Orange, Muscous-Y Poop

[Guest LunaTheGreyt]

Luna's been having tummy troubles for the past few days, and I don't know what to do next (aside from a vet visit, which IMO isn't always super helpful). We have not had a super-recent change in foods (fully switched over to Costco's lamb & rice about 2-3 weeks ago). She is being weaned off Clomipramine currently, which I know can cause some diarrhea, but would not expect it to look like this.

 

It started with about a day of liquid diarrhea, followed by two days of brown pudding poop, followed by a day (and now this morning) of small amounts of mushy, stringy, mucous-y, orange poop. I had the vet do a fecal float about 2 days ago (I had thought I saw thin, string-like formations in the poop which made me think worms), but it came back negative. I've been feeding her boiled chicken with a scoop of pumpkin, slippery elm bark powder, and 1/4 tsp of a probiotic powder. I ran out of chicken so had to go back to kibble with pumpkin and probiotic this morning (she pooped before she ate, though). Aside from these symptoms she's had a normal appetite and normal behavior. She has taken more time than usual to poop for the past day or so, and it was only on the first day that she had extreme urgency to go out for the Big D.

 

I've read here that a negative fecal can be misleading, and that some of you have dosed with Panacur-C anyway. I also have a bottle of Tylan powder that I haven't used.

 

What would you recommend I try before going to the vet (I can go as soon as Monday, just would like to see if I can nip this myself)?

 

ETA: Luna has had poop issues since I got her 4 months ago, very infrequently having a hard stool, typically switching between soft (some sticking to the grass) and just hard enough to pick up, with some random pudding poops. Haven't seen a difference in stool with her on Earthborn Holistic grain-free or Kirkland lamb & rice.

Edited September 15, 2013 by LunaTheGreyt

[Batmom]

1. Quit the pumpkin.

2. Then Tylan if you know the appropriate dosage for her and it was prescribed for her.

[macoduck]

How big is that scoop of pumpkin? For some dogs, like my Gracie, pumpkin gives then diarrhea rather than firming them up.

 

Pudge has had the orangey, stringy poop before. I, too, thought the stringy thing was a worm and bought it to the vet. Nope, just part of the mucous when the bowel is very irritated.

[Guest LunaTheGreyt]

1. Quit the pumpkin.

2. Then Tylan if you know the appropriate dosage for her and it was prescribed for her.

 

 

How big is that scoop of pumpkin? For some dogs, like my Gracie, pumpkin gives then diarrhea rather than firming them up.

 

Pudge has had the orangey, stringy poop before. I, too, thought the stringy thing was a worm and bought it to the vet. Nope, just part of the mucous when the bowel is very irritated.

 

Never thought to do that -- I will definitely quit the pumpkin and see how that works.

[Guest RMarie]

If she'd been having normal stools this entire time, I'd say the orange, mucousy poops were from some sort of bowel irritation/inflammation and to feed her some pepto pills. But, the fact that she hasn't had normal stools for months seems to indicate that perhaps you haven't found the right food for her. At any rate, pepto won't hurt and should help clear up the mucous.

[gracegirl]

Yep, pumpkin gives Fenway the runs. I'd go back to basics, rice and protein (either boiled chicken or ground beef). Hope it clears up soon.

[macoduck]

The orange color is most likely coming from the orange pumpkin.

[Guest LunaTheGreyt]

If she'd been having normal stools this entire time, I'd say the orange, mucousy poops were from some sort of bowel irritation/inflammation and to feed her some pepto pills. But, the fact that she hasn't had normal stools for months seems to indicate that perhaps you haven't found the right food for her. At any rate, pepto won't hurt and should help clear up the mucous.

 

If I have to, I will try Iams in the Green Bag, but would prefer not to, since my other dog is horribly allergic to corn and I like being able to feed everyone the same thing. Will dose with Pepto tonight!

[Guest RMarie]

 

If I have to, I will try Iams in the Green Bag, but would prefer not to, since my other dog is horribly allergic to corn and I like being able to feed everyone the same thing. Will dose with Pepto tonight!

If you know for a fact that she's allergic to corn, then don't feed her a food with corn in it just b/c ppl on here have success with foods with corn, like green bag. There are plenty of foods out there that don't have corn. It's tough finding the right food, especially when the GI tract is upset. You need to re-establish a base line then pick a food and see what happens.

[Houndtime]

The orange is probably from the pumpkin as well as the stringy's. I recently put Fuzzy on the veterinarians potato diet for diarrhea. You can only stay on it four days. Now he is eating Natural Balance duck and potato; a limited ingredient food. I am almost afraid to talk, but he has had solid poops now for a week. He had diarrhea for a month and lost 10 lbs. He was on assorted meds and prescription diet foods. Once on the potatoes, he had solid poop in 12 hours. I did add a little plain canned chicken and a tablespoon of pumpkin. If you think you are having issues with the pumpkin, skip it. Good luck.

 

http://www.crvetcenter.com/recipe_potatodiet.php

[Guest MnMDogs]

Pumpkin never worked for us. After a recent bout of diarrhea times 3 (July sucked) , we started raw Goat's milk, and while I can't guarantee that's what helped them, they are all back to pretty firm poops. This is after Macy and Greg had a course (2 for Greg) of flagyl and one month of chicken and rice.

