[Mommalovessnow]

I rescued a 1yr old female back in September. She was diagnosed 2 weeks ago w anal fistula & is currently on prednisone and antibiotics. Any advice with this disease?
Scared to have surgery done but also dont want her to be on prednisone forever. I switched her to Hills Perscription Z/D as Vet said this disease is caused by some kind of allergy. Vet had to sedate her for exam, said the fistula is at 2 o'clock& she is lumpy bumpy on the outside. Ida has normal bowel movements on the high dose of prednisone but when vet said to try & lower it - she started struggling to go & yelped in pain like she was before.

 

[Nigel]

I may be way off here and am only guessing, but I'd have to think a food with corn as the first ingredient would create more and larger poop and potentially make it harder for her. I have read dogs fed a raw diet produce smaller poop. I switched to a higher quality kibble due to an allergy issue and I noticed a difference at the "other end" with my dogs. Just my opinion though.

 

[Susie07]

I had a female German Shepherd (Shelby) who was diagnosed with parianal fistulas at age 6-1/2, and the vet prescribed Cyclosporine (which she took daily) and Tacrolimus (which I used if there were any flare-ups). Both worked extremely well and she did not require surgery. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma last summer and I lost her at age 12-1/2.

I didn't change Shelby's dog food because, once the medication kicked in, the fistulas cleared right up and it was no longer difficult or painful for her to poop.

Susan

 

[jettroxy]

My 3YO GSD was diagnosed with PF a year ago and I have come a long way in understanding and treating the disease with the help of a fantastic yahoo group. I couldn't be without them now. Here's the link. PF-L : PF-L

Natalie

 

[Cheyanna]

About raw diet, Fiona switched to raw from kibble. She went from 4 - 5 giant piles of poo a day to 1-2 poo the size of a cat's a day.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App

 

[Mommalovessnow]

Thank u very much for the link. I will check it out.

 

[Mrs.K]

Either put the dog on raw, or on a Salmon Grainfree Kibble diet.

I have added Coconut Oil and Kefir to her diet. It is really good for the digestion and boosts the immune system. You can get Kefir grains online and make it yourself. It's much cheaper than buying it.

Also, with all the questions I have asked it really helps to keep her anus clean. Use Babywipes to clean it, and then gently apply Desitin.

 

[LisaT]

There is no "right" diet, it depends on what the dog does well on, but nearly all require a diet change of some sort, as food is a huge player in this. If the fistula is infection based, would definitely not want to use raw - again, it all depend on the dog.

The yahoo lit will help you quite a bit - you caan also search the forum for fistula and you'll come up with several threads.

The only surgery to consider is having the anal glands removed. Anything else is NOT recomended.