Poop issues in 12 week old puppy?

[sdb421]

A lot of you are familiar with all of the GI issues our sweet black lab puppy encountered in his first few weeks. Quick summary, at 8 weeks, we were diagnosed with giardia, coccidia, campy, and some mild roundworms. After 2 weeks on panacur, flagyl, albon and tylan powder, we were cleared of everything. In the past 4 weeks, we've had 2 negative stool samples, both were checked in office and mailed to a lab for very detailed checks and both negative (most recent sample was taken yesterday and I just got the call that we are still clear). He's been started on monthly Sentinel, so we should not have any more worm issues and he gets FortiFlora (probiotic) once daily. He is currently still on Iams Large Breed (what breeder was feeding) and though we want to change, we've been waiting to let his gut recover a bit and then plan to do a slow wean onto Fromm LB Puppy Gold.

However, we are still having weird poop issues. First poop of the day is very solid and formed, but is always coated in mucous. Stools get softer throughout the day (about 4 poops per day). They don't get overly soft, not any soft serve like poop, just mushy as the day goes on and are not very formed and often contain some mucous too, but first morning poop always has mucous. He's otherwise perfectly healthy, shiny coat and very active. I don't think he's being overfed, as we are slightly less than the recommended amount on the bag. He's 12 weeks tomorrow and growing fast, weighing in at 25 lbs yesterday.

Our vet says that since we've had so many neg fecals that he's assuming it's from just normal puppy issues, from eating everything in sight. He does love to eat sticks, mulch, flowers, etc. and even though I try to keep him from doing it, it still happens.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I switch food now to see if that is the issue?

[JenC]

Sometimes poop talk is gross, but I wanted to address the change in consistency through the day. This is my thoughts on it. Dog eats last meal at 5PM, something like that. He may poop before he goes to bed. He's crated and whatever he's eaten is in his stomach, then the bowels and is stored up until the AM movement. It's been sitting in his intestines, water is removed, it's fully formed and somewhat "dry". It's been "curing" for possibly 6-8 hours or longer. You feed pup in the AM, he may go potty again relatively soon, he's still emptying his system from the meal the night before. But as the day goes on, he may pass the breakfast and lunch relatively quickly due to being up and active and someone able to let him out to poop. Those poops haven't had hours to cure in the system therefore, they are more soft due to water content.

Gross, but that's my take on it. It's been that way with all of mine. Still is. Morning poop hard. Afternoon poops, softer.

[sdb421]

Sometimes poop talk is gross, but I wanted to address the change in consistency through the day. This is my thoughts on it. Dog eats last meal at 5PM, something like that. He may poop before he goes to bed. He's crated and whatever he's eaten is in his stomach, then the bowels and is stored up until the AM movement. It's been sitting in his intestines, water is removed, it's fully formed and somewhat "dry". It's been "curing" for possibly 6-8 hours or longer. You feed pup in the AM, he may go potty again relatively soon, he's still emptying his system from the meal the night before. But as the day goes on, he may pass the breakfast and lunch relatively quickly due to being up and active and someone able to let him out to poop. Those poops haven't had hours to cure in the system therefore, they are more soft due to water content.

Gross, but that's my take on it. It's been that way with all of mine. Still is. Morning poop hard. Afternoon poops, softer.

Very good explanation! Thank you! I never thought about it like that!

[JackK]

My Cassie was exactly the same at that age and I came to the same conclusion ... less time in the system.

Jack

[POPTOP]

JenC - excellent explanation. I don't think anyone who has been here a while is shy about talking about poop. It's one of the health indicators we have.

[voodoo]

I dont have alot of experience but maybe smaller sized meals more often could help. Chili had a 1 week stage of bad poops and I went to the vet and they gave me a prescription. Chili hasnt had that problem again...but I always wonder if I could of done something different besides getting a script from the vet. I know when chili overeats because he got "into" something causes loose stools.

[Maxx&Emma]

I think it is very common and not something to be overly concerned about. I like JenC's explanation, it makes a lot of sense! I am so glad your puppy is free of all the issues he came to you with. I know you were very frustrated and scared.