Introduction
When a cat becomes ill with colitis, they can experience acute colitis, episodic colitis, or chronic colitis. The types of colitis are distinguished by the severity of the symptoms and how frequently the symptoms occur.
Types of Colitis in Cats
All three types of colitis cause the same symptoms to occur in cats.
Acute Colitis
If a cat is suffering from acute colitis, the symptoms will occur suddenly often with a high degree of severity. In many cases, the cat is fine one minute, and the next minute it is obvious that the cat is ill. Acute colitis generally lasts only a few days.
Episodic and Chronic Colitis
Episodic and chronic colitis are characterized by moderate to mild colitis symptoms which occur sporadically. Episodic colitis generally lasts only a few weeks, while chronic colitis is a condition in which the symptoms occur for over one month. In these cases of colitis, the symptoms generally begin gradually and then worsen over time.
Causes of the Different Types of Colitis
Whether or not cats suffer from acute, episodic, or chronic colitis often depends on what is causing the colitis to develop in the first place. Acute colitis in cats is commonly associated with eating foul meats or eating materials that are un-digestible such as string or a toy mouse. Parasites such as giardia and whipworm are also known to cause acute colitis in cats.
Episodic and chronic colitis in cats is most often caused by an underlying medical condition, such as FeLV or FIV, or an infection, such as Helicobacter, that is caused by gastrointestinal bacteria. High levels of stress have also been known to cause episodic and chronic colitis in cats.