A poo question (sorry!)

MrChew

MrChew

Since Rowan started solids (and donating them to Chewie) we have noticed that Chewie has mucousy poos once a month or so. He is flatulent, does a couple of soft, mucousy poos but is otherwise himself.

We assume it's just the fact that he is getting more dairy and bread etc than he really should and this period will just end once Rowan stops throwing food?

I guess I was just hoping for some reassurance that we aren't missing anything or doing anything bad for our dog.

Separating them at mealtimes is so hard as our place is small and very open. Plus they will both get really upset.
 
M

M.F.

Your reasoning sounds spot on. I wouldn’t change a thing. Dogs and toddlers together are just the best. 🥰

Just one word of warning: what Chewie learns now will most likely stay forever, unless you train him otherwise. Snowie learned as a puppy to be on his bed and not beg for food while we were eating. Then I went on a work trip for 2.5 weeks. My husband and Snowie missed me terribly. So, to compensate, my husband shared his meals with Snowie. We can now never eat without a drooling snout nudging us for his fair share. There is a plus side to sharing half my plate: I eat less!!
 
MrChew

MrChew

We are okay with that as Chewie hasn't generalised the behaviour- he only really lurks for food when the highchair is in use. Otherwise he is good (for a Labrador!). And these things are just life, aren't they? I've resigned myself to imperfection, as I think I'm happier that way!
 
Oberon

Oberon

Location
Canberra, Australia
I think that more mucous means a longer transition time in the gut. It could be related to having a higher rotation of novel foods, so his gut is playing catch-up, adapting to the new variety. That can take a while. I wouldn’t worry too much about it for now...see if it changes over the next couple of weeks.
 
Emily

Emily

Location
Melbourne, Australia
No help re the poo sorry 💩

But, re the food, we found it really useful to reach Nathan to always ask us before he gave something to Ella. That way we were able to reach him what was ok for dogs to eat and what wasn't. Now he will easily list all of the foods Ella can't have and still always asks when he wants to share his food with her.
 
MrChew

MrChew

Emily said:
No help re the poo sorry 💩

But, re the food, we found it really useful to reach Nathan to always ask us before he gave something to Ella. That way we were able to reach him what was ok for dogs to eat and what wasn't. Now he will easily list all of the foods Ella can't have and still always asks when he wants to share his food with her.
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Good idea for when Rowan is a bit older and munching on chocolate or sultanas... I imagine there will be a LOT of repetition required. He is going through a defiant toddler phase right now. Truthfully he isn't too bad in terms of tantrums (yet) but he is quite opinionated and knows how to express himself!

Normal :poo: this morning, hooray! OH said Chewie got given a LOT of Rowan's cheesy omelette, so that might be why. And just the variety of food impacting his gut biome I guess.

Can't wait for the food throwing phase to end.
 
Jen

Jen

Rory is exactly the same.

I generally try to keep Stanley out of the room otherwise he gets so much enjoyment out of feeding Stanley.

He’s also currently pretending he doesn’t understand the word no, even though I can see him side eyeing me before he makes his choice to do something.
 
MrChew

MrChew

A bit of an update:

We thought we were getting on top of things by separating them at meal times. This involved lots of frozen Kong's for Chewie and putting up with a bit of an annoyed dog at times... But he had diarrhoea again this morning, so we are going to make a vet appointment for Monday or Tuesday. :confused: He doesn't seem to ever be in pain and is otherwise totally normal, just sometimes urgency to go outside. This morning I could tell he needed to go out with some urgency and well... Yuck.

Because of the relapsing nature of this whole thing it has taken us a while to get to this point and I feel a bit guilty. :( I don't want to be one of those people who neglects their dog once they have human kids... They annoy me so much.
 
M

M.F.

Does he get a probiotic? That might help. Snowie had HGE on and off for several months (several years ago). Many vet visits, lots of antibiotics. Eventually we took him to a holistic vet who prescribed kefir every day. And he finally turned the corner.
 
Ashley

Ashley

My take is that toddler leftovers aren't that much, or enough for anything more than some softer poos. I also recommend probiotics to get him on track, and I put pumpkin puree in kongs to help keep things settled. Not sure if he is wormed year round where you are, but might want to ask vet about worms...you never know!
 
MrChew

MrChew

Ashley said:
My take is that toddler leftovers aren't that much, or enough for anything more than some softer poos. I also recommend probiotics to get him on track, and I put pumpkin puree in kongs to help keep things settled. Not sure if he is wormed year round where you are, but might want to ask vet about worms...you never know!
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He is wormed year round, but we are going to take in a sample to check for parasites... Yay. And yes, things have (in the last week or so) gotten worse to the extent that they are out of proportion to some leftover pasta or butter chicken... Initially it was just the odd softish poo but no diarrhoea.

Might be worth trying a probiotic, but maybe we will see the vet first and see what they think.
 
MrChew

MrChew

We went to the vet today. Chewie was very brave, even though he hates the bum bits, and recovered his confidence within minutes to go looking for the chicken treats... I made sure I had loads of fish skins in my bag! He has actually gained a bit of weight since the last visit but is still in the healthy range.

She suggests trying Prokolin while we wait for the stool sample to come back. If the stool is normal we will need to have a look at dietary intolerances.

Of course, he has been totally fine for the last few days!
 
M

M.F.

That sounds like a good plan. However, I’d use a homemade probiotic. A study—that I can’t find now—showed that homemade probiotics (like homemade kefir) have a much higher good bacteria count. Otherwise, the recommendation I’ve read is to use a liquid commercial probiotic rather than a solid. Although it does appear that Prokolin (tube of paste) is the vet go-to.
 
MrChew

MrChew

M.F. said:
That sounds like a good plan. However, I’d use a homemade probiotic. A study—that I can’t find now—showed that homemade probiotics (like homemade kefir) have a much higher good bacteria count. Otherwise, the recommendation I’ve read is to use a liquid commercial probiotic rather than a solid. Although it does appear that Prokolin (tube of paste) is the vet go-to.
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I'm happy to give kefir a go, but doubt I would have the time to take on making my own right now unfortunately.

The vet said Chewie was a lovely, placid boy. I was like... :hmm:
 
M

M.F.

MrChew said:
I'm happy to give kefir a go, but doubt I would have the time to take on making my own right now unfortunately.

The vet said Chewie was a lovely, placid boy. I was like... :hmm:
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It’s so easy to make. I first buy a bottle from the health shop and use it as a starter for my homemade bottle. I use full cream milk. It takes a few days to ferment in the pantry. Otherwise, use the bought kefir even if it’s not as fermented as you can make at home. Apparently that is still better than a probiotic that’s been inside a tube.

Chewie is a lovely boy!!
 
MrChew

MrChew

Chewie's poo sample has come back clear so the working diagnosis is a food intolerance and our main suspect is chicken as we have realised that his poos often seem worse after he has had his cooked chicken meal.

So we will make dietary changes and see what happens. We were thinking of just stopping the chicken and seeing how he goes and if that doesn't make a difference we will do a single protein diet and take it from there.
 
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