GIT Diseases Flashcards
labia and oral cavity
clefts (lip + palate)
- most common congenital lip abnormality in small animals (or from teratogenic drugs)
- disturbance embryo’s process making jaws + face
- cleft palate: soft or soft + maxillary bones + lips
- sign: milk dripping from nostrils when nursing
- risk in C-sectioned puppies. breeders usually check few days after birth when dewclaw/tail docking performed
- calves not examined for cleft routinely, check for milk coming out nostrils
salivary glands
salivary mucocele
- excess saliva in/around gland
- trauma/inflammation blocks or ruptures duct
- shows up as swelling, no fever
esophagus
megaesophagus (dilation)
- can be congenital: constrictive bands of tissue from persistent aortic arch
- can be spasm of cardiac of stomach where esophagus dilates above the constriction
- can be muscle paralysis
obstruction (foreign bodies)
- AKA ‘choke’ in horses , usually from dry feed
abdomen
abdominal hernias
- abdominal contents protrude into subcutis through natural or abnormal opening
- 3 types: umbilical, inguinal, scrotal
stomach
gastric dilatation & volvulus (GDV)
- AKA gastric torsion, bloat
- common in deep-chested breeds
- usually presents from exercising after big meal/lots of water
- signs: distended abdomen, retching w/out vomit, drooling, pacing, distress
- go into shock unless treated (by relieving stomach pressure then immediate surgery to untwist stomach)
gastritis
- chronic or acute inflammation of gastric mucosa
- from disease/diet/bacteria/irritants
hemorrhagic gastritis
- cantharadin toxicosis in horses (‘blister beetles’)
foreign body ingestion
- needs surgery
- gastrotomy: stomach
- enterotomy: intestine
- resection & anastomosis (removal of section of intestine and fusing back together)
intestines
diarrhea
- excess water in feces due to colon’s ability to absorb water being impaired
- fluid pass through GIT normally (more than total body water!) by secretions of GI glands (saliva, stomach, pancreas), direct secretion by surface epithelial cells
- if small intestine diseased: makes more secretion (large intestine fine, but just can’t absorb this amount)
- if large intestine diseased: can’t absorb
- diarrhea: imbalance b/w secretin + absorption
- causes dehydration
intussusception
- telescoping of intestines (sections going into sections)
- if it hasn’t been there for long you can try and pull them apart manually, if it’s been there a long time resection required
colic
- abd. pain
- GIT sensitive to distension
- obstruction causes distension
- twists displace GIT, kink lumen and block outflow -> fluid accumulates in GIT
- in horses: often involves intussusception, torsion, volvulus, obstruction, enteritis. 20% need surgery
sand colic
constipation
- feces accumulates in descending colon/rectum
- dries out and hardens as water is absorbed by mucosa
- colon gets so dilated that it can’t contract
- causes: decreased peristalsis (inadequate fiber -> GIT normally contracts in response to distension from fiber), electrolyte imbalances (Ca for muscle contraction, potassium for nerve stimulation), stress (anything causing sympathetic stimulation decreases gut motility), drugs (esp atropine in horses - mimics sympathetic stimulation)
enteritis & colitis
- acute/chronic inflammation of mucous membranes of small i (enteritis) & large i (colitis)
- causes: infectious disease, diet, foreign bodies, irritant drugs, parasites
rectum & anus
atresia (imperforate anus) AKA ‘lack of anus’
- membrane separating rectum & anus fails to rupture (normally happens in a fetus)
- signs show at birth: retention of feces, no anal opening
- surgery to remove membrane
rectal prolapse:
- all/part of rectum protrudes through anus.
- common in young or post-partum from straining
rectal tears
- usually from trauma
- small animals: passing foreign body
- large: from rectal palpation
gallbladder
- examined at necropsy (full = didn’t eat before dying, no stimulation for gall bladder to contract. small = had an appetite before death)
gall bladder mucocele
- mucous accumulation that can cause rupture
liver
hepatitis
- general liver inflammation
- signs: weight loss, nervous [low blood sugar, high ammonia], jaundice (bilirubin accumulation), edema (low plasma albumin - which helps keep fluid in vessels)
cirrhosis
- end-stage liver disease
- small, scarred, firm
pancreas
pancreatitis
- usually middle-aged, inactive, obese dog
- acute = painful (more common in dogs)
- chronic = pancreas functional loss (more common in cats)
- pancreas gets inflamed, then scarred -> can’t produce enzymes properly
exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI)
- caused by chronic pancreatitis
- decreased production of digestive enzymes (lipase for fat, protease for protein, amylase for starch)
- can’t break down food -> weight loss and profuse, voluminous, fatty stool of diarrhea
diabetes mellitus
- endocrine function of pancreas fails (can be secondary to pancreatitis)
- glucose issue completely different to diabetes insipidus
- insufficient production or/sensitivity to insulin
- can be secondary to pancreatitis in dogs
- type 1: insulin deficiency, dogs, some cats
- type 2: insulin resistance (can’t get insulin into cells), cats
- signs: polyuria, polydipsia, (<- PU/PD) polyphagia, weight loss, cataracts in dogs, neuropathy in cats (walking funny, on hocks)
- treatment: insulin (giving more to overcome resistance in type 2) & diet changes
- insulin helps cells take sugar out of blood and into cells, cells starving but high-blood sugar
rumen
bloat (abd. distension)
- due to gas accumulation. puts pressure on diaphragm -> inhibits heart + lungs
- big problem if it can’t be eructated (pass gas)
- look for frothy bubbles and slime
- left side of cow gets huge
- ruminal atony (milk fever)
traumatic reticulitis (AKA hardware disease)
- perforation of reticulum by foreign body (usually metallic) and associated local peritonitis
- magnets swallowed -> into reticulum to collect metal objects
abomasal displacement
- usually LDA (left-side displacement of abomasum, pushes rumen out of the way), (normally lies on the floor, slightly to right, of abdominal cavity)
- usually in large, richly fed, high-producing dairy cows immediately after parturition
- needs surgery (-pexy to fix abomasum to body wall)
