I am very interested to know if any of the GSDs at the Leerburg Kennels have been diagnosed with Perianal Fistulae. If so, were any changes to the diet made for this?

Question

Cindy,

    I read your article about raw diets on the Leerburg site. I am very interested to know if any of the GSDs at the Leerburg Kennels have been diagnosed with Perianal Fistulae (a non-healing abscess adjacent to the anus). And if so where any changes to the normal diet made because of this condition?

    This condition is very common with GSDs I am told. My Irish Setter [7.5 yr.] has been treated for the condition for over two years with little result. Because some research indicates that it is an autoimmune related illness and could be related to allergies, I have been on a long journey trying to find the right diet which may help. The first trial was to change his diet to a fish/sweet potato high-end kibble. Subsequently, we began seeing a holistic vet and he began am acupuncture and supplements treatment. We first transitioned completely from all commercial dog food to diet of cooked hamburger, mackerel, steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots & cauliflower), wild salmon oil supplement and --- eliminated all carbohydrates except sweet potato. She recommended cooked meat because she theorized that the body had infection going on related to the PF and that the raw diet would strain the digestive system and take energy from healing. His coat is looking much better but his fistulae is much worse!

    The vet has also encouraged following the anti-inflammatory diet regime (no poultry of any kind, only wild caught fish)? however, she encouraged the use of hamburger? but now through our readings we are getting mixed messages about beef in general being inflammatory.

    Therefore, I am interested both in any comments about raw chicken (and poultry) and any inflammatory concerns about this and most particularly if you have experienced dogs with the PF problem and any dietary suggestions you may have.

    Thank you,
 Trish

Accepted Answer

Perianal fistulas and allergies are an autoimmune problem, and in my opinion are associated with vaccines. I have a friend with a GSD that has perianal fistulas (dog was an overly vaccinated adult when she obtained her) and she feeds the raw diet as we outline on our website. She feeds quite a bit of poultry actually. If your dog’s system is really stressed cooking the food would be a good intermediate step.

    If you choose to try feeding chicken, I would probably look carefully at the packaging of any poultry fed, as many times “solution” is injected into the birds to make their selling weight better. Beef is usually better tolerated by my dogs than chicken as a rule, but all dogs are different.

    I am not a health care professional, and have no experience with this condition in my own dogs so I don’t feel entirely comfortable telling you what to do, and I might look for a homeopath to help you get to the root of the problem. I do know from dealing with chronic conditions in my own dogs that many times it gets worse before it gets better. The body heals (hopefully) from the inside out.

    Cindy