Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Dogs

Bernie’s Perfect Poop helps relieve the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in dogs

Photo of Bernie's Perfect Poop grass bits up close. There’s a big difference in your dog having the occasional upset tummy and the chronic condition that leaves them with horrible gas, painful abdomens and pretty disgusting, runny bowel movements. That occasional, intermittent tummy issue is also known as colitis or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. When it’s chronic, and based more on physiological conditions as in the case of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, it’s different. Still, Bernie’s Perfect Poop can help Inflammatory Bowel Disease symptoms (IBD) in dogs.

There IS a difference between irritable bowel syndrome in dogs (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease in dogs (IBD). While many symptoms overlap in both IBS and IBD, they are different conditions. IBS or colitis in dogs may seem acute; it can come and go (and often does) and is typically triggered by anxiety or something specifically upsetting your dog’s stomach. On the other hand, IBD is a chronic, long-term condition and symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting may linger without intervention. Think of IBS or colitis as symptoms that come and go (often in groups) whereas IBD is a chronic condition and disease that affects your dog longer-term and more holistically. Every dog who has Inflammatory Bowel Disease Has Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but not every dog with Irritable Bowel Syndrome has Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
When it comes to treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease symptoms in dogs, the first step is to balance your dog’s intestinal lining and calm the inflammation they’re experiencing down. This is where high-quality fiber comes in strong. The Miscanthus grass in Bernie’s Perfect Poop will help firm your dog’s stool up as it goes through his digestive tract. Combined with dried pumpkin and flaxseed, Bernie’s will absorb water from your dog’s digestive tract and bulk up his stool as it moves through the intestines. This also helps the lining of his intestines expel what it needs to to keep it healthy and less inflamed. Diarrhea and vomiting are the main symptoms of IBD, and quality fiber can help relieve both of those symptoms while the gut lining calms down.
Bernie’s Perfect Poop also combines prebiotics and probiotics to balance your dog’s gut microbiome. This is what helps your dog’s intestinal lining calm down and relieve some of IBD symptoms. Inflammation can occur in your dog’s gut when there’s an overabundance of bad or harmful bacteria growing. With a healthy gut, a thriving community of helpful bacteria prevents that from happening and allows your dog’s microbiome to protect the lining of his intestines. The pre- and probiotics in Bernie’s Perfect Poop encourage optimal dog gut health by ensuring the right balance of helpful bacteria in his microbiome and helping it be a flourishing source of healthy microorganisms. An added bonus of Miscanthus grass as the main fiber in Perfect Poop is that it has Xylooligosaccharides (XOS). The XOS prebiotic in Miscanthus grass has been clinically proven to add beneficial bacteria (and prohibit the growth of bad bacteria) in the gut. A healthy gut means less irritation and symptoms of IBS. A healthy gut means less irritation and inflammation, as well as better immunity. Better immune health can help prevent bacterial or viral infection that many vets believe are responsible for IBD.
Digestive enzymes also help soothe IBD symptoms because they break down the foods your dog eats more efficiently. If your dog’s food isn’t appropriately broken down as it travels through the digestive tract, he can’t absorb all the nutrients from it properly. An inflamed gut lining already will prevent that absorption as it is. When this happens, your dog will have higher levels of specific digestive proteins to overcompensate for the lack of absorption ability, and this can cause additional inflammation in their intestines.
When your dog suffers from Inflammatory Bowel Disease, treating the symptoms as best you can is important for his comfort. Bernie’s Perfect Poop is the premier 4-in-1 combination of fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, and enzymes that do just that. When your dog has good gut health, his entire digestive process is healthier, and IBD symptoms are less impactful.

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What other pet parents say

My dog has IBD, and we’ve struggled for years to manage his bowel movements. They were always on the soft side, and he was developing problems with his anal glands because of it. Glandex helped but it wasn’t enough. I started looking for something else to try when I found Bernie’s. Not only does my dog love the flavor of the supplement powder (he’s super picky because so many foods make him feel bad), but he’s had perfect poop! He’s digesting things better now, has more energy, and is having anal glands issues far less often. Thank you, Bernie’s Perfect Poop! — Ashley T.

