My dog has diarrhea. Could it be colitis, IBD, or even cancer?

The symptoms do overlap for all of these disorders. Most have vomiting and diarrhea and the appetite is variable. In advanced cancer or gastritis they are anorexic but early on can still have an appetite. An ultrasound is a good way to distinguish cancer and IBD from gastritis though. However IBD and cancer have thickened intestines and are hard to distinguish unless there is an intestinal biopsy obtained.

There are many different causes for chronic diarrhea in older dogs, none of which are usually great news. The best and shortest list I can provide you is the following: lymphoma of the GI tract, inflammatory bowel disease, lymphangiectasia, liver disease, gastrointestinal parasites, and/or nutritional deficiencies like lack of vitamin B12. Since you have mostly ruled out GI parasites, I would recommend beginning to investigate the possibilities of some of the others I have listed. In order to do this, you will need to obtain some blood work with your vet (baseline plus the B12 test), then work out whether or not he/she can do ultrasound / endoscopy to rule in / out the other conditions I have listed. Hope this makes sense. Best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Remi. In the bloodwork that was run, did it include GI specific testing such as cobalamin, folate, PLI and TLI levels. These are values that will give information such as the location of GI disease (small intestine vs pancreas) and treatment options. I typically do this planel in conjunction with an abdominal ultrasound. This information with the ultrasound can give insight into conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, food sensitivities or as you mentioned cancer. The anti-inflammatory properties of the antibiotic she was on could help even with a tumor in GI tract, but there are so many other causes of diarrhea that would respond as well. I think it is worth pursuing further bloodwork and the ultrasound. If you can get a diagnosis, then a treatment plan can be developed. I hope this information helps!

Inflammatory bowel disease is not common in a puppy but it could be dietary intolerance from something in the diet. Other potential causes include Giardia, bacterial overgrowth, or pancreatic insufficiency. Your veterinarian likely has a ‘next step’ already planned. I recommend to discuss Mable!s diarrhea with your veterinarian. They may want to try an antibiotic and a probiotic along with a bland diet to see if that resolves the diarrhea. They may also recommend protozoa testing, a fecal culture and/or pancreatic enzyme testing. A diet trial with a hydrolyzed protein is another potential option. Since there are many causes of diarrhea, each one needs to be worked through. I hope this helps and best of luck.

Poor guy. He could have a number of things going on here that can cause chronic diarrhea and weight loss including: malabsorption, inflammatory bowel disease, an endocrine disorder, or even neoplasia (intestinal lymphoma) has to be considered. I would suggest starting with an abdominal ultrasound to evaluate the intestinal lining for any masses or abnormalities. I would also consider getting him on a hypoallergenic prescription diet such as Royal Canin hypoallergenic hp or Hill's Z/D. Many pets also respond to chronic antibiotics (Tylosin powder) to help manage their chronic colitis issues. Here is more information on Tylosin used for Chronic colitis in dogs. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A

I am sorry to hear about Tyson. The two main rule outs we would have in his case would be inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cancer of the intestinal tract (such as GI lymphoma). Unfortunately it is impossible to tell which of these is present without additional testing. The next step would be an ultrasound of the abdomen. It is possible they may find changes supportive of one disease or the other, but it is also possible the changes might not differentiate the two and a biopsy may be needed. The question you need to ask yourself is if your dog did have cancer, would you pursue aggressive treatment (i.e. surgery and chemotherapy). If the answer is no, then it might be worth trying to treat him as if he has IBD to see if there is any improvement. This treatment usually involves a diet change and putting the dog on a steroid such as prednisone. Often dogs with cancer will temporarily improve on prednisone as well. Here is an article with a little info on this: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 .

There are many things that can cause chronic diarrhea issues in dogs. The most common possibilities would include intestinal parasites, food allergies, or inflammatory bowel disease. If your dog is acting normal otherwise, you can try deworming her with a broad-spectrum dewormer such as Panacur. You could also try feeding a bland diet of plain boiled chicken and rice for a few days to see if this helps. If not, then I would recommend having her examined by a vet - he/she can do some fecal testing and blood work if needed to determine the problem.