Product Primer Nutrition as a first-line treatment for acute diarrhea

Course overview

Diarrhea is one of the most common disorders seen in dogs and cats. Dietary management is often recommended as part of the treatment strategy, often in conjunction with antimicrobial therapies and probiotics. However, recent research has called into question our reliance on antimicrobials in the treatment of these patients, revealing limited patient benefits with this approach, and potential adverse effects for patients, including sustained dysbiosis. In this program we will review the evolving research on the role of the gastrointestinal microbiome and the use of antimicrobials, synbiotics, and nutrition as it pertains to modernizing our therapeutic approach to diarrhea. Dietary management is often recommended as part or all of the treatment strategy for pets with acute diarrhea. The traditional advice of simply recommending a bland diet is problematic due to the potential for nutritional deficiency and safety issues of this approach. Moreover, it can be challenging for practitioners to choose amongst the many gastrointestinal diet options available to them in order to make an individualized nutritional recommendation for their patients. This program will help practitioners understand the benefits of utilizing a complete and balanced gastrointestinal diet in the support of patients with gastrointestinal disease, while providing a systematic framework from which they can make rational diet choices based on unique patient needs.