Frequent Stools

[Guest TLH0739]

Hi everyone,

 

Penney is my newly adopted 2 year old that has frequent stool. I'm talking about 4-5 times a day. The stool is formed but foul smelling. I have her on Proplan and eats 2 cups in the morning and 2 in the evening, She does not have diarrhea. Should I switch her food? My last greyhound only had 1-2 BM's a day. She weighs half of what my Patrick used to weigh.

Thanks for answering.

[PrairieProf]

For starters, maybe you might try feeding her less? Four cups is quite a lot for what sounds like a small female. I have a 58-pound girl and she eats more like three cups of the various foods she's been on.

 

Mine is on a low-residue prescription food and still goes at least three times a day. 1-2 times seems rather infrequent for a kibble-fed dog, so I wouldn't assume that's what you should expect with another.

Edited July 18, 2012 by PrairieProf

[Wonder]

Diamond poops at least 6 times a day- that's just him.

The rest poop twice a day.

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

[MaryJane]

Give her more time before changing food since she is still new to the house and maybe not sure of the routine and all that. Also, changing the food could cause diarrhea.

 

I might suggest bringing in a sample to the vet for a worm check and also let him know about the smell as that can sometimes signal a bacterial overgrowth in the gut.

[TheFullHouse]

If she's a small female, 4 cups is a lot of food. The more food the more poop. She's just getting rid of the excess her body doesn't need. I have a small female who gets 2 1/2 to 3 cups a day. She weighs 54 lbs. and can't eat 4 cups a day. She will leave some if I feed her that much. You might cut down on the food and see if the poop quantity goes back to normal.

[TwiggysMom]

Is this on potty trips out to the yard (or quick potty walks i.e.: out to pee & poop, then right back in)? Or, is this over the course of several long around the neighborhood walks?

 

I ask, because my girl will only poop once or twice a day if we are only going out for short potty trips (she's been on limited activity per doc's orders lately). However, if we are going on a long walk through the neighborhood, she can poop 6 times or more on a single walk

 

She sort of "poop-marks", she marks on walks with pee, too.

 

If you don't think it is because of longer, more stimulating walks, then I would certainly look at the quantity of food she is getting. 4 cups may be a lot for her, but I don't know the calorie content of the food she's getting. It could also be that a different food might work better for her. Sometimes, a food that works better will produce smaller, less smelly, less frequent poops. Doesn't necessarily mean that one food is "better" than another, just better for that particular dog.

[Guest TLH0739]

She had been check for worms and bacteria in her stool. All is negative. She usually will not poop or peep on our walks. She go out and peeps and poops in the yard and wants right back in. Yesterday she had 6 piles of large poop in the yard. I clean it up every day sometimes twice a day. I hose the yard down where she goes.

[PrairieProf]

I really don't think a dog could poop that much unless they are getting what is for their system a crap-load (literally!) of food. If the poop is formed it suggests she isn't having trouble digesting it per se or having other medical issues, so I would really try cutting back. You could certainly try another food but cutting back seems a simpler thing to try first -- and if she gets too much of a different food she's still going to poop a lot.

[greytpups]

I'm wondering if the food has too much filler in it and she's excreting what her body can't use. I'm definately not a food expert though.

 

Brooke weighs 61 lbs and has weighed that since we adopted her. That's also her racing weight. She eats a minimum 4 cups kibble a day plus treats and poops 3 normal poops a day; morning walk, when I get home from work walk and evening walk.

 

I was worried that I was feeding her too much, but she maintains her weight (it rarely varies much), so perhaps your grey is like this as well.

[Guest kirstenbergren]

My PJ is 90 lbs and I feed him 6 cups a day of Blue Buffalo Freedom large breed food (it's their grain free line) and 1 cup of plain yogurt a day too. He poops 2-3 solid, good size piles a day. He's been maintaining his weight so I figure 6 cups is what he needs for now. I'm hoping that has he has been off the track longer he will cut down on the amount of food he eats for my wallet's sake. I agree with Jan that maybe the food has too much filler for her? Or maybe that's just how often she wants to go?? Good luck!