Question:
Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this forum and found you while searching for an answer to my 9-1/2 year old Boston's health problem. She started out by waking me in the middle of the night in distress. Fortunately, we were able to get outside, where she had soft, semi-formed diarrhea. Then when we came back in, she kept pooping and didn't seem to realize it. The vet gave her lomotil, which she has taken for 3 days and it did seem to help her to have more formed stools, but she needs to poop 4 times a day - not normal for her. She continues to defecate unknowingly, and very small, soft pieces come out. I have been putting towels, etc. in my bed and her bed to catch these pieces. She had an x-ray at the vets, and they also said that her stool did not contain any blood. Her bottom was very sore, however,
She was, and is, very hungry. Usually she can take or leave food (except for treats!) and only eats what she needs. She also sneezes constantly before she poops - has been doing that for a few months. I worry about her starting to lose muscle tone in the anal area. They also found that her spine is weak, but she walks fine - just has trembling in her legs. She does still want to play but stops suddenly for no reason. I hope this isn't too confusing. Has anyone ever had this sort of problem with an older dog?
Are there other tests which I should ask the vet to take? Thank you.

Answer:
If she has not had one already, I would recommend a blood panel to make sure everything is functioning normally (kidneys, liver, etc.). Did they see any evidence of worms in her stool?
And of course, the inevitable question: what are you feeding her? Have you made any changes to her diet recently?
I don't know if the sphincter muscles weaken as they get older, but if there is a problem with her spine, this could contribute to elimination problems.
Poor thing, I hope you get some answers soon.

Answer:
Thanks for answering. I had changed her food from canned to dry, but since both are Senior Science diet, the vet didn't think that would have caused this. Also, I changed it a few weeks ago. I'm not as concerned about the loose stools as I am about the small soft pebbles of feces I find on her bed, which she is not aware of. And in spite of taking the antidiarrhea pills, she is still defecating 3 to 4 times a day in normal amounts! - except that now the stool is firmer. I'll have the vet take blood tests when I take her in next week for her follow-up. I guess the main reason I'm worried is because of her age and the sneezing episodes added to the increase in appetite. Also,
I want to find out more about the spinal problem the vet mentioned in passing. Do you also have dogs? What kind of cat do you have? I love his/her name!

Answer:
I'll let our food gurus fill you in on the details, but Science Diet, although it masquerades as healthy, and some vets sell it, is not great food, you can do much better. Some of the changes you are describing could, potentially, be a result of feeding her something that her system is just not tolerating. And it wouldn't necessarily happen immediately, in fact 'a few weeks' is just about right. Unfortunately, vets are rarely very knowledgeable about food, that's a fact. Check out the food thread.
But I still think the blood panel is a good idea.
Welcome to the forum!
PS We love pictures, in fact it's kind of a requirement

Answer:
Yeah, Science Diet is full of fillers, so there's no doubt that he'd be pooping more. Newer research says that older dogs need MORE protein, and not less as previously thought. A diet lower in fast fibers (i.e. grains) might help and coincidentally, those are usually higher protein as well. Examples are Innova Evo, Innova Evo Red meat and Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. Hope that helps a little...

Answer:
Actually, I had been giving her Science Diet for a while before I switched first to dry coated with a small amount of Beechnut baby pureed chicken. She had been turning up her nose at the dry mixed with canned; and had been adding a little cheese to it. Then, I decided to try just the dry to keep her teeth healthy, and she loved it (mixed with the pureed chicken and broth).
As I said, that was a few weeks ago. That wasn't a good idea obviously!
It does sound as if the Science Diet is the cause. When she was younger, I gave her Mighty Dog (I know - no good!). Her stools were loose then, but not frequent. Then at eight years old I switched her to the Science Diet.
I have found a store nearby which sells the Solid Gold, and I'm going to buy some today. Thanks so much for the suggestion! Maybe the change in diet is also causing her to sneeze so often...I'm encouraged!!! I'll keep you posted, and I will send a picture as soon as possible. Thanks to both of you!!!!

