Bowl movement problem, help...

Ok group, Pippen is sick again. He has always had problems with his bowl movements. So every once in a while I notice he isn’t going potty like he should and I start him up on Pumpkin. After a few scoops of that he seems to pass what ever got stuck, and everything goes back to normal. Well this time he doesn’t seem to be able to pass it, what ever it is. He has been going potty twice every day, but it is a small stool and kind of loose. And he sometimes cries when I walk past him. I am of course taking him it to see our vet. But I just want to know what kind of questions should I ask him? And what kind of things should I ask done on him to make certain he gets the best care I can get him? Is it normal for some Chi’s to have these sort of problems. Pippen has always had this problem, where as Belle our other chi, she is slightly bigger. And she hasn’t had this problem ever. I asked my vet earlier about this when it first happen when he was a puppy. She said that they like to eat a lot of different stuff, and so of course with a small system it gets stuck sometimes. So to do what I have been doing and just watch him. It is kind of gross but I always watch my dogs, to make certain they are having a proper bowl movements. I also know that Chi’s can have a nerves problem too, and that can cause problems with their going potty. We recently got a new puppy, she is a big breed puppy and she has tried to play with Pippen. I never let her do so, but he has become quite frighten of her. So when ever she passes his cage he yelps like she has tromped on him. Could that cause him to have bad bowl movements too? Any helpful info you can give me would be great. God bless.

When a dog cries when you walk past, it could mean anything, including wanting attention. If you have your large breed puppy caged with your other dog(s) walking by, then it might be crying out as in wanting to play and not being able to. By keeping the dogs apart you are ensuring that later on there will be behavior problems. In general if a dog is introduced to another when one or preferably both are puppies there are no problems. If the play gets too rough you might have to interceed. But over all they will sort out the dominance issues by themselves.

It is assumed you have by now decided on a dog food to feed the dog(s) involved, and only feed that one brand of dog food. If not then constantly changing the diet will make it more likely than once again you will encounter food allergy problems or like problems you experienced before. It's unclear why there is the need to give pumpkin frequently. A dog on a steady defined diet will self regulate itself. I can count on mine to deficate on their trips out at 9:30-10AM, and again after their larger meal at 4:00-4:30PM. Sometimes at 8AM. They may urinated up to 4X a day, again at almost predicted times. If they miss a bowel movement, that just means they do more the next time. A dog can be a finely tuned eating machine.

The answer your Vet gave you was a little flippet IMO. You should quiz the Vet about the dog's diet. If the Vet believes there is no problem there, but there is evidence of real constipation, then you should quiz the Vet about the possibility of Irritable Bowel Disease- which in itself has a myriad of causes.

Thanks for your fast response, I guess I should have had a bit more info in my letter though. Chihuahuas are known for eating anything they can get in their mouths. So they tend to get stopped up from time to time. The pumpkin is a natural stool softener, it helps pass most of what they have eaten. Pippen is known around my house for eating just about anything. So I keep a real clean house, but he still seems to find things one way or another. That is why every once in a while I have to give him pumpkin. As for him crying I know it could be because he is scared. But he also gives that same cry when he is constipated. That is why I asked if it could either be a fright response or if it was truly him having problems with constipation like normal. As for separating the large breed from my chi’s. Pippen and Belle are my Chi’s and they have a small kennel of their own I put them up in when I am gone or at night when I am sleeping. Lilly is my Great Pyrenees, and she has a kennel of her own. The Great Pyrenees is an animal guard dog, and you train it from a puppy to keep safe what ever animal you want. You do this by putting them in a pen in between the pens where you keep the animals you want it to protect. You take the puppy with you into these other pens when you are doing your chores, and let the dog get use to the other animals. But also so you can train it not to play with the other animals. So they see it as a thing it must protect, not play and eat. As it gets older you let it in the pen longer and longer to the point you can trust it with the animals all the time. Same goes for introducing it to your family pets, right now she wants to play too rough with them. Though I do let her socialize with them, but under strict supervision. Pippen is scared of her big paws, so when ever she does get close he yelps and runs off in the other direction scared stiff. That’s why I thought he might have this constipation problem because he has just become too nerves. As for my vet being flippant can you explain why you would say that? As for Irritable Bowel Disease, how would I go about finding out if that is what his problem is? Thanks again for responding back so fast. OH by the way Lilly the Great Pyrenees is 11 weeks old, and Pippen and Belle are 4 and 2. God bless

Assuming it's constipation (which may not be the actual case here, as straining for both peeing and pooping can look similar, only your vet will be able to tell for sure with an examination)

Not 'going as often' and small hard stools passed with difficulty (with or without watery discharge) is generally a sign of constipation. My cat Jack has to be on pumpkin every day for constipation, and just happens to love eating it as well. lol

Eating things pets shouldn't can cause constipation, but also a possiblility of totally stopping up the works which is life threatening. You might have to hide the garbage cans or whatever to keep your dog from getting into things.

