My dog has vomiting and diarrhea. Is it IBD, cancer, or gastritis?

Thanks for your question. Yes, dogs can get colitis or ulcerative colitis. Chrohns Disease is a human term, so we do not use that in dogs. These problems can cause profuse chronic diarrhea that may contain blood. Cancer and IBD are hard to differentiate without more advanced diagnostics like a biopsy. Dogs can get colitis from infectious causes - giardia, worms, viruses, or food intolerance. Some dogs with chronic diarrhea do better in higher fiber foods. There are causes of diarrhea that can be easily treated, and some that are more difficult to treat. I hope that answers your question.

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 .

Cancer is one option but IBD could also be one of the causes, the liver nodule could be an accidental finding but these are things that cannot be determined for sure without a biopsy. was a biopsy taken at all? how old is your dog?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Patsy. Has she had an abdominal ultrasound yet? I will typically recommend this as well as a gastrointestinal specific blood panel prior to biopsies. I assess cobalamin and folate levels as well pancreatic values such as TLI and PLI. These results can help to guide treatment. I hope this information helps!

I'm sorry Diesel isn't doing well! If he had pancreatitis, you would see symptoms such as repeated vomiting, vomiting undigested food, a hunched pain, a painful abdomen, a distended abdomen, diarrhea, loss of appetite, dehydration, and lethargy. Diesel would be extremely ill if he had pancreatitis, and from what you are describing, I would be inclined to think he doesn't have it. It is possible that he does have cancer even if your vet didn't feel any masses in his abdomen. There can still be tumors even if they can't be palpated, and cancer would cause him to eat and lose weight. Cancer can also cause diarrhea. Certain cancers also do not show any changes in blood work. I recommend having further testing done on him, such as x-rays or an ultrasound of his abdomen. These would help visualize if he has any tumors in his abdomen, and further testing such as a biopsy of them can be done if any are found. Unfortunately cancer is very common in senior dogs. I recommend having him seen by your vet again to discuss further testing. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, especially IBD and GI lymphoma. Usually GI lymphoma doesn't respond well or for long if treated as IBD. Dogs in kidney failure do not do well usually. I hope this helps!

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!