Surprisingly, the study revealed that most infections were not associated with diarrhea or any specific risk factors, including observed symptoms or the source of the pet.

Dogs and cats in shelters tend to have a lot of pathogens in their poop – whether or not they have diarrhea.

In two companion articles recently published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, researchers examined the feces of cats and dogs from a Florida shelter, both normal in appearance and with diarrhea. These cats and dogs had a variety of enteropathogenic viruses, parasites, protozoa, and bacteria, many of which are capable of transmitting disease to other animals and humans.

Surprisingly, the study revealed that most infections were not associated with diarrhea or any specific risk factors, including observed symptoms or the source of the pet. Of course, this makes it difficult to predict which cats and dogs were most likely to be infected. So, how should shelters deal with this “mask” of gastrointestinal normalcy?

Although it is not feasible to test all cats and dogs being admitted to a shelter for all possible infections, the study concludes that practical guidelines should be developed for the prevention and treatment of the most common and important enteropathogens. This should include the routine use of vaccines and parasiticides (taking into consideration regional differences in pathogen epidemiology), maintaining appropriate cleaning and disinfection protocols to reduce transmission within the shelter, more in-depth diagnostic evaluation for shelter residents with unresponsive gastrointestinal signs, and vigilant disease surveillance.

Sabshin SJ, Levy JK, Tupler T, Tucker SJ, Greiner EC, Leutenegger, CM. Enteropathogens identified in cats entering a Florida animal shelter with normal feces or diarrhea. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2012;241(3):331-337.

Sabshin SJ, Levy JK, Tupler T, Tucker SJ, Greiner EC, Leutenegger, CM. Enteropathogens identified in dogs entering a Florida animal shelter with normal feces or diarrhea. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2012;241(3):338-343.

Note: Funding for this study was provided by Maddie’s Fund.