his eyes sparkle and his personality is back. He has gained back all the weight he lost and then some and his coat shines.
It really is trial and error to figure out what works for your dog, but don't give up hope. My little guy was so sick. He had constant diarrhea and would throw up blood several times per week, refused his food, lost weight and we were all miserable until we managed to figure out what worked for him. Hang in there.
Diana |