Hello, I apologize if this has already been addressed, I am new here and am still learning the search feature! I tried searching but couldn't find anything that specifically directed me to what I am seeing with my pup. My pup was having firm stool before she was spayed. After spay, she initially had nothing but diarrhea, which our vet said could be normal due to the stress on her system. Our vet put her on probiotics and canned vet food (Science Diet) and her stool firmed up a bit but didn't get back to the firm before surgery. We are now at a month-and-a-half (closer to two months) after surgery and she is having one or two semi-firm pieces that are then followed by increasingly softer stool with the final little bits being almost liquid. And when she squats, she stays in that position for a lot longer than pre-surgery. We have tried the probiotics, we have done the bland diet (even to the boiled chicken/hamburger and rice, and pumpkin - she hates pumpkin, btw), we have tried changing her dry kibble thinking there was an allergy there, nothing seems to be helping. Our vet is suggesting having her tested for Addison's Disease (her value was at 27 before and after surgery, one point below the limit from what I understand) and I am not sure that is the cause, she has no other symptoms. Has anyone's pup had this issue after spay? She sees a trainer who has suggested it is due to her hyper personality, but she was hyper before surgery, so I just don't know. She still loves her food and her "good pup" training snacks. She still wants a ton of water, so we are good there. And in those rare calm moments, she still sees the same stool issue. I just want to try and stop the loose stool for her and get her back to a more normal potty situation. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi there. Sorry to hear you and your girl are going through this. Has your vet sent a stool sample off for analysis? If not that might be a helpful next step. xx
Hi and thank you for the reply! Yes, our vet had the stool examined and there were no parasites or anything else identified. I happened to get lucky and right before we headed out for her last vet visit, I was able to collect a fresh specimen so they had the most current sample to look at. When all of this first started happening, right after her spay, our pup had a bit of a fever so they put her on some antibiotics. She was also given what I call the "calm her down" medications. In that window, she had some improvement. She has been off of all meds over a month now, so I feel that likely isn't it. I am holding my breath right now. After I posted here, she seems to be having a little more normal stool. But we have been here before where it is normal and then turns back around. I have found myself wondering if the ripping out chunks of the yard and carrying them around in her mouth could be any cause. Right now we have snow on the ground so yard chunks aren't as easy to get to - LOL. Again, thank you for your reply!
It's a bit of mystery isn't it! Has your vet asked for a second opinion at all? I think that would be my next request, in your situation. x
Hello. There are several vets in the practice and I know they consult with each other but from there, I am not sure about other vet practices. An interesting item...we put our pup back on eating from the slower feeder bowls last week (we had her eating out of regular bowls with the wet food and then the transition back to solid food) and our pup is now back to a solid stool. I am not sure if she was just inhaling her food and that was causing the issues or what. I am keeping an every potty visit watch. My pup gives me that "have you nothing better to do than run out when I finish" look. LOL Thank you for the support, this is really helpful to not be alone!
It could be a coincidence couldn't it - but there's no harm in sticking with the slow feeder if that seems to work better for her, anyway And thank you - it's lovely to hear that our chat has been helpful to you!
Hello! It has been roughly two months and I wanted to follow-up should anyone read this at a later date who is having the same issues we were having. A few weeks after my last post, my pup developed a UTI. I was beginning to feel like she just couldn't catch a break but it turned out to be what we needed. Her vet put her on antibiotics, once again, and then back on the probiotics to help her gut stay healthy during the treatment. This time, she responded very quickly to the probiotic and had really nice stools. It almost sounds funny to me to be so excited over good stool, but after the amount of diarrhea she had been having, this was a total win. At the same time, we also returned her to her original large breed puppy food that the breeder had fed his dogs and pups. We don't know if the probiotic by itself did it or if the food/probiotic combo was the magic, but here were are almost two months later and things have been more even keel for her. She is now thankfully back to her frisky, house shark self!! Now starts back the puppy fun of trying to get her trained to leave the cat alone (although the cat isn't helping matters, LOL) and stopping the ripping chunks of grass out of the backyard and zoomie'ing with them in her mouth (yes, she gets about 50-60 total minutes a day of walks - one in the morning and one at night and in between I toss balls for her in the yard or play with her flirt pole, etc.). She is a total love and is a comedian (except for the cat and grass issues - LOL)!!! Anyhow, just wanted to share the update! Thank you again to Sammie for the kind words and support during our time of stress!!!
It's so good to hear that things have improved for her - thank you for sharing an update It sounds like you've got your hands full now she has her energy back
