Diet and drugs: The keys to managing feline colonic disease

Feline colonic diseases are less common than diseases of the small bowel bu t are nevertheless diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. One aspect of dev eloping a rational approach to diagnosing and treating colonic disease is t o understand the colon's unique physiologic and functional differences. Lar ge bowel diarrhea can be acute (present for less than 3 weeks) or chronic. Acute diarrhea is often associated with dietary disturbances (e.g., dietary indiscretion, food intolerance) or infectious/inflammatory diseases, inclu ding parasitic or protozoal infestations. Empiric therapy with antibiotics or anthelmintics or dietary changes often correct the problem. However, man y chronic colonic diseases (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, neoplasia) re quire lifelong pharmacologic and/or dietary intervention.