[Jan M]

help! My 9lb. Mutt has terrible rectal issues for a few months. Her glands have been expressed, has had cortisone shot for constant digging at her anus as well as constant scooting. She will put her paws and chin on floor with butt in air and stay for several minutes. Vet can’t figure out what is wrong. I switched her food from a kibble to Stella and Chewies raw chicken …hasn’t helped. Her anus doesn’t look swollen or red but she is miserable. When vet expressed her, he said glands were not even full.???

[Anonymous]

How old is she? I have a senior peke that has some issues in that department. In his case, it’s not the food. How often is she having bowel movements? Is she constipated?

PS: With my dog, he is old and his anal sphincter doesn’t work that well, anymore.
He does best on Wysong senior kibble soaked in water overnight, sometimes a spoonful of chicken, more water.
But, he often needs help to have a bowel movement. I have a medical background so I deal with it.
Talk to your vet as how to proceed.
Consider seeing an Internal Medicine Specialist, if you have to. You don’t want to end up in prolapsed rectum territory.
Have environmental allergies been ruled out? X-rays to rule out an obstruction?

[Jan M]

Oddly enough she is mostly Peke! Never constipated…usually two poops a day.switched to raw to make her poops real firm, hoping they would express on their own . Vet and groomer said glands were not full. They look perfectly fine…not red or swollen, but she is not happy!! No tests done yet as she is health in every other way. Thanks for your input.

[Jan M]

Forgot to say she is three .

[Anonymous]

Allergies? Pruritus? Obstruction?
She’s young, I would go for the additional testing and get to the bottom of this.
Good luck.

PS: I meant to say, if it doesn’t resolve in the near future, it could be a minor irritation, inflammation of the colon or something….

• This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by Anonymous.

[Jan M]

Well, we had a horrible night with her…she felt so bad, paced and paced.i was at vets early and guess what? X-ray showed a mass of the ground up bones from raw food was blocking part of her stomach! And I thought I was giving her the very best! I was the cause of it! He gave her a shot to help with her nausea, several medications to help with her tummy right now. She is already feeling better. Most of her misery was coming from nausea due to partial blockage. Needless to say , she will never go back on a raw diet. Thanks for your advice.

[Anonymous]

Same thing happened to my poodle mix, I would give her a frozen beef marrow bone and she would work on it for at least an hour and consume a bit of the ground up bone.
Well, I took her to the emergency vet after she acted like she was in pain and vomited….x-ray showed calcified bone material in the colon and stomach (it turns into cement). Luckily she did well with pain meds (tramadol) and Pepcid for a few days and the material passed. She did not need surgery.

The raw thing doesn’t work for all dogs. Click on my avatar or use the search engine to get more info.
She does well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea with a bit of cooked chopped up chicken breast and a splash of water added.

Brush the teeth every evening if you are worried about the teeth, check youtube for how to videos, it really does make a difference. Pekes have lousy teeth 🙁
Good info here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/

[Jan M]

Read it…good info. Thanks again. Hope you are here if I have any more problems!

[Pitlove]

Jan- Wow! So sorry for what your girl went through, but very glad you found out what it was. Not sure if you want to continue feeding the raw bones or not, but I was curious as to how often they were given? Raw meaty bones really should be recreational feeding only, meaning not every day and more infrequently than not. We carry Primal’s raw meaty bones at work and it even says that right on the packaging.

Perhaps she was getting them too frequently and it wasn’t allowing for enough digestion time? Or perhaps she really just can’t break them down. Either way, best of luck with whatever your choice is for her!

[Jan M]

Hi, no …not bones….frozen raw chicken patties with ground bones as part of the ingredients. It called for 3 patties a day for her size but I only gave her 2 as a supplement cause they are expensive. I am just praying she will eat and poop it out but she still feels horrible tonight and won’t eat! Thanks.

Red….if you see this…how long before your dog cleaned out?

