What to do If Your dog or cat has a Diarrhea ?

What to do if Your dog or cat has Diarrhea 

Owners of pets are usually dealing with this condition.there are many reasons why your pet could have this problem. I will give you some tips how to deal with this issue and when you should contact your vet immediately.

Main reason for diarrhea is when your pet ate something wrong,and his stomach goes overdrive to get rid of it. Cats are more selective about their food.Dogs are more “all eating” and occurs more to get diarrhea. If your dog eats stick or chew toy or if your cat eats rubber band that can cause diarrhea 

Suddenly change diet can also cause diarrhea. I always say to my pet owners to stick with dietary variety.

It’s not good to feed your pet with same food for years because, if you ever change it he will get diarrhea for sure.

The stomach is most important for your pet’s immune system .Everything begins in gut.If you feed your pet with different food but you should start slowly,offering small amounts of food that doesn’t upset his stomach.

I recommend mixing 10% new food with 90% old food . Monitor your pet’s poo and you can slowly increase amount to 20% -80% and so on.

Also  you need to control treats. Only one or two per day ,until you see how your pet is going to take it.

More  Serious Reasons  Of your Pet’s Diarrhea 

One of them is Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) 

or simply said food allergies .

Ingredients sensitivity  

Pancreatitis ( inflammation of the pancreas)

Parasites (roundworm,hookworms ,tapeworms,coccidia,”Giardia)

Toxic plants 

Stress

What Can You Do to Deal Diarrhea at Home

Your dog is acting normal but has diarrhea,you should withhold food for 12 hours,put him to rest and give him water as much as he wants.

After 12 hours fasting i advise to give him turkey or other fat free meat ,pumpkin puree,sweet potato or even white potato .

We have recommended before rice and rice water but now the study shows that rice is very starchy and pro inflammatory,and it’s not really good give them that when their stomach is already upset .

Cooked 100%pure pumpkin is better solution.

Having diarrhea they can  lose electrolytes like potassium and dehydrate. Showing signs like cramping, fatigue,weakness and heart rate issues ,everything is connected with hypokalemia(low potassium levels )

What Food and Supplements Can You Give Them 

Mix cooked turkey or chicken and pumpkin 50/50 and give it to your pet.

 The best supplements for this condition are:

-Slippery Elm ( neutral fiber source) Fibers are good to ease episodes of diarrhea. Dose for cats and dogs are half of spoon or 1 capsule on every 4,5 kg ,with every meal

- Coconut charcoal binding watery stool 

-Probiotic 

Also the herbs that I recommend are peppermint,fennel and camomile. If your pat is having cramps ,these plants could calm down their stomach.

If after 72 hours  your pet still has loose stools , diarrhea accompanied  blood or other signs of illness ,recurring diarrhea  ,you better call your veterinarian.

 Written by Imrana Sljivo DVM 🐾

Sources and References 

Chaitman, J. et al. Front. Vet. Sci., 16 April 2020

• 
  
• ¹Veterinary Internal Medicine and Allergy Specialists, New York, NY, United States
• ²Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
• ³Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States

Sudden Cat Death, Why ?

Disease that sneakily takes your pets.

Before you even realize what is happening , your cat can be very ill or even die suddenly .
Apparently healthy pet cats have heart disease or heart murmurs. 
The most common type of feline heart disease is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)
HCM isn’t curable but it could be managed with natural supplements and meat based diet

Studies Show that Healthy Cats Have Heart Problems 

2004 at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston concluded study of 103 cats 

Of the 103 cats in the study, 22 (21%) had detectable heart murmurs. Of the 22 cats with heart murmurs, echocardiography was performed on 7, 6 of which turned out to have heart disease.
Thirteen kitties were examined more than once for the study, and 3 of them developed heart murmurs during the course of the study.

The objective was to determine the prevalence of cardiomyopathy in healthy cats, as well as the relationship between cardiomyopathy and heart murmurs.2
A heart murmur was detected in 16 cats (15.5%), 5 of which had cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle). Cardiomyopathy was also identified in another 16 cats, 15 of which had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common form of feline heart disease. The researchers concluded that:common type of primary heart disease in cats.

The researchers concluded that:

1. Cardiomyopathy is common in healthy cats
2. In apparently healthy cats, a heart murmur isn't a reliable indicator of the presence of cardiomyopathy

However, in a 2011 study of 32 apparently healthy cats with heart murmurs, heart disease was detected in over half (53%). Those researchers concluded that heart murmurs detected in routine physical exams of healthy cats warrant further investigation.3

Sometimes very  serious heart disorder in a cat can remain hidden for years before it suddenly expresses itself.

