Page 1003 - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 5th Edition

Chapter
54

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Gastric Motility and

Emptying Disorders

Deborah J. Davenport
Rebecca L. Remillard

Christine Jenkins

“Dyspepsia is the remorse of a guilty stomach.”
A. Kerr

the Labrador retriever test group and the beagle test group.
CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Further studies in breed-related gastric motility are needed
(Burger et al, 2006).
Normally, the stomach should be emptied following an average Table 54-1 outlines a number of primary and secondary caus-
meal in six to eight hours for dogs and four to six hours for cats es of gastroparesis reported to occur in dogs and cats.The impor-
(Twedt, 2005). The rate of gastric emptying is influenced by tance of these disorders in the general pet population is unknown,
formulation and nutrient content of the food, size of the meal but primary gastric motility disorders are probably rare.
and body size (Nelson et al, 2001).
Gastric motility disorders arise from conditions that directly
or indirectly disrupt three of the basic functions of the stomach: PATIENT ASSESSMENT
1) storage of ingesta, 2) mixing and dispersion of food particles
and 3) timely expulsion of gastric contents into the duodenum. History and Physical Examination
Various processes can affect gastric emptying; however, some Delayed gastric emptying due to any cause results in vomiting.
may not lead to clinical signs (Twedt, 2005). Delayed gastric Owners may report vomiting of undigested or partially digest-
emptying may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of gastric ed food more than 12 hours after the pet eats. The onset of
dilatation-volvulus (Wyse et al, 2001, 2003; Twedt, 2005; Bur- clinical signs may be gradual in acquired cases of chronic hyper-
ger et al, 2006). trophic pyloric gastropathy or acute in the case of foreign body
Species differences in gastric emptying have been identified ingestion. Clinical signs may have been present since weaning
(Wyse et al, 2003). In addition, differences may be seen be- in dogs and cats with congenital pyloric stenosis.
tween breeds of dogs. A recent study of the long-term measure- Weight loss and poor body condition are often present in
ment of gastric motility using passive telemetry found signifi- chronic cases. Other manifestations may include intermittent
cant differences in the postprandial motility patterns between gastric bloating, nausea, partial or complete inappetence and