Please stay tuned to this page as we will be filling in the blanks later! As a typical article takes at least 2-3 hours to write and perfect, it will be many moons until our library is complete! This particular article will likely take more time as it encompasses such a wide range of clinical syndromes. Thanks for your patience. – Dr. Jay Taylor
Diarrhea is one of the most common clinical signs that cause dogs to make a visit to the animal hospital. ‘Why is that?’, you may ask. The answer is relatively simple….most diseases, treatments, ailments, supplements, etc. can cause diarrhea! It is so common and ambiguous, most of the time we don’t get a definitive diagnosis…just a clinical diagnosis and institute treatment based on clinical signs and findings from the physical examination and basic laboratory testing. This purpose of this section is to help you understand the most common clinical signs associated with diarrhea and what they mean.
We hope that you take these observation categories down and are better aware of things to watch for with a pooch having diarrhea. Write them down and take them with your pet to the animal hospital so that when you seek veterinary assistance, you will help the veterinary staff to better diagnose your pet!
When you are home observing your pet, there are several things to monitor and record to better help your veterinarian (hopefully us! 
) diagnose your pooch. The are as follows:
(1) Frequency of Defecation – how many times per day is your pooch going to potty? Is he or she asking to be let out ‘all the time’? Any accidents in the house?
(2) Amount of Stool – please compare this to your pet’s normal bowel movement. More, About the Same, or Less?
(3) Presence of Blood – If seen, how much (as a percentage)?
(4) Any Vomiting as well? – pretty self explanatory.
(5) Any Additional Symptoms? – again, self explanatory.
(6) Any New Diets/Diet Changes/People Food? – We all know that you know not to do it so don’t worry about catching too much flak from us. It just helps us to know if that is a factor. Also, if you do feed your pets people food and your pooch hasn’t had a problem in the past, that helps as well….sometimes. On a little tangent, people foods tend to be higher in fat than our pooches regular food which can predispose them to several diseases. If you feel that you must feed your pooch from the table, make sure it is not more than 5% of their caloric intake!
(7) Current on Vaccination for Parvovirus? – especially important for puppies but even adult dogs, if not vaccinated, can contract parvovirus.
(8) Is Your Dog on Heartworm Prevention? – most monthly heartworm preventatives also deworm as well.
(9) Any Exposure to Other Dogs – Drugs – Plants – Etc.? – this helps us to get a general ‘exposure’ level for your pet. Again, we are here to help your pet, not turn you in to the police. If your pooch grabbed your stash, being honest and up front will help your cause and likely your wallet.
(10) Is Your Pet Currently on any Medications? – this is important for two reasons. Diarrhea is a common side effect to many medications AND if your pet is on a long term medication, we want to make sure the prescription drugs we dispense do not interact with the ones your pet is on.
(11) Any Pain or Straining seen when trying to defecate? – helps us to better locate where in the gastrointestinal tract the problem is located.
With all of this said, the most common cause of diarrhea (in my experience) is what we refer to as ‘enteritis’ or ‘gastroenteritis’. This is a general term for inflammation of the intestines and/or stomach and can have many causes. What you should expect for diagnostic purposes is a) fecal examination for intestinal parasites….and b) parvo virus test/ Complete Blood Count (CBC) for puppies under 6 months of age that are vomiting, having bloody diarrhea, and/or are lethargic. Other testing may be required depending on your pet’s age, health status, physical examination, history, etc.
Dr. Jay Taylor
Outer Banks Veterinary Hospital
