Chapter 10
Understanding How an Oh-No Can Become a Problem-o
IN THIS CHAPTER
Dealing with canine bathroom ailments
Preventing gas
All too often, dogs develop potty problems that have nothing to do with whether they’ve mastered housetraining. Instead, these apparent bathroom boo-boos actually signal that Fido’s not feeling well. Some of these bathroom-symptom illnesses are minor, but others can be serious or even life-threatening. Unfortunately, most people with pooches can’t tell which is which. That’s why you need to take your housetrainee to the veterinarian for a checkup if he appears to have forgotten his bathroom manners for more than a day or so.
In this chapter, I discuss some potty-related conditions and illnesses; however, remember that the list isn’t inclusive. Plenty of other health problems may cause symptoms that are similar or identical to those I describe here. The bottom line: If your dog’s bathroom behavior or output deviates significantly from what’s normal for him, he may well be sick. Put in a call to your veterinarian.
A Whiz of a Problem
Normally, a dog takes a whiz three or four times a day after she masters proper potty protocol. Depending on what time of day she performs her anointing, her pee may be bright yellow in color (first thing in the morning) or lighter yellow (later in the day or whenever she’s held it for a while). Deviations from those norms can mean your pooch isn’t feeling up to par. Here are some examples of when peeing problems may signal health problems.
Constant peeing
A housetrained dog who’s suddenly peeing all over the house probably hasn’t developed bathroom amnesia. And if she gets to her potty spot but asks to go there every hour on the hour, her bladder hasn’t suddenly shrunk. In both cases, she’s probably developed a urinary tract infection, or UTI.
Although they’re uncomfortable (ask any person who’s gotten one!), UTIs aren’t necessarily serious — if they’re treated promptly. You can’t doctor these infections yourself, though. Treatment begins with a visit to your veterinarian. Your vet will examine your dog, analyze a urine sample, and prescribe the antibiotics needed to knock out the infection.
Antibiotics take several days to eliminate the UTI. In the meantime, though, here’s what you can do to make your canine companion more comfortable:
- Step up the bathroom breaks. A dog with a UTI who pees all the time is doing exactly what she needs to do: flush the infectious bacteria out of her system. So to help your UTI-ridden friend help herself, let her take as many potty breaks as she needs. If your pooch potties outside, be prepared to let her out or take her to her potty area every couple of hours or so (or if you won’t be home, ask a neighbor to do so). If your dog uses papers or a litter box, make sure its location is never more than a few steps from where she is.
- Encourage her to drink. To encourage those potty breaks, do what you can to persuade your pooch to drink as much water as possible. Start by keeping her water dish filled with fresh water. Another good idea is to place water bowls in several areas of the house so your dog never needs to walk too far to get herself a drink.
- Finish those meds. Although a dog’s UTI symptoms generally abate after just a couple of days on antibiotics, it’s important to finish out the entire prescription, which can run as long as 21 days. That’s because even though the symptoms have subsided, the infection may still be present — and stopping the meds prematurely allows it to worsen. When that happens, the symptoms return with a vengeance.
Your four-legged friend is much less likely to contract a UTI if she gets enough chances to discharge her urine. Don’t ask her to hold it more than eight hours or so at a time — and if you can provide more frequent bathroom breaks, so much the better.
Constant drinking and constant peeing
A dog who suddenly starts drinking more water than usual (and consequently starts peeing more than usual) may be suffering from one of several conditions. Some of these conditions are serious, and others aren’t. Here are just a few of the suspects:
- Hot weather: If your dog’s water intake rises soon after the onset of a heat wave, you can blame the weather. During hot spells, a dog may drink more water than usual simply to maintain a normal body temperature.
- Diabetes: Diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces either too little insulin or poorly functioning insulin. Either way, the amount of sugar in the bloodstream rises, and the individual drinks more water to dilute the sugar. Diabetic dogs also may have ravenous appetites and often are overweight. The treatment for dogs with diabetes is the same as for humans with this disease: medication, nutritional management, and exercise.
- Kidney problems: When a dog’s kidneys aren’t functioning well, he urinates much more often than usual and can’t retain the fluids his body needs. Consequently, he tries to offset the loss by drinking more water, which in turn spurs still more peeing and fluid loss. Some kidney problems are simple infections that a vet can treat with antibiotics. Others are much more serious, though, involving permanent damage to the organ. Those also require a vet’s care and expertise.
- Cushing’s disease: This condition occurs when a dog’s body produces too much adrenal hormone. In addition to excessive drinking and urinating, a dog with Cushing’s may also suffer from hair loss, a drooping abdomen, panting, increased appetite, and muscle weakness. Treatment depends on what’s causing the overproduction of adrenal hormone in the first place.
