Investigating Chronic Gastrointestinal Disease

Signs of chronic intestinal disease 

Intestinal disease is defined as chronic when signs persist for longer than 3-4 weeks and/or signs do not resolve with symptomatic therapy. Animals are generally systemically well, until malnutrition and/or hypoproteinaemia develops. However, and exception would be malabsorption secondary to neoplastic disease.

Signs of small intestinal disease

• diarrhoea
• abdominal discomfort
• weight loss / failure to thrive
• borborygmi
• vomiting
• flatus
• altered appetite
• dehydration
• inappetence
• hypoproteinaemia
• pica
• ascites
• coprophagia
• oedema
• polyphagia
• melaena

Signs of malabsorption

• Diarrhoea
• Weight loss
• Polyphagia +/- coprophagia, pica
• Protein-losing enteropathy (PLE). This is usually the result of severe mucosal damage leading to severe protein loss. This in turn leads to hypoproteinaemia and ascites (if severe). On laboratory analysis decreased albumin and globulin are usually noted (c.f. protein-losing nephropathy). Diseases that lead to PLE include:
  - severe inflammatory bowel disease (LPE and EGE)
  - lymphangiectasia
  - lymphoma [...]