09/23/2026
Work-Up Wednesday!
A 2 year old male neutered Pit mix presented for worsening aggression towards familiar people, which seemed to worsen when his stomach wasn't feeling well. He had a long standing history of recurrent stomach upset where he would vomit and have diarrhea, sometimes so bad to the point of hospitalization. When he first presented, we started him on sertraline, an SSRI to improve his mental wellbeing, that tends to be easy on the GI tract. While this helped with his behavior, he still was not feeling great. We tried some different foods, supplements, and a lot of testing, but he was still struggling so he was referred to an internal medicine specialist who performed an endoscopy and biopsies. These pictures show our patient (left) and a normal dog (right)- ouch!
What was found:
1. Stomach: Mild chronic lymphoplasmacytic enteritis.
2. Duodenum: Severe chronic lymphoplasmacytic enteritis with moderate villous blunting.
3. Ileum: Minimal/mild chronic lymphoplasmacytic enteritis with rare mild villous blunting.
4. Colon: Mild chronic lymphoplasmacytic colitis.
It is always important to investigate medical concerns when it comes to behavior. We could have blamed aggression solely on the dog, his genetics, his history etc etc, but this poor guy felt like garbage! Medical concerns should always be on the differential list for behavioral problems, especially when there are obvious symptoms of ongoing disease.
For more information on how the gut affects behavior, please visit:
Gastrointestinal Disease, Gut Health, and Your Dog’s Behavior - Veterinary Partner - VIN
https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&catId=254081&id=12860920
