Gracie problem

[PamfromVA]

Gracie is almost 12 yo and about 16 pounds. Sunday evening a week ago I noticed she was having problems going to #2. Instead of stopping and doing her business, she was walking and popping out very hard small turds. So Monday and Tuesday, I put her on canned food only with some pumpkin mixed in. Wednesday, no improvement so I took her to the vet. They took x-rays to make sure there was no obstruction and put her on lactulose every 8 hours and canned food only. Fast forward to Saturday, took her back to the vet because there was no improvement. Told to increase the dosage of lactulose and feed her baby food mixed with water. Now today, still no improvement. She is still going to the bathroom while walking but only very small soft pieces and usually only two or three on each walk morning and night. Other than the bathroom problem, she is showing no symptoms. Will run around and play and begging for food constantly. I'm calling the vet again this morning but was wondering if anyone had a dog with the problem and has any advice. I have spent a week now trying to resolve this issue and we are both exhausted.

[PamfromVA]

Update: Gracie is back to normal...all functions working properly! Gracie's mom is sleeping through the night so all is good in our house.

[Code2High]

If the problem returns I think I'd want to run a blood panel. At that age, problems can develop that can promote dehydration. It might not be at a level where you'd see it, or she may have changed slowly and you won't recognize it. But a look at her kidneys, liver and other internal functions would be something I'd want.

Ah, enemas.

[PamfromVA]

I called the vet and took her back in today. They did an enema to clean her out and another xray to make sure that took care of the problem. We are hoping it was a one time thing since she has never had this problem before. If it happens again, then she will go to a specialist. At least I will get some sleep tonight!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Within the last year, my late Aussie Ike (age 14) would "walk" - I figured it was a combo of arthritic hips and back that made his usual stationary-squat difficult to do? Jack the Cattle Dog has ALWAYS deposited a series of "gifts" as he walks - which makes poop-scooping all the more fun - NOT.

[Dixie_Flyer]

We have a Walk-A-Poo. Mama our older shepherd mix has always done that, but she holds everything in until she goes outside.

[Pawz4me]

I've had dogs, including one of my current dogs, who always walk and poop. Makes picking up a bit more challenging, but it's perfectly normal for them. My current "walking pooper" is almost 13 and I think he poop walks even more than he used to (spreading the deposits over a larger area). I've assumed it's arthritis related.

As long as she's pooping w/o straining, I don't think I'd worry about it too much. I think a lessened amount of stool would be relatively normal on a diet of canned food/baby food.

[dturm]

If the consistency of the BMs has changed with the medication and feeding change, the desired effect has happened. If that has not changed the situation, the problem is something else (not constipation).

I've had older dogs with this issue and it can be hard to diagnose and can be minor issues (from pain with arthritis in the hips) to serious (GI lymphoma, neurological). If you need to pursue this (if you think her BM change is a problem) I'd suggest asking for a referral to a GI specialist.

Doug, DVM

[abc40kids]

My 14 year old Golden will do the same thing. I will let him out in the morning and not every day but enough to where I'm not surprised ..... He'll drop a little every two feet or so about 4 times, sometimes all in one place. He's done the same in the house when we don't let him out early enough.

He eats great and drinks a lot of water, just figured he didn't like to squat that much anymore. He does still go in the yard and will squat some, I just figured it was hard on his back legs to squat and go.