Accidents When Getting Up

[Guest guinness_the_greyt]

Hi!

 

My old gal Spirit (13) has started having small - fairly infrequent - poo accidents when at the house the last few months. Doesn't bother me because I know she can not help it. When she goes to get up from the bed she'll lose a turd (lack of a better term is not coming to mind - sorry for if I'm crude)

 

Today we came home from a fellow GTrs house and after getting off the exit of the freeway she was excited we had stopped so she stood up... Causing her to have a large solid bowel movement in the car. Poor thing was frantic that is happened. When we got home she hid in the house and didn't want to take a treat an hour later.

 

My question is 2 parts...

 

Is there anything I can do to help her NOT have accidents?

 

Is there anything I can do to help her no feel so distraught over the incident? (each incident I have not been upset - quickly cleaned the mess and tried to act like nothing happened and give her extra loving)

 

I kinda feel there is nothing I can do and it's probably an age related issue. But thought I'd throw it out there to the see what the GTers have to say!

 

THANKS!!!

 

Amanda and Spirit the Sassy Senior!

 

PS. Spirit did not have anxiety when she's had an accident in the house... She actually looks over at me like "You jerk why did you put a turd on my bed!" then she'll huff and puff all the way to the door! She lives up to the "Brood with attitude"

[KF_in_Georgia]

I can only suggest more frequent trips out, with encouragement to her to poop even if you don't think she really needs to. "If the gun's not loaded, it won't go off"--so to speak.

 

If that works, it helps with both problems.

 

Every now and then, my 10-year-old can't make it all the way to the usual poop spot down at the corner. He insists on unloading in the middle of the road. Then he flashes me a look that says it's clearly my fault for making him wait too long before we went out.

 

And these days, he may be right. I've certainly stopped saying, "Just a minute, Sam" when he starts fussing to go out.

[Brindles]

When she goes to get up from the bed she'll lose a turd (lack of a better term is not coming to mind - sorry for if I'm crude)

I'm sorry, but this cracked me up! We horse people call 'em fecal balls

 

Wish I had some helpful advice for you.

[Guest guinness_the_greyt]

"If the gun's not loaded, it won't go off"--so to speak.

 

 

LOL! That cracked me up! Thing is she went out to potty right before I left MaryJo's... we'd only been in the car an hour and fifteen minutes when the poo of doom happened! Although I'm honestly not sure if she pooed before me left or if she just peed. I'll have to ask MJ - she was watching her meander around the yard.

[macoduck]

She actually looks over at me like "You jerk why did you put a turd on my bed!"

 

I just tell Bandit that the Poo Fairy has visited. It doesn't happen all the time. He does get stressed out in the car and sometimes the Poo Fairy's cousin, Travellin' Poo Fairy, comes to visit.

Bandit gets very embarrassed when it happens in the car and blames me when he wakes up and finds it in his bed.

[Guest greybookends]

This happened to Tasha about the last year she was with us. We called them sneak turds. It would happen and she would give me a look that said "where the He77 did that come from?" It is just an age thing and there is nothing medically you can do for it. You can use medication for pee issues but not sneaky turds. If you can live with it all you can do is clean up, tell her you love her and pray that when you get old and it happens to you that someone will love you enough to do the same for you.

[ZoomDoggy]

This happened to Tasha about the last year she was with us. We called them sneak turds. It would happen and she would give me a look that said "where the He77 did that come from?" It is just an age thing and there is nothing medically you can do for it. You can use medication for pee issues but not sneaky turds. If you can live with it all you can do is clean up, tell her you love her and pray that when you get old and it happens to you that someone will love you enough to do the same for you.

 

That's sweet.

[DaisyDoodle]

My old mix, Lucky, has an adrenal gland disorder and is very week in her hind end (which we're headed to a specialist to try to define) and she has the same problem.

 

Since Lucky is a shepherd mix, I unfortunately suspect that she has degenerative myelopathy. Since she's 15 and has Addison's (which started off as Cushing's which got over-medicated), I thought at first it was part of the adrenal disorder, but seems separate in hindsight.

 

She goes out in the AM and pees, then stands by the door to come in. She eats and IMMEDIATELY waddles across the LR floor, tail elevated. There is no 'please let me out'. Unfortunately, I'm not usually smart enough to monitor eating to ship her out as she walks out of the kitchen.

