My senior Lab's diarrhea keeps coming back. Is it a food allergy?

Hello, sorry to hear about Snowball. Certain food proteins can definitely cause inflammation of the bowel and thus diarrhea. There are 3 main categories that we consider when we talk about diarrhea that has been going on for a long time. Food Responsive diarrhea is one which responds to a different type of protein or more fiber or gluten free food. A diet trial should be performed for a period of 6-8 weeks with each food change Snowball sees as it takes that long to have a response. Antibiotic Responsive diarrhea is that which responds to long term use of antibiotics such as metronidazole or tylosin powder. Steroid responsive diarrhea is that which is typically caused by an inflammatory process such as autoimmune disease and thus the steroids work by suppressing the immune system. Managing these problems can definitely be stressful for the owner, pet, and veterinarian but with some patience you will hopefully get to the bottom of it. Best of luck and hope this helps.

I'm sorry to hear that Hatty is having so much diarrhea. I would first make sure that she's had a fecal exam to look for parasites and that she is being dewormed regularly. You may also consider a blood panel to look for any underlying medical reasons that may be causing diarrhea, such as pancreatic disease. If the pancreas is not producing digestive enzymes like it should, then the food can't be properly broken down and nutrients can't be absorbed and this often results in diarrhea. Once medical causes are ruled out, then you can address the diet. Any time there is a diet change, you have to make sure to feed only that food for 6 to 8 weeks to see if she improves. During this time, she cannot have anything else by mouth, including treats, people food and even oral medications like Heartgard since it has real beef in it. Ideally, you would start with a prescription diet that it hydrolyzed or limited ingredient since there is no cross-contamination in these foods. Over the counter limited ingredient diets may still have trace amounts of other ingredients if they are processing other foods in the same facility. If it's a true food allergy, even trace amounts can cause problems. If you see improvement on a certain diet, then I recommend continuing with that diet and not changing anything as long as she's doing well.

With a normal stool sample and blood panel, the next steps are experimenting with diet - specifically a hypoallergenic prescription diet (such as Royal Canin Ultamino, which is definitely the most expensive option, but also the one that seems to work best in diagnosing food allergies. It takes eating ONLY the prescription food for about a month to see if it helps, and then if it does help you can certainly experiment with less expensive foods. If you she would having signs of food allergy you'd need to do a full 3 months, but for intestinal issues, you should see a response in just a couple weeks) OR a high fiber/easily digestible diet (such as Hills Fiber Response EN). Some dogs need continual probiotics to keep normal stool. Treating any underlying anxiety (if present) can also help. Finally, a gut biopsy, which is much more invasive and costly can be done. Since she isn't yet spayed, I would consider doing a gut biopsy when/if she is spayed because that would be minimal additional expense or trauma for her while she's already have an abdominal surgery. I hope that helps! Wishing you the best with this difficult issue - It can take a long long time to get to the bottom of things

Honey's diarrhea could be due to food intolerance/sensitivity, chronic parasites like Giardia, IBD or even something in her small intestine like a pancreas issue. Most of these potential causes requires some type of lab test to diagnose so I recommend she be examined by her veterinarian. Sometimes a diet change is needed, other times medication.

I am sorry to hear about Lady! The next steps in diagnostics would include abdominal ultrasound and surgical biopsy to look for possible inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. This is likely why your vet has started steroids (these diseases will sometimes respond to steroids). If this is inflammatory bowel disease a trial of a hydrolyzed protein diet may also be of benefit.

These signs could be compatible with a colitis, which is an inflammation of the last part of the colon, usually related to dietary indiscretion. As a first approach, I would suggest to start feeding with a bland diet based on boiled chicken and rice in small portion every 6 hours for the following 48hours. Then gradually reintroduce the normal diet over 5 days. I would definitively recommend a veterinary check up if the signs persist or you notice vomiting, lethargy or inappetence. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

There are many different causes for chronic diarrhea in older dogs, none of which are usually great news. The best and shortest list I can provide you is the following: lymphoma of the GI tract, inflammatory bowel disease, lymphangiectasia, liver disease, gastrointestinal parasites, and/or nutritional deficiencies like lack of vitamin B12. Since you have mostly ruled out GI parasites, I would recommend beginning to investigate the possibilities of some of the others I have listed. In order to do this, you will need to obtain some blood work with your vet (baseline plus the B12 test), then work out whether or not he/she can do ultrasound / endoscopy to rule in / out the other conditions I have listed. Hope this makes sense. Best of luck.