Diarrhea In Dogs And Cats

Diarrhea can be classified as being acute in onset, meaning that the symptoms arise quickly and last no more than a week, or chronic, lasting for several weeks to months. Dogs and cats with chronic diarrhea may have periods in which the condition improves, but then grows worse again. Animals that are affected more severely can experience vomiting, depression, dehydration, listlessness, increased frequency of diarrhea, and may even have blood in the stool. A number of pathogens may responsible for diarrhea problems in animals.

Campylobacter-associated diarrhea has a wide clinical spectrum in dogs, ranging from mild, loose feces, to watery diarrhea, to severe bloody mucoid diarrhea. Severity of the disease is dependent upon the number of organisms ingested by the host as well as previous exposure and development of protective antibodies. Another enteric pathogen, Giardia, is a common cause of diarrhea in cats, especially among cats in catteries and group housing situations. However, healthy animals rarely experience diarrhea or other symptoms unless they are exposed to an unusually high number of Giardia. Young kittens and debilitated older cats, both of which have weaker immune systems, are much more likely to show symptoms from moderate numbers of the parasite. Severe diarrhea from hemorrhagic gastroenteritis has been associated with specific strains of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringes in cats and dogs. The pathogenicity of the organism is associated with several toxins. The toxin binds to the intestinal epithelial cells of infected animals, increases membrane permeability, and decreases synthesis resulting in fluid and ion secretion with eventual death of epithelial cells.

Dogs and cats with severe or chronic diarrhea require a series of diagnostic tests to determine and treat the underlying cause. In certain cats, chronic diarrhea will be difficult to diagnose (by routine diagnostics methods) and to cure. Recently developed PCR assay allows specific detection of the most common infectious causes of diarrhea by detecting even a very small amount of pathogen in biological samples. HealthGene offers the disease-specific Animal Diarrhea Profile-2 (Test code: GP-2) that includes tests for Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens (test for 4 toxins), Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia spp. The required sample for this profile is a small amount of feces in any sterile container. Test results are usually available in 2 business days.