What does IBD look like in dogs and what are the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease?

In a few words, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (sometimes referred to as Irritable Bowel Disease) is when your dog’s intestinal wall/lining is inflamed. In IBD, it’s severe inflammation, and can make your dog’s digestive tract uncomfortable and lose its ability to function.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease often confounds veterinarians. It’s a challenging diagnosis that often involves biopsy or endoscopy for 100% accuracy in diagnosing.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease symptoms are much like Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms, only more profound and on a more consistent, chronic basis.

The symptoms include:

Abdominal pain
Diarrhea
Bloating
Flatulence
Mucus in poop
Constipation
Bloating and gas
Small but frequent poop breaks
Vomiting
Nausea
Lack of appetite
Weight loss
Lethargy
Sensitive abdomen
Blood in poop
Pain when pooping

Causes of inflammatory bowel disease in dogs

Not only is it horrible to watch when our poor pups don’t want to eat their favorite foods or cramp from their abdomens hurting so much, it’s no fun picking up after their loose and runny stools all the time. There’s no rhyme or reason with Inflammatory Bowel Disease because it’s a chronic condition, and every pet parent worries that each time they smell something, it’s colon blow. When your dog’s gut health is optimal, those symptoms may be significantly reduced.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a challenge to many veterinarians. To diagnose IBD in dogs, they first must rule out other issues: worms, pancreatitis, enteritis and more. Additionally, diagnosis of IBD in dogs most accurately requires biopsies or endoscopies. For many vets and pet parents alike, those facts and the fact that IBS symptoms overlap typically mean a first step of treatment approach is to treat it as if IBS first.

The main causes of IBD in dogs are based on the findings of biopsy or endoscopy. In the most common type of IBD, Lymphocytic-plasmacytic enterocolitis, a biopsy finds excessive plasma cells and lymphocytes on your dog’s small intestine or colon wall. That’s what causes the chronic inflammation and symptoms.

When your vet finds the presence of eosinophils in your dog’s colon, that’s considered eosinophilic enterocolitis. Eosinophils are small, white blood cells found in your dog’s bone marrow. They’re responsible for your dog’s allergic and inflammatory response.

A third, more rare type of IBD in dogs is Granulomatous Enteritis. To diagnose this, your vet will perform a biopsy. If it’s positive, there’s so much inflammation of your dog’s small bowel, it’s narrowed and has a significant impact on their bowel movements and ability to contract and digest/absorb nutrients.

While stress and anxiety are often triggers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in dogs, it is typically not the case with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. However, vets believe poorly managed IBS that continues cumulatively can turn into IBD.

Causes of IBD include:	Can Perfect Poop help?
Digestive inflammation	Yes
Fiber deficiency	Yes
Poor digestion	Yes
Bacterial or viral infection	Yes
Physiological anomaly	Yes

Illustration of Bernie sitting and smiling.

Warning: If your dog has inflammatory bowel

If your dog is constantly suffering from what you think may be Irritable Bowel, it’s worth it to talk to your veterinarian. Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a chronic condition, and it may take additional veterinary interventions to manage the symptoms and ensure your dog is the healthiest he can be.

More information about IBD in dog

When your dog suffers from Inflammatory Bowel Disease, there’s tons of inflammation in his digestive tract. This prevents him from having the perfect poop—in fact, it’s very, very much NOT the perfect poop and it’s uncomfortable for him and for you. Balancing his gut health will help combat the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and help his overall immune health as well.

Fiber may help improve your dog’s IBD symptoms

Increasing a high-quality fiber is the number one go-to vets will use when it comes to treating the symptoms of IBD. Because the most inconvenient and uncomfortable symptom seems to be never-ending diarrhea, a high-quality fiber is what your vet will likely suggest supplementing his daily diet with.

