Colitis in Dogs: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

Colitis is one of the threats to dog health that every pet owner needs to be aware of. It is the inflammation of the colon and is often times associated with diarrhea and blood in the stool. In canines, colitis causes around half of the cases involving chronic diarrhea in dogs. It is a painful condition which affects kinds of dogs, regardless of age or of breed. The most common causes of this are parasite and bacterial infections, food allergies, and irritable bowel syndrome.

There are two kinds of colitis in dogs: acute and chronic. As the name suggest, acute colitis only persists for a momentary period of time but may sometimes have more intense and rapid onset of symptoms. Chronic colitis on the other hand is persistent and affects dog health over a long period of time.

Symptoms

Some indications in dog health may be the key in figuring out if your dog has colitis. The most common symptoms for the ailment are painful and bloody discharge of stool, diarrhea, as well as stool mixed in with either blood or mucous. If you observe these with your pet consult a veterinarian immediately and test your dog for colitis right away.

Diagnosis

The primary way to test your dog for colitis is done by way of a stool exam. Based on the results that will arrive , additional procedures may be taken to further evaluate and confirm colitis in your dog. Diagnosis is important in the case of colitis since certain types require specific methods of treatment to quickly improve dog health of the afflicted canine.

Treatments

It is always best to follow the veterinarian's recommended mode of treatment once the colitis is known. There are specific medication such as Metronidazole which alleviate and cure colitis as well as the symptoms that it presents. But in cases that the a veterinarian or the medication is not immediately available, you can make use of natural remedies or approaches to help improve the dog health of your
pet.

For acute colitis, fasting your dog for 1-2 days would usually help. Having your dog drink plenty of water and eat food with limited ingredients and low fat content such as fish, chicken, potatoes.

In cases of chronic colitis, herbs such as licorice and marshmallow root have been documented to decrease the effects of colitis. Having your pooch take homeopathic medicines aimed at alleviating the diarrhea such as Arsenicum Album and Colocythis have been found to be effective as well.