How do you know if a dog is constipated
 

Cody had 1/2 cup chicken and rice yesterday morning at 6AM, he usually has to poop 20 to 30 minutes after he eats, yesterday he made at 12:30 in the afternoon. Yesterday at 4PM he had 1/2 cup same, chic/rice, he poop at 10PM.
He has diarrhea since 9/5 due to the meds he was on and reason for the chic/rice, plus I stopped all meds.

This morning at 6AM again, 1/2 cup chic/rice by 4PM his next meal is due and he had not pooped, so I fed him at 4, his 1/2 a cup chic/rice it is now 9PM and still he hasn't pooped, so he hasn't pooped since 10PM last night, now I am getting worried he may be constipated. He has not tried to poop, meaning, he never went into their poop position and tried and couldn't make. He hasn't gotten the urge to poop.

So, how will I know if he's constipated.

The vet nor tech still has not gotten back to me on the diarrhea.

I wish I was a drinker because I could use 2 shots of something right now.

Sometimes after having diarrhea it can take awhile to build a solid poo up. Maybe this article will help. https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions...pation-in-dogs

I read the link, lack of water in take. Cody drinks one to 2 cups of water per day, since he was on all these meds he was drinking maybe 1/2 a cup the entire day. Since I put him on chicken and rice, he drank maybe 1/4 cup all day, since monday, I have to add broth from the chicken 1/4 cup to his water to get him to drink. Today he drank 3/4 cup, but no poop. His exercise has been minimal, since I have to keep him calm, but I can't keep him from jumping on and off the sofa, that has been his only exercise. He hasn't tried to make. I want to take him NOW for ER visit.

This is a dog that poops shortly after he eats, it's now 24 hours and no poop. I am so thoroughly disgusted with my vet. I am using her 30 plus years and this is the first time she has ignored my emails for help. Thank you GOD we are not allowed in the building, not allowed to see the vet, I would give her more then an ear full I am so angry.

If he doesn't poop by early afternoon I will "see" if they will take him in on a ER visit.
This is insane, first horrific diarrhea now maybe constipation

Thanks Taylor for that link scary as it was but helpful.

I wish I could be more help but we really haven’t had to deal with constipation just mostly the reverse. Callie did go a long time before going after her first leg surgery but that was a whole different thing. I will definitely be keeping you two in my thoughts and prayers.

With all the dogs I have had as an adult which is 40 plus years of dog ownership this is the first time I have had to deal with possible constipation, like you, it's been the opposite. Aside from spaying only one dog, Matese needed surgery, gallbladder removed, then Cody needed major surgery shortly after I adopted him. I know after surgery sometimes bowl movements take longer, but to have a dog that had diarrhea, and maybe I am using the wrong terminology, diarrhea is when a dog has very loose stools and needs to relieve it's self numerous times throughout the day, that was not the case for Cody.
He had bowels movements twice a day, once in the AM and once in the PM, his stools was that of diarrhea, soft like pudding or all liquid. But not making numerous times a day.
In any case, having a dog with diarrhea type poop for 9 days, then all of a sudden no poop for 24 hours is scary. He made no attempt to try to make, had no urge to relieve himself,he was his lil perky self, showed no sign of distress. I am the type of fur mom when I see my babies are not acting normal, refusing to eat, drink, I will wait, give them a bit of time but never more then 24 hours if even that, I take them to ER. And each ER visit there was something wrong with them.

I always go into panic mode, last night it was difficult to not grab him and off to ER we go.

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.

I will keep him on the chic / rice a few more days, when I see his poop has more form I will put him back on his kibble.
As for my vet....this is the first time in over 30 plus years I ever spoke in a negative way against her. I called the office at 7AM this morning to see if she left any instructions for a change in meds. the receptionist saw nothing, at this point I have to "assume" she read
both my emails and again I have to "assume" she is ok with me stopping all meds. I now see stool improvements, he has been a happy puppy throughout this entire episode so I am satisfied with that. I have a follow up appt. for this Friday that I will of course keep, and again give a note about him being off all meds since 9/8 and take it from there.

When Beau first injured his back, he became constipated and the ER vet had to manually evacuate him. She said that his pain caused him to not want to bear down. We took him to the vet in the middle of the night because it was obvious that he was in pain after he jumped off the couch at dinnertime (Hunching his back and moving gingerly). The ER vet told us that constipation was often associated with back pain, and we had to watch Beau throughout his later years when his back would flare up. Even when he would have loose stool from meds, he was prone to constipation once the diarrhea cleared up.

I am so sorry that you have been having such a hard time getting prompt answers to your concerns from your vet. I hope that she reaches out to you today and fully answers all of your questions...and gives you the help you need to make sure that sweet Cody is recovering as expected. You are on our minds, and thank you for the updates. Sending healing thoughts your way!