I'd ask your vet about the dog's regular diet if it may be causing the constipation. Also ask to make sure it's ok to give the pumpkin every day as a maintenance preventative. Also try to get your dog to drink plenty of fresh water, that helps sometimes.

I'd be suspicious of a vet that goes right to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) too quickly without at least trying some of the more simple alternatives, barring a complete blockage which would require immediate treatment.

Good luck at the vets, just make sure if there's anything you don't understand, ASK questions until you do understand. A good vet shouldn't have a problem explaining things a few different ways so the owners can truely understand what's going on with their furbaby.

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Chihuahuas are known for eating anything they can get in their mouths. So they tend to get stopped up from time to time.

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That could be said of many different breeds. For example Labs will eat anything that doesn't try to eat them. Currently my 1/2 Great Pyrenees/1/4 Lab/ 1/4??? has a feddish for phone books. She consumes the covers, and shreds the rest of the phone book. Needless to say I have to more often than not use Internet searches to look up phone numbers. Foil candy wrappers if left around is another favorite for both my dogs. My prior dog enjoyed crunching into hicory nuts. I'm sure others on this forum could come up with a more wild range of items.

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As for my vet being flippant can you explain why you would say that?

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The response of: She said that they like to eat a lot of different stuff, and so of course with a small system it gets stuck sometimes is a non-answer. Did she ask you about the diet? Did she ask about water consumption or how long the periods between urination? Did she ask how much exercise the dogs get? Did she run any blood tests? Did she address the problem and provide a possible solution?

As a side thought you might consider adding green beans to the diet. Start out in small amounts. It can readily cause diarrhea if the dog eats too much of the green beans. Increase the physical exercise of the little ones. Perfect excuse for supervised play with the GP puppy. It's extremely doubtful the Chi is being scared into constipation by a playful GP puppy.

I understand where you are comming from 100% i too have a chihuahua who is on the smaller end of the scale. And he too will find something to eat off the floor no matter how clean it is. And my little chi has the same problem somtimes what I do is give him a little of the science diet canned puppy food. It doesnt have any biprodcuts in it and its not too mosit but not too dry. Also sometimes they just need a little more water. As far as what your feeding him goes it could be the ingredents in the food, if they are bi products that can cause diffculty for a smaller chi or any chi to go potty. I feed mine an all natural diet. And honestly it doesnt cost anymore then the ones you buy an the petstores. I am going to include the link just in case you or anyone else is intrested. I would ask your vet if diet could have anything do it with it and if he.she have seen any other chi's or small dogs come in with the same or similar problems. I hope this helped somewhat and if you have any other questions feel free...chihuahuas can be tricky little things...
Chi Hugs-----

http://healthypetnet.com/Healthypetnet/home.aspx?realname=

OK I see what you mean. The vet he had been going too had been seeing him from early puppy hood. So she knew him quite well, she already knew what I was feeding him. And that he was very good about drinking his water daily. She knew his routine already so when I called in she said to try out what I did, and come see her the next day if it didn’t work. As for what I feed my dogs, it is called California Naturals, I feed them lamb and rice. And they have responded quite well to this. Their coats and skin are doing great on it, and up until a few days ago, Pippen was doing fine with his going to the bathroom. He has been doing a lot better these past two days but I am still going to take him in.
Thanks Mr.Chiwawa, for your helpful ideas. And Dragondawg thanks for you help. I am sorry that you seem to have the same problem with the dog eating things it shouldn’t. LOL But it seems you have the worse case. Pippen will at least leave my books alone. :) I still would like to know how I can go about seeing if he does have irritable bowl syndrome. Should I just ask my vet to look into that for me? Is the test expensive to do? Thanks again to all of you for helping me out in this. God bless

Opps forgot to ask about the green beans, do you think I could feed him those and just keep feeding it to him. Or is it like the pumpkin, I can only feed it for a little while. Other wise I have been told it will start to constipate him. Don’t ask me why I haven’t’ a clue. You wouldn’t think something that helps with constipation, would start to cause the problem after a while. But I don’t know the dog chemistry either, so anything can happen.