Drippy mess
Drippy mess
All's well that ends well, but we just had a very unpleasant bout with an intestinal problem. I'm describing it here in case anyone ever has something similar. Dolly is partially paralyzed and dual incontinent. She normally eats Science Diet w/d dry kibble and has great stools. I bought some Royal Canin kibble for my other chihuahua and she didn't like it, so I thought I would save the expensive food by mixing it into Dolly's bag of w/d because Dolly likes everything. So Dolly began to get the mixture a couple of weeks ago and everything seemed fine. Then I got some canned food for the other dog, and Dolly was interested in that, so I began putting a spoonful of that on top of her mixed kibble. That seemed sort of OK...but very gradually her stools started to change. Then a few days ago I also gave them both treats and that must have been the last straw. Dolly got soft stools, began soiling her bed, and was making marks on the carpet, which she never does. Then I started noticing a trace of blood in her stool when I expressed her bowel. The same day it progressed to drippy stool and real blood. I've never seen such a thing. They examined her at the vet and determined it was bacterial overgrowth due to change of diet, and they put her on 10 days of amoxicillin. It worked wonders! The next day she woke up in a clean bed, which I never would have expected. I didn't know bacteria could do that. When I read about it on the Internet it seems bloody diarrhea in dogs is pretty common. I hope we never have it again!
Re: Drippy mess
Yes, diarrhea with severe disabilities is AWFUL! Funny that a food would set off a bacterial overgrowth! 
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nat_gascho
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Re: Drippy mess
I live in mortal fear of changing my dogs diet! His stools are perfect right now, and I want to keep them that way. Unfortunately, he already has a sensitive stomach, so I'm very limited to what foods I can give him because many times, he will throw up. Luckily, the sensitive stomach formula he was already on before he was paralyzed, keeps his stool at the perfect consistency. Recently we had to travel from Toronto, Ontario to Florida, so two days in the car did not do wonders for his belly. The first couple of days after the trip were very frustrating when it came to expressing his bowels. His stool was very drippy too, and it was kind of hard to get much to come out. I put him in his bed and prayed we didn't wake up to that dreaded smell in the middle of the night! We lucked out and didn't have any surprises.
I'm so glad I can have poop conversations with other people who have the same problems as me. A lot of my friends tell me they can't believe how obsessed with my dogs poop I am, but until you have an incontinent or paralyzed pet, you don't realize how much your life revolves around it! I used to gag at the smell of dog poop, but now it doesn't phase me. Neither does getting poop or pee all over my hands anymore
I'm glad your dogs problems got cleared up for you, that sounded like a lot of clean up.
I'm so glad I can have poop conversations with other people who have the same problems as me. A lot of my friends tell me they can't believe how obsessed with my dogs poop I am, but until you have an incontinent or paralyzed pet, you don't realize how much your life revolves around it! I used to gag at the smell of dog poop, but now it doesn't phase me. Neither does getting poop or pee all over my hands anymore
I'm glad your dogs problems got cleared up for you, that sounded like a lot of clean up.Re: Drippy mess
Ah! You KNOW what I mean by drippy! Sheesh! Mainly the cleaning was laundry, but it was pretty yucky laundry. I'd wipe it off. Then run the load with soap and Oxi-Clean. Then run it again with soap and bleach. Yes, it was a really bad smell, usually her stools don't smell much at all. The vet commented the iron in the blood was part of the smell. Yup, got it on my hand. AND shoe!! We were standing over the toilet and I barely touched her and we missed the bowl entirely! My poor shoe! 
Re: Drippy mess
Hi,
I just posted a follow-up to my previous (probiotics) post. It includes detailed "recipe" for home-made "meat-loaf" we make now for "dog food"
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... 30&t=18581
Adding canned pumpkin to their food "helped" harden stool, but diarrhea kept happening, with clear gooey, gloppy stuff showing up periodically as well.
Something that "dropping off a sample" with never tell you that an examination by a "vet tech" is whether or not their anal glands need to be expressed. No "scooting" their behind on the floor.
After what we went through. Believing that our two dogs had "bacterial overgrowth", since their "Fecal Centrifugation and Smear" tests all came back negative for parasites, lead us to make major changes in diet. That was a good thing. Office staff at vet's office trying to "guilt us" into purchasing their special food lead us to get a 2nd opinion. Which changed everything. In less than 24 hours after having their anal glands expressed, the loose stool/diarrhea stopped.
Okay, I just pulled out bill from last time we had to have "fecal smear." It was at first visit to new vet 22Oct2014, $39x2 . The new vet had run the tests to make certain that they did not have parasites (we walk them in woods around our cabin where there are lots of critters smells, as well as possible parasite sources). Before calling in vet for exam, the vet tech there, said "wait a minute, let me check something". Voila, yuck, both dogs had very full anal glands. No, they had not both had bacterial overgrowths, or both had parasites from sharing same water. Since their anal glands were so full, it has taken a while for them to "go back to normal". I never used to really look at their poop, since they go in our own woods off of trails; however now I keep a close eye to look for parasites, as well as checking whether need more/less pumpkin.
