How do you know if a dog is constipated

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by matese

I had forgotten about the back flipped until member jkpal mentioned her Piper's. It would be easier if I could speak to my vet about a possible back flip. Like I said, I didn't actually see it, I just assumed he had to have done a back flip when his lead suddenly jerked him to a dead stop. When I heard the zip line I went immediately to the shed, Cody was just coming from the other side, we met in the front of the shed, he wasn't limping or anything, he just had a look of wtf just happened.
I am going to write a note about this and ask for a MRI to rule anything out. I have a follow up appt. this Friday, I'll give the note to the tech when she takes him in.
I need to know if he has a permanent back issue.

Not everywhere has an MRI machine and it’s really expensive just letting you know. The dogs also have to be under anesthesia or sedated.

[matese]

I don't know if my vet has one but she can tell me where to go, money is not an issue. He's my baby, if my vet thinks he should have one, he will. Thanks for the heads up.

[Mike_and_Me]

Originally Posted by matese

So, the good news is, he finally pooped this morning right after he ate, the poop is taking form finally, it's still very soft. What confuses me is, he had two full meals with no bowel movement, I would think with all the food he consumed on Friday, his poop would have been the size of an elephants lol, but it was his normal amount, weird.

Im so late to the thread, but just wanna say happy that Cody is feeling better! Hopefully his bowel movement will continue improving. What a month you guys have had (((

i just wanted to mentioned that since he was on chic/rice, it's normal his poop was not elephant size when they consume real food their poop becomes smaller and they make less often. Because for a pup with diarrhea the chicken/rice diet is often suggested once they are eating it for a day or two it's completely normal to think they go into constipation, while it's just their bodies don't produce as much poop as with kibble. I don't even know if it's worth posting, but maybe for someone in the future who has the same issue.

best wishes to lil Cody

[matese]

Thank you for you input, all posts are valuable information.

Cody is still on the chic/rice. He is only making once a day. Yesterday was day 2, his poop had more form to it making me feel much better. He ate late this morning. 7:30, so far no poop, I am hoping to see more improvement, fingers crossed.
Thanks for your well wishes.

[matese]

The evening of 9/14 because Cody's poop had improved to the point where I thought starting transitioning to his kibble should start. I started with adding just 10 kibbles to the chick and rice, this is going to be a very long transition. In the past when I changed him from one food to a new one, I do it over a period of 10 days. It is suggested transition 5 to 7 days when changing to a new food. I do it in 10 days' always have, to make sure there are no stomach issues. This transition will be much longer then the usual 10 days. Cody is a big boy weighing in at close to 12 lbs, so there's a lotta kibble. since he eats appox 3/4 cup split into twice a day. A long transition is not an issue for me. What is an issue is, today his Simparica tablet was due. I was hesitant to give it to him, concerned the diarrhea will return, but, fleas and ticks are still abundant as I live in a heavily wooded area. So I chanced it and gave him the tablet shortly after he ate tonight. So now I am on pins and needles for the next few days waiting for his net couple of poops and praying that one tab didn't upset his stomach.

[matese]

The evening of 9/14 because Cody's poop had improved to the point where I thought starting transitioning to his kibble should start. I started with adding just 10 kibbles to the chick and rice, this is going to be a very long transition. In the past when I changed him from one food to a new one, I do it over a period of 10 days. It is suggested transition 5 to 7 days when changing to a new food. I do it in 10 days' always have, to make sure there are no stomach issues. This transition will be much longer then the usual 10 days. Cody is a big boy weighing in at close to 12 lbs, so there's a lotta kibble, he eats appox 2/3 cup split into twice a day. A long transition is not an issue for me. What is an issue is, today his Simparica tablet was due. I was hesitant to give it to him, concerned the diarrhea will return, but, fleas and ticks are still abundant as I live in a heavily wooded area. So I chanced it and gave him the tablet shortly after he ate tonight. Now I am on pins and needles for the next few days waiting for his net couple of poops and praying that one tab didn't upset his stomach.

[matese]

Well,that one tiny Simparica tablet did affect his stomach. This mornings poop was a mixture of normal to very loose. Since Cody has been on chicken and rice he only poops once a day from twice a day when he's on his kibble. So I have to wait for tomorrow to see if his poo is better.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by matese

Well,that one tiny Simparica tablet did affect his stomach. This mornings poop was a mixture of normal to very loose. Since Cody has been on chicken and rice he only poops once a day from twice a day when he's on his kibble. So I have to wait for tomorrow to see if his poo is better.

This has been going on for some time now. I doubt it was that Simparica. I vaguely recall he has had issues before (I think??).
Has your vet ever done anything like the GI test that goes to A&M? Might be worth looking into it. Yorkies often have gastrointestinal issues ... just a thought.

[matese]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

This has been going on for some time now. I doubt it was that Simparica. I vaguely recall he has had issues before (I think??).
Has your vet ever done anything like the GI test that goes to A&M? Might be worth looking into it. Yorkies often have gastrointestinal issues ... just a thought.

