Very Mucousy Stools

[NeylasMom]

Neyla and Zuri have both been intermittently having very mucousy stools over hte last week or two. They're raw fed so it's normal for us to see some mucous in their stools some of the time, but this has been an abnormal amount for them. It's not every time they go though. The mucous is creamy white to maybe pale yellow.

 

I'm thinking maybe they have parasites and a round of Panacur is in order? Any thoughts as to whether that's likely or other thoughts? They've both had cases of runny stool lately too, with Neyla having some actual diarrhea although that seemed attributable to something I fed her.

[Guest GreysAndMoreGreys]

My first thought would be Flagyl

I don't know of worms causing mocousy stools but IBS and Giardia I believe can cause it.

[JAJ2010]

Rainy will get this occasionally and I've never really worried. I just increase her bone portion for s few days to help her firm up. If your really concerned a round of former won't hurt, but I don't think the mucous is a symptom of worms. We did get mote freq mucous during the first year of raw feeding too.

[Guest Fasave]

I was told by a vet that mucous means they need more fiber. Just a thought. I hope they feel better soon.

[NeylasMom]

Just want to clarify, I am nearly certain that this isn't a function of their diet. They have been raw fed for years and I didn't change their diet drastically recently. This amount of mucous is not normal for either of them and it is sometimes present even with firm stool.

[Time4ANap]

This sounds similar to what we went through with Rocket a few months back. He is kibble fed, not raw though. Symptoms were similar and we did the bland diet of cooked and rinsed ground beef mixed with overcooked pasta or overcooked rice before getting him on a new food. (In our case we figured out the food was the issue after nothing else worked.) Several folks on here advised that you can leave the rice or pasta out of the equation as well.

 

We also did 2 rounds of Flagyl over a couple weeks.

 

The vet advised us that the mucous in the stool was the lining of the stomach trying to shed the part of the lining that was irritated and repair itself.

 

Hope they are better soon!

 

ETA - just saw your 2nd post above - we didn't have any firm stools with Rocket. Sounds like it's time to collect some samples and get them off to the vet to figure out what you're dealing with.

Edited April 19, 2010 by Time4ANap

[Guest Stripeyfan]

As far as I can understand it, from what we've been and are going through with Kelly, mucous in the stool means there is irritation/inflammation in the large intestine (as opposed to the small intestine, which gives you the liquid D). If they've both had runny stool previously it sounds as if they could have picked something up, and now the irritation has spread through the GI tract. Could be parasites, could be something else, but I'd definitely get samples to the vet just to check there's nothing going on. Also second the bland diet suggestion to help calm things down (at the moment, that's all Kelly can eat). Hope they are lots better soon.

[NeylasMom]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to hear the mucous is likely just from inflammation/upset. They're both back to normal since I posted so I'm just going to keep an eye out for the time being and if the mucousy or runny stool returns, get them checked out. I'm thinking it's quite possible a little bug just went around. Thanks!