Oh yeah, we bought a couple of dozen (29oz) cans of pureed pumpkin (2/$1) recently, since we had been spending about $8 for 3 cans at Sam's club. Since it is a seasonal item, you may still be able to find it at a local bargain store on clearance. The pumpkin really does help to firm up their stool, which actually helps them "naturally" express their anal glands.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
Mary
I just posted a follow-up to my previous (probiotics) post. It includes detailed "recipe" for home-made "meat-loaf" we make now for "dog food"
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... 30&t=18581
Adding canned pumpkin to their food "helped" harden stool, but diarrhea kept happening, with clear gooey, gloppy stuff showing up periodically as well.
Something that "dropping off a sample" with never tell you that an examination by a "vet tech" is whether or not their anal glands need to be expressed. No "scooting" their behind on the floor.
After what we went through. Believing that our two dogs had "bacterial overgrowth", since their "Fecal Centrifugation and Smear" tests all came back negative for parasites, lead us to make major changes in diet. That was a good thing. Office staff at vet's office trying to "guilt us" into purchasing their special food lead us to get a 2nd opinion. Which changed everything. In less than 24 hours after having their anal glands expressed, the loose stool/diarrhea stopped.
Okay, I just pulled out bill from last time we had to have "fecal smear." It was at first visit to new vet 22Oct2014, $39x2 . The new vet had run the tests to make certain that they did not have parasites (we walk them in woods around our cabin where there are lots of critters smells, as well as possible parasite sources). Before calling in vet for exam, the vet tech there, said "wait a minute, let me check something". Voila, yuck, both dogs had very full anal glands. No, they had not both had bacterial overgrowths, or both had parasites from sharing same water. Since their anal glands were so full, it has taken a while for them to "go back to normal". I never used to really look at their poop, since they go in our own woods off of trails; however now I keep a close eye to look for parasites, as well as checking whether need more/less pumpkin.
Oh yeah, we bought a couple of dozen (29oz) cans of pureed pumpkin (2/$1) recently, since we had been spending about $8 for 3 cans at Sam's club. Since it is a seasonal item, you may still be able to find it at a local bargain store on clearance. The pumpkin really does help to firm up their stool, which actually helps them "naturally" express their anal glands.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
Mary
Last edited by CutNGlass on Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Drippy mess
I noticed you mention using bleach for the diapers. Good golly, I'm sure going to come off as a "know-it-all" for two posts in a row... For cleaning cloth diapers: Vinegar, Vinegar, Vinegar!
Fortunately, we do not need diapers for our dogs. Unfortunately, I've been having to learn a lot about cleaning (fortunately not poop) cloth diapers. AdultClothDiaper.com has good info on cleaning cloth diapers:
http://www.adultclothdiaper.com/Diaper-Care.html
This shows my age, but you do know the "didy dunk" for cleaning gooey messes off of diapers in toilet, right? Obviously keeping toilets clean is important too. As are old-fashioned rubber gloves. I learned this as a teenager when babysitting as diaper cleaning services require poop to be removed from diapers. Do they even have diaper cleaning companies anymore?
You mentioned iron in the urine?? My husband has porphyria, and you can see color difference in urine when he doesn't feel well. More noticeable on diaper. Also, vinegar works very well to neutralize that. Actually better than the bleach.
I hope this is useful to you,
Mary
Fortunately, we do not need diapers for our dogs. Unfortunately, I've been having to learn a lot about cleaning (fortunately not poop) cloth diapers. AdultClothDiaper.com has good info on cleaning cloth diapers:
http://www.adultclothdiaper.com/Diaper-Care.html
This shows my age, but you do know the "didy dunk" for cleaning gooey messes off of diapers in toilet, right? Obviously keeping toilets clean is important too. As are old-fashioned rubber gloves. I learned this as a teenager when babysitting as diaper cleaning services require poop to be removed from diapers. Do they even have diaper cleaning companies anymore?
You mentioned iron in the urine?? My husband has porphyria, and you can see color difference in urine when he doesn't feel well. More noticeable on diaper. Also, vinegar works very well to neutralize that. Actually better than the bleach.
I hope this is useful to you,
Mary
Re: Drippy mess
Hi Mary,
Funny! I definitely have sloshed cloth diapers in the toilet bowl, but I never heard that name for it.
Borax is good for a diaper pail, too.
https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Diaper_pail
I use bleach if I want to kill germs in the dog laundry, in order to help prevent UTI from fecal bacteria. I'm afraid we really needed it for a couple of days there considering the kind of leakage she was having. The idea was to try to be sure no germs remained that might cause a UTI, since she sleeps without her diaper so her bedding needs to be really clean.
Thinking about the old diaper pail reminded me of something I'd forgotten, that might help someone else.
Funny! I definitely have sloshed cloth diapers in the toilet bowl, but I never heard that name for it.
Borax is good for a diaper pail, too.https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Diaper_pail
I use bleach if I want to kill germs in the dog laundry, in order to help prevent UTI from fecal bacteria. I'm afraid we really needed it for a couple of days there considering the kind of leakage she was having. The idea was to try to be sure no germs remained that might cause a UTI, since she sleeps without her diaper so her bedding needs to be really clean.
Thinking about the old diaper pail reminded me of something I'd forgotten, that might help someone else.