The problem with constant drinking and peeing is that only a veterinarian can perform the tests needed to diagnose and treat a dog with such symptoms. Bottom line: Get your canine to his doctor if he’s suddenly starting to pee and drink more often.
Pee that comes out slowly or not at all
Some dogs do their darndest to pee, only to have little to show for their efforts. They perform their pre-potty maneuvers, position themselves accordingly, and then release next to nothing. Maybe a drop or two emerges, if that.
A dog who is clearly straining to pee needs to see a veterinarian right away. Your dog may well have urinary stones, which can be fatal if left untreated.
Urinary stones form when minerals that usually pass from the dog’s body when he pees clump together instead. Generally, these stones are located in the bladder, but sometimes they move to the urethra, which leads from the bladder to the outside of the body. If a stone is large enough, it can become trapped in the urethra, restricting or even completely blocking the urinary flow. A total blockage can cause acute kidney failure, which in turn can kill the dog.
To determine whether a dog has stones, a vet palpates the abdomen, analyzes a urine sample, and may X-ray or perform an ultrasound of the dog’s abdomen. After stones are discovered, treatment depends on the type of mineral that forms the stone. Some stones respond to medicines and/or foods that change the urine’s chemistry, but others need to be removed surgically.
If your vet tells you that your dog’s stones are made of calcium oxalate, substitute distilled or filtered water for the tap water your dog drinks. The absence of minerals in distilled or filtered water can help prevent such stones from forming.
Oddly colored pee
A dog’s pee should be yellow — although the intensity of that yellow color may vary, depending on how long ago the previous potty break was. If at any time your canine companion’s urine doesn’t evoke thoughts of the late Frank Zappa’s notorious ditty, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow,” you need to call your vet. Here’s what urine color can tell you:
- Dark-looking urine (either rust-colored or slightly red): This signals the presence of blood. Bloody urine may result from a urinary tract infection (see the earlier section “Constant peeing”), or it can signal an internal injury. Blood clotting disorders or urinary stones (see the preceding section) may also be the culprits. In any case, a trip to the vet is in order.
- Very light-colored or clear urine, especially first thing in the morning: This may mean that your dog’s kidneys aren’t retaining as much water for her body as they should be. Such a dog also may be peeing a lot and drinking more water than usual. Among the possible causes are diabetes, kidney disease, and Cushing’s disease (see the preceding sections). Any way you look at it, though, the bottom line’s the same: Get your four-legged friend to her veterinarian as soon as possible.
The Scoop on Poop Problems
A dog’s poop can tell her person much about the state of that dog’s health. Here are examples of when a dog’s poop may be telling you that the pooper is sick.
Poop on the run(s)
Dog poop should be firm and compact, and it shouldn’t stink — at least not very much. All too often, though, a dog’s poop not only smells bad but also comes out fast, furious, and often. To make matters worse, it looks very runny. In other words, the dog has diarrhea.
A dog can get diarrhea for a lot of reasons. Some are serious and require a veterinarian’s attention. Others aren’t as big of a deal, and they respond to home care.
Young puppies with diarrhea who vomit more than once an hour over a half-day or so should see a veterinarian immediately.
If the situation isn’t that urgent, here’s what you can do to help reduce the runs:
Forget about food for the first day.
If your dog has more than one runny bowel movement in a given day, hold off on feeding her for the next day or so. Your dog’s digestive system, which has been working overtime, needs to take a breather. A 24-hour fast gives your canine’s digestive tract the time it needs to calm down a little bit.
Diarrhea can dehydrate a dog pretty quickly because that runny poop draws liquids from a dog’s body systems. To forestall dehydration, keep fresh water available for your four-legged friend and consider placing several water bowls around your house so she can take a drink more easily.Start a bland diet after a day or so.
Start giving your dog some food that’s easy on the tummy. A good foundation for a bland diet is a mixture of boiled rice and hamburger. Be sure to pour off any fat from the hamburger before you serve it to your dog; leaving in the grease can bring on a new round of the runs. Make sure, too, that food is sufficiently cool before serving so that your dog doesn’t burn her tongue. If you don’t want to cook hamburger, add some lowfat cottage cheese to the rice.
If your dog still has the runs after two days, call your veterinarian.
Most simple cases of doggie diarrhea abate within a day or two, so call your vet if the problem continues. If your dog is also vomiting and drinking a lot of water, call your vet sooner.
