I'm new here
I am new to this forum - discovered it as I was trying to find a solution to a problem my sweet Winston is having. he's 10, and has started having pooping problems! He doesn't knwo that he is doing it, but will leave piles behind when he gets up from a prone position. Sometimes he just drops a pile and moves on. He has dysplasia, and probalby arthritis, but does'nt seem to be in pain. I think maybe a pinched nerve or something. He does have a history of annal gland problems. Any suggestions? Nancy |
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| May be loss of muscle control. That's what cause incontinence in spayed females.
Loss of sphincter muscle control is a little more invovled and could be due to lots of things. Stroke, damaged sphincter muscles, and damaged nerves. Since in your other post you stated he had ruptured anal glands you will probably have to take him to the vet to see if that damaged his muscles or nerves around his anus. If you are waiting to go to the vet and want to try something; try taking his temperature anally. If it is hard to get the thermometer in quit trying and don't worry about it being his sphincter muscles. If it is quite easy to very gently insert the lubricated thermometer -- well it doesn't mean its the muscles that are damaged, but ... I will have to look up in my vet book to see what other possibilities there are and how successful the treatments are ... People sometimes have this problem for the above reasons and a few more. You may have to try doggie diapers until the problem is figured out. Also, since he is 10, make sure not to feed him any more than he needs. I forgot to ask if his stools are normal or liquidy? Keep him hydrated and walk him after feeding and before bedtime, sort of trying to beat his system to the punchline. Sounds like it really isn't the old fella's fault. Hope you find a way to manage until you find a good solution. And you may want to join the list. There are a lot of professional kennel people there that have far more experience than I. But do not be shocked if they tell you to go to the vet because that is the first thing anyone is going to tell you. This is not a problem you could solve with diet unless, maybe, he is having very soft stools too. Carol |
| I have taken him to my vet and they are stumped. He hasn't lost urninary control, just bowl control. I don't overfeed, have him on IMES Older Food, and he plays and chases the other dogs in the backyard.
I am thinking a second opinion! Nan |
| Here's some unofficial/anecdotal info for you...
One of the things that happened with our older guy was "degenerative Myelopathy" or, essentially, a slow progressive loss of function of the spinal cord. A very quick check can help diagnose this... with your dog standing, place an arm under his belly to support his rear weight. Lift up just enough to take almost all the weight. Take a rear paw and turn it under so that the toes are touching the floor. Observe what the paw does-- does it return to the proper position immediately? That would be the desired result to help to "rule out" degenrative Myelopathy. Otherwise, does the paw just stay there? Does the dog seem to "fumble around" to find the correct position? Try with both paws. Better yet, ask your vet to check for this condition. The way this problem presented itself was through gradual loss of muscle tone in his hind legs -- a very similar result to the hip problems. He also he began to lose control of his bowels. His accidental movements were very hard and dry, and created nearly no mess. We know personally of another dog with identical symptoms. When we STOPPED giving him veterinarian-sold w/d food (which is designed for older dogs who "need more roughage"), his accidents nearly completely stopped!!! This worked for us for quite a while. Only when he was truly on his last lags, if you will, did this problem return, and then only occasionally in the last week or two of his life (if I recall). This info stunned some people, including a vet that sees many HD/DM sheepdogs in his practice, as well as others who are experts in sheepies. WIll the same work for others? We don't know yet... but it sure sounds like your dog is on a high-fiber food... BTW, to keep his stools soft and mobile, we had been using whole bran sprinkled on top of his kibble for years. We bought it in bulk from Trader Joes, until they switched to pre-packaged, which seemed to work just the same for him. We continued this before, during, and after his ordeal with w/d. Best of luck to you. -Ron. |
| Ron,
Thanks so much - I will investigate this first off - it seems to fit. Do you have any suggestions of a different food to feed? Nancy |
I think we wound up with Nutro Lite, and added the bran, and chicken broth for flavor. He used to drink (lick) all of the chicken broth first, then he'd eat the kibble. 
BTW, be sure to log in when posting. While not required, it will enhance your experience here at the forum. New posts since the last time you visited will be highlighted, and you can also have the forum watch your topics and notify you by email when your posts are replied to. You can even watch other threads the same way by clicking on the "watch this topic for replies" link that's near the bottom left of each topic page. |
| My dog has a very sensitive stomach and had problems with too much calcium in the Purina foods and milk and eggs in others.
I am a cheap person, so I went around to Petco, Petsmart, and Sam's Club looking for the cheapest food with lamb listed as the first ingredient. My first choice was Petco' Gold Lamb and Rice. But our local Petco would not keep the big bags in stock and the 20 lb bages came out 4 dollars more unless they were on sale. Then, one of the bags was full of weavils---they got all over the chair I set the bag on and were crawling all over the floor. The manager gave me a refund and a new bag of food, but I could never get the free bag of food I was supposed to get for buying there with their card because they never had the same size of bag ..... So I went to Petsmart, but thats 30 miles away and the road gets closed for construction a lot.... So I went to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club and buy the Lamb and rice and mix it half and half. The Sam's Members is too high in fat and Walmarts is high in grain. Since Abbi gets hair balls which cause her to choke and have bad breath, I have to add pumkin or sweet potato to her diet anyways. So I am thinking about reading up more myself. Since she gets a Proin 2x a day and has thesae diet problems I figure I may go to mixing her food up myself .... but my kids and husband wouldn't go for that. I will look into the food Ron suggested and maybe read some of the other topics. I remember a couple of people mentioning some type of Gold food and some mixing their own. You need a low fiber one, so you could even try switching from Iams for seniors back to the normal Iams and add a Vitamin B12 and a vitamin E capsule (found at Wal Mart or any homeopathic store) to it. Make sure there's some zinc in the food too. Personally, I figure the dog will not care as long as you feed him, so why go broke. But you don't want to just have a corn dog either (most commercial foods are mostly corn and grain). Dogs need a meat based protien. Their digestive and immune systems work better and save vet trips. Like grooming, food is a personal choice of something that is absolutely essential. I guess if we worried about our own diets we would be healthier too. |
| Greetings,
Thanks so much. I am going to call the vet in the morning and talk with him about the suggestions you have made. I have to watch the fat content of any food I feed = Winston has a history of pancreatitis as well. Poor baby - he sounds so sickly, but is really not. A true sweetheart! Again, Thanks. Nancy |
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