Dogs - Can They Have celiac disease?

[debmidge]

I have a co worker whose dog was diagnosed with damage in his small intestine and the owner was told the dog has IBS. I told her that it sounded like my husband's original diagnosis and we got to talking about celiac disease and she wants to try a gluten-free diet for her dog to see if it helps.

I told her I'd ask around about gluten-free dog food.

[darlindeb25]

Yes, dogs can be diagnosed with it. They even make gluten-free dog food now. Many families who are gluten-free even feed their dogs the gluten-free food so there is not the possibility of being glutened by the dog kisses. I read a very good article about this a while ago, but I can't remember where. Maybe if you google: dog + gluten intolerance.

[happygirl]

Yes, dogs can have Celiac. In particular, Irish Setters are "known" for having it.

from Iams.com: Gluten-Sensitive Enteropathy

Gluten (a protein found in wheat) is responsible for wheat-sensitive enteropathy, occasionally found in Irish Setters from the United Kingdom. Gluten enteropathy of Irish Setters is a malabsorption syndrome, which responds to removal of wheat (gluten) from the diet. This condition is very rate, and the reason some dogs develop it is not yet clear.

also, there are articles/abstracts on pubmed.com if you search for celiac and dog, gluten and dog, etc.

[ArtGirl]

Nutro brand's Natural Choice Lamb & Rice Formula (dry and canned) do not have any gluten-containing grains, just rice. They also have some gluten-free dog biscuits, Natural Choice Chops. (I buy it locally at the pet store, and also at a hardware store.)

This is what I feed my dogs, for my own safety. I did notice that my little Chihuahua, who often would get gastritis and was previously on prescription food, does much better now and hasn't had any stomach issues since the changover. Maybe he's gluten intolerant!

Several people have posted on this forum that when they changed to gluten-free dog food, their dog's loose stools and other issues improved.

[jmengert]

I second Nutro's Lamb and Rice formula. We have used it for our dog for 1.5 years now, for my own comfort. Also, for treats, Pupperoni

(the regular beef kind) are also gluten-free and are soy-based instead. I used to break out in rashes when my dog licked me when he was eating regular gluten filled food, so it's nice that there are gluten-free options out there!

[DingoGirl]

One of MY dogs is Celiac, no question! She is 12, and at teh age of four, had 1.5 years of chemotherapy (yes, I am a crazy dog lady) and had increasingly bad diarrhea since that time. It got really, really bad, so I switched her food about a year ago upon vet's recommendation to Bil Jac. And voila, no more D!! no more gas!! Almost instantly, solid stools. However, lately.....things are not looking good again so there is something else going on......

[KayJay]

Search for Burpdog biscuits. I have heard those are really good...Well that the dogs like them The lady make gluten-free dog biscuits out of her home.

I found the site. check it out! Open Original Shared Link

[2kids4me]

Dogs and cats can respond to a gluten free diet. I believe they are either celiac or gluten intolerant. I asked some "high up" vets who do internal medicine cases. They said there hasn't been any recent study of celiac in dogs other than the discovery years ago that it is found in the Irish Setter and the Wheaton terrier (ironic name). There have been no genetic studies as far as I know, and dogs/cats responding to gluten free do not have other autoimmune diseases.

Royal Canin

Medi Cal

Iams

Nutrience

Nutro

All have lines that are gluten free, Science diet uses corn based meals which may be gluten free but corn based meals can be gas producing - something you want to avoid in large deep chested breeds. (they are prone to gastric dilatation and torsion).

Any good vet clinic should be able to help you find a diet. If they dont know off hand, ask if they can do some research and get back to you. Availablity of certain brands vary by location (Canada / U.S. )

Sandy

[jesscarmel]

canidae dry food is gluten-free and some of thier wet food is too! evo treats are too

[ArtGirl]

The only reason commercial dog foods have all these grains in them is to make them easier to process and store, and to keep the costs down - grains are much less expensive than meat. Wild canine animals do not eat grains - yes, they may ingest some, and grasses too, from the innards of the prey they kill and eat - but this would be predigested and would not account for over 50% of their diet.

It's no wonder that these high-grain dog foods cause gas and intestinal issues with our domesticated animals, whether or not they are celiac. I was appalled at the high grain content of the prescription diet my Chihuahua was on - so very little real meat/protein and so many carbs.

[lonewolf]

The only reason commercial dog foods have all these grains in them is to make them easier to process and store, and to keep the costs down - grains are much less expensive than meat. Wild canine animals do not eat grains - yes, they may ingest some, and grasses too, from the innards of the prey they kill and eat - but this would be predigested and would not account for over 50% of their diet.

It's no wonder that these high-grain dog foods cause gas and intestinal issues with our domesticated animals, whether or not they are celiac. I was appalled at the high grain content of the prescription diet my Chihuahua was on - so very little real meat/protein and so many carbs.

Yep, I agree. And it's fact, not opinion, that wild dogs (wolves, coyotes, etc) eat predominantly raw meat and bones. Our puppy has been on a mostly raw food diet since he was 8 weeks old. His gas mostly went away, his teeth are gorgeous - the vet has commented twice on that, his coat glistens and he doesn't have bad doggy odor or breath.

[BRUMI1968]

I second the raw dog food - my dog has been on it for years. In fact, we ran out once and had to feed him kibble...the farts nearly killed us and it was the first time we realized he hadn't had stinky farts since he went on raw. It is a pain in the arse, but he is a very healthy puppy.

Some raw dog foods have grain, however...so watch for that. Raw Advantage, for example, has oats in in (or most of their varieties anyhow). I use lamb from a local farm (they grind meat and innards into dog food), and Prairie brand (they put in a lot of supplements like kelp, eggshells, etc., and that is important).