Congenital and Acquired  Heart Defects 

There are two types of feline heart defects congenital and acquired. Congenital heart disease is when the cats are born with it and signs often appear at a young age, in some cats congenital heart disease can be hidden for years.

-Congenital heart disease can be caused by a malformation of the heart as a kitten develops in utero, or it can be caused by an inherited disorder .
The outcome for cat with a congenital cardiac disorder depends on the severity of the defect. Minor defects may not affect a cat's life at all, while more serious disorders usually require medical treatment. The most severe defects typically carry bad prognosis.

-Acquired or adult onset heart disease in cats results from damage to the heart that occurs over time.

The most common type of acquired heart disease  is cardiomyopathy. That is a structural abnormality in the muscle surrounding one or both chambers of the heart. Typically the left ventricle becomes thickened, dilated or scarred.
The abnormality inhibits the heart's ability to collect and pump blood, which can lead to congestive heart failure and fluid in or around the lungs. Other complications of cardiomyopathy include blood clots that cause paralysis, and sudden death.

Most important role for developing disease are genetic and lifestyle (weight, diet, and physical activity) sometimes the condition develops secondarily to another disorder such as anemia, hyperthyroidism, or high blood pressure.

The primary cardiomyopathies diagnosed in cats: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and dilated cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is by far the most common type of primary heart disease in cats.
From a clinical point of view, clinical symptoms are generally evident in adulthood (4.8-7 years),More frequently in males, although in Ragdoll and Maine Coon cats the disease can
arise prematurely (< 2 years).
The varying degrees of disease are variable: from asymptomatic forms to the sudden appearance of Congestive heart failure; rarely in asymptomatic patients there is syncope or death.

Hypertrophic means thickened — the walls and ventricles of the heart become too thick, or hypertrophied. HCM is often inherited in cats, and there's a test available for a specific gene mutation.

Purebred cats such as the Persian, other oriental breeds, and American shorthairs are also predisposed to the condition.
However, it's the regular house cat that is most commonly diagnosed with HCM. Cats usually develop the condition when they reach middle age, but it can occur at any age. 

Symptoms  of Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Vary

Cats with mild disease don't always have symptoms. But cat  with disease will typically show signs of condition.
In practice we sow that cats are masters at disguising illness, so until the condition is severe, even a very sick cat may have no symptoms, or very mild symptoms that don't seem to be indicative of heart disease. In cats with obvious symptoms, there can be respiratory distress caused by congestive heart failure, or leg paralysis due to a blood clot.

Cats suffering congestive heart failure tend to breathe through an open mouth, and they sometimes pant. 
You should watch for breathing difficulties Some cats  with HCM and congestive heart failure have a hard time walking any distance without stopping to rest.

Treatment of Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

There is no cure for HCM, and changes that occur to the heart muscle are permanent.A natural supplement called nattokinase can help reduce the risk of blood clots.
No drugs have proved consistently effective in improving the heart function in HCM patients. And unfortunately, often cats with HCM are not treated until congestive heart failure has developed.

Many cats with this disorder have been successful treated using a combination of high doses of ubiquinol and omega-3 fatty acids, certain amino acids, including taurine, L-arginine, and acetyl L-carnitine. We use  Heart glandulars and herbs, including hawthorn as well.

Because amino acid deficiency (a dietary shortage of meat-based protein) can fuel HCM, it’s ideal for patients to consume a human-grade, meat-based diet, and eliminate all grains and unnecessary carbohydrates that cats don't need anyway .

Vitamin D and its role in heart disease Identifying and treating vitamin D deficiency is an important step in reducing diet-related cardiovascular diseases 

Important Tips to keep your pet’s hart healthy

First ask your veterinarian to do blood test and check if your pet has early signs of heart disease. 

Help your cat maintain fit body by feeding a balanced, species-appropriate diet that meets your pet's nutritional requirements for optimal protein levels, healthy fat and coenzyme Q10. The unnecessary carbohydrates found in most processed cat foods offsets the amount of protein cats need, making carbs a significant nutritional contributing factor to feline heart disease.

