Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis
This condition is very sudden and can rapidly debilitate a patient. It occurs more often in adult small breed dogs.
The actual cause of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE) is currently unknown. Many pets are clinically normal and no disease process can be found. Some pets have a history of eating a different diet or receiving people food.
This syndrome is characterized by sudden bloody diarrhea. The diarrhea is sometimes pure blood and can be very abundant. Most patients will vomit and it may also contain blood. Due to the amount of bloody diarrhea, patients can become dehydrated very rapidly.
It is generally recommended to rehydrate patients with HGE due to the rapid dehydration. Most of these patients do extremely well with intravenous fluids and are released within 48 hours. A plasma transfusion may be indicated in severe cases. About 10% of HGE patients are predisposed to having recurrences.
