Poopie Question (sorry, a little TMI)

[Pinot]

Perhaps someone out there can help me here.

A little history: I took Pinot to the vet last week because she had really bad diarrhea (we're talking 10x in a 24 hour period). They gave her a shot of penicillin and then an oral antibiotic (bactrim) for a week. We completed the antibiotics on this Tuesday. She is totally energetic, eating and drinking (pedealyte and water). I was making her chicken and rice and eggs while she was sick and giving her a multi vitamin as well as the Nutri-Cal (still am). I am now switching her over to puppy food (hard).

OK so this is my concern/question: her poops are still not firm! They are like soft serve not tootsie rolls. She doesn't have the diarrhea any more and only goes about 2 times a day but I think they should be harder. What do you think? Do yorkies just have soft poo (sorry, I'm new to the world of dogs and yorkies)? Will the hard puppy food firm them up? Given that she looks and is acting 100% healthy, should I be concerned about her poops now?

Thanks for reading and any advice!

[chachi]

When my dogs were little their poops werent real firm. I wouldnt worry about it unless they are runny.

[HisNameIsHarley]

I really wouldn't worry very much. I've read several threads concerning yorkies poop and as long as it isn't runny or discolored I wouldn't worry. Harley differs,sometimes he'll have really firm and other times like you described. He's never had runny or anything like that though.

The new dry puppy kibble might harden up a bit. What brand are you feeding? That can make all the difference.

[Pinot]

Thank you SO much!

Sorry - one more question (should have mentioned this earlier duh). When she was sick there was some mucous in her poops. I've noticed mucous a couple times since. My mom (who is not a vet but is a registered nurse) said if dogs are anything like humans (she has 2 yorkies herself) then it very well could be just left over crud from being so sick last week and to give it a couple days and if it gets worse to bring her back to the vet but not to freak out about it just yet. Would you experienced yorkie owners agree with that?

Thanks again!

[Pinot]

OH - I just started her on small breed Eucanuba (sp?) which is what the vet had given me. She was on the canned science diet i/d as well as home made food all last week.

[chachi]

The mucus in her poop is probably because she was sick if it keeps up or if there is blood in it I would take her to the vet.

[Pinot]

OK thanks again Chachi. I really appreciate it. I'll keep an eye on it and if it continues over the weekend, back to the vet she goes.

BTW - the picture in your avatar is adorable!

[HisNameIsHarley]

Originally Posted by Pinot

OH - I just started her on small breed Eucanuba (sp?) which is what the vet had given me. She was on the canned science diet i/d as well as home made food all last week.

As long as the mucus doesn't increase or doesnt disappear after quite a while I wouldn't worry. It sounds like she's just passing what ever was built up from her last illness.

[shelbysmom]

Nutrical makes their poop soft too.

The more dry food she eats the more firm her poops will be.
I have heard that is one of the reasons dry food is best...you get good solid poops. The good thing about that is it is easy for them to totally eliminate so it lowers the risk of needing anal expression.

LOL, sorry you asked a poop question?

[golfwidow14]

The mucus could be from her anal glands.

[Erin]

When Loki had mucusy poop it turned out to be Giardia. It can also be worms. Or it can be nothing or simply that they ate something like cheese. Just keep the vet informed, this is something important to let them know about.

As far as the Eukanuba, let me first say that I don't know why this is so often recommended by vets. It's not a good quality food. Most of it is corn, which is not the best. Let me also say it's not good to keep changing around food on a dog that is prone to diahrea. Consistency is key. Loki gets his food and ONE kind of treat. We have discovered (the hard way) that anything else throws him off and we deal with 2 days of diahrea just because the cashier at Petsmart gave him a random treat. Loki did VERY well on Natural Balance (which you can get at PetCo) and it is one of the better foods out there. There is not ONE good food, but many it just depends on what is good for your dog. All you have to do is read the ingredients and make the decision for yourself. By-products, corn, and preservatives are bad. So are fillers like corn. Make sure they use things like "Chicken" and "Chicken meal" not "Chicken by-products" and the best foods list several meats first, not just Chicken but Lamb too. Please do the research yourself and don't just take my word for it, but here are some of the better foods out there. Some are harder to find than others, but they really aren't any more expensive than the grocery store brands - especially since Yorkies don't eat very much.

Canidae (Loki is now eating this, I chose it because it has pro-biotics in it and Omega 3)
Wellness
Chicken Soup
California Natural
Innova
Natural Balance

There are so many more, but as a rule most foods at Petsmart/Petco are not the best. Check to see if you have a Pet Supplies Plus near you - they have more brands to choose from.

[pspin1975]

I found that a lot of nutrical does make their poops soft and so does the canned food. What makes it solid like a tootsie roll is feeding the dry kibble. Also, just food for thought...my baby's poop was soft when I was feeding him Eukanuba. I'm not a big fan of their food...they use by-products and Louie didn't take to it too well eventhough that's what the breeder was feeding him. I feed him Royal Canine 33 (I believe). And he chows. Maybe give that a try.
As for the mucus, I'd keep my eye on it as well. Louie had that also after a very bad day of diarhea. I didn't start him on his doggie kibble until all that mucus stuff was gone. I kept feeding him chicken with rice until his poops were firm again. Good luck.. and keep us posted.

[Pinot]

OK the more I'm hearing about the Eucanuba the more I'm not liking what I hear. She was on Natural Balance (Lamb) when we got her and I am so paranoid about her getting the diarrhea again that I didn't want to put her back on just yet (then again I was also giving her canned food). I'm going to do some research and find a good food and stick with it for a while. Thanks for all of your thoughts on this everyone.

Erin - A question for you. The breeder things that Pinot has giardia. I called the vet to see if they tested for giardia when Pinot went in there (pinot had 2 fecals in 1 week) and they (the girl who answered the phone) said that the giardia would have shown up. I've been reading up on giardia and it seems like it takes a lot more than a standard fecal to detect it. Did your vet detect it easily in your little Loki? Did you treat it with Flagyl - seems to be a popular antibiotic for giardia so I'm curioius. Thanks.

[Erin]

I don't remember what they gave him. I think it was a little tiny white pill. He was sick for about 2 days when I took him in (he always gets sick on the weekend). They detected it no problem. I would do another fecal if it's slimy or mucusy - maybe she didn't have it two weeks ago. They said Loki could have even gotten it from the sidewalk!

Also, try Natural Balance Ultra Premium. It's better than the Lamb and Rice one. And feed rice and boiled chicken until the diahrea clears up. Also, so far I am happy with Canidae. It's small kibble that he seems to like and the last 2 times i tried to change his food he got sick the first day (I go REAL slow like 5 pieces of kibble a day literally) but he has not been sick at all from the Canidae. They sent me like 10 sample bags too! www.canidae.com but that is not the only good one out there.

Edited: I just re-read that you said 2 in one week. I still say try another one!

[Pinot]

Yeah, that's what I've been reading about giardia - it can be picked up from a rain puddle. I'll look into the canidae (thanks for the link) - free samples - yippee!

Thanks again, Erin!