Answer:
Hello again,
My pup's blood work was perfect, and, as I said before, her xray showed only the beginning of arthritis in her spine. However,she continues to have loose stools about once or twice a day. She also continues to sneeze multiple times, expecially when she first goes out in the morning to poop. The vet had no answer for this, so it's still a mystery. I was given another prescription for antidiarrheal pills. The vet said that she might have a digestion problem (her weight has remained the same, though). I'm to bring her back in a week, and if her stools are still loose, she'll test for malabsorption. I've been feeding her boiled hamburger and rice. I'm afraid to introduce a new dog food right now. Just wanted to bring you up-to-date.
I'm hopeful that this is some sort of temporary thing and not due to her age.
Thanks again for your earlier answers to my post. As you can see, I did follow your advice about putting Mindy's picture on here -with the kind help of Marko!

Answer:
First off... 9.5 years isn't that old for some dogs, but if she's showing signs of old(er) age, I would suggest putting her back on whatever food she's been on and leaving it at that.

Change of diet can be very stressful for dogs, but even moreso for young puppies or senior dogs. Science diet is garbage (imo), but if she did well on, then there's no reason to change it. Sometimes it can do more harm than good at that age anyway.

A couple months ago a lady came into my work and wanted to switch her 17 year old cat to something healthier, for no other reason than "because I want a healthier diet". I told her to stick with her fancy feast (the cat's 17! Give her whatever the hell she wants!), but she switched anyway. The cat didn't adjust well, so back to fancy feast it was (poor kitty).

As for the pooping issues, absolutely it could be partly due to change of diet, but the "not noticing" makes me think something spinal, or weak anal muscles are also related. Have you tried switching the food back to what she was doing good on (to rule it out)? So long as she's keeping the weight, I wouldn't worry too much about the food itself, but concentrate more on the sneezing and poop nuggets around the house.

And I have to apologise for lol over here, but when you said the dog sneezes before the poop happens, my immediate thought was when humans pass gas with a sneeze. I'm still giggling (and obviously tired). lol

Answer:
Hi - I neglected to say in my last post that she is not dropping poop anymore without noticing. Also, they did take an xray, which showed no spinal problem except the beginning of spinal arthritis. She knows when she needs to go out to poop,and she's fine all night with no accidents. She sneezes about 10 times just after she pees in the morning and then runs on to poop. She started sneezing last November just after she had the nasal Kennel Cough treatment. I left her with my son for a week, and when I came back he told me she had been sneezing a lot. She continued this after I brought her home. Sometimes she sneezes when she first gets up in the morning.

She only liked the senior Science Diet if I added the Beechnut pureed chicken baby food to it; that seemed not to agree with her. That's why I plan to change foods - to Wellness dry mixed with canned plus some warm water - very gradually. I'm hoping that she'll be back to normal soon.
Thanks for your input.

Answer:
Good luck! I hope the switch goes smoothly.

Answer:
Hello again -
Just want to let you know that my little Mindy is doing much better. Her stools are still soft, and she still needs to poop about 3 times a day, but I can tell that she feels much better. I switched her to Wellness canned and dry mixed, and she loves it. I like this brand of dry much better than Science senior dry because it absorbs water much better. When I put water in Science diet, it stays hard; but Wellness dry starts softening right away. So, I'm sure she digests it much better. I did have the Trypsin test done on her stools, and apparently she is digesting her food just fine. However, when I looked up Trypsin test on the Internet, it said that it's a blood test
and not a stool test. It said that the stool test has another name and isn't as reliable. She isn't losing weight, so I'm not going to worry. I just have to accept the fact that she's now a senior citizen. I guess I just haven't noticed that she was losing some of her pep. She does still play, but seems to get tired more quickly. Also, she still sneezes multiple times before pooping.
Thanks to all for your advice! It helps so much to have others to discuss pet problems with!

Answer: