Runny stools which firmed up, then runny again urinated in the house. Stressed dog?

Last Monday Marco had runny poop when we went out for a walk, he did a few, so we stopped his food for a day, tried him with rice, steamed fish, scrambled egg.

He pooped on the kitchen floor Monday night and Tuesday night, both runny.

We made an appointment at the vets on Wednesday lunch who checked him over, took his temperature and offered us advice. They said to feed him little and often of easy-going food, rice, steamed fish, plain chicken, that sort of thing. So we did that for the next few days until things started firming up, which they did, although only small ones.

I worked from home Wed, Thur & Friday to keep an eye on him and ensure he could get outside. We kept monitoring him over the weekend and he seemed to be getting better, stools were solid and so we started adding a small amount of kibble back into his food, which seemed ok. However, yesterday whilst we were upstairs, he managed to get an entire Onion Loaf I had baked, which was cooling on the kitchen worktop, that I'd foolishly forgotten about.

However he still seemed ok and his stool last night was mostly fine.

This morning he was fed some plain cooked turkey and some kibbles....

Then this lunchtime my partner went home to see him, and found that he had done runny poo all over the kitchen floor again, but also had urinated a few feet from the same area too!

There are changes going on at home at the moment, we are moving house in less than 2 week’s time, and so things are getting packed up into boxes, the dining table disassembled etc. So his environment is changing some a fair bit. I can imagine he might be getting a bit stressed by that. But since he'd firmed up before this incident then it's a bit of a shock.

Should we just go back to the basics again, no food for 24 hours, then little and often easy going food until things are significantly better?

We feel really bad for him, is there anything we can do that would really help him not be stressed?

Or is it just a bug/tummy upset that we've not managed quite correctly?

Any useful advice appreciated,
David

Several possibilities:

1 - undiagnosed tummy bug which may require anti biotics and/or an anti inflammatory injection (my Lab had to have several injections over Easter, and had some of the same symptoms as your boy).


2 - sensitive tummy, the kibble and various other things may not be agreeing with him


3 - stress/nerves


I think I'd put him on light/bland food for a few days and try to get the poops back to 'normal' if possible. So rice and fish, eggs, potato and fish.

If things don't improve in the next two days, then DO go back to the vet and demand more help.



If the issue is stress, then the calmer you and your partner can stay, the more calm your dog will be.

So his behaviour with dogs had changed and this at the same time? Just wondering if he may have an infection, is on a food that isn't suiting g him the best, or it could be stress on it's own or a combination. Did you mention behaviour changes to the vet?

What a worry for you, and not what you need when in the process of moving is it.

First of all, I would hesitate to withhold food for 24 hours - unless advised by the vet of course - because sometimes it can do more harm than good, especially if your dog is already stressed by what is going on around him. The wee next to the poop may just have been because your dog was worried about soiling in the house.

Perhaps if you try a really bland diet, and not just for a day or two but for several weeks.....i.e., fish and potato with nothing else at all; no treats other than pieces of potato or fish, and see how you go. If everything clears up in spite of the stress of moving etc., then you will at least know that the problems may be food related. If you are still having trouble, then the answer may lie elsewhere. It's a question of eliminating the possibilities, but it cannot be done overnight.

Good luck

I am worried about you ........there is no mention of his attitude to other dogs changing Come and join me in the confused corner!!

Ooops, leave my corner immediately........just seen the other thread!! Sorry Dobermann

I almost went into the confused corner but decided I was sure it was the same member....

your dog sounds stressed,as far as stool ,most dogs iv know are, up and down, on the runny issues.especialy timid and stresses dogs,in my experience,and your dog knows there is something up!but....dont take chances see the vet,maybe call first?could be cheaper.hope all goes well

Poor Marco
It does kind of sound like he's stressed what with the combination of runny stools, snapping at other dogs, and you moving house.

Personally I would just keep it bland for the next 4-5 days and not try to introduce any more kibble. What kibble is he fed on?

How's he doing with other dogs at the moment?
Is he still relaxing around the house or is he seeming more anxious?

I would imagine if the stools don't firm up over the next few days and hes still toileting on the floor then something else is going on...

TBH though I'm not surprised onion bread gave him the squits! Aren't onions toxic for dogs too actually?

Stress diarrhoea often has mucous and small amounts of blood in it and the dog will strain to produce it. At the same time he would probably go off his food.

Onions are definitely bad news for dogs. Depending on how much he had, they can cause a type of haemolytic anaemia. If your loaf had a lot of onion, a trip to the vet is your best option as the kidneys can be badly affected.

His behaviour around other dogs isn’t something that changed at the same time, I suspect that the two things aren’t connected. The being a pain around other dogs things has been over a month at least. Whereas his upset tummy has been the last week.

We usually feed him on Wainwrights, and have done for the last 6 months at least. However, we are now only feeding him bland chicken, rice etc. My OH reported that things have improved a little this morning, half firm half not, (but no longer just runny) and we had no overnight accidents.

When we saw the vet last week, she advised not to really cut the quantity of food, but feed bland, and to give it him in smaller batches, little and often. We’ve never tried him on potato, might have to boil a couple up with his next meal. He’s certainly not off his food and is generally acting normally.

The amusing thing is, whilst he’s not been feeling great, he’s been cool as anything near other dogs! He seems mostly fine around the house, trying to sniff out any opportunity for a bit more food! Doesn’t help that he was rewarded by finding the Onion Loaf on Sunday. I hadn’t realised Onions were toxic to them, so that’s worth knowing. We will keep a sign out for any symptoms of haemolytic anaemia, but hopefully the volume in it won’t affect him. It was only one of these,which is 500g, 2% of which is dried kibbled onion, so 10g, I’m hopeful that such a small amount will not affect him, but we will certainly be more careful in the future.

My gut feeling at the moment is that the onion loaf caused a glitch in his recovery from a simple upset tummy last week, as he was improving before eating that. If things improve over the next few days then we will keep his diet bland for at least a week and then start adding back amounts of kibble.


Thank you all for your helpful advice.