[Dailydrool] Ginger's digestion

[Marilyn Bickell]

>>> From: "Alan Folsom" <alan at folsoms.net>

... Ginger started having very loose bowel movements, occasionally spotted
with blood ... The vet put her on flagyl, and after a week, switch to tylan.
We've also had her on a bland diet (chicken and rice, makes her happy!) ...
At first her stool was dark and mucus covered, as were spots of blood, so it
looked like colitis.  A long the line I added some canned pumpkin per the
digest, which may have helped a little ...<<<

Al,
We have one hound, Beaver, who has Colitis, and we had a Rott 'n Coonhound,
Miko, with borderline gastritis. The thing that needs to be done to keep it
under control is a low fat diet, which is where the chicken/rice comes in
that you've been feeding. Also feeding more than twice a day can be helpful.
So if you feed Ginger 2 cups a day, just divide that portion into 3,
spreading out the 2 cups over a day. But more important than  feeding often
is feeding a low fat diet at least twice a day, not one big meal, once a
day.

I'm not as fond of the pumpkin "remedy" as some people. Pumpkin can either
firm stools or loosen them. I prefer using Psyllium and plant-based
digestive enzymes for Beaver, and those are what I gave Miko. 
Beaver has consistently good stools. The only time he doesn't is when he
gets a meal a little too high in fat, OR a meal with something that just
doesn't agree with his GI tract. 

>>>... the vet gave us some packets of a pwder, flora-something to give her
once a day...<<<

That's probably FortiFlora, a probiotic/acidophilus, that vets often
recommend for gastrointestinal issues like Colitis, gastritis, IBD. 
I'm not familiar with FortiFlora, but only because I don't use it. I use a
different acidophilus product.
When Ginger is taking either Flagyl or Tylan (or any antibiotic), make sure
you give her the FF two hours away from the drug the entire time she's on
it, then continue the acidophilus a week following the end of the drug. 
You do not want to give the acidophilus with the drug, because the drug will
destroy the benefits of the acidophilus. Probiotics add good bacteria to the
gut but not if it's given with the drug. Basically, antibiotics destroy bad
bacteria, but they also destroy the good bacteria, which is why the good
needs replacing. That's not something to panic over; it's just good practice
to replace the good bacteria in the gut.

Marilyn, Miko (Chasing lizards in Heaven), Bess, RoseyMae, and Beaver
Cleaver, 
Fort Bragg, CA

"You have gone ahead and nothing is the same, leaving paw prints on my heart
that will always remain."- Tibetan Proverb from Prayers on the Wind.