Fecal incontinence issues

For those seeking advice on caring for incontinent pets and animals with kidney-related problems.
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Kns
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Fecal incontinence issues

Post by Kns »

My husband has a 10 year old lab/American bulldog mix. At the age of 4 she suffered from paralysis very suddenly and we were never given a definite answer as to what happened, even after an MRI. She regained her ability to walk but never her ability to control her bowels. Now that she is older, the poo problem has gotten worse. We try to keep her on a schedule but it isn't working. Some nights she's pooping at 2-3am even after he had expressed her at 11 before we go to bed. Other nights she makes it through. The biggest issue now is she is pooping in her cage while we are at work. It's always unpredictable. Sometimes I'll come home for lunch between 11-2 and she's already pooped in her cage. Other times she's done it right before we get home. Because it's in her cage, she then smashes it everywhere and it makes both the room, cage, and herself a mess. We live in an apartment for now but we are looking at becoming homeowners. I know my husband loves his dog but I don't want to bring this issue to a house. I've looked into diapering for this issue. Anyone have a good brand they suggest or ways to help this issue.
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critters
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

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:whale: Hmm You're doing a lot of the right things--expressing, scheduling, etc. Diapers can be problematic, too, and this case is unusual in that poop is the problem, NOT pee. Others may have ideas, so stick around!
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CarolC
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

Post by CarolC »

I'm sorry I did not see this the day you posted. :welcome:

I assume when you say your husband expresses her, you are talking about expressing the bowel. If not, then here is an article that describes how to do that.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18586

This is a long explanation for something I've only recently learned. I have a dog who wears a diaper all day and it is the kind with a large enough tail hole that the stools fall out, they are not contained in the diaper. At night I like her to sleep with no diaper to let her skin breathe and let her groom. Usually around 10:30 at night she will come to me and I can tell she is ready to get out of her diaper, she has worn it all day and she is ready for "diaper freedom". So I make her bed (she sleeps in a playpen with a quilted sheet and blanket) and I express her bowel into the toilet and put her in bed. So at 10:30 I have expressed everything I can out of her bowel. I am usually busy on the computer etc. till around midnight or 12:30 and then it is time to give everyone their dinner and go to bed. Here's the deal...my dog is paralyzed so she does not stand. When it is dinnertime she gets excited like any other dog so she is sitting on her bottom in the playpen bouncing with her front feet and also bouncing her bottom. It is very cute but can sometimes result in a mess, even though I just expressed her bowel as completely as I could 90 minutes or 2 hours ago. So I have learned to express her again right before serving dinner, and lo and behold, I get about as much out the second time as I did the first time. For years we have talked about the "express rest express" technique for getting more out when emptying the bladder, but I think it can apply to the bowel, too. When I do this there are usually stools her bed the next morning, but it is less than it would be if I had not pottied her twice before bedtime. So anyway, that is one idea, maybe try expressing twice with a time lapse in between?

There are diapers with a cord lock tail to contain waste. It is up to the owner whether to try it, but especially for female dogs I'm personally not that in favor of it, I prefer the stools to drop out. I think you are going to end up with a dog with a messy bottom when you come home, and also dogs have a fine sense of smell and will know if there is waste in their diaper, however if it is necessary then it is always an option. If you want some links for diapers with a cord-lock tail, let me know. They have them at samsdoghut.com going from memory, and probably other places. But again, especially with a female dog, I really don't like the waste contained in a diaper as it is likely to contact the female area and possibly result in a urinary infection if fecal bacteria gets "massaged" into the urinary tract through a full diaper and activity such as sitting. Male dogs do not have the same issue.

We have a member who is a nurse who has a female dog, and she devised a routine of double diapering. She put one snug fitting diaper on her dog to cover the female area and catch urine, but with a large enough hole for stools to fall out and not be trapped in the diaper. Then she put a second diaper over that to trap stools. It was a looser fit with extra room in the seat to accomodate the solids, and that worked nicedly. The stools did not contact the female area and she solved the problem of urinary infections.

The biggest biggest biggest biggest biggest thing you can do to help this problem might be just to attack it from the angle of improving the stool quality. You don't want a smelly house, and you really don't want to come home to a gross cleanup, especially when you are in your work clothes and have limited time and have to go back to work. There is a big difference in what comes out of a dog, based on what goes in. I have had excellent results with several dogs with Science Diet w/d dry kibble. The w/d canned does not work as well, but the w/d dry produces stools that are very low odor, well formed, not sticky, and about the consistence of a dry cookie dough that needs a little extra water, if you know what I mean. The stools are formed but if you break one, it is kind of crumbly and you are more likely to have to sweep up the crumbs than mop up. I can't guarantee your dog won't track them if she is crated and walks through them, but it will be a different kind of a mess since they are not so smelly or soft. On the other hand, if you want a total nightmare, feed Gravy Train. :roll: :wink: I have heard of people having good results with raw diet and various other foods, it partly depends on what works with your dog's digestive system.

