Inflammatory bowel disease in schnauzer

by JJ

Why does my female mini schnauzer keep getting Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

COMMENT FROM LINDA AND MAX:
for those of our readers who are not familiar with this ailment, here are a few facts about it:
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a generic term to describe many conditions with similar signs. They do, howeverm, have different causes. Inflammatory bowel disease can also be called, Chronic Colitis, Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Lymphocytic-plasmacytic Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Regional Enteritis, Granulomatous Enteritis or Spastic Bowel Syndrome, depending on what symptoms predominate.
In short, any time your dog's intestine staysirritated over a long period, some form of IBD is present.
To further confuse matters, Irritable Bowel Syndrome in dogs, which is a stress-related canine condition, has similar symptoms to and is often confused with IBD.

Occasional intestinal and stomach disorders are very common in dogs. Most cases are caused by eating things your they shouldn't - like rotten food, spicy treats, or trash. These usually cause diarrhea and are then over in a few days. But dogs with IBD have loose stools and diarrhea day after day.

When things irritate the lining of your dog's intestine, they cause food to move through it faster. With time, this irritation causes the lining to thicken and become inflamed. Blood and tissue cells that normally fight bacteria and other invaders, accumulate within the lining of the inflamed intestines causing cramping, pain, colic, diarrhea and distress. These fragile intestines are more likely to bleed and they allow unhealthy intestinal organisms to proliferate and displace the healthy ones. These changes also make it harder for your pet to absorb nutrients from its food. When the beginning portions of the intestine are involved, the pet may also vomit or loose its appetite. When the final portions of the intestine are involved, the stool is loose, frequent, watery and sticky with mucus. Bright blood is often present when the lower intestine is involved (colitis).
These problems can be every now and again or continuous. When the latter, pets often loose weight. It is also common for dogs with this IBD to eat or chew on unusual items (pica) and it can be difficult to decide if pica is the cause or result of the problem.

Flatulence is also a common problem and so is a dull hair coat and heavy shed. When the lower intestine or colon is inflamed, the pet may strain and defecate more frequent, mucous-covered, stools.