Does Your Dog Have Lymphangiectasia? Here’s How To Feed It

Canine Intestinal Lymphangiectasia or CIL disease comes in two forms: Primary lymphangiectasia and the Lymphangiectasia secondary to the Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD. The term "secondary" in this context means that the dog has one disease (IBD) resulting in lymphangiectasia. It follows that treatment of the first disease will automatically cure the second one. It means treating IBD is vital.

The requirements of feeding the dog will be different and depend on which disease or form the animal has in the first place. The problem is even with multiple tests, it is hard to find out from exactly which disease the dog suffers from. It is important to note how the dog reacts to food. This reaction will offer vital information as to the dietary needs of the canine.As a dog owner, you must control two items in the dog diet: protein and fat. The amount of control of these two components depends on the form of disease present. In Primary Lymphangiectasia, fat is the enemy. You can control this disease by controlling the fat. The treatment is a simple one and consists of an ultra-low-fat diet supplemented by anti-inflammatory drugs. This diet could be rich in protein. Dogs afflicted with this variety of disease become healthy with strict dietary control.

In Lymphangiectasia secondary to the IBD, the enemy is protein. This is more complicated compared to the former. The cause of IBD is protein intolerance. It is vital to find out at this juncture as to whether the dog reacts negatively to proteins present in the diet. Meats are the primary protein source of dogs in this case. It is vital that you reduce the dietary fat, more so in early treatment. You should eliminate the common source of proteins like chicken and feed the dog a hypoallergenic prescription diet. Alternatively, you can introduce lean proteins in a serial manner. Your dog must eat such proteins for the first time like tilapia and venison. After you give the dog this changed diet, observe the animal for 24 hours. If the animal's health improves, continue the same.The list of low-fat diets includes commercial products like Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat. Hypoallergenic diets are inclusive of Royal Canin Hypoallergenic dog food and Purina HA Hypoallergenic dog food. The vet may recommend any one of these two diets. The diets make an excellent beginning of the treatment process.There is a chance that your dog could fail to respond to such low-fat diets. It means the animal has an extra protein sensitivity which remained undiagnosed. There is now a need to conduct low-fat protein food trials so that a compatible protein source could be found.