 

She has the same problem you described with the car as well. It seems to be related to getting off the highway, lateral G's (curves) and quick stops. It seems to be related to clenching muscles to try to maintain her balance. My solution in the car is to have a flannel-backed plastic table cloth under the blankets in the back of the car.

 

What helps? Acupuncture sometimes helps. There is actually an acupuncture point in the rectum that is used that helps.

 

I would also recommend PT to try to strengthen her back end.

 

I'm just greytful for really solid poops.

 

DD

 

PS When Daisy was scheduled for anal gland removal, the vet tech told me that the surgery could result in dropping stools. The vet hadn't told me about that, so I declined the surgery and marched out of the vet's office. We resolved the anal gland problem with antibiotics. Do you know if Spirit ever had that type of surgery?

[Trihounds]

Glad to hear we are not alone - thanks for starting the thread.

 

Bumper, who will be 6 in October, does this EVERY night in the wee hours (between 2-4am), regardless if he pooped prior to bedtime. I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. Bumper, however, had a spinal issue last year that caused nerve damage in his lower back and I attribute the turd release to relaxed muscles while sleeping at night. No probs during the day, though, so who knows. A solid night's sleep would be nice, though.

[GeorgeofNE]

Miss Amanda,

 

When the specialist I took George to for his "hitch in his gitalong" told me he had a mild (thusfar) case of LS, I asked her it would cause him to be incontinent. She said that fecal incontinence is common, but not urinary. Perhaps she has a touch of nerve damage in the hind end?

 

My parents 13 year old English Setter has the same problem. She has access to the outdoors any time she wants, but has been pooping in the house more often. She has never peed in the house. She just can't feel the poo comin' down the chute!

 

 

I suggest you wear socks with your saddles, and carry on! (inside joke)

[celbee]

This is one I had not (previously) heard of with older greys. It seems it may be one of those things that happens a lot and people just don't talk about it. Faster (12) is having similar problems. He is also having increasing hind end weakness/ worsening arthritis. At first he was doing it (dropping poops) as he ran around in circles getting up his courage to go down the steps (this would be called Circle of Poop)-- OR when he was running around in circles because he was excited (Dog-Daddy getting home, etc). There were also a few episodes of the urinary version (Circle of Pee). We started by not making him go down stairs but instead leash-walking him and trying to take him out more often. And we took him to the vet-- he is now on a 3 week course of anti-inflammatory meds and tramadol. Fewer circles, but still random poop drops (not particularly related to when he has just been out). Like DaisyDoodle, we are greatful for fairly solid poops. We just pick them up, do a quick visual shape check to see if it got stepped on by anyone before pick-up, flush them, and move on. I truly don't think he has any idea that he is doing this; we would never punish him for it.

 

Thanks for bringing this up, Amanda. We had never heard of it, so just assumed it was a Faster-specific development. But nerve damage plus weakened muscles... makes sense.

 

Carol

[Guest PhillyPups]

Ah what I would not give to have another turdlet from Stepper, he was the master of them, as he was walking to the door, it would slide out and he would look at me like I made it happen. I just cleaned it up and laughed at him and told him how much I love him.

 

I think it is an age thing with them. But was so endearing that Burpdog gave them the name of turdlet.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Morgan had LS and started to have fecal accidents near the end. The Vet said the LS was causing the loss of sensation. He didn't know he needed to go. Some people have success with acupuncture or the steroid shots. We tried the steroid shots but it didn't work for him.

[grey14me]

Poo fairy

 

I used to babysit an older girl and it happened to her...they would just kind of fall out as she walked Luckily she never seemed to notice though.

[Remolacha]

Never had it happen with a dog (yet), but Silk the Kitteh did this for about the last three years of his life. Most of the time, he didn't notice, or would look at it like "Where did that come from?"

 

I don't think there is anything you can do to stop it, not sure what you can do so she is not embarrassed (cats are never embarrassed).

 

[Guest sheila]

sorry to hear about this. I know how hard it is to watch and one feels so helpless. This is all I have that may or may not be helpful.

http://www.gcnm.org/stenosis.html

[5blackgreys]

My 14 1/2 y/o has the same thing. We call them sleep turds here. I keep a box of baby wipes next to where she sleeps to pick up turds, wipe off the bed and clean the behind!

[NevadasMom]

I suspect that there is some LS going on. Not much you can do. I think if you just don't make a big deal out of it she may get over her. Nevada use to get upset when she had a pee accident, but eventually got over it as she aged.