The Use of Diets in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Gastrointestinal Diseases in Dogs and Cats

The nutritional healthHealth of dogsDog and catsCat is important to petPet owners around the world. NutritionNutrition is inextricably linked to the healthHealth of the gastrointestinalGastrointestinal system and vice versa. GastrointestinalGastrointestinal signs, such as vomiting, diarrheaDiarrhea, anorexiaAnorexia, or weight loss, are one of the most common reasons that dogDog and catCat owners make non-routine appointments with veterinariansVeterinarian. Those patients are evaluated systematically to identify and/or rule out the causes of the symptoms. Some causes of chronicChronic diarrheaDiarrhea are within the gastrointestinalGastrointestinal tract while others are secondary to pathogenic factors outside the digestive system. Some useful biomarkersBiomarker of chronicChronic intestinal disease (enteropathyEnteropathy) exist in serumSerum and fecesFeces. After determination that the clinical signs are due to primary gastrointestinalGastrointestinal disease and that there is no parasitism, specific dietsDiet are used for at least two weeks. There are several types of dietsDiet for petsPet with chronicChronic enteropathiesEnteropathy. There are limited ingredientIngredient dietsDiet and hydrolyzed proteinProtein dietsDiet with reduced levels of allergensAllergen. There are also highly digestible and fiberFiber-enhanced dietsDiet. Some dietsDiet contain probiotics and/or prebiotics. If symptoms do not improve and the patient is stable, a dietDiet from a different class may be tried. For chronicChronic enteropathiesEnteropathy, the prognosis is generally good for symptom resolution or at least improvement. However, if interventions with novel dietsDiet do not ameliorate the symptoms of chronicChronic enteropathyEnteropathy, then antibioticAntibiotic, anti-inflammatory, or immunosuppressant therapyTherapy or further, more invasive diagnostics such as taking an intestinal biopsy, may be indicated. PancreatitisPancreatitis is a common gastrointestinalGastrointestinal disease in dogsDog and catsCat and patients may present with mild to severe disease. Many patients with mild to moderate disease can be successfully treated with early supportive care, including feedingFeeding a low-fatFat dietDiet. A novel pharmaceutical, fuzapladib (Panoquell-CA1) looks very promising for treating more severe forms of acute pancreatitisPancreatitis in dogsDog. MaintenanceMaintenance on a low-fatFat dietDiet may prevent pancreatitisPancreatitis in at-risk dogsDog. Future advances in medicine will allow petPet owners and veterinariansVeterinarian to use dietary managementManagement to maximize the healthHealth of their dogsDog and catsCat.