Let’s step back a second and remind ourselves about the difference between Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
The symptoms can be similar and include – but are not limited to – stomach cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Vomiting may also occur.
Importantly, IBD causes chronic inflammation that damages the gastrointestinal (GI) lining and its functions that can cause ulcers and a “leaky gut” (dysbiosis). IBD is considered to be a malfunctioning immune system that may or may not have underlying genetic predisposition that runs in human and animal families when encountering a variety of environmental challenges. It is widely known that food sensitivities aggravate the condition.
On the other hand, some medical professionals say IBS does not cause inflammation and is not as severe, because it’s a functional disorder. For instance, it could be uncoordinated intestinal contractions that affect bowel movements or hypersensitive nerves in the gut. In any event, the ultimate diagnosis is that the digestive system looks normal after examination but is not working properly.
Personally, we believe that this distinction is moot (some researchers are beginning to agree with us), and that IBS can potentially include inflammation. Yes; the possible inflammation of IBS may not be as long-lasting and less severe than IBD. However, diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramps and constipation are all symptoms of IBS, as well as IBD. Our questions remain: what foods are involved that may trigger symptoms? What is causing the symptoms? Could they simply not be detected by the diagnostic tests we currently have available?
On top of that, we have to remember that certain intolerances such as those of lactose and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency are not IBD or IBS, but may be concurrent, cause similar symptoms, and can additionally aggravate the underlying IBD or IBS condition.
Dog Breeds Affected by IBD
It is important to point out that any dog can have IBD, which is also known as chronic enteropathy.
Many times, the veterinary profession categorizes IBD based upon the bodily response to treatment such as antibiotic-responsive, food-responsive, or steroid-responsive enteropathy. If they are not sure, it is then deemed as “idiopathic IBD”.
Research has shown that the following breeds predominantly suffer from certain types of IBD that describes the actual situation going on in the body.
- Boxers – Histiocytic ulcerative colitis. This is a severe form of IBD and it causes ulcers in the lining of the colon.
- Basenjis, German Shepherds, Chinese Shar-Peis, and also many cats – Lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis. Lymphocytes and plasmacytes are inflammatory cells and are responsible for the body’s immune response. They infiltrate the stomach and/or small intestine causing diffuse mucosal inflammation.
- Rottweilers – Eosinophilic gastroenteritis. Eosinophils are also inflammatory cells but are white blood cells commonly increased in allergies or the presence of internal or external parasites.
- Irish Setters, Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers, and Samoyeds – Gluten-sensitive enteropathy. This is often known as Celiac Disease in humans. One of the components is that the Zonulin protein – which is found in glutens – increases the permeability of the gastrointestinal lining causing a “leaky gut” so that all sorts of bacteria and other matter to freely enter the digestive tract.
- Wheat-sensitive enteropathy is a heritable trait in Irish Setters. Gluten foods cause immunological reactions which lead to atrophy of the intestinal villi of the inflamed small intestine. This, in turn, results in diarrhea and weight loss due to malabsorption of fluid, electrolytes, and dietary nutrients. Even though chronic or intermittent diarrhea and intermittent vomiting are the most common symptoms of this food sensitivity, there have been only a few studies of the prevalence of this condition in animals being presented to veterinarians with chronic diarrhea, vomiting or other common bowel symptoms. The result was typically either no diagnosis or a missed diagnosis of their immunologic food sensitivity.
- Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers (SCWTs) – This breed also has protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), which is an abnormal loss of protein from the bowel. Normal functioning intestines cause ingested proteins to be reabsorbed into the blood to allow for the production of more protein. This is not the case for people and pets that suffer from PLE; they simply excrete the protein from the leaky gut. SCWTs can also suffer from protein-losing nephropathy (kidney dysfunction), where excessive amounts of protein are lost in the urine.
- Yorkshire Terriers – Lymphangiectasia is considered a chronic form of PLE. The medical community distinguishes the two because lymphangiectasia specifically results from dilations of the lymphatic vessels.
IBD Therapies
IBD is diagnosed with an array of blood and urine tests and endoscopy and biopsy of the affected intestine may be warranted. In many cases, the diagnosis is presumptive based upon the clinical signs and routine lab tests, and can be treated as such without resorting to endoscopy or biopsy.
Once the condition has been diagnosed, the medical community may rely on antibiotics, corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive drugs to treat the condition, along with GI supplements like pre/probiotics to protect, soothe and heal the bowel. However, the prolonged use of either antibiotics or immune suppressive drugs can have severe long-term side effects. They are simply not cures.
An alternative option we like is fecal microbiota transfer (FMT). It is newer, might be slightly expensive, not always readily available due to location, and the name really needs to be changed. FMT use in people is available from companies like Open Biome (www.openbiome.org) a stool bank from MIT in Massachusetts, and for companion animals from groups such as Animal BiomeTM (www.animalbiome.com) in Oakland, California, Dr. Margo Roman in Massachusetts, and Texas A&M University. The fecal transplant capsule or liquids can be delivered by enema or orally This treatment in humans has been regulated in the USA since 2013 and since 2018 in the UK. Please note that because of potential side effects, all fecal donors must be carefully screened to ensure their good health, absence of pathogenic microbes including parasites, and existing or potential food-related intolerances for the recipients. At least one US person died in 2019 after receiving an FMT that contained drug-resistant bacteria.
The definitive gold standard to treat IBD in our book is dietary modification, which can resolve clinical signs in more than 50% of cases. With the other 50%, it may enhance the efficacy of current therapies, allowing for the drug dosage to be reduced or for drug therapy to be discontinued once clinical signs are in remission.
Even though dietary modification is the gold standard, a few of the offered dietary modification options are of questionable benefit like hydrolyzed diets or incomplete food elimination trials.
The hydrolyzation process is stated to chemically breakdown a protein like chicken to the point that it no longer causes an “allergic” reaction in a dog or cat that is in fact sensitive to said protein. However, several peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that hydrolyzed diets still elicit adverse events albeit in lesser amounts, may not work in an individual case, and may not have the intended effects.
We once relied heavily on food elimination trials for many years with my client’s pets. Today, however, I realized they could be doing more harm than good because the chosen novel protein food may still aggravate the food sensitivity.
That’s why we developed the NutriScan Food Sensitivity Test for Dogs and Cats, which tests the immune response of the antibodies IgA and IgM to 24 potentially offending foods, and their total of 112 related foods. NutriScan testing is not a cure for IBD, but will help mitigate the pervasive degeneration of the gut lining by indicating to veterinarians what not to feed their patients, and to caregivers which food(s) their pets should avoid.
References
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Originally Published: April 23, 2016
Updated: July 23, 2024