Good luck.

[Viola 1]

Yes, lots of people feed raw diets. Do take care though ... very young dogs and very old dogs CAN get ecoli if the meat is contaminated with it. We almost lost our Sheba with ecoli when she was a pup. Cost us over three hundred dollars at the vets. And that was several years ago. Other healthy dogs don't get it once their dietary track is mature.

Also ... raw diets have been know to cause ecoli and saminella (sp) in children, and even adults who are careless handling the dog food. You must wash your hands well after handling dog food, and don't forget those doggy kisses after they eat! A dog who has just eaten raw food should not be licking the children.

Just a couple of cautionary things

[larry mac]

Every time I hear you guy's talking about feeding raw meat to your dogs, I can't help getting a picture of a zoo, and feeding lions & tigers. Sounds pretty extreme. Just doesn't seem right. These are centuries old domesticated house pets, not some wild animals. This ain't Africa.

best regards, lm

p.s., our miniature schnauzer doesn't fart, or have bad odor or breath.

[lonewolf]

Every time I hear you guy's talking about feeding raw meat to your dogs, I can't help getting a picture of a zoo, and feeding lions & tigers. Sounds pretty extreme. Just doesn't seem right. These are centuries old domesticated house pets, not some wild animals. This ain't Africa.

Domesticated in behavior, yes, but how would their digestive tracts have "domesticated"? And what do you think people fed their pets a couple of centuries or even 50-60 years ago? Certainly not Purina puppy chow. You can easily find scientific information that shows that dogs' digestive systems, starting with their sharp teeth, are designed (evolved, if you prefer) to eat raw meat. Domesticated dogs are really not that different from wolves, coyotes and foxes.

Trust me, this isn't extreme. It's about feeding a species appropriate diet.

[Viola 1]

Every time I hear you guy's talking about feeding raw meat to your dogs, I can't help getting a picture of a zoo, and feeding lions & tigers. Sounds pretty extreme. Just doesn't seem right. These are centuries old domesticated house pets, not some wild animals. This ain't Africa.

best regards, lm

p.s., our miniature schnauzer doesn't fart, or have bad odor or breath.

It does sound like a zoo, doesn't it?

My problem with it is that we do have all these deseases now associated with meat that we didn't have when there was only a few head of cows on the property, or a few chickens for eggs.

Keeping animals in such close quarters as the modern meat and poultry farms and slaughter houses do now, makes it almost impossible not to have some problems show up.

As much as we would like to go back to a quieter and safer food product time, it's not going to happen. Even organic ... in fact especially organic foods are at risk for ecoli. As they use raw, natural fertilizers ... in other words, manure.

[Yenni]

We feed our dog gluten free food (because of me) and first we tried "Solid Gold Barking At The Moon". It is both soy and gluten free. It is high in protein though so it can be a problem for some dogs. Our dog kept on having really bad gas on it so we started using "Canidae" Instead. They are all gluten free but has legumes (not soy though I belive). Works much better.

There are some other brand out there too that we looked at but couldn't find them in a local store. Can't remember the names now but if anyone is interested in more I can try to find them.

[larry mac]

A little off topic story.

I kind of stretched the truth a little when I stated that our phoebe bufay doesn't fart. She doesn't (at least that we can tell- thank goodness), but she used to as a puppy and it was bad. Our vet, (think Sam Elliot) who is a no nonsense horse doctor type yet loves small animals, solved our problems.

He asked if we fed her dry food and yes, then had us add just a little hot water to it each time and viola! Problem solved. He said she was gulping too much excess air while eating the dry food. And as to the hot water he said "don't you prefer your food warm"? He makes me feel dumb sometimes (ok a lot) but cracks me up too.

When she was little, we had her in gettings shots and I mentioned that we were a little concerned she may have hurt her leg jumping off the bed. He asked how high was the bed (it's fairly high), and said "well that's like you jumping off a three story building, don't let her do that". Again, me dumb!

best regards, lm

[DingoGirl]

A little off topic story.

I kind of stretched the truth a little when I stated that our phoebe bufay doesn't fart. She doesn't (at least that we can tell- thank goodness), but she used to as a puppy and it was bad. Our vet, (think Sam Elliot) who is a no nonsense horse doctor type yet loves small animals, solved our problems.

um, hi Larry....OMG I love Sam Elliott, and could use a good veterinarian in my life, is he single?

(and who's off-topic now? )

[Viola 1]

We feed our dog gluten free food (because of me) and first we tried "Solid Gold Barking At The Moon". It is both soy and gluten free. It is high in protein though so it can be a problem for some dogs. Our dog kept on having really bad gas on it so we started using "Canidae" Instead. They are all gluten free but has legumes (not soy though I belive). Works much better.

There are some other brand out there too that we looked at but couldn't find them in a local store. Can't remember the names now but if anyone is interested in more I can try to find them.

Sheba gets "Barking at the Moon " too. I mix it with another gluten free, Solid Gold product called "Just a wee bite" It cuts way down on the gas. And as Sheba isn't a large dog, she likes the tiny pieces.

[jkmunchkin]

We really want to get a dog and were debating between a Wheaton Terrier or a Tibetan Terrier. We read that Wheaton Terrier's are prone to celiac. LOL!! Oh the irony

(Not for that reason) but I think we're gonna go with the Tibetan.

[Viola 1]

We really want to get a dog and were debating between a Wheaton Terrier or a Tibetan Terrier. We read that Wheaton Terrier's are prone to celiac. LOL!! Oh the irony

(Not for that reason) but I think we're gonna go with the Tibetan.

Either choice will give you a happy, friendly dog. We'll look forward to seeing your new puppy showing up on your avatar