Despite being a common reason for veterinary consultation, there is a great lack of knowledge about colitis, which we often confuse with diarrhea. The truth is that colitis is an inflammation of the colon that gives rise to watery diarrhea, which carries the risk of dehydration in the animal. We tell you more about this matter.
Colitis can present in two ways:
- Chronic colitis: It is recurrent, occurring at least once every two weeks. It needs a specific veterinary treatment and it can significantly damage the animal's body if we do not remedy it quickly.
- Acute colitis: appears suddenly and punctually. It has a short duration and is the most frequent. Its causes can be very numerous and varied, from stress to the ingestion of foreign bodies, passing through internal parasites, food intolerance, side effects of medications, etc.
Colitis and diarrhea, what is the difference?
As we said previously, colitis is not synonymous with diarrhea, since colitis is a inflammation of the colon, which belongs to the large intestine, while diarrhea can also be related to the small intestine. It is colitis if the affected area is the colon, proctitis if it is the rectum, and appendicitis if we talk about the cecum (first portion of the large intestine).
Main symptoms
This disorder results in symptoms such as the following:
- Watery diarrhea, sometimes with the presence of blood and / or mucus.
- Pain during defecation.
- Weight loss due to dehydration, in the case of chronic colitis.
- Gases.
- Redness in the area of the anus.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Loss of appetite
- Apathy.
Common causes
There are many and varied reasons why the animal can suffer from colitis. The most common cause of acute colitis are eating disorders, either due to the ingestion of some toxic object or food, food in bad condition, a change in diet, etc. While chronic colitis usually occurs by intestinal diseases. Other common reasons are:
- Parasites: flatworms, roundworms, or protozoa.
- Infections: caused by bacteria or viruses.
- Cancer.
- Irritable bowel disease
- Immune-mediated diseases: allergies or immune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
- Fungal infection
Diagnosis
Only a qualified veterinarian can confirm if our dog suffers from colitis and determine its origin. You must first perform a physical examination, palpating the abdominal area. You will also need a blood and urine testsas well as a stool exam. The latter is carried out in order to find gastrointestinal parasites or the presence of other diseases, such as salmonella or parvovirus.
Sometimes an abdominal X-ray is required to check for tumors in the large intestine or other abnormalities. Similarly, if the veterinarian believes it appropriate to extract tissue samples from the colon mucosa for analysis, a colonoscopy will be performed.
Transmission
Treatment should always be imposed by a qualified veterinarian and depends on the type of colitis in question.
Regarding acute colitis, it usually requires a initial fast of 12 to 24 hours, followed by a soft diet for a few days. All this accompanied by the administration of oral serum to alleviate dehydration and antibiotics to eliminate pathogenic or harmful bacteria present in the dog's body.
Chronic colitis, meanwhile, is treated by attacking the primary cause that has caused the disease, so there are different types of treatments. Only the veterinarian can specify which is the appropriate remedy in this case, although the administration of antibiotics and the imposition of a soft diet are also common.