Soft, stinky poop
Dog poop should be formed enough so you can pick it up easily without leaving much behind. But is your dog’s poop full of mucus? Is it really soft when you scoop it up? And does it stink to high heaven? The cause may be a food that disagrees with your canine companion’s digestive system, or it may be the presence of a parasite. Here’s how to solve either problem:
- Look for a pattern. If you feed your dog a varied diet, try to determine whether his stinky-poop episodes occur after he eats one particular food. For example, I noticed that my Golden Retriever, Allie, would produce soft, stinky, mucus-filled poop — not to mention become a gasbag — whenever I fed her canned mackerel. When I stopped feeding her the mackerel, her noxious gas and poop stopped, too.
Purge the parasite (with a vet’s help). Your dog may have giardia, a protozoan parasite. Besides soft stools, other symptoms of canine giardiasis include diarrhea, diminished appetite, weight loss, vomiting, and traces of blood in the stool. Veterinarians report that they’re seeing more and more dogs with giardiasis, which usually spreads when a dog drinks contaminated water or walks through damp areas and licks his feet afterward.
As with so many other bathroom maladies, getting rid of giardia requires a veterinarian’s expertise. The most common remedy is an antibacterial drug called metronidazole, better known as Flagyl.
You can help keep giardia at bay by following good sanitary practices such as washing your hands whenever you handle an infected animal. And because these unwelcome little critters thrive in damp environments, keeping the dog’s living area dry is a very good idea.
Oily poop
Is your dog’s poop oily and greasy-looking? Has she had diarrhea for a long time, despite the efforts of you and your veterinarian to treat her? Is her coat thin-looking? Does she look malnourished?
If so, your dog’s problem may be her pancreas. This organ produces not only the hormone insulin but also special enzymes that help her body digest the nutrients in her food. Sometimes the pancreas doesn’t produce enough of those enzymes, particularly those that break down the fat in foods. Consequently, the fat passes through the body and ends up in the poop, giving the stool that greasy look. A dog with this condition is suffering from exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI. Among the breeds that are prone to this condition are German Shepherd Dogs and Great Danes.
Many cases of EPI can be treated by putting the dog on a lowfat diet and prescribing medicines that contain the digestive enzymes the dog can’t produce. But only your veterinarian can determine whether EPI is causing your dog’s pooping problem, so before you do anything else, bring your dog to her doctor.
Poop that comes out slowly or not at all
If your dog’s poop comes out very slowly despite his best efforts to produce some, he may be constipated — the opposite of diarrhea. Like diarrhea, constipation can signal either a minor problem or a major ailment. The trick is to know which is which. Waiting for a little while — no more than a day — should result in an answer.
Meanwhile, try the following relief-producing measures for your anal-retentive friend:
Give some veggies. Many dogs enjoy getting some vegetables with their daily rations, and this is one dietary preference that can be good for your canine companion. Vegetables such as carrots, green beans, broccoli, and beets provide the bulk needed to loosen up a puppy’s poop-maker. In addition, they’re low in calories, which makes them terrific treats for pudgy pooches. Cook veggies and then puree them in your blender or food processor so that they’re easy for your dog to eat.
Try giving your dog canned pumpkin not only to combat constipation but also to help deal with diarrhea (yes, it works for both!) and just generally keep him regular. Make sure, though, that you give your dog plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which has too much sugar for dogs. Your vet can tell you how much pumpkin to serve per meal.- Lay on the liquid. Your dog needs water to stay healthy, and extra water can soften the stool that’s packed inside your pooch. Keep your friend’s water dish filled with fresh, cool water — and if he’s still not drinking, try placing several water bowls throughout the house.
- Get him moving. Simple constipation often clears up with some extra exercise — additional movement on the outside gets a dog’s insides going, too.
- Know when to get help. If your dog’s symptoms don’t clear up in a day or so and he’s clearly trying to take a dump, take him to your vet. He may be suffering from a bowel obstruction or other serious problem. If he begins to vomit, see your vet sooner.
Resist the temptation to feed your dog leftover cooked bones from that steak or pork chop you ate. Such bones can cause serious bowel obstructions.
Poop that contains other things
Sometimes a dog’s poop consists of more than just bodily waste. In such cases, even a cursory glance can often reveal the presence of substances that are decidedly unpoopy. Those substances may result from dietary indiscretions by your dog, less-than-optimum food preparation by you, or the presence of unwanted critters in your dog’s digestive system. Here are some common foreign bodies that appear in canine poop and how to deal with them.
Worms disguised as grains, sprouts, or pasta
If your dog’s deposits look like they’re laced with grains, sprouts, or pasta, she probably has worms. A tapeworm infestation shows up in the stool as little bits of rice. Roundworms, on the other hand, look like thin spaghetti or alfalfa sprouts. With either parasite, rely on your vet to provide proper treatment.
Even if you don’t see signs of parasites in your dog’s poop, have your vet check a sample of your dog’s stool at least once a year for worms and other problems.
