The challenges of inflammatory bowel disease in dogs and cats

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In an interview with dvm360 at the Fetch Coastal conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Ashley Kinsley, CVT, explained how inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can present differently in dogs and cats with oftentimes different symptoms. She also explained how every patient diagnosed with IBD can react differently to treatment, making it challenging to work with.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Ashley Kinsley, CVT: It is the same in that it is inflammation of the intestine, stomach, or the colon. So it kind of goes for both cats and dogs. In terms of cats, we tend to see more weight loss with them. They sometimes don't have the other symptoms and signs like diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy—dogs tend to have a lot of those things.

Diagnosing IBD is pretty mu ch patient case by case. Not all cats and dogs are going to react the same way to diets to medications to other therapies. So that's definitely one of the hardest aspects of the IBD treatment.