Back in March 2024, I wrote a post about a systematic review of the efficacy of antibiotics and probiotics and the associated treatment guidelines for acute diarrhea in dogs from the European Network for Optimization of Veterinary Antimicrobial Treatment (ENOVAT). Now, we have an ENOVAT/WSAVA infographic to put all that into a
Acute Diarrhea in Dogs: What’s the Evidence For Different Treatments?
Acute diarrhea is pretty common in dogs. It’s pretty common in people too, but our approach in dogs versus people is VERY different:
- Diarrheic dogs often get taken to a veterinarian ASAP.
- People with acute diarrhea rarely go to a physician.
Why is the approach so different?
It has nothing to do with severity of
Do All Dogs With Diarrhea Need Antibiotics? (Spoiler Alert… Hell No!)
Dog gets diarrhea, then dog gets metronidazole (or another antimicrobial).
That’s a pretty rote approach to diarrhea in many areas, and one we’ve been battling for years, because there’s no evidence that antibiotics help dogs in these cases (and increasing evidence that they might even hurt).
Trying to get veterinarians NOT to prescribe antimicrobials in
Simple Ways to Reduce Antibiotic Use
For this blog, I focus my writing on companion animal issues, but our group does much more than that, and a recent study of ours is worth a post here as well.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a huge issue globally. It’s a classic One Health problem with important human, animal and environment aspects, and it’s
Update: Petland puppy Campylobacter outbreak (Jan 29)
I was talking to someone today about their new puppy, their puppy’s diarrhea and (take a guess) the fact that they developed diarrhea shortly thereafter. Odds are pretty good that puppy and owner both have campylobacteriosis. While this infection isn’t related to the ongoing US multistate Campylobacter outbreak linked to puppies from Petland stores,
New pig disease arrives in Ontario
It was only a matter of time, so it’s not particularly surprising, but a potentially devastating pig disease has made its way into Ontario. It’s not a concern to people or other animals, but it’s worth mentioning here anyway (both to say it’s not a public health or non-pig health concern, and since it’s a
Fecal cytology in dogs. What does it mean?
Life with Merlin is going fairly well and the house training has been surprisingly good (so far). He was straining a bit to poop yesterday so I was wondering if diarrhea was on the way. Diarrhea wouldn’t be too surprising since he’s had a pretty good shock to his system with a big lifestyle change
More canine norovirus
I’m not really sure what to think about canine norovirus. Is it a rare, oddball infection or is it an important, overlooked and/or emerging problem?
- There are only a few reports of norovirus infections in dogs, but I doubt many people are looking for it.
- I’ve looked for it a few times during outbreaks, but
Dog deaths linked to Queen Elizabeth’s estate
An investigation is underway regarding mysterious deaths of dogs that have been walked in public areas of Sandringham, the Queen’s 20 000 acre estate in Norfolk. Gastrointestinal disease, consisting of vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy, has afflicted an unknown number of dogs. One area veterinarian reports five deaths and four dogs with serious illness. No
Diagnosing Salmonella
Recent Salmonella recalls have led to some questions about the best way to diagnose salmonellosis in dogs and cats.
The first issue is when to test. In general, there is no indication to test healthy animals. Testing should be reserved for animals with diarrhea or other signs of salmonellosis (e.g. fever).
When testing is indicated