High-quality fiber helps bulk up and solidify stool so that it moves through your dog’s digestive system and is easier to pass through his bottom. This keeps it from turning out poop soup due to an irritated gut and digestive process. When your dog’s intestinal lining is inflamed, the digestive process is disturbed, but a high-quality fiber may help balance it. High-quality fiber helps bulk up and solidify stool so that it moves through and is easier to pass from your dog’s digestive system. When your dog’s intestinal lining is inflamed, a premium fiber will help its consistency and efficiency in the digestive process. Being able to move food through appropriately will help reduce irritation as well.

High-quality fiber also helps your dog’s body absorb all it is supposed to from the food you offer, and helps fuel probiotics that balance their guts. One of the biggest issues with IBD is that your dog simply cannot get enough nutrition due to the irritation and inflammation in their intestinal lining preventing that. Supplementing with the right fiber will help balance his microbiome and allow optimal nutrient absorption. Perfect Poop is just the right combination of insoluble and soluble fiber. Miscanthus grass, pumpkin and flaxseed to help aid your dog’s digestion. Miscanthus grass is a healthier alternative to other cheap fiber fillers you may find in some other supplements. It’s an all-natural, non-GMO, grain-free, gluten-free fiber that is sustainably grown. It’s grown without herbicides or pesticides and is good for the planet and for our dogs. For dogs who struggle with IBD, this can make all the difference.

Prebiotics and Probiotics may help Irritable Bowel In Dogs

Pre- and Probiotics are the biggest team players in your dog’s healthy gut. Prebiotics and Probiotics balance out your dog’s digestive tract bacteria and microbiome. They help ensure your dog’s microbiome is balanced, and keep inflammation at a minimum.

The prebiotics in Bernie’s Perfect Poop are super resilient and can make it all the way through the large intestines unscathed—unlike many other prebiotics in some supplements. Inulin acts as a fertilizer to feed the good bacteria in your dog’s lower digestive tract. Because of its strength and resiliency, it can protect the lining of your dog’s gut better and more efficiently. Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) in Perfect Poop are clinically proven to alter gut health in a good way–increasing good gut bacteria and reducing bad with every supplementation.

The probiotics in your dog’s gut are the GOOD bacteria your dog needs to limit inflammation and irritation. When you add the probiotics found in Perfect Poop (Bacillus Subtilis and Bacillus Coagulans), you’re adding spore-forming bacteria to your dog’s gut. This will help your dog’s gut to become a place for thriving helpful bacteria, and that bacteria will crowd out the harmful bacteria that adds to the inflammation of your dog’s gut.

When the good bacteria in your dog’s gut get the proper nutrition, they multiply and create a healthy environment. This healthy environment is prime for optimal overall immunity for your dog too. That’s important because dogs who struggle with IBD are at risk for other conditions due to lower immunity. Pre- and probiotics can strengthen their immune system and help them battle other conditions.

Enzymes may help your dog’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Enzymes in Bernie’s Perfect Poop will help your dog’s digestive tract break food down better. They begin working to break food down as your dog eats every bite, and that will mean less irritation in your dog’s digestive tract as he’s digesting the food you give him. Most importantly, digestive enzymes breaking down the food you give will help maximize nutrient absorption. When he’s able to get all the nutrients he’s supposed to for food, he can fuel his body better. Every cell in his body will be strengthened and this can fight inflammation too. Adding enzymes to your dog’s diet means that he’ll have a healthy and balanced digestive tract and stronger cells for overall health and immunity.

Other ways to help

Make sure your dog is hydrated
Keep your dog away from places where he can get viral or bacterial
infection
Feed quality foods that include good fiber
Feed smaller meals many times a day

Additional reading

Related terms

Canine gastroenteritis
Canine Chron’s disease
Canine pancreatitis
Enteritis
Colon blow
Hershey’s Syrup Poop
Poop soup