Desi - poop problems?

[Casey's Mom]

I know that you all have had lots of poop experience and I even remember seeing a poop chart - ha!

Desi has had mucous covered poops on and off for a few days now and two days ago there was a spot of blood although I have yet to see that again. I rushed the poop sample with the blood to the vets and they said there were not any parasites so watch how she does and if necessary bring her in for an exam.

Everything else is fine, activity level and eating etc. I feed a mixture of Holistic Health chicken and rice dry food with my homemade mixture of turkey, rice and peas, carrots and yams.

Have any of you seen this before?

Love and hugs,

[Casey's Mom]

Sorry this was posted in error to the cushings board when I meant it to go to the "everything else" board as Desi does not have cushings.

[StarDeb55]

Ellen, I have moved this over to the appropriate forum.

Debbie

[Nathalie]

Hi Ellen,

Colitis and then Pancreatitis are the first things that come to my mind.
Does Desi have a history of it?

I would give her rice that is cooked to a mush with a bit of chicken for the next few days as well as Slippery Elm (found at the helth food store or some pet stores) to sooth the GI and see how it goes.

Nathalie

[labblab]

Labs are notorious for dietary "indiscretions" that can lead to GI upsets (in other words, they'll eat any nasty thing that they can find!). So over the years with my Labs, I've seen mucous-covered poop more times than I can count. Usually, blood and mucous signal an upset in the lower intestinal tract. When this happens for my dogs, my vet recommends a 24-hour fast to settle the intestines, and then the same mushy rice/chicken combination that Nathalie has suggested. My store carries ground chicken breast, so I can just quickly cook that up in a non-stick skillet coated with vegetable spray. That's faster and easier for me than boiling whole chicken pieces. I feed this diet for a couple of days, and if all is well, I start gradually adding back some of their regular food.

If the problem doesn't resolve quickly, he also gives me a prescription of metronidazole (Flagyl). This is a medication with both antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties, and ususally does a fine job of clearing the GI distress for my dogs. However, as I say, this is not an uncommon issue for us. As Nathalie has asked, is this unusual for Desi? Does she otherwise seem to be feeling OK?

Marianne

[Casey's Mom]

Thanks for the info guys. I cooked up some more homemade tonight which is ground turkey, mushy rice and a few cooked veggies so I will just give her that for a few days until it clears up and hold off on adding the kibble.

This is somewhat normal for her on and off but when I saw a bit of blood in there it bothered me. I called the vet's office and they said to wait and see because otherwise she is eating, drinking and her same little fluffball self. Went for our usual walk with Casey etc.

Thanks for the advice about the slippery elm and the antibiotics. We will see what happens now. Casey has never had this mucous poop but it does seem to be a semi regular thing for Desi.

Love and hugs,

[labblab]

Ellen, you may want to hold off on adding in even the cooked vegetables for a couple of days. You want the meals to be as simple, bland, and easily digestible as possible (so not a lot of roughage or fiber). Plus, I don't know whether or not this is still believed to be true, but I've read in the past that dogs are more likely to develop sensitivities to foods if they eat them while their intestinal systems are inflamed. So you may want to hold off on re-introducing anything beyond the turkey/rice until Desi seems to be improving.

Marianne

[Casey's Mom]

Thanks Marianne, I will take the veggies out and I was going to wait until tonight to feed her. That will be a 24 hour fast for her - to tell you the truth she is a typical Havanese - could care less about food all day until its time to go to bed!

[Casey's Mom]

Desi back to normal poops again thanks Marianne.

Love and hugs,

[Harley PoMMom]

Oh Ellen, I am so happy Desi is having normal poops!!! :D I know how worried you must have been when Desi wasn't feeling quite herself.

Sometimes Harley will have a really soft bowel movement and my antenna goes up :eek: And then his next one a couple hours later will be a nice formed one :confused: geez, they keep us on our toes...one day at a time and love them dearly, I guess is all we can do.

Love and hugs,
Lori