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Stunted or Poor Growth 1284.e1

Stunted or Poor Growth
VetBooks.ir System and Clinical Clues* Differentials*

Small Stature and Poor Body Condition
Nutritional Poor quality diet, underfeeding, parasites
• Good appetite
• Polyphagia
Gastrointestinal (GI): Parasites, food intolerance/food allergy, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, obstruction,
• Diarrhea or vomiting inflammatory bowel disease
• Polyphagia or hyporexia
Esophageal disease Megaesophagus, lower esophageal achalasia, vascular ring anomaly (most commonly
• Regurgitation persistent right aortic arch), congenital myasthenia gravis
• Vascular ring anomaly: typically regurgitation of solid food after weaning
Cardiac Dog: aortic stenosis, patent ductus arteriosus, pulmonic stenosis
• Cough, tachypnea, increased lung sounds, crackles, positive undulation Cat: ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrioventricular valve dysplasia
• Continuous heart base murmur: PDA
• Systolic heart base murmur: aortic or pulmonic stenosis
• VSD: right-sided murmur (sometimes also left heart base)
Systemic disease Kidney disease, liver disease (portosystemic shunt or other hepatic vascular
Metabolic/Infectious anomalies), diabetes mellitus, respiratory infections (e.g. bacterial pneumonia),
• Poor appetite GI infections, inborn errors of metabolism (e.g., mucopolysaccharidosis, glycogen
• Dullness/central nervous system signs storage disease)
• Polyuria/polydipsia
• Respiratory signs
• GI signs Differentials, Lists, and Mnemonics
Endocrine Diabetes mellitus, hypoadrenocorticism, diabetes insipidus, juvenile
hyperparathyroidism (extremely rare)
Small Stature and Good Body Condition
Bone growth Chondrodystrophy
• Disproportionate stature
Endocrine Disproportionate: congenital hypothyroidism
• Distinction between disproportionate dwarfism and proportionate dwarfism Proportionate: hyposomatotropism, hyperadrenocorticism (very rare)
is essential
• Truncal alopecia
• Dullness: congenital hypothyroidism
*Nonexhaustive lists.

AUTHORS: Pascale M. Y. Smets, DVM, PhD; Sylvie Daminet, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DECVIM

www.ExpertConsult.com