Archive for September, 2008
Diagnosing the Cause of Diarrhea in Dogs and Cats
Author: John Simon
Food allergies can often be ruled in or out as the cause of diarrhea by putting the patient on a very restricted non- allergenic diet, such as lamb and rice. Intestinal parasites, known as whipworms, are frequently present in such small numbers that they can easily be missed by routine laboratory methods. Worming for whipworms even though the fecal test turns out negative is sometimes the only way to detect the presence of these hidden whipworms and stop the diarrhea.
Giardia is a one celled intestinal parasite that is so small that, even with the microscope, it is very hard to see without the use of special diagnostic stains. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) usually causes repeated bouts of diarrhea. An endoscopic exam where biopsy samples of the intestinal lining are surgically removed and sent to the laboratory for a histopathology report, is the only way to absolutely diagnose IBD. Certain types of bacteria like E .coli and Pseudomonas are resistant to many antibiotics and, therefore, an antibiotic sensitivity test must be performed on a stool culture in order to find an effective antibiotic which will put an end to the diarrhea.
From the above discussion I think you can easily understand that diagnosing the cause of chronic diarrhea is no easy matter and takes time and money to sift through all the diagnostic possibilities.
