Investigation & Management of Diarrhea in Dogs & Cats Flashcards
what are dietary causes of diarrhea (3)
- abrupt dietary change
- dietary indiscretion
- dietary intolerance/allergy
what are inflammatory causes of diarrhea (3)
- inflammatory bowel disease
- colitis
- lymphangiectasia
what are infectious causes of diarrhea (4)
- parasitic: helminths, protozoa
- viral: parvovirus, distemper, coronavirus, rotavirus, FeLV
- bacterial: salmonella, campylobacter, C perfringens, C difficile, E. coli
- fungal and algal
what are neoplastic causes of diarrhea (4)
- alimentary lymphoma
- intestinal carcinoma
- leiomyosarcoma
- mast cell tumour
what are extra intestinal disorders of diarrhea (5)
- exocrine pancreatic insufficiency
- hypoadrenocorticism (Addison’s)
- liver disease
- pancreatitis
- peritonitis
what are miscellaneous causes of diarrhea (3)
- chronic intussusception
- irritable bowel syndrome
- acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome
what drugs and toxins can cause diarrhea (3)
- NSAIDs
- antibiotics
- chemotherapy
how do you investigate diarrhea (3)
- signalment
- history
- physical examination
develop an appropriate ddx list based on these things
youre looking for distinguishing features that will help you to narrow down the potential cause of diarrhea
what questions should you ask about the history of diarrhea (6)
- is the diarrhea acute or chronic (chronic is >2 weeks duration)?
- is the diarrhea constant or intermittent?
- ask the owner to describe the characteristics of the diarrhea –> differentiate from small intestine vs large intestinal disease
- ask about any recent changes in diet or environment (could this be due to a change in diet, is the dog a scavenger, is the dog coprophagic?)
- ask about in contact animals
- ask about anthelmintic history and vaccination status
what are small intestinal diarrhea characteristics (6)
- normal to large volume
- frequency of defecation is normal to mildly increased
- melena
- concurrent weight loss (malabsorption)
- concurrent vomiting
- ascites if associated with protein losing enteropathy (PLE)
what are large intestinal diarrhea characteristics (6)
- variable but often small volume
- increased frequency of defecation associated with urgency
- mucus
- hematochezia (fresh blood)
- fecal tensmus
- dyschezia (pain associated with defecation)
what general history questions should you ask (3)
- what is appetite like (ex. dogs & cats with EPI typically have a ravenous appetite)
- has the dog/cat been vomiting (ex. if vomiting has developed in a patient that’s had acute diarrhea, consider the possibility of intussusception)
- has the owner noticed PUPD? (ex. you may be more likely to consider an extraintestinal cause of diarrhea like hypoadrenocorticism)
what are specific physical exam findings that may direct your investigation (4)
1. pyrexia: may be an indicator of an infectious cause or a systemic complication of underlying disorder
2. malnutrition: (poor BCS) may be an indicator of a chronic maldigestive or malabsorptive disorder
3. abdominal palpation: may suggest GI thickening or associated mass
4. presence of ascites: may suggest protein-losing enteropathy
what are differential ddx for acute hemorrhagic diarrhea (3)
- infectious: parvovirus, coronavirus, salmonella, C perfringens, E. coli
- acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome
- abdominal catostrphe
what type of virus is parvovirus
enveloped DNA virus with a tropism for rapidly dividing cells
what cells does parvovirus have a tropism for
rapidly dividing cells
intestinal epithelium
hematopoietic cells (neutropenia)
how does parvovirus cause sepsis
bacterial translocation across an impaired intestinal epithelium coupled with neutropenia leads to a gram negative sepsis
what are the clinical signs of parvovirus infection
- anorexia
- vomiting
- severe hemorrhagic diarrhea
- pyrexia/hypothermia
- SIRS
- DIC
when should you suspect/consider parvoviral infection
- unvaccinated dogs with signs of acute and severe gastroenteritis
- patients are unwell: dehydration, signs of sepsis (neutropenia)
what type of organism is salmonella
entero invasive organism
what does salmonellosis cause
acute enterocolitis
mucosal sloughing and secretory diarrhea
when is salmonella infection most commonly seen
young and/or immunocompromised individuals or where concurrent GI infections occur
what increases the risk of salmonellosis
diarrhea with trend for feeding raw diets
when is campylobacter associated diarrhea likely to occur
more likely to be seen in young and/or immunocompromised individuals with conccurent GI infections
poor antibiotic therapy
poor hygeine
what does campylobacter cause
because its enteroinvasive it causes a superficial erosive enterocolitis
what are the pathogenic strains of E. coli (3)
- ETEC (enterotoxigenic)
- EPEC (enteropathogenic)
- EHEC (enterohemorrhagic)