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We have a bloodhound, female, 6 years old. The last week she has not been eating much and eating grass. Last night she started yelping in pain when she moved and whinning this morning. I put her out yesterday morning and she smelled like she had rolled in poop! I'm assuming that she farted!
Anyways, we are guessing that she is constipated. Anyone know a home remedy for this for dogs? We have given her milk - read that it would coat and sooth the colon in dogs. She lapped it up fast!
Any help would be appreciated! It's so sad to see her hurting.
Love,
Mars
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -- Buddha
What type and brand of food are you feeding her? Raw cow's milk is good for a dog, and is very easy to digest, but it can cause constipation in some dogs. Pausterized milk tends to cause loose stools because a dogs cannot digest it as well.
Hi Mars,
Here's something I found on the internet about dogs and constipation. We usually only give our dog dry food but when I see he's having to strain then I give him some canned food. But I hope this helps your dog.
But this is what I found on the internet:
Lack of exercise and proper diet can lead to bouts of constipation for dogs. Aside from providing your dog with a little more exercise, here are some things you can try to alleviate this problem. You shouldn't try them all, just pick the one that easiest for you.
You can give your dog small amount of bran. The ratio is 1 tablespoon to every six ounces of wet food. If you don't give your dog wet, or canned food, moisten her dry food with a little water. The bran has no bad side effects and may be added indefinitely or as needed. Make sure your dog is drinking sufficient water.
If you'd rather, you could add mineral oil, 1 teaspoon per 10 pounds body weight to your dog¹s food.
You could try adding canned Pumpkin (the pure 100% kind, used in making pies) to your dog's meals. The dosage can range from 1/4 tsp for a small dog to 1 tsp for a large dog, depending upon results. Start with 1/2 tsp for a medium and large dog, increasing the amount depending on stool results. It's a good source of fiber, but over doing it can cause diarrhea.
You can also give your dog fresh veggies, such as baby carrots, or apple wedges (no seeds) as high fiber snacks. Again, over doing this can cause diarrhea. Start off slowly, monitoring how much you can feed her.
It's time to visit your vet if your dog remains constipated despite your efforts, or develops a decreased appetite, if you see blood in small amounts in the stool, she starts vomiting, or your dog seems lethargic.
We feed her Pedigree for large breeds. She does not get any other form of food (unless she somehow gets into the garbage which has not happened recently).
I am really unsure if this is the problem. I am also wondering if it could be arthuritis or something like it. I noticed her limping this morning. Her stomach is not tender to the touch nor is it distended????
Thanks for everyone's help!
Love,
Mars
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." -- Buddha
You might want to get her checked out by a vet, at that age, a large breed like a Bloodhound can start having some joint problems...If she is carrying any extra weight, a good diet can help with that. My service dog is a 100 Catahoula Leopard Dog, and since she was spayed at an early age, she has to stay on a constant diet or the extra pounds are hard on her.....
Do you notice her having any trouble with stairs, or getting up and down?
She's fairly young to be having arthritis problems, but I suppose that's not impossible. Arthritis wouldn't affect gut motility, though, would it?
Flax seed oil is good for joint problems.
Here are the ten main ingredients of Pedigree for large breeds:
ground yellow corn
chicken by-product meal
meat and bone meal (natural source of calcium)
rice
corn gluten meal
animal fat (preserved with BHT/BHA)
natural poultry flavor
dried beet pulp
wheat flour
salt
Note that the main ingredient is corn, (which is common for commercial dog foods.
Chicken by-product meal, (by definition), consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. Note that chicken by-product meal is considered to be an inferior source of protein for cats. If you look at the labels of the most nutritious commercial cat foods, they will usually show a named meat, such as "chicken", as the first ingredient, rather than chicken by-product meal. Of course, cats require a higher protein level in their food, (and a higher quality of protein, in general), than dogs, but in view of the observation that chicken by-product meal is not a satisfactory source of protein for cats, I'm unconvinced that chicken by-product meal is a good primary source of protein for any carnivore.
Meat and bone meal, is, of course, a good source of protein, (about 50 % protein), and improves the amino acid profile in the ration. It is now illegal to feed meat and bone meal to ruminants, of course, because of the apparent connection with BSE, (mad cow disease), but meat and bone meal is still widely used in this country in rations for monogastric animals, (animals with one stomach).
The other important source of protein in that ration, corn gluten meal is extremely high in protein, (about 80 %). In fact, it is sold not only as a feed additive, but as an organic herbicide. IOW, you can spread corn gluten meal on your lawn, and prevent the germination of weeds such as crabgrass, barnyard grass, foxtails, dandelion, lambsquarter, pigweed, purslane, smartweed and several others, but it will only prevent germination - it will not kill weeds that are already germinated, or already emerged. Now that doesn't mean that corn gluten meal is a poison, it simply means that it's rich stuff, and should be used carefully. It is a very common feed ingredient for ruminants, and a good source of protein, though I'm not totally convinced that it should be used in pet food targeted for carnivores. Corn gluten meal is not particularly easy for ruminants to digest, (compared with other protein sources), so it would certainly not be easy to digest for non-ruminants.
The wheat flour is probably used as a binder, because it does not have enough protein to be very useful to dogs.
Anyway, my point, is, it might be helpful to switch to a ration with more digestible protein sources, but her immediate problem seems to be just the opposite - a deficiency of good fiber. I could be wrong, but I suspect that dairy probably causes C for most people and animals, unless they are lactose-intolerant, in which case it causes D. (Of course if they are casein-intolerant, that could also cause D, but in terms of the general population, C is the most common reaction).
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Foods that contain flour, sugar, rice, dairy and high protein are the main source of the problem.
Note that the fourth ingredient listed for Pedigree is rice, which means that a significant amount is used, and wheat flour is also on the list, though in smaller quantities.
It's possible for a section of intestine to "flip", or otherwise get "kinked", to cause an obstruction, but I would think that in a situation such as that, palpation would be rather painful, and the gut should be somewhat distended.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I agree that you may want to have her checked by a vet. I thought my cat was constipated, and her kidneys were failing.....I guess a vet can determine what's going on. Take care....JJ
