What’s wrong this time? :(

Elei

Elei

Forums Enthusiast
Feeling a little discouraged...
Warning, only read if you’re a dog person because of course I’m going to be talking about poop:ROFLMAO:

The last couple days, Kip has been yelping in pain when he poops. I do not no why, but I’m getting concerned. I looked it up on the internet, and of course there are multiple possible causes, some serious, some not. The simplest cause would be constipation, but I don’t know why that would happen. Otherwise he is acting completely normal

If this doesn’t clear up quickly, I’m going to get a vet appointment but I’m not sure which vet to go to. I don’t really want to go to the old clinic anymore after all the frustrating experiences there. And the other vet (the orthopedic vet who checked his knee) is very good but far away. I’ll have to make the decision soon.

Poor Kip. I just want him to be happy and healthy
 
Poor Kip! Maybe try a few days of adding in some pumpkin and see if that makes a difference, could also try slippery elm as it works on both constipation as well as diarrhea.
With our dogs it’s always something...yesterday morning Blueberry took a corner too fast and wiped out on the hardwood then was favouring her hind leg a bit. Crated all day and today she’s her usual crazy self but I’m still making her take it easy.
 
Piper's mom said:
Poor Kip! Maybe try a few days of adding in some pumpkin and see if that makes a difference, could also try slippery elm as it works on both constipation as well as diarrhea.
With our dogs it’s always something...yesterday morning Blueberry took a corner too fast and wiped out on the hardwood then was favouring her hind leg a bit. Crated all day and today she’s her usual crazy self but I’m still making her take it easy.
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I was going to support your suggestions of Pumpkin and Slippery Elm! Both have helped my boys be consistent in the quality of their poop!
 
I'm sorry to hear about Kip! It has been the week for mishaps and issues...enough! I agree that adding some pumpkin to his food might help, along with a probiotic if he doesn't get one. Slippery Elm is good too for digestive issues, as everyone has said. Our Barkley was terribly constipated for several months before he passed. I had him at the vet once every two weeks or so for enemas so I know how tough this is to resolve.

Check the ingredients in the food you're giving him too. Some foods are more constipating than others and you can judge by the ingredients whether it's the cause. You might consider putting him on a canned, wet food for a while which has more moisture than kibble does, and if you feed kibble, add lots of warm water to the bowl when you give it to him. Also consider having your vet check him for anal gland irritation, or whether his glands need to be expressed.

One cautionary tale about pumpkin. It's a superfood and wonderful for dogs but don't overfeed it. I add it to my dogs' food daily (just the plain, canned pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie stuff) and have never had a problem. Several months ago Checkers started having very loose, yellow stools and vomiting up yellow bile every few weeks. It took a full abdominal ultrasound, complete GI bloodwork and a food analysis last week to the tune of $650 to find out that she had TONS of gas in her system caused, apparently, by too much pumpkin. I reduced her pumpkin intake, added some Pepcid to help settle her stomach, and instant improvement.

Shelties can have up to one teaspoon of pumpkin per feeding. I was giving a generous tablespoon twice a day. An expensive lesson learned, but I'm very thankful it wasn't something worse. Talk about too much of a good thing! I hope Kip is better soon!
 
I hope Kip starts feeling better soon!
Wow Ann, who would have known a little extra pumpkin could cause so much trouble for Checkers. I'm glad everything is ok now and thanks for passing the knowledge on, I'm sure it will help a lot of people!
 
Ann said:
Shelties can have up to one teaspoon of pumpkin per feeding. I was giving a generous tablespoon twice a day. An expensive lesson learned, but I'm very thankful it wasn't something worse.
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Yikes! Thanks for sharing. I definitely would have given him more than a teaspoon if you hadn’t said that.

I’m cautiously optimistic that the problem has resolved itself, but I’m keeping a close eye on him (poor Kip). No yelping today, but he seems a little tired. I’m thinking that’s probably just because we went hiking, swimming yesterday, then went to bed late.

I started giving him the pumpkin yesterday. Fortunately he loves pumpkin and I grow my own pumpkins and butternut squash so I have plenty. Currently he’s eating a type of French heirloom pumpkin called “musquee de provence”. I don’t think he cares that it’s a special variety:)
 
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