Terms:
Colitis is inflammation of the colon or large intestine.
Enteritis is inflammation of the small intestines.
"Garbagitis" or "Garbage Gut" are non medical terms we vets use to indicate a patient with some combination of vomiting, feeling lousy, diarrhea, constipation, and a tight, gassy abdomen from eating something inappropriate. Click here to go to our page about Garbagitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix which is a pouch attached to the intestines at the site where the small and large intestines meet. In some species, this pouch is huge (horses and rabbits) and called a cecum. In humans, the appendix is about the size of your thumb and sometimes causes deadly serious disease needing immediate surgery. In dogs and cats, this is a very rare occurence.
Pets with colitis often also have enteritis. After all, the intestines are connected so the distinction between enteritis and colitis is often just academic. I'm sure your dog doesn't care. "Just get me better" !
This page is about Colitis.
Causes:
Excessive hair in the bowel (often associated with skin disease) or excessive grooming due to neurotic problems. Bowel inflammation due to irritation and poor digestion of hair is a major reason people bring in pets. Fremented hair makes pets miserable.
Intolerance to diets, snacks, table scraps, or vices such as eating excessive amounts of grass, sticks, bark, road kill, etc
Lack of fiber in the diet
Food allergies more common than you might think and to the foods you have been feeding for months.
Stress and anxiety
Intestinal Parasites to include nematode worms, tapeworms, Giardia, and Coccidia
Bacterial and Fungal infections
Bowel cancer
As you can see, the causes range from minor irritants to cancer.
This fact makes it tough on your veterinarians; do we treat gut cases casually and inexpensively on the assumption that this is probably yet another minor case .... or do we recommend blood work, radiographs, endoscopes, and ultra sound because of the possibility that this particular case is something serious. Making this decision will depend on the history, the severity of the signs, your budget, and usually in the end, how your pet responds to initial treatment.
Symptoms include blood and mucus in the stool, gas, restless behavior, discomfort, straining to defecate, more frequent defecation and so forth.
Diagnostic workups typically include:
- Fecal exam for parasites, mucus, and blood
- Blood work to rule out metabolic diseases
- Radiographs
-Endoscopy and biopsy may be appropriate in severe or unresponsive cases
Treatment, of course, depends on the cause. Sometimes it's necessary to treat seemingly unrelated problems like excessive shedding due to fleas.
More typical treatments involve special diets and increased fiber in the diet.
Weight loss, dietary habit changes, and stress management may also be appropriate
Antibiotics, parasite medications, steroids, and chemotherapy may be needed for certain cases.
Note:
I generally use the term colitis for patients with chronic or frequent lower bowel problems. For cats and dogs with acute bursts of bowel irritation due to over eating, eating table scraps, garbage, and so forth we call "garbagitis" at our clinic. Click here to read about our recommendations about garbage gut... one of the most common problems we see in practice
A physician claims that the following are actual comments made by his
patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:
1. "Take it easy, Doc, you're boldly going where no man has gone before."
2. "Find Amelia Earhart yet?"
3. "Can you hear me NOW?"
4. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
5. "You know, in Arkansas we're now legally married."
6. "Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?"
7. "You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...."
8. "Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!"
9. "If your hand doesn't fit, you must aquit!"
10. "Hey, Doc, let me know if you find my dignity."
11. "You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?"
And the best one of them all...
12. "Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is in fact not
up there.