You may be thinking back to 2014 when he had diarrhea, that was diagnosed as a stricture and needed surgery to reconstruct. My vet performed that surgery and he has been fine. There has never been a reason to do a GI on him, and what is A&M.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by matese

You may be thinking back to 2014 when he had diarrhea, that was diagnosed as a stricture and needed surgery to reconstruct. My vet performed that surgery and he has been fine. There has never been a reason to do a GI on him, and what is A&M.

I don't know about 2014. Just seems he has been having issues. I may have confused him with another but 2 or 3 weeks recently I believe.

Anyway....

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/

[matese]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

I don't know about 2014. Just seems he has been having issues. I may have confused him with another but 2 or 3 weeks recently I believe.

Anyway....

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/gilab/

Cody's diarrhea started on 9/2 and started to clear up on 9/13 feeding him chicken and rice starting on 9/8.

I thought A&M was the College of Veterinary Medicine located in Texas. We went through this in 2014.
Not to sound snarky, I live in Pennsylvania, why would my vet send to Texas for any test results on GI, is A&M who every vet in every state uses? Educate me.
Cody had diarrhea due to the herbs and possibly Methocarbamol and Rimadyl my vet prescribed. I was giving these to him all at one time 2 pills in a Greenie pill pocket, 2 pills in another Greenie pill pocket. When the diarrhea started on 8/26 or the 27 th my vet put him on Metronidazole to stop the diarrhea and it worked until the 5 day supply ran out.
This is the only time he has had diarrhea since 2014. The diarrhea has stopped, I am doing a very slow transition back to his kibble, that Simparica tablet on the 20th caused some diarrhea, that was the only thing different he ate last night. The poop Cody made was a normal poop with the last part being very soft and mushy, diarrhea. Since Cody has one bowel movement a day, I have to wait for tomorrow to see what it looks like.

In the past he had no issues that a GI would have been called for.

[ladyjane]

I have no idea what you "went through" in 2014.

I merely made a suggestion because his diarrhea went on for a very long time imho. Nine days in a small dog is a lot and that was with only minimal improvement. Your vet should know about the GI panel. Yes, it is the only place to have it done. Vets from all over the country send blood work there for testing.

I don't have anything else to offer other than stopping that "herb" which you wouldn't do anyway. I just wanted to let you know about the test. I am one to look for causes rather than treating symptoms.

BTW: one stool/day is not diarrhea so hopefully he is fine.

Originally Posted by matese

Cody's diarrhea started on 9/2 and started to clear up on 9/13 feeding him chicken and rice starting on 9/8.

I thought A&M was the College of Veterinary Medicine located in Texas. We went through this in 2014.
Not to sound snarky, I live in Pennsylvania, why would my vet send to Texas for any test results on GI, is A&M who every vet in every state uses? Educate me.
Cody had diarrhea due to the herbs and possibly Methocarbamol and Rimadyl my vet prescribed. I was giving these to him all at one time 2 pills in a Greenie pill pocket, 2 pills in another Greenie pill pocket. When the diarrhea started on 8/26 or the 27 th my vet put him on Metronidazole to stop the diarrhea and it worked until the 5 day supply ran out.
This is the only time he has had diarrhea since 2014. The diarrhea has stopped, I am doing a very slow transition back to his kibble, that Simparica tablet on the 20th caused some diarrhea, that was the only thing different he ate last night. The poop Cody made was a normal poop with the last part being very soft and mushy, diarrhea. Since Cody has one bowel movement a day, I have to wait for tomorrow to see what it looks like.

In the past he had no issues that a GI would have been called for.

[Maximo]

How to know when your dog is constipated? Based on my experience with my Yorkies: Max was clearly distressed and laying on his belly when he had a really bad bout of constipation. He kept moving from spot to spot, flopping on his belly. We cured his problem with pure pumpkin from a can, and warm water body washes. Perhaps it was the fiber from the pumpkin that helped. Not every dog does well with pumpkin though.

When Max doesn't get enough outdoor exercise, he has a little trouble keeping on track. Usually a walk solves his problems.

I wanted to confirm a couple points others wrote above. First, don't assume constipation just because your dog doesn't follow his/her regular bowel movement schedule.

Second, after a bout of diarrhea, the dog may not have a BM for 1 to about 3 days.
Third, bowel movements will likely be fewer and smaller when a dog is on a temporary chicken and rice diet.

Lastly, if stomach problems persist, I would cut out things like greenie pill pockets and everything. My Teddy is sensitive and the smallest thing can put his system off kilter.

[matese]

Kristin, so nice to see you.

Cody was showing no signs of distress and reason why I put up this thread.

With my past girls the only time they had diarrhea is when they had Giardia, with meds it cleared up in a few days, this happened to just 2 of my girls and was years apart. So one of my dogs having diarrhea is new to me, then putting him on the chicken and rice and no BM in 33 hours I thought the rice had bind him. Thankfully he's doing better, still on chicken and rice, I am in the process of transitioning him back to his kibble which will a very long process, I am adding just a kibble or 2 every 4 days to the chic/rice.

Thank you for sharing your experience, it helps in case I ever have to go through this again, I won't go into panic mode if he doesn't have a BM for a day or two.

He's off all meds so no Greenie pill pockets. All he gets is the chic/rice with a few kibbles in it.