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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    12 year old not pooping for days

    I had taken my 12 year old to the vet when she had had diarrhea for two days. He did a fecal test on her and it came back negative and prescribed Flagyl for what the vet felt was a spastic colon. Two days after that vet visit, Bella, my dog, started showing tell tale signs that she was constipated and only pooping out little amounts at a time, flat like a ribbon, about an 1 1/2" in length and only one or two of these at a time. Then I took her back to the vet a week later and he recommended she get fed a bland diet of only chicken and brown rice.....she has not pooped anything now since that vet appt and it is now 4 days! Meanwhile, she has no trouble eating, seems to have an appetite, is playing with our 14 week old puppy, swimming in our pool, and going for short walks all with no problem.

    The vet recommended an x-ray and blood work for about $550. I asked about the blood work and he said to make sure she doesn't have pancreatitis, cancer, etc. I doubt that she has pancreatitis as she does not show any signs of being in pain. I want to know, where is all of the food we have been feeding her going? The vet felt confident that she didn't have a blockage...I am very confused about this all as what to do! Today, we started giving her pumpkin. I see people have mentioned mineral oil. Has anyone tried giving their dog coconut oil? I don't have any mineral oil?

    ON Monday, I am probably going to take her to be xrayed. Any help would be appreciated. What about an enema? Has anyone tried that?

    Thank you.

  2. #2
    House Broken dynamicgang's Avatar
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    Short walks to see if you can get things moving. Lots of water. I would worry about a bowel impaction. An enema?


    The Dynamic Gang

  3. #3
    . . . keep 'em moderated Calley's Family's Avatar
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    How much of the chicken and rice are you feeding? Are you still giving the Flagyl? Did the vet do a rectal exam?
    Try pumpkin, water and walks.
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  4. #4
    House Broken
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    If she does not appear to have any discomfort, I would continue with the bland diet and nothing else. By continuing to add/subtract food/medication, you are not allowing the digestive tract to recover. Plus if there is any pancreatitis component at all, coconut oil could make it much worse. It is not unusual to not see stool for days after a bout of diarrhea. As long as the dog is not exhibiting signs of discomfort, is eating and otherwise normal, our Veterinarians would monitor until stools are produced and or until the dog is showing symptoms of continued digestive upset.

    After a recent severe bout of gastroenteritis, my senior GSD went 5 days with no stool. Other than a poor appetite (not unusual for him) he was also normal. Hope your girl is better soon.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Agree with Dogmom.

    Sending mojo for a good pile of poop.

  6. #6
    Puppy
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    The vet did not do a rectal exam. I am really disappointed with his lousy physical exam. I was surprised that he didn't even palpate her to see if she showed any signs of discomfort or impaction.

    Re: Flagyl....have stopped giving that to her. I don't see any benefit in it....it has turned her off from eating. She hasn't wanted to eat all day today and has only had minimum water and a little chicken broth. Have been walking her.....she has had a couple of thimble-fulls of diarrhea today---that is it.

    Tomorrow I will find a different vet to take her to and ask them to do an x-ray unless they have some other suggestion after giving her a physical exam.

    Quote Originally Posted by Calley's Family View Post
    How much of the chicken and rice are you feeding? Are you still giving the Flagyl? Did the vet do a rectal exam?
    Try pumpkin, water and walks.

  7. #7
    Puppy
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    Tomorrow I will take her to a different vet and plan on getting her an xray to see if she has some kind of blockage. She ate a little bit of her bland diet this evening, multiple times today has been getting in the tripod position and produces no feces, other than a couple of thimble fulls of diarrhea for the whole day. She drinks a little. It has been two weeks as of yesterday since she went from diarrhea to constipation (putting out little ribbons of poop about 1.5 inches long) and now nothing for 5 days (other than the thimbleful of diarrhea today.

  8. #8
    Best Friend Retriever Snowco Labradors's Avatar
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    I would definitely get an x-ray. It sounds like she has a blockage.

    Prayers they find the problem and it is easily resolved.

  9. #9
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    When Hudler had pneumonia a few weeks back, the antibiotics were making him really sick. I gave him a Tagamet before every meal. He hardly ate. Maybe on a lucky day a couple of McDonalds burgers or 1/4 can of canned dog food. Pooping just about ceased. 4-5 days would pass and he'd go. So you really have to consider how much is going in and what it digests down to. My guess is that the dog hasn't eaten enough to poop.

    I agree with what Dogmom said. This wouldn't be making me inclined to go to the vet. But that's just me.

  10. #10
    Puppy
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    Thank you to all who responded here to my original post. I wanted to follow up as to what happened to our dog Bella. We took her to the other vet who did do a rectal exam upon our request and she felt a large mass inside her rectum. She recommended a ultrasound and said that an x-ray would be a waste of money and would still need an ultrasound. We opted for the ultrasound which showed that that large mass was cancer and she had cancer in her paraspinal lymph nodes. We discussed that surgery was not an option, nor was radiation/chemo as it would have made her feel worst and not really extend her life very much. The vet gave her a steroid shot in hopes of reducing the mass and a prescription for prednisone and had us put Bella on a soft diet and told us emphatically she did not want Bella straining to go poop. 10 days later, we made the very difficult decision to put her down. It has been almost 4 weeks and my family and I are devastated. While it wouldn't have made a bit of difference in the outcome of Bella's eventual diagnosis with cancer, I am angry that the vet we went to twice about her symptoms of the small flat ribbon like stool should have be more proactive and did an anal exam on her. Also, he should not have suggested an x-ray, that would have been more money that we wasted after already dropping money with this vet on his lame exams. This is a well known vet practice in my area, high end vet. As heart wrenching of an experience this has been, the one positive in all of it is we knew of a vet that specializes in end of life/hospice care that comes to your home. She spent two hours with us and Bella and put Bella to sleep at our home with us all touching her and talking with her. Bella was never afraid. She greeted the vet at the door and took many pills from her in pill pockets that made her go to sleep and then eventually she gave a shot of whatever it is that euthanized her. Bella hated to ride in the car, especially to the vet. I can't say enough about what a positive experience this was. My 15 year old son and spouse and I all were together and I feel had we gone to the vet to have her put down, we all would be in worst shape than we are. It gives us all such comfort knowing Bella was never afraid, never fearful.

 



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