cdnchick

Finley (3 month old spoo) has had some trouble with her stool in the last several days.

She's going poo fine at the beginning, lets out a good amount of formed poo and then continues to hover and strain until more comes out. The problem is that with the poo that comes out after the straining, it's more mushy (not so well formed) and there are drops of blood (red) mixed in with the poo.

She has no other signs or symptoms that anything is wrong... No lethargy, appetite is good, she's playful, no vomiting.

We've cut down the amount of food we feed her and that seems to have helped. I also interrupt her gently after she's pooed her formed poo when she starts to strain. It seems like she may have a fissure in her rectum that stretches open and bleeds when she strains too much and too hard after her initial formed poo.

Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations regarding Finley's pooping dilemma?

Thanks,
Jenne.

Note: Please excuse any errors in grammar or spelling... I'm posting this from my Android phone.

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PoodlePowerBC

Russell was as described when I first started him on Raw at 4 1/2 months. A holistic breeder recommended adding a tbsp of pumpkin to his meal 2 times a day. This is plain 100% pumpkin (not the pie filling spiced kind) The pumpkin just seems to regulate them. I add it to every meal for my 14 year old dog ... no more straining

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cdnchick

Appreciate the quick response!

Can the pumpkin be canned (not pumpkin pie stuff but actual plain canned pumpkin) or should I buy a pumpkin and cook it myself? How long did you have Russell on it before you noticed improvements? Is it still a regular part of his diet?

Thanks!

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PoodlePowerBC

Originally I bought canned organic 100% pure pumpkin, just after thanksgiving I went to a farmer's market and bought 4 pumpkins, baked then froze them. Canned is great, just a bit more costly.
I am giving it to the 14 year old every meal for fiber, but Russell just gets it now with his ground raw meal. Not sure he even needs it, but it's the only veggie he gets, it can't hurt. And I noticed an improvement the next day with both dogs (the one with straining movement, the other with loose stool)

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Carley's Mom

I also give my older shih tuz pumpkin every few days. It has made a world of differance.

PaddleAddict

A visit to the vet is in order. Parasites and other intestinal issues (Giardia, etc.) could be the cause, particulalry in a young puppy.

PoodlePowerBC

I agree ... If you don't see immediate results with the pumpkin. Has she seen the vet since you got her? Most vets try to force the worming pills on you at first shots. And giardiasis symptoms usually include vomiting, bloating as well as diareah according to what I have read. But I'm not a vet and I do like to try natural remedies first if my dogs are not real sick. If it is ongoing .... It's off to the vet I go

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cdnchick

She's seen the vet several times since we got her and she's in good health. We've had her on de-worming meds for the last few weeks as well.

We're almost positive it has to do with her food intake... for details I won't get into, this started occurring almost immediately after we upped her food significantly. We've brought her food rations back down again and she seems to have been a lot better.... no blood in last day or two.

I'm going to try the pumpkin and see what happens in the next day or two. If there's no change or things get worse, a call to the vet will definitely be in order.

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SusanG

Just a thought, but have you given her any sort of rawhide, horn, chewy dried meats, etc that they sell in abundance in the pet shops? Callie is a year old, and has a problem with any of those things - she just doesn't digest them well. We can only give her a well cooked bone, merrick texas taffy, nylabone chewables or kong ziggies or we can expect loose bowels, gas and sometimes worse. Wish we could find something she could really gnaw on that won't make her sick the next day.

Ginagbaby1

Just an idea here but have you tried the antler chews? They last a really long time, don't get slimy or smelly, and satisfies the urge to chew.

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