Management of diarrhea
What are the common causes of acute diarrhea?
The most common causes of acute diarrhea are:
- parasitic infections (protozoa, coccidia, cryptococcus),
- infections (viruses, bacteria, fungi),
- inflammation,
- intoxications like food poisoning,
- over-eating,
- sudden diet change especially in puppies and kittens
- foreign bodies.
What are the common causes of chronic diarrhea?
The most common causes of chronic diarrhea are:
- neoplasia,
- inflammatory bowel disease,
- small intestinal overgrowth,
- food allergies,
- systemic causes (like endocrine diseases, renal/ liver disease).
What are some of the nutritional strategies for the management of diarrhea?
There are multiple nutritional strategies for the management of gastrointestinal disease, including:
- low fat, because fat can be quite complex to digest, particularly in cases of pancreatitis or lymphangiectasia,
- highly digestible diets to ensure that there's no residual ingredients left in the intestines that can cause malassimilation,
- hydrolyzed proteins will minimize the antigen and help with digestion and absorption of protein,
- fibers, with either soluble or insoluble sources depending on the condition.
These nutritional strategies can be implemented for short-term reasons and then pets can go back to their old diet or for certain conditions like pancreatitis or lymphangiectasia, these will need to be implemented for long term.
Should I recommend a high fiber diet?
It is not always needed to recommend a high fiber diet. It depends on the patient and disease, because too much fiber can reduce the digestibility of the diet or impede absorption of nutrients.
Fermentable fibers (such as guar gum or pectin) can be beneficial for pets with gastrointestinal disease, because the end-products of fermentation include short chain fatty acids that can be used for energy to the colonocytes. However, too much fermentable fiber can cause loose stools, excessive diarrhea and excessive gas. Therefore, it is recommended to feed a moderate amount of moderately-fermentable fiber.
Insoluble fibers such as wheat bran and oat bran cellulose may be beneficial for large bowel diarrhea. If tolerated it can influence peristalsis and transit times, increase the volume of stools and fecal consistency, and draw water to improve or normalize motility.
How long does it take to start seeing improvement?
It depends on the cause of the diarrhea and the patient, but typically within days or up to two weeks.
If there’s transitional diarrhea, we always recommend a gradual transition of the food. This can take up to 10 days to minimize the side effects.
To learn more, watch the full video!
You might also be interested in watching the following videos:
- How to assess the patient with gastrointestinal issues?
- To feed or not to feed: the importance of nutrition for gastrointestinal cases
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