Main Index
In Store
Our Web Store
Miniature Schnauzer Picture Gallery
Latest Dog Blogs
- What Are The Basic Commands To Train A Dog?
- PaySafe As The Most Popular Type Of Deposit
- Everything You Need To Know About Pet Sales
- Dogs Contribute To Our Physical And Mental Well Being
- How To Choose Where To Bet On Greyhounds In 2022
- Volunteer With Animals - How To Help Dogs Around The World
- Basic Understanding Of The House Edge
- Why You Should Get A Dog
- Top 20 Popular Dog Names Around The World
- Constipation in Dogs and How to Find Solutions
Chronic Diarrhoea
- 31/01/2010
There are A LOT of causes of chronic diarrhoea. So many that I am sure I will miss a number of them in the following list, but here goes: malabsorptive diseases (anything causing an inability to absorb food, such as wheat gluten sensitivity or plasmacytic-lymphocytic enteritis), maldigestion syndromes such as pancreatic insufficiency, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal parasites (protozoans, worms, coccidia), fungal infections (rarely), damage to vital organs such as the liver or kidney leading to secondary diarrhoea problems, diabetes mellitus, hypoadrenocorticism, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, cancer, ulcers, bacterial enteritis or colitis, cecal inversion and irritable bowel syndromes.
It is important to try to decide if this is a small intestinal problem or large intestinal problem. In small intestinal disease the diarrhoea tends to be pretty large volume at one time but less frequent episodes of diarrhoea. In large intestinal diarrhoea the volume of diarrhoea tends to be smaller but episodes are more frequent. Knowing which of these is likely to be the problem helps in deciding which tests to run.
In chronic diarrhoea it can be very hard to find a diagnosis. The intestinal biopsies were are very good idea. It is too bad they were not more informative. It can take multiple fecal exams to find some parasites, particularly giardia and whipworms. There are pretty good blood tests now to aid in the diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency (blood trypsin-like immunoreactivity, folate levels, it is always wise to do general lab panels to make sure other organ systems are functioning properly. It can be helpful to rule out food sensitivity/allergy using special diets (elimination diets). Culture of the stool will sometimes reveal a bacteria that is very likely to be pathogenic, such as Salmonella or Clostridium perfringens. Special cultures can be done for Campylobacter.
If sulfasalazine does help, that is a hint that the problem is likely to be in the large intestine. If biopsies did not include the colon it may be possible to obtain the necessary biopsy samples from the colon to make a diagnosis using an endoscope with a biopsy forceps.
In most cases, it is possible to find a cause for the diarrhoea and to successfully treat it, if you are patient enough. You can tell from the long list of possible causes that it can be hard, though.
Please Help Us
IrishDogs.ie takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters because it might well be your perspective, too.
Our future could be much more secure with your help. Please SUPPORT us by clicking on the Donate Button at the Top Right of your screen.
Quick Search
Donate
Latest Dog Pods
- Tips on How to Stop Your Dog from Biting
- Beware - Not All Advertised Dog Rescues Really Are! How Can You Know The Truth?
- Helpful Tips For Dog Obedience Problems
- How to Keep Dogs From Eating Poop
- Dog Grooming Tips - A General Overview of the Very Basics of Dog Grooming
- Recognising Different Types of Dog Obedience Problems
- 5 Important Tips On Feeding A Puppy