It happened again

[kimbersmom]

Yesterday morning, I woke up and discovered Kimber had pooped in our bed, in her sleep. She obviously had no clue that this had happened; she cheerfully let me take her down from the bed and be-bopped to the door for breakfast. She did poop again after breakfast- and another time around lunch- which is unusual. DH thinks he may have fed Kimber lunch twice on Monday. We're both hopeful that it was just an excess of food in her system, but again, I know her back end is weakening. Story from a month ago: Kimber pooped in the house

I always thought "dog not being able to control its bowels" would be a defining line in the sand for me, a sign that Time Was Up. But Kimber is 100% Kimber still; she's spunky, happy, good eyesight and hearing, loves to eat, loves her favorite activities. Her back end is just giving out. My poor baby.

[SoSiouxme]

When this started happening to my senior, I started a strict routine of business walks at regular intervals after meals and before bed. It was no trouble at all. I actually looked forward to the breaks to get up, stretch my legs and take a little walk.

[shellbell]

To me, "dog not being able to control its bowels" is moreso a dog who is frequently losing control of them and is aware and depressed that it is happening, unable to get up and having to lay in it until someone assists, etc. It is sad if Kimber’s back end is weakening to occasionally cause this, but as long as she is not aware that it means anything is wrong I would try not to worry too much. I feel like she still has plenty of spunk and energy from what you post, so that is definitely a positive.

[POPTOP]

Melody got to this point, walking in the house dropping pooplets behind her. I just picked them up before she realized. She did have back end weakness, spinal arthritis, which probably was the cause. She was also having difficulty getting up and some walking and when put on Rimadyl her pooping problem stopped. Not that I recommend Rimadyl as Potion had a bad liver reaction, but for Melody it worked and she had no problems. Same thing, she was, at that point, happy, eating, enjoying life. We just worked around this little inconvenience.

[Annette47]

To me, "dog not being able to control its bowels" is moreso a dog who is frequently losing control of them and is aware and depressed that it is happening, unable to get up and having to lay in it until someone assists, etc. It is sad if Kimber’s back end is weakening to occasionally cause this, but as long as she is not aware that it means anything is wrong I would try not to worry too much. I feel like she still has plenty of spunk and energy from what you post, so that is definitely a positive.

^^^ This, entirely. Mulder had a walking poop problem towards the end of his life, but he didn’t know or care so we didn’t fuss ... just were sure to look where we stepped and cleaned up after him.

[Berna]

I know how you feel but that is definitely not a sign that time is up. A change of routine as SoSiouxme suggested may be in order. Eventually, you'll get used to it, as we get used to all the signs of aging in our furbabies. I wish they could stay young forever.

[Tanya]

To me, "dog not being able to control its bowels" is moreso a dog who is frequently losing control of them and is aware and depressed that it is happening, unable to get up and having to lay in it until someone assists, etc. It is sad if Kimber’s back end is weakening to occasionally cause this, but as long as she is not aware that it means anything is wrong I would try not to worry too much. I feel like she still has plenty of spunk and energy from what you post, so that is definitely a positive.

I agree. a few accidents here and there but the dog still able to get up, do short walks, do their business on their own and not in constant pain wouldn't be a line. Unlses it was nearly 100% loss of control (or inability to go outside and go themselves for more than a few days and no sign it will get any better - difference between "a very bad two days but dog comes back VS this isn't getting better anytime soon".

Big hugs to Kimber. It sucks but I wouldn't worry too too much about a few incidents. rock's back end is slowly giving up as well and I see that being the cause of my having to make the call (inability to get up). It's so very scary - because for all I know it could happen next week or next year. Like I said in your first post he's had two of three weird poop incidents but I just chalk those up to weird circumstances and being an old dog. He is unable to get onto my bed so at least it's not poopin in my bed!

[bett]

LP cause jake to do that and pawhealer.com has a chinese herb just for that, and it did help somewhat, not perfect but better .if you decide to try ask for mark and mention me. I'm a huge believer and use the herbs for a variety of ailments.

[kimbersmom]

This is why I love the Lab Board: Sympathy, reality checks, and suggested solutions. Y'all are the best!

[Snowshoe]

When Jet had problems like that our Vet suggested a higher fibre food might bulk up her stools a bit so she would be more likely to feel the need to poop. It seemed to help sometimes. At the time I did not know about pumpkin or sweet potato and used a diet food and her coat suffered for it. I think I would try adding pumpkin or SP instead if I had to do it again.