[theBCnut]

This could be a food sensitivity to a particular protein source or a yeast infection. You can try different limited ingredient diets to see if certain proteins cause the issue or you can try low starch diets to see if not feeding the yeast in the gut helps with the issue. It could also be a case of a dog that needs a particular level of fiber in the diet. It may take a bit of detective work on your part to solve this mystery.

[Pitlove]

Ah ok, I misunderstood. Are you planning to take her off raw? If you do not want to switch from raw back to kibble, you can buy grinds of different proteins that don’t contain bone from companies like Hare Today and work with a nutritionist to balance the meals. Wysong also makes a supplement that is said to balance a raw fed diet.

http://www.wysong.net/products/cotw-dog-cat-supplement.php

[Jan M]

Thanks bcnut and pit love for input. Takes a lot of detective work.it is going to be another bad night I can tell. If she won’t eat then how can she poop the wad out?that is the conundrum ?

[Anonymous]

Hi, Jan.
I think it took a few days, the ground up bone material tends to harden and get clogged up (sludge like) in their colon and stomach, as long as there isn’t a total blockage it should gradually be eliminated. I think it took a few days, at least 3…she was back to herself in about a week.

Some dogs, especially the little ones just can’t digest the bone material well.
I was only giving my dog a bone or two a week and they were small ones. The stuff stays in their gut and accumulates till it causes pain and discomfort. It happened one time before but it passed so I thought it was a fluke….when it happened again a few days I took her to the emergency vet for an x-ray right away.
Always rule out an obstruction first when you see stomach pain and vomiting,
Anyway, it must be like having sand in your stomach, you won’t see it in the feces, it’s granular. I would give her soft, easy to digest food and add water or plain chicken broth.
And don’t be afraid to give her pain meds as the veterinarian prescribed…..if he didn’t I would call the vet and go pick them up. I’m assuming your dog is still uncomfortable.
If she’s not better in a week (she will be) they might want to take another x-ray to see if the sludge has moved…..but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Relieving the pain might perk up her appetite. I mentioned what medication she got (tramadol and Pepcid), and the diet that agrees with her the best in a previous post. I like Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea, and Wysong. I’m leery of all kibble but I have had good luck with these two.

[Anonymous]

PS: If she’s not eating or drinking fluids X 24 hours, call and speak to the vet (not the vet tech) and ask if SubQ fluids are indicated? It not only hydrates but relieves nausea, just takes a minute to do at the vet’s office.

[InkedMarie]

I wouldn’t take this dog off of raw, I’d add boneless to it. I have one that needs boneless; the other one doesn’t.

[Jan M]

This has all been a wonderful help to me, especially Red. I really needed assurance that it might take a few days. She still isn’t eating the special food doc gave me but she ate a small chicken treat this a m . She loves eggs…do you think I should try her on a bite or two of scrambled? She is drinking water. Can the blockage , only in stomach…not bowel, pass thru even if she doesn’t eat? Thanks again

[Anonymous]

Yes, scrambled egg (made with a splash of water not milk) is an excellent topper…whatever she will eat. Good to have at least a bite of something in her tummy. My small breeds love buttered toast in the morning, they won’t leave me alone till I give them a bite 🙂
Yes, it will pass, sometimes it slowly dissolves, dissipates, breaks up…it will move through the colon/bowel next. As long as she is getting adequate hydration it will move.
You are welcome. Glad I could help.

PS: Keep an eye on her intake/output, is she voiding (peeing), and at least a bowel movement a day…even a small one. Maybe a day and 1/2 for bm if she’s not eating.

[Anonymous]

Take her for walks, only if she’s up to it, exercise will stimulate the system and aid in elimination (get things moving).
The last time I took my peke to the vet, he got so revved up, he had a bm as soon as we got out of the car and had arrived at the vets office.

[Jan M]

Red, you are a “God send” to me.❤️ 🐾

[Author]

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