Additionally, the high temperatures the food is processed at inactivates the delicate fatty acids, so even though the label says it contains the correct amount of essential fatty acids to maintain excellent cardiovascular health, they've been inactivated through the manufacturing process.
The amount of taurine, carnitine and CoQ10 found naturally in unprocessed meat is important to feline heart health. These vital nutrients are not found in adequate quantities in most dry foods, and processing further diminishes their bioavailability. This is another reason starch-free foods (no grains or potatoes) are best for cats.

If you feed dry or canned food, supplement your pet's diet with coenzyme Q10 in the form of ubiquinol, as well as additional marine sources of omega-3 fatty acids (krill oil), especially if you have a cat that may be predisposed to cardiovascular disease.Supplements for your pets like extra CoQ10 can insure she has the quantity her body needs to maintain a healthy heart muscle. With doing that you will maintain your pets healthy.

Written by  Imrana Sljivo DVM

Why Your Pet Eats Poop?

Your dog eats poop , has aggressive behavior or has episodes of extreme hunger, could be dealing with Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency 

It is a pathology that we see especially in German shepherds and in young subjects (2-3Years).

It consists of an alteration of pancreatic function with an initially compensatory phase.
To then arrive at a serious insufficiency that causes the lack of digestion of food and Consequence a lack of absorption of nutrients. The animals will therefore present themselves a lot thin up to cachexia. The stools are creamy and yellowish. Not absorbing the fats the stool will be greasy.
The aspect that allows us to diagnose this problem is the fact that in the course of pancreatic insufficiency the dog is voracious to the point of becoming even aggressive because he doesn't assimilate and therefore he's always hungry.

Signs of Pancreatic Insufficiency 

It only develop when more than 85 -90% of the

secretory capacity of exocrine acinus cells has been lost.

It has been seen that such insufficiency can be caused by pancreatic inflammation and  secondary by tumors.
We can classify them as 
idiopathic when we don't know a very specific cause and this is conditioned by predisposing genetic factors; 
despite being a pathology that presents at a young age, within a year and a few months the animals lose their function of the pancreas but not suddenly.
Clinical signs are manifested when there is a functional loss of about 80% of the pancreas;

Is There a Difference Between Males and Females

There is no difference between males and females , even if it is more frequent in males and this pathology mainly affects animals of big size (German shepherd most of all ) in the cat this pathology is very rare ,particularly in older animals but in young animals it is unknown.

Your dog is eating like crazy 

When your pet is eating a lot and it’s still very thin (cachexia) you should call your vet to make a measure of blood sugar level  . Diabetes is medical condition in which there is not always weight loss, in fact sometimes the animal can be obese in addition

When your pet go to pee a lot  and drink a lot of water  we can still think about hyperthyroidism.

Process by Which a Disease or Disorder Develops

The lack of digestive enzymes also leads to a poor secretion of bicarbonates so the  buffer system at the gastric level fails with consequent hyperacidity, still the bacterial growth does not come to be inhibited by acid acinus. Because the malabsorption of  lipase .The animal emits yellowish, soft and oily poop.

You Can See That Your Pet Licks itself Continuously At the Expense of the Perianal Region .

Sometimes the poop can appear normal when there is still no complete loss of pancreatic function. Also stool can appear normal when the animal follows a low-fat diet for  which is not very affected by the problem related to lipases;
- Vitamin b12 is absorbed at the level of the ileum therefore when there is pancreatic insufficiency it also develops a deficiency of this vitamin with consequent anemia .Vitamin  b12 deficiency is considered a negative prognostic factor in diseases to chronic trend.

Conditions to Witch You Should Pay Spacial Attention

If you find your dog’s poop smelling like foul , it’s voluminous and fatty, borborigms ,flutulence when your dog  eats poop ,or your dog is feeling of extreme insatiable hunger ,pee a lot , has greasy aspect of the mantle especially in the perianal and caudal regions, hair loss and appearance of eczematous lesions, nervous and aggressive behavior.

You better call your veterinarian because it’s probably pretty urgent to do appropriate diagnostic tests.

Written By Imrana Sljivo DVM 🐾

Healthy Dog Food For Weight Loss

Obesity is very important problem in the world in humans and pets .However obesity in dogs is associated with a lot of diseases like diabetes ,heart disease , osteoarthritis and also cancers . We should find the best dog food for our pets to prevent these issues.

The crucial components in balanced dog food 
Nutrient and caloric density ,Hight fiber , low fat,

L- carnitin levels,antioxidants.

You Have To Put Your Dog  On a Diet

You should call your veterinarian and schedule a checkup If you notice your dog’s collar or harness seem snug , your dog may look tired and out of energy  or if they are not able to exercise like they used to .

