Efficacy of feeding a diet containing a high concentration of mixed fiber sources for management of acute large bowel diarrhea in dogs in shelters

Background Use of diets with increased concentrations of dietary fiber is thought to be beneficial in the management of dogs with large bowel diarrhea. Objective To determine whether feeding a diet with high concentrations of soluble and insoluble fiber to dogs with acute colitis would be superior to feeding a diet with typical fiber levels. Animals A total of 52 dogs with acute signs of large bowel diarrhea housed in an animal shelter were entered into the study; 11 dogs per diet completed the protocol. Methods In this randomized, prospective study, dogs with a fecal score of 4, 5, 6, or 7 and signs of acute colitis were fed a high fiber diet (4.54% soluble; 15.16% insoluble fiber) or a standard diet (0.6% soluble; 5.33% insoluble fiber) and fecal scores compared over the course of the study with significance defined as P  < .05. Results All dogs fed the high fiber diet (11/11; 100%) had a fecal score <5 on the day of adoption or day 9, which was statistically different ( P  < .04) than dogs fed the standard diet (6/11 dogs; 55%; 95% CI: 23‐83). The proportions of stools with a fecal score >4 were greater ( P  = .0001) in the dogs fed the standard diet (29/48 samples; 60%; 95% CI: 45‐74) compared to the high fiber diet (8/50 samples; 16%; 95% CI: 7‐29). Conclusions and Clinical Importance The results support feeding the high fiber diet described herein to dogs with acute large bowel diarrhea.