I understand why you’re worried, and I know you don’t want to wait too long if little Cody needs medical treatment. However, I suspect that what you’re worried is constipation is actually just his digestive tract getting back to normal after his bout of diarrhea. You said he normally poops about 30 minutes after he eats. Keep in mind, though, that the poop after he eats isn’t the undigested remains of what he just ate, it’s the undigested remains of a meal he ate ten or twelve hours ago, sometimes even longer.

A dog’s entire digestive tract is about four times the length of the dog, all curled up in his abdomen. Picture it kind of like a garden hose. If you’re watering flowers, turning the water on and off between flower beds with a nozzle at the end of the hose you’re holding, water flows out as soon as you open the nozzle. But if you pick up the hose tomorrow, it will have mostly drained out overnight, and you’ll have to wait for the hose to refill from its source before water comes out your end. Cody’s digestive tract is kind of like that. It got emptied out by the diarrhea, and now it’s filling back up.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t contact your vet. It’s awful that you’re being left to figure all this out by yourself. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t panic. It sounds pretty normal after all that diarrhea.

I’m glad he finally went poo! I’m also sorry your having issues with the vet. These times are certainly frustrating and then add in worry and it becomes a nightmare.

Thank you Joy for this very important information.
I had researched Double P ll and Cervical, both are used to treat Intervertebral Disk disease, I wondered then as I do now if Cody may have IVDD, then blew it off as both herbs treat neck and back, since that's what Cody did, sprained his neck and back with his overindulging in strenuous physical activity.

2 or 3 years ago he fence running with another dog on the opposite side of the fence, I allowed it for 45 minutes thinking it was good exercise for a 5 year old pup that hardly gets walked since I had such a large yard. Not realizing he was using muscles his body wasn't use to hard work out. I ended up in ER that night, he was in serious pain.
I am now wondering both these incidents does he have IVDD or is it just from strenuous activity his body is noy use to.

The frustrating part is, I can't even ask my vet since there is no contact with her.

I can understand a dog with back problems not wanting to poop due to pain, strain while trying to make.

Cody had not had any signs of pain or discomfort, he's been a frisky pup, to frisky lol. I want him to be the yorkie he was born to be, now I have to make sure no more going nuts trying to get prey, that will take all his pleasure away, but I gotta do what I gotta do to keep him from hurting himself.
Thank you again for telling me about Beau.

Sammy my moms rescue yorkie who passed around the time we got Joey had IVDD as well as a family members doxie. Normal treatment for IVDD involves steroids and those are extremely important with IVDD so I‘m thinking that she didn’t diagnose that but figures if they had worked for that, that they might help with any back discomfort.

Very good description of digestive tract.
If I ever have to go through this again, I will not go into panic mode after your post and nanajoy's.

I know when he poops it's not from what he just ate, it's from the night before. His normal amount of food (kibble) is 2/3 cup a day, split into 2 feedings, AM and PM. I am now giving him 1 cup of chic/rice per day, that's 1/2 a cup in AM and PM. He pooped Thurs. night at 10PM which is very very late for him. Friday he did not poop at all and had a cup of food Friday, this morning he had his 1/2 cup of chic/rice, when I let him out I saw his I am going to poop trot, I was sooo excited. The dog trots in L formation, trots the width of the deck then length of the deck and repeats this 5, 6 7 times before he squats to make. I'm thinking mamma mia, I'm gonna need a shovel for this lol, only to be surprised he made a normal amount. Hopefully tonight his poop will be a bit firmer.
I cannot express how very upset I am with my vet, I just cannot believe how she just ignored my emails, this is the first time ever I cannot get to talk to her or a tech and I am with her since the early 80's.

Thank you very much for your input, it's greatly appreciated.

:thumbup:

That is what I thought when I read up on these herbs, then jkpal juggled my memory cell with her Piper doing a back flip. Cody did the same thing, he was out of my view when he came to the end of his line, he was running in full speed and had to have been jerked to a sudden stop and doing a back flip. It all happened in a split second, he ran behind the shed out of my view, so I didn't actually see it, at the speed he was running then being jerked to a sudden stop, he had to have done a back flip. This was maybe 2 years ago, 2 years after the fence running, since that time when I put him on the dog run lead he wouldn't move, so no more dog run lead for him. He could have injured his back. He showed no signs of distress that day, he was fine, no vet visit was needed. Now this sprain neck and back 2 years after a possible back flip. A lot of maybe's and no vet to ask. It's beyond frustrating.

It is very possible he could have injured it then but you would have to probably do an MRI to confirm that. If it is like damaged disc or a disc that has slipped they really should be giving him a steroid. If he did injure his back at that time it’s possible arthritis could have set in around the injury if it healed it’s self. It would be so much easier if he could talk and tell you how he feels.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.