Threads or pieces of plastic
Maybe you’re seeing little bits of plastic or thread in your dog’s stool. If so, your buddy’s probably eating his toys or some socks in addition to (or instead of) his usual fare.
Plastic toys with small parts can be especially dangerous because your dog can choke on them. Toys with squeakers can be particularly challenging if your dog swallows the squeaker. Socks may be equally hazardous because they can cause a blockage in a dog’s digestive tract. Other hazards to dogs’ digestive tracts include rope toys, Christmas tinsel, and all manner of poisonous plants (visit the website of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control for a list of toxic plants).
The best remedy here is prevention. Don't hang tinsel on your Christmas tree, bypass rope toys, keep houseplants inaccessible to your dog, and pick up socks from the floor. And make sure that your dog is playing with his toys, not eating them.
That said, if your vigilance isn’t enough and your dog manages to scarf something he shouldn’t, put in a call to your vet. If the dietary indiscretion consists of small pieces of a toy or a squeaker, your dog may well pass those pieces in his stool — but put in a call to your vet, just to be sure. Larger items like socks probably won’t make it through and will need to be removed surgically.
Veggie chunks
If your dog likes vegetables, you may find chunks of those vegetables in your pooch’s poop. That’s because dogs can’t absorb the nutrients in vegetables unless they’re chopped up to a very fine degree. The remedy here: Sharpen your veggie-chopping skills or haul out the food processor.
Gray, black, or red poop
Although healthy canine urine is yellow in color, the color of healthy canine stool can vary considerably. Depending on what the dog has eaten and the amount of bile in her system, her poop can range from tan to dark brown in color and even sometimes be green or orange (the latter color can result when a dog eats canned pumpkin or sweet potatoes). However, some colors indicate health problems:
- Gray or cement in color: Your dog may be suffering from an obstruction in her bile duct. Such obstructions can signal the presence of a gall bladder problem, a tumor, or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). In any case, gray poop requires that you and your dog visit her veterinarian.
- Black or very dark brown: Your dog may be bleeding from her stomach or elsewhere in her upper digestive tract. Such stool, particularly if the poop resembles wet coffee grounds, can indicate the presence of a tumor or an ulcer. Other possible causes include kidney or liver disease, gastritis, or inflammatory bowel disease.
- Red: If you see red blood in your dog’s poop, she’s probably suffering from a condition of the colon or rectum, such as colitis or a tumor in the rectum.
No matter what the cause, the presence of blood in the stool indicates that a serious health problem is likely afoot. A call and visit to your vet is in order.
Skinny poop
If your dog’s poop looks like thin strips, he may be suffering from a narrowing in his large intestine or his rectum. The causes may be an enlarged prostate (in intact male dogs), a mass or tumor pressing on the large intestine, or a problem from within either of those two organs. Call your veterinarian and book an appointment as soon as possible.
Gaseous Emissions
Most doggie farts result from mundane causes: eating too quickly or eating the wrong things. Here’s how to turn your gasbag of a doggie into a more comfortable canine (and a better-smelling one, too!):
- Slow his intake. A dog often starts tooting if he’s scarfed his meal too quickly. If your canine companion seems to inhale his meals, try feeding him from a bowl that’s specifically designed to slow down his food intake. Generally, these products are divided into sections that force the dog to pause between gulps because he can’t put his entire face into the bowl. Among the available products are the DogPause bowl (
www.dogpausebowl.com) and the Eat Slower pet dish (www.eatslowerpetdishes.com). A similar product is the Durapet Slow-Feed Bowl, which features a raised dome in the middle of the dish. - Examine his diet. A sudden change of diet can prompt a pooch to turn on the toots. If your dog’s turning flatulent, try switching him back to his old diet for a week or so. If you took him off his old diet for medical reasons, consult your vet concerning what other dietary options are appropriate for your dog.
- Introduce additives. A gassy Lassie may benefit from having activated charcoal (available at local pharmacies) or digestive-enzyme supplements added to her food. Such products can ease digestion by absorbing the gas or other materials that are irritating your dog’s digestive tract and causing her to toot. Follow the instructions on the package or consult your vet to figure out how much to give.
A dog who’s not only gaseous but also retching, unable to lie down, and with a larger-than-usual abdomen may be suffering from an extremely serious condition called bloat — the swelling and/or twisting of the stomach. Large dogs with deep chests, such as Rottweilers, Labrador Retrievers, and Great Danes, are especially prone to this condition, but it can happen to any dog, especially if he exercises within an hour or so after a meal. This condition is fatal if not treated quickly. If your dog shows any signs of bloat, get him to the nearest veterinary clinic as soon as possible.