Alimentary pathology

Question 1

What are some potential signs of GIT disease?

Answer 1

• Dysphagia
• Ptyalism
• Halitosis
• Inappetance/anorexia
• Vomiting
• Regurgitation
• Diarrhoea
• Weight loss

Question 2

What are some defences of the GIT?

Answer 2

• Saliva
• Resident microflora
• Low gastric pH
• Secreted immunoglobulins
• Vomiting
• Intestinal proteolytic enzymes
• Submucosal phagocytes
• Rapid epithelial turnover
• Increased peristalsis –> diarrhoea
• Adaptive immunity

Question 3

Define stomatitis

Answer 3

Diffuse inflammation of the oral cavity mucosa

Question 4

Define pharyngitis

Answer 4

Inflammation of the pharynx

Question 5

Define glossitis

Answer 5

Inflammation of the tongue

Question 6

Define tonsillitis

Answer 6

Inflammation of the tonsils

Question 7

Define gingivitis

Answer 7

Inflammation of the gingiva

Question 8

Name some defence mechanisms specific to the oral cavity

Answer 8

• Tough, stratified squamous epithelium
• Rapid epithelial regeneration
• Resident microflora occupy attachment sites- outcompete invaders
• Taste buds reject potential toxins
• Saliva contains digestive enzymes
• Salivary pH
• Swallowing, flushing action
• Mucosal secretions provide physical and chemical protection (IgA and lysozyme)

Question 9

How may tooth malocclusion occur?

Answer 9

Uneven wear on the teeth of ruminants and horses can result in sharp edges that require filing. Horses and ruminants have open rooted teeth and so they will continue to grow.
Rabbits and rodents also have open rooted incisors and these are prone to becoming overgrown

Question 10

How can stomatitis be classified?

Answer 10

Cause:
-Direct injury e.g. foreign body (needle, grass seed), ingested chemicals
-Systemic or local disease e.g. viruses (FMD, blue-tongue), auto-immune disease (pemphigus), uraemia (associated with renal failure)
Type of inflammation:
e.g. vesicular, erosive, ulcerative, catarrhal etc

Question 11

What are the features of vesicular stomatits?

Answer 11

• Fluids accumulate in the epithelium then coalesce
• Surface epithelium rubs off –> erosions with tags of epithelium attached
• Unless infected by bacteria, healing is rapid
• Often caused by viruses including FMD

Question 12

What disease may present with ulcerative or erosive stomatitis?

Answer 12

Uraemia
Viruses
-Feline calicivirus
-Mucosal disease (or BVD)
-Blue tongue
-Malignant catarrhal fever
-Equine viral rhinotracheitis

Question 13

What is a syndrome?

Answer 13

A combination of clinical signs resulting from a single cause or often occurring with a distinct clinical picture

Question 14

Describe eosinophlic granuloma complex

Answer 14

-A group of lesions that affect the skin, mucocutaneous junction and oral cavity of cats and dogs (less commonly)
-Reaction pattern, not disease diagnosis
1. Indolent ulcer (doesn’t heal, tends to affect MCJ)
2. Eosinophilic (or linear) granuloma (of ten seen in oral cavity esp. tongue and palate)
3. Eosinophilic plaque (mostly occur on abdomen or thighs)
Often seen in cats with hypersensitivity disorders such as allergies to food, insects, and inhalants

Question 15

Name some developmental abnormalities that may affect the oral cavity

Answer 15

Cleft lip (cheiloschisis)
Cleft palate (palatoschisis)
Malocclusions (named according to the position of the mandible)
-Brachygnathia- parrot mouth, short mandible
-Prognathia- elongate mandible
[May be characteristic of some breeds]

Question 16

What is gingival hyperplasia?

Answer 16

Gingival overgrowth; more common in brachycephalic breeds such as boxers

Question 17

What is epulis?

Answer 17

=Excessive growth of gingiva

There are many different types including fibrous and fibromatous but all are considered benign

Question 18

Name the type of malignant epulis

Answer 18

-Acanthmatous epulides (malignant acanthomatous ameloblastoma)
Can invade bone and are prone to reoccurrence following surgical removal

Question 19

What are the most common oral tumours in dogs?

Answer 19

Oral melanomas (90% are malignant)

Question 20

What are the most common oral tumours in cats?

Answer 20

Oral fibrosarcomas (20%)

Question 21

Where do oral squamous cell carcinomas common occur in dogs and cats?

Answer 21

On the tongue in cats and on the tonsils in dogs

Question 22

What is megaoesophagus?

Answer 22

=condition where peristalsis fails to occur normally and the oesophagus becomes enlarged

• May be congenital
• Pathogenesis is unknown but has been associated with pyloric stenosis, hiatus hernia and lead poisoning

Question 23

What is oesophagitis?

Answer 23

Erosive/ulcerative oesophagitis: often associated with viral diseases with lesions of oral cavity/rumen (BVD, Felive calicivirus)

• caustic/irritant chemicals e.g. gastric refulx
• foreign body damage
• ionising radiation
• electrochemical reactions
• hot ingesta

Question 24

What is traumatic reticuloperitonitis and what are the clinical signs?

Answer 24

Also known as "hardware disease", TRP is caused by penetration of the wall of the reticulum by an ingested foreign body
Clinical signs include:
-anorexia
-fall in milk yield
-Mild pyrexia
-Ruminal stasis
-Abdominal pain or grunting
May result in acute local peritonitis
Spontaneous recovery if adhesions form 
Penetration of pleural or pericardial sacs leading to pleuritis, pneumonia or pericarditis

Question 25

What are some potential sequelae of hardware disease?

Answer 25

• Rupture of gastrosplenic artery –> haemorrhage
• Splenic, hepatic, diaphragmatic and mediastinal abscessed –> septicaemia
• Endocarditis, arthritis, nephritis
• Rupture of coronary artery or ventricular wall
• Vagal indigestion