This week I received a phone call asking me to attend to a sick dog at its home. Having heard what the problem was, I urged the owners to bring their dog to the clinic since this was one of those cases where a house call simply would not provide the necessary medical care. So Tippy was duly brought to the clinic.
Tippy is a two-year-old female fawn chihuahua with bright boot-button eyes and a snappy temperament. But despite her sprightly behaviour, it was evident that Tippy was much too thin – thin enough that the shape of her skull had become clearly visible and her spine too prominent. A thorough physical examination also confirmed that although there was nothing immediately evident, she was uncomfortable in the abdominal area.
From the initial discussion, I learnt that Tippy had not been herself for some time. She had become increasingly depressed and reluctant to play. More pertinently, she had been vomiting intermittently for the past three weeks, often just foamy yellow bile, and she had lost her appetite. Tippy had gastritis.
Canine gastritis is an inflammation and irritation of the stomach in dogs, and is one of the most common ailments seen to by vets. Common symptoms include vomiting of whatever the dog has recently ingested or yellow foamy bile and sometimes yellow bile with flecks of blood that look like coffee grounds. In severe situations this can lead to diarrhoea, dehydration brought about because of the vomiting and/or diarrhoea, lethargy, depression, loss of appetite, weight loss, as well as tenderness in the abdominal area. If your pet dog is suffering from any these symptoms, one of the first questions that your vet will ask is how and when it started. Your answer will help the vet form an initial diagnosis, and in case of gastritis determine whether it is a case of acute or chronic gastritis.
Canine gastritis is an inflammation and irritation of the stomach in dogs, and is one of the most common ailments seen to by vets
Acute gastritis comes on suddenly and usually disappears after 24 to 48 hours. There are several causes. It’s most commonly caused by drugs or other toxins, wrong diet, overfeeding or ingestion of too much grass. But dogs also tend to eat anything they chance upon, such as spoilt food, garbage, rotting carcasses, toxic plants, plants with pesticides, cleaning liquids, chemicals, foreign objects and even faeces.
Chronic gastritis tends to come on gradually, lasts more than seven days and manifests itself intermittently. Because of this, the cause for the gastritis may be harder to establish. The most common cause of chronic gastritis tends to be bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection in the gut. Stress can also be a contributing factor.
Sometimes the stomach can become irritated due to long-term exposure to allergens such as a food intolerance. All too often, well-meaning owners administer their own pain-killers which are either unsuited for dogs, or have too high a dosage and cause more harm than good. Potentially fatal conditions include kidney or liver failure, cancer or some form of long-term toxicity. The bottom line is that chronic gastritis usually needs a more gradual process of diagnosis by elimination as one cause after the other is tested and discounted.
The best thing that you can do for your pet is to give as much information as possible and to continue with the follow-up sessions that your vet recommends. Sometimes, the nature of the case is such that the underlying cause for the gastritis remains unknown. In this case the gastritis is termed ‘idiopathic’, which means unknown, and the case is treated based on the evident symptoms.
Having diagnosed gastritis and depending upon the nature of the symptoms, your veterinarian may opt, to carry out blood tests, urinalysis, faecal analysis or take X-rays. Besides any immediate medication that may be needed, your pet’s aftercare may include medications aimed to reduce the stomach lining irritation as well as directions on how to, reintroduce food and water gradually until your dog is back to normal. If a food tolerance has been identified as the cause, your vet will recommend an alternative diet. If the gastritis was a direct result of your dog eating indigestible, rotten or toxic substances you need to remove the source of temptation or keep it on a leash when you take it for walks. Always follow your vet’s advice and administer only prescribed medication.
Gastritis is invariably uncomfortable but, more often than not, there is good recovery even in cases where the cause is never established. Pet owners find that careful attention and good home management of their dog may reduce the incidences of gastritis. With Tippy, we are still at the initial stages of diagnosis and the first step taken was to reduce the pain and nausea so that she can start to feel better. With careful monitoring over the next few days, we may well discover what brought on her chronic gastritis.
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com
Dr Martin Debattista is a veterinary surgeon.