I wonder if when you get your house, maybe it will have 2 bathrooms and you can put her in the bathroom (or laundry room) while you are at work? Hopefully she will potty at one end and not proceed to track it before you get home, and maybe she will do better that way with more space. Is there anyplace in your house now that has a tile or vinyl floor where you could put her in with a baby gate and give that a try? Or an x-pen. You have my sympathy, I know with a larger dog you are dealing with more waste.
Kns
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

Post by Kns »

Thanks for the ideas. He expresses her bowel. She hasn't had many issues with urination. There was a month last year where she was having awful leaking issues that we decided were probably from a bladder infection. She pees normally (or as normally as a dog with a spinal injury can) it just sometimes takes 20-30 minutes to get her to go herself.

We do have linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom. We tried keeping her in the bathroom once and we came back to a poocaso everywhere: walls, floor, and cupboard. Our kitchen is bigger but has two openings. Tried in there and she jumped the one gate. For being disabled she can jump and run fine when she wants. She scaled our apartment embankment (we live in a garden level apartment) once to go after another dog (she's not dog friendly except she tolerates our other dog).

Our biggest issue is she is a blanket dog. She was my husbands first dog (he got her in high school when we first started dating) and didn't really learn how important training and discipline are with a puppy. Now she whines and cries if she is not put under a blanket at night. This includes getting up anywhere between 2-5 times because she has gotten too hot or the blanket is not covering her. It drives me bonkers. This has made it difficult to break the blanket habit. I'd feel better if we put old towels in her cage so she'd stop ruining blankets.

She is fed hard food. Soft food was a nightmare years ago when she got sick. It turned into a diahrea nightmare. We've also put her on a modified food schedule with the suggestion from a vet. She gets fed less in the morning and more in the evening to "help" with the pooping. Can't say it's done a lot other than every once in a blue mood she makes it through the day poop free.

We may have to try the drawstring tail diapers. It's something we haven't looked at. While there is a risk of infection, I think it's something we have to consider doing. We can't bathe her everyday she poops because we then risk drying out her skin. Also, because she smashes it everywhere, we end up having to hold her down to get the poo out of her pads and nails.

It also becomes a nightmare when our other dog tries to eat her poop. So we chase her away every time we have to clean.

While my husband doesn't want to really face reality, I've noticed she's starting to lose weight as well. I'm sure there's more going on internally and because she's getting up there in age. We'be had to up her food intake twice over the last year at the suggestion of the vet because she is just losing weight.

Hopefully a different diaper will help the pooping in the cage and the mess she makes.
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critters
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

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Kns wrote:. We tried keeping her in the bathroom once and we came back to a poocaso everywhere:
"Poocaso" Too funny!!! :lol:
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CarolC
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

Post by CarolC »

Yeah, that is the perfect description! :hysterical:

There is another brand called Snuggease that also has the cinch lock tail.

http://www.affordablevet.net/supplies/s ... gQodWs0OwQ

You could also use human disposable diapers. I'm assuming this is a pretty big dog, but they make baby diapers to fit up to a 125 lb child, and above that there are adult diapers. You would need to cut the hole for the tail, and in order to make a small tail hole that will contain rather than drop out waste, you just cut a small X, just big enough to fit her tail through. This will save the chore of taking off a soiled diaper, dunking it in toilet water to remove the solids, then saving it somewhere (let me know if you want a link on how to do a diaper pail, it's a lost art) until it is time to wash. Or washing it right on the spot, possibly in your silk blouse while trying to eat your sandwich on the lunch hour, very inconvenient. Not sure how many you would need, but certainly at least one to wash and one to wear if you go with washable. Not all human disposable diapers fit the same, some will come up higher on the waist than others, so don't give up if you buy a pack of diapers and find they are not fitting her well. Diapers are like jeans and dogs are like people, we are not all built the same and we cannot all wear the same brand, you may have to try a few to see what works. If you end up with a bunch of unused extras, you might be able to donate them to the nursing home or give them to Goodwill.

That is very interesting about the weight loss. With all the vet appts and so forth, has she had a regular senior wellness checkup? With what you are observing, it seems like you might really be on to something. Maybe they can figure out what is going on, and maybe they can even do something about it.

P.S. Towels sound like a good idea, however synthetic blankets (acrylic/nylon/polyester) are good, too, as they do not absorb stains in the same way cotton does, but there is always the option of bleach and enzyme cleaner like Oxy-Clean for towels. She might be just as happy with beach towels if you can find some at Goodwill or wherever.
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critters
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Re: Fecal incontinence issues

Post by critters »

For diapers, you might trawl friends with kids who may be in diapers of a size to fit your baby and ask them for a sample. They can write the brand and size on the diaper with a felt or permanent marker so that you have the info for later. That can help the headache of buying loads of packs and then having to give them away. Sometimes, too, day care places may have extra diapers from when kids transition to the toilet.
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