Runny Stool

Ellie's poop is still runny. On Sunday she had dieherrea (what is the proper way to spell this word?!?! I cant even spell it close enough to the right word to get google or any spell check to correct me!) and I posted about it. I called the vet and he suggested that she get rice and boiled chicken to help firm up her stool. Some of you suggested pumpkin as well so that night thats what she got. Its been about a week now and her stool is still runny. Sometimes it comes out in a defineable shape but its definitly softer then it use to be as it smooshes very easily when I pick it up. Sometimes its just a runny mess that I cant pick up rather then smear everywhere when I try. Her poop is coming out orange like the pumpkin so I stopped giving her that on Wed hoping to see some improvement Its still coming out orange but less and less now. Everyday this week she has had to go in the middle of the night but last night she didnt so I thought we were on right track but this morning it was still runny and orange. I called the vet yesterday and she said that to keep on it with the bland food. The key thing she said was whether Ellie has been acting differently because if she has then it might be more serious then just a tummy thing but she hasnt She plays and runs around and besides the runny poop is fine. She also got a bit spoiled this week as my husband was sick on Wed so he was home all day and then yesterday I had some personal things to take care of so I was home with her so she got to spend extra time playing and snuggling. Any suggestions as to what to do to firm up her stool? Do they just get tummy cahes that last this long? The vet seems to think she is ok other then the runnniess Should I take her in anyway just to be sure? Thanks!

At this point, if I were in your shoes, I would buy some ground sirloin high quality angus beef. I would boil it and drain off any fat and water, then mix it 50-50 with boiled white rice. Ellie may have a little sensitivity to the chicken - my Geordie is the same way. I would also stop giving her pumpkin (pumpkin gives Geordie soft stools too.)

Watch Ellie for sccoting. If her stools have been soft this long, she could easily get a full anal gland problem. If she scoots you'll want the vet to check her in order to prevent an infection.

I hope she improves quickly!!! :flwr: :flwr: :flwr:

Thanks for the tips Cathy I have cut off the pumkin as of Wed I will see what I can do about the beef. I dont eat red meat so Ill have to ask my husband to buy it as I have no idea how to

Ellie does scoot but she always scoots. Our breeder told us when she scoots she has to go to the bathroom so we use to always take her out when she did it but it turns out the two arent related as she scoots and then when we take her out doesnt go at all. Should I take her to the vet anyway because I really cant tell if she is scooting more or less these days since she scoots around a lot normally

How much pumpkin were you giving her? A small dog probably needs only about a teaspoon. Too much will give the runs. I give my Cavs each 1-1/2 tsp per day. My Golden gets about two tablespoons. More than that and the shi-poopies start!

Oh do you think its the pumpkin doing that? On Monday while I was making her food I unintentionally dropped a big plop on the floor and of course lil miss ran over and gobbled it up before I had a chance to clean it up. By then it was to late as I mixed the other pumpkin in with her rice and chicken by then so she got like 2 spoonfulls really on Monday. I didnt realize it would be bad for her since everyone always says it helps firm the stool up Do you think thats the problem right now?

Ellie's Mommy said:

Oh do you think its the pumpkin doing that? On Monday while I was making her food I unintentionally dropped a big plop on the floor and of course lil miss ran over and gobbled it up before I had a chance to clean it up. By then it was to late as I mixed the other pumpkin in with her rice and chicken by then so she got like 2 spoonfulls really on Monday. I didnt realize it would be bad for her since everyone always says it helps firm the stool up Do you think thats the problem right now?

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I don't know if it's the problem right now, but too much could contribute to it. Pumpkin is a really good tool, because it can work both to firm up OR to help constipation, depending upon the amount you feed. I just thought I'd mention it in case you were loading her up with pumpkin!

I may have missed this, but did you take some stool to the vet to check for worms?

I think you might be onto something. She has to poop a lot more recently, the incidents at night have only stopped last night, and I couldnt figure out why she had to go so much. If pumpkin helps relieve constipation and she ate like 6-8 teaspoons over 3 days (breakfast and dinner a teaspoon each) it might have something to do with it. Does pumpkin make them runny? I havent taken her stool to the vet partially because I cant pick it up Its so wet I cant grab it I just end up smearing it all over the grass. She has been off pumpkin for a day or so now and her stool did have a bit more shape late this morning Im going to see what happens this weekend (her vet is closed on the weekends) and if its not better Monday Ill take her in If I have an emergency ,which I dont anticipate since she is fine otherwise and it does seem to be somewhat related to the pumpkin now that I think about it, I have a 24 hour emergency hospital by me so I can take her somewhere if this turns out to be something more serious

This sounds like what we went through with Maxwell. After a week or more of dealing with it, we took him in, and they did stool tests but it turned out it was the Booda Bimples Chew bones I was giving him to chew on! They are made from corn starch. This was right after his neuter surgery and in order to keep him quiet I let him have as many chew bones as he wanted! So he was ingesting a whole lot of corn starch, which makes him have diarrhea.

I hope my 2 cents helps.

PS...the stool tests told us nothing....we figured out what was causing the runny stools without the vet's help.

i feel for you as have been there myself with jadan on many occasions. i had to cut back on everything and then re-introduce one at a time over a couple of days just to eliminate certain foods and treats in his diet. we have narrowed it down so that he can now have a few variations. maybe start from scratch and introduce one at a time until you know which it is. jadan cant have chicken and A LOT of treats that advertise as beef etc, when you check out the label have chicken in them!! good luck :flwr: :flwr:

Ellie's Mommy said:

I think you might be onto something. She has to poop a lot more recently, the incidents at night have only stopped last night, and I couldnt figure out why she had to go so much. If pumpkin helps relieve constipation and she ate like 6-8 teaspoons over 3 days (breakfast and dinner a teaspoon each) it might have something to do with it. Does pumpkin make them runny? I havent taken her stool to the vet partially because I cant pick it up Its so wet I cant grab it I just end up smearing it all over the grass. She has been off pumpkin for a day or so now and her stool did have a bit more shape late this morning Im going to see what happens this weekend (her vet is closed on the weekends) and if its not better Monday Ill take her in If I have an emergency ,which I dont anticipate since she is fine otherwise and it does seem to be somewhat related to the pumpkin now that I think about it, I have a 24 hour emergency hospital by me so I can take her somewhere if this turns out to be something more serious

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When I give pumpkin I only give it once per day. I think it could be that the amount of pumpkin she ate contributed to whatever else is going on.

This will be gross, but what I do with a runny one to get a sample...I take a ziploc baggie and turn it inside out and put my hand inside so it's kinda like a glove. Then I pick up what I can with my bag covered hand...then just flip it inside out, and zip it up. The vet can work with a runny sample :yuk: if you can manage to get it in the baggie this way.

Hope this helps!

When I had difficulty with Harry's tummy due to his meds and was trying for a long time to firm up his poo after a bout of colitus my vet suggested using metamucil ? Maybe ask your vet what they think or if this would help.
A seperate time to this when feeding a bland rice and protein diet for sickness an elevated biliruben count caused his pooh to go a yellowy/orange ? Ask your vet about this with regards to the colour if it persists long after withdrawing the pumpkin?

Sorry not much help hope your little one picks up soon. :flwr: