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Medicine:
The Nasty Brown Stinky Stuff, Diarrhea
Diarrhea is the end result of a lot of different causes. Most causes of diarrhea are quick and easy to treat; some causes are much more difficult and can be caused by a life-threatening disease.
When we see cases of diarrhea, we need to determine seriousness. If the diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting, dehydration, bleeding, anorexia, lethargy, pain, or fever than it is more serious. If it is only a mild soft stool, this is usually less serious. Diarrhea is never normal, and we recommend examination if your pet comes down with it. Diarrhea can be an acute (short-lived) or chronic (long-lived) to recurrent problem. We treat acute and chronic diarrhea very differently.
With mild acute cases, we generally perform an examination and a fecal sample. If everything looks good, we generally treat outpatient with a special diet and medication. When coming in for an examination for diarrhea, bring in a fecal sample or don't walk them right before coming in. Mild cases generally resolve in a few days.
If the diarrhea is
more chronic or serious, we sometimes will want to get some radiographs
(X-rays), fecal sample, and bloodwork. If your dog is not current on vaccines,
we may want to perform a Parvo test. Dogs with more serious diarrhea may
require hospitalization and extensive testing.
What are some causes
of diarrhea?
- The most common
cause is what we call "garbage gut." Eating something inappropriate
or different than normal, which can include human food, cat food, feces,
plant matter, trash, and any foreign material, causes this. Sometimes
we never find out what the offending material was that caused the diarrhea.
About 90% of the cases of diarrhea are due to this problem. With this
diarrhea we can sometimes see a little vomiting, mucus in the stool,
blood, straining, and increased urgency and frequency of bowel movements.
This is called acute colitis and is very common and luckily easy to
treat.
- Parasites such
as whipworms, hookworms, tapeworms roundworms, coccidia, and giardia
can cause diarrhea. We can commonly find these parasites on a fecal
sample, although a negative sample does not guarantee there are no parasites
present.
- Bacterial/viral
infections can come from contact with other animals, their feces, or
raw meat. They can be mild to very serious. Parvo is an intestinal virus
that can be very serious. It lives in the environment for a very long
time and most dogs get it from parks, boarding kennels, or the pound.
There is a very effective vaccine for it.
- Obstruction: Pets
can get foreign material stuck in the intestines that can cause diarrhea.
Masses, such as tumors can cause this as well. Obstructions can be a
source of acute and chronic diarrhea.
- Problems outside
the intestinal tract, such as kidney or liver disease can cause diarrhea.
We test for these with blood and urine tests.
- Food sensitivities
or allergies can cause chronic diarrhea. We test for this by performing
a diet change.
- Inflammatory Bowel
disease is not well understood, although it is a type of autoimmune
disease. It is diagnosed by biopsy. Immune suppression and special diets
are how it is treated.
- Cancer anywhere in the body can cause diarrhea. Luckily, cancer is not very common in dogs and cats, and is not a common cause of diarrhea. Radiographs, examination, and ultrasound are useful in diagnosing this disease.
To prevent diarrhea, try to keep your pet from eating things they are not supposed to. If diarrhea occurs, see us soon, as the symptoms can worsen. Do not treat with Imodium, as it can worsen symptoms and make the diarrhea last longer.
In summary, mild diarrheas we treat outpatient with medication. Dogs and cats with more serious symptoms or a chronic, recurrent diarrhea we treat more aggressively. Do not try to self-treat diarrhea, please seek medical care for your pet.
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