Why Is Your Dog Holding His Poop?
Like humans, many healthy dogs move their bowels once or more daily. Fibre intake, exercise, water consumption and a nutritious diet all contribute to regular bowel movements.
How Do You Know Your Dog Hasn’t Pooped
If you let your dog in the yard to do her “business,” you might not know if she’s pooped.
Here are some signs that Spot may be constipated:
- Walking In Circles and/or Crying When Trying to Poop
- Hard and Tiny Stool Pieces
- Straining and Not Much Feces Comes Out (called tenesmus and produces diarrhoea)
- A Bit of Blood In the Poop
Medical and non-medical issues can result in your pooch’s failure to poop regularly.
Medical Reasons that Prevent Dogs from Pooping
An Enlarged Prostate
An enlarged prostate requires a trip to the vet’s office. There are natural ways to treat enlarged prostates with supplements. You could ask your vet if she recommends those. Surgery is not normally performed because dogs respond very well to chemotherapy if the prostate requires medical treatment.
Difficulty Pushing out the Feces
Your dog will probably be able to move his bowels with the aid of a fibre supplement, additional water and exercise. More tips to encourage bowel movements to follow.
Bloody Stool
Many different issues can cause blood in the stool, including ingesting something sharp, Irritable Bowel Disease, tumours, aspirins or other anti-inflammatories, kidney failure, liver disease, Addison’s disease (and other hormonal disorders), infections, pancreatitis, parasites, gastroduodenal ulcer, a congenital bleeding disorder, constipation, a rectal injury, bacteria, protozoa, viral infections like parvovirus and more.
Digestive Problems
The most common digestive problems are parasites, overeating, sodium ion poisoning, stomach “bugs” similar to the ones humans catch, allergies, inflammatory gastritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Partial Or Complete Colon Obstruction
If your dog swallows a toy or something he finds outside, you’ll notice a loss of appetite, dehydration, him looking and acting sad, repeated vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Your vet can take an x-ray to determine if medical action is needed. One of my cats was a serial string eater who needed her colon flushed out with water once and surgery another time. Hopefully, your pooch will be able to pass whatever he ate.
Hypercalcemia
Hypercalcemia is an abnormally high level of calcium in the bloodstream. It can be caused by serious diseases like kidney failure, Addison’s disease, cancer and parathyroid gland tumour.
Hypothyroidism
95% of hypothyroidism is caused by either lymphocytic thyroiditis or idiopathic thyroid gland atrophy. Lymphocytic, which is genetic, is the most common cause of hypothyroidism and happens when the immune system “thinks” that the thyroid is abnormal or foreign and attacks it. Idiopathic thyroid gland atrophy is caused by normal thyroid tissue being replaced by fat tissue. Neither condition is completely understood medically.
The remaining 5% of cases come from rare diseases like thyroid gland cancer.
Hypothyroidism symptoms are weight gain despite no increase in eating, lethargy, perpetually feeling cold, dry fur, lots of shedding, thin fur, skin and ear infections, slow heart rate, high blood cholesterol and an inability to grow fur back after its cut or shaved.
Infected Anal Glands
If you see your dog scooting his butt on the floor, his anal glands may be full or infected. Other signs are constant licking of the area, agitation, not wanting to sit, swelling of the perianal region and bloody discharge from the anus.
Infection occurs as a result of chronic constipation, muscle tone changes, chronic diarrhoea, loose anal sphincter muscles or obesity.
Your vet may need to sedate your canine to squeeze the glands and will probably prescribe antibiotics and topical medication.
Anxiety
CBD Oil is a natural way to help your dog relax. Exercising and training your pooch also make her confident and may reduce anxiety.
Non-Medical Reasons Why Dogs Don’t Poop
A dog not pooping could be caused by him trying to adjust to a new place or just looking for that elusive perfect place to go. Some canines hate being out in the rain, so the weather can delay a poop.
Non-medical reasons also include environmental stress or not exercising enough.
Constipation’s Affect On Your Dog’s Body
Your dog (and you) move your bowels to expel toxins, hormones and waste from your bodies. If Rover doesn’t poop, the following problems can occur:
A Build Up Of Toxins
Your dog’s blood will be unclean, which means tissues and organs will become contaminated, and compromised organs can’t function properly.
Leaky Gut
Toxins can cause a leaky gut by weakening the bowel wall. The intestinal lining leaks and allows undigested toxins, fats, food and cholesterol to pass through into the bloodstream and lymph, affecting the health of other organs. A leaky gut is especially disruptive to dogs who aren’t optimally healthy overall.
Poor Energy
Toxicity affects poor oxygen delivery in the body, making energy levels decrease. Your dog will be exhausted, rendering his body unable to remove toxins thoroughly, and the fatigue and inability to remove toxins cycle will perpetuate itself.
Diverticulitis
If your dog is straining to poop, she may develop bowel pockets, which form when the lining of the colon expands and food and contents 0-pÒ„¸‹34collect in the extra spaces. The pockets are called diverticula and can become a fermenting zone where rotting food and other contents marinate.
Pathogen Growth
As if all of the above isn’t unpleasant enough, the rotting food housed in the bowel and the diverticula often lead to the growth of dangerous pathogens such as fungus, bacteria and parasites.
So, you see how important it is to get that coveted poop out of your dog every day or two and why you should take action on the third day if she hasn’t.
How To Help Your Dog Poop
Here are a few ways to help Fido relieve himself when he hasn’t pooped in two days or more.
- Canned Pumpkin: Pumpkin’s magical fibre facilitates bowel movements.
- Canned Food: Canned food has moisture in it, which helps digestion and pooping.
- Doggy Probiotics: Probiotics balance the gut by replenishing the good bacteria that prevent harmful bacteria from thriving. Improving gut health prevents constipation, bloating, diarrhoea and gas.
- Add Oil To Food: Add coconut oil or olive oil to her food for lubrication.
How To Encourage Daily Poops
Regularity in daily habits helps dogs to poop each day.
- Taking your pooch out around the same time each day.
- Walking 15-20 minutes a day to provide a bit of exercise.
- Making sure your dog has fresh water at all times.
- Feeding her good quality, healthy dog food. According to Dog Food Guide, the best foods for firm stools are American Journey Active Life Formula, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Healthy Weight Chicken Recipe and Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream.
SUMMARY
In the absence of illnesses, you should be able to keep your pup pooping on a regular basis with a combination of nutritious food, hydration and exercise. It’s okay if your dog doesn’t poop for 48 hours, but they should by 72 hours.
Some pet guardians use probiotic supplements to guarantee regular bowel movements. If your fur baby has trouble pooping, you can also try coconut oil, olive oil or canned pumpkin to get things moving.
