Do you ever wonder what makes a stool sample so special? When animals don’t tell us how they feel, it
is often very important for care givers to know what their eating habits are,
and what their elimination habits and appearances are. When working with wildlife for example, this
could be the only additional information we might have, besides a visual look
at our patient.
Stool color often reflects closely the type of food animals are
eating. Sometimes, stool will turn darker
on the outside where it is exposed to air and remain a lighter color on the
inside depending on how long it has been exposed. If there is blood present with a bowel
movement, it is helpful to know if the blood is strictly on the surface or
blended throughout the sample. This can
tell us more about where the blood may be coming from along the GI tract. Very black stool throughout the sample can be
associated with blood loss in the stomach which will look black by the time it
passes. Blood loss from the colon tends
to be a brighter red and often associated with mucus on the surface of the
bowel movement.
Stool consistency has more to do with how an animal is absorbing
moisture from its stool and can give us information about how well its GI tract
is working to absorb both fluid and nutrients.
Very soft pudding like stool may be the result of poor absorption of
fluid and nutrients from the small intestine, whereas watery stool can reflect
rapid transit time associated with more acute conditions, such as when they
have eaten something that is spoiled or their body is rejecting. Hard dry stool may indicate dehydration and
constipation.
Mucus surrounding a bowel movement can often reflect issues
associated with colitis, or inflammation in the colon. This could be stress related and only
associated with excitement or anxiety.
When it persists, it could represent inflammation due to food
intolerance, allergy, or colonic problems.
All of this information helps us to determine a lot about our
pet’s GI tract that may be hard to glean from other tests or physical exams
alone. The gastrointestinal tract has
its own separate “plumbing.”
And lastly, although by no means the least important, we can
test a stool sample for parasites.
Intestinal parasites can be most frequently acquired from fecal oral
contamination, which is exactly what it sounds like. Parasites can also be contracted from eating
prey or undercooked meat, or in some cases from contaminated water sources
including rain and irrigation run-off.
Because our pets don’t use a sanitation sewer system, this puts our pets
at more risk than most people. This also
puts pet owners at sightly higher risk of acquiring a parasite from their furry
friend.
So please, pick up after your pet, dispose of waste
appropriately, and wash your hands before eating! 😉