When your dog is taking in less calories then expended  he is losing weight. We are responsible what our dog eats and we give them what is best for them . 

The Best Thing to Do is to Get Your Dog to the Veterinarian

The vet will give you advice how to put your dog to weight loss diet ,also will determinate your dog’s target weight.You should get information if your dog has some kind of medical condition like  hypothyroidism or Cushing syndrome.

Healthy Pet Weight loss Routine 

Your  feeding routine should  be created for your pet so that keeps your dog feeling full ,but also helps lose weight in the same time. The food higher in fiber and lower in fat keeps your dog feeling full.

L- carnitine is very important in dog’s food because that amino acid helps move fatty acids into cells so they can be burned for energy. If you want to find 

L-carnitine into dog food ingredient list and you can’t find it ,it maybe also listed under the “Guaranteed Analysis” section of the food label. Overweight dogs are having more inflammation than slim dogs.So good dog weight loss food needs to be enriched with antioxidants, because they have anti inflammatory action.Antioxidants are neutralising free radicals that are damaging cells.

The few things that you should do :

-First you have to measure the food.

-Feed your dog with small amounts of food during the day instead of one or two large ones

-Limit treats and stick to vet approved ones

-Do not give then human food

Me as a veterinarian ,always advise my pet owners to give their pets low calories treats like carrot slices ,green beans ,cooked chicken ,broccoli.

It’s important to know that treats even low calorie should make only 10% of your pets daly diet.

The Healthy Way for your Dog to Lose Weight is Through Exercising 

Normally your dog should have his regular going outside running routine, burning calories naturally ,but nowadays our dogs mostly are living in flats and don’t really have they normal running space . That’s why we should control food and calories intake more then before.

You should talk to your vet to start a new exercise routine.Vet needs to give you right direction about diet and exercise ideal for your dog exactly,that should result in rate of 1-2% weight loss per week.

Sometimes is easy lose weight but it’s harder  maintain that ideal weight . So that’s why your vet should monitor your dog every month to maintain ideal weight.

Of course your vet should recommend  the best food and to ensure that your pet is staying at healthy weight.

 

By Imrana Sljivo DVM

This is Dangerous Pet Feeding

In this article i will tell you about a dangerous practice of feeding your pets mostly cats and dogs with now popular vegetarian or vegan food.

 Many vegans or vegetarians make also their pets vegans or vegetarians even if those poor animals don’t really want that.

They force them to live  “ healty life” thinking that they are helping them to live longer or maybe other reason ,but in reality they can do them a lot of harm.If you feed your pet like this you are crippling their body to heal itself.

Dogs any Cats have Teeth designed to eat meat

Your dog has the teeth specially created for the food they are born to digest.They are made to shear flesh of bones and rip.Their molars are pointed and that’s for a reason . Surely not made for eating plants .

Digestion of a Carnivore 

The carnivore stomach is short and simple and very acidic.It can move food quickly and deal with pathogens from the fresh meat .For example when cat eat mouse or when dog is in the wild and eats whole pray.

For break down fruit and vegetables they need more  time because  their digestive tract is not that complex.They tend to masticate their food many times, even the carnivores don’t engage in chewing at all.They rip their food into peaces and get them into their bellies.

The veggies and plants ,seeds and grains simply travel through your pets stomach because it can’t be break down ,just pass out as waste. Also don’t have enzymes in the saliva to break down of carbs and starches in the diet .Your dog or cat doesn’t produce cellulase to break down fibrous plant cell walls .The pancreas  need to produce enough amylase and work over time,also  produce lipase and proteases to digest fats and proteins.Pets do not produce enough amylase to process the starch. Feeding a 100% plant  can stress the pancreas compromising its ability to function normally. They also don’t produce the strains of gut bacteria necessary to break down cellulose.

It’s true that wild dogs and cats sometimes eats grass, berries and seasonally plants specially if they don’t have anything else to eat  ,they are not so strict carnivores ,but their intake of plant based food is not more  then 20% of diet. Cats are strict carnivores ,they are born predators.

The reasearch show that dog can develop over time ability to digest starch when they are constantly fed with grain based food .They can up regulate amylase production.

But their body's weren’t made to live this way .people sometimes out of too much love make them pets live horrible way all because their private frustrations.One of the things is when they put their pets in small flats ,but that’s another topic.

Writen by Imrana Sljivo DVM 

26.08.2024