 

I was at my wits end, and after about a week on the goat milk, they were much better. Again, I can't prove that it fixed them, but it didn't hurt. And they love it! Good luck. We also feed raw turkey necks at night, which we stopped while they were all sickest. I think getting back on those also helped.

[Guest abbysmom]

If the color doesn't return to normal after you stop the pumpkin and her stools continue to stay runny, you might want to think about blood work. Sounds like the pumpkin may be the culprit here, but my vet told me that orange stool can be a sign of liver issues. (And I had a dog whose liver issues initially presented with runny stools that would not clear up with traditional treatments, including antibiotics. I doubt that is Luna's problem, but thus is something to keep in the back of your mind.)

[a_daerr]

But, the fact that she hasn't had normal stools for months seems to indicate that perhaps you haven't found the right food for her.

 

[greyhead]

When we had orange pudding poo at our house, it turned out to be from a bacterial overgrowth following post-dental antibiotics. Took three antibiotics to fix it, after analyzing the poop with a culture-and-sensitivity. Took so long to convince the vet to do the C&S that by the time we cured the overgrowth, the dog was left with IBD. So don't let it go on for months, and don't keep changing the food. (Dogs develop inflammatory responses to proteins they're exposed to during these episodes and can wind up never again being able to eat them. You don't want to be left with nothing to feed but kangaroo and emu!)

[Guest abbysmom]

I second greyhead's comment. When we had the long bout of runny poop Abby was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

[Guest LunaTheGreyt]

Vet said I can try her on the Tylan powder this week. So far after 2 doses her poop is soft but formed/pickupable. Will update again if anything changes!

[Guest AngelPup]

Good luck getting to the bottom of the poop issue. Brady had an issue with light/orange pudding poos and it took a few months to get things under control. He had hooks and couldn't seem to tolerate rice. Between a long course of Flagyl, pumpkin, and a food change to Iams green bag, he FINALLY has mostly firm, dark stools. I've been trying to wean him off the Flagyl, but I noticed when I stop for a few days (only giving him 1/2 pill every 2 to 3 days), his stools get mushy and light again.

 

Light and/or orange stools--especially with mucus and blood can indicate an IBD, SIBO (small intestine bacteria overgrowth), and/or pancreatic enzyme deficiency. Brady's vet thinks he has colitis, although we haven't pursued testing to confirm that--he has the signs and is responding to the same treatment he would go through if it was confirmed colitis.

[greyhead]

I've been trying to wean him off the Flagyl, but I noticed when I stop for a few days (only giving him 1/2 pill every 2 to 3 days), his stools get mushy and light again.

After lots of Flagyl, other antibiotics, and anti-IBD meds, we had this same trouble. The internist recommended giving L-glutamine (500 mg/day). It was amazingly effective at making for coherent poop! It both heals intestine/stomach walls that have been inflamed AND discourages bad germs from multiplying. It's pricey but worth it. And we used the TwinLabs brand effectively, while the SolaRay (sp) brand didn't help.

[Guest RMarie]

After lots of Flagyl, other antibiotics, and anti-IBD meds, we had this same trouble. The internist recommended giving L-glutamine (500 mg/day). It was amazingly effective at making for coherent poop! It both heals intestine/stomach walls that have been inflamed AND discourages bad germs from multiplying. It's pricey but worth it. And we used the TwinLabs brand effectively, while the SolaRay (sp) brand didn't help.

That's interesting. What do you feed? We thought we were finally settled on Iams green bag, but recently James' poops have gotten soft again. After some trial and error with adding tortilla chips and carrots, it seems like a lack of fiber issue, so I'm currently, slowly, transitioning to Blue Buffalo Basics turkey and potato. It's a sensitive stomach formula and has 7% fiber (green bag only has 5%), which surprised me since it's grain free.

[greyhead]

Rachel, while we were busy finding and treating his SIBO, Spencer developed IBD. All the food changes we made before we solved the problem came back to haunt us, as he had developed an inflammatory response to beef, chicken, salmon, rabbit, lamb, and buffalo. We were left with venison and kangaroo as protein sources he could tolerate, once he had gotten on budesonide (prednisone-alternative immunosuppressant for GI trouble). Additionally, IBD dogs need very simple formulas. So we had great luck with Natural Balance venison and sweet potato. We didn't need blueberries and all that other stuff that came in otherwise good foods.

 

We *had* had great luck with Iams green bag! But once he got sick, he couldn't use it anymore. Grain-free is also the direction we went, and I hope you get good results.

Edited September 17, 2013 by greyhead

[Guest AngelPup]

After lots of Flagyl, other antibiotics, and anti-IBD meds, we had this same trouble. The internist recommended giving L-glutamine (500 mg/day). It was amazingly effective at making for coherent poop! It both heals intestine/stomach walls that have been inflamed AND discourages bad germs from multiplying. It's pricey but worth it. And we used the TwinLabs brand effectively, while the SolaRay (sp) brand didn't help.

 

Oh, thanks for that tip! I'm definitely going to give that a try.

[Guest AngelPup]

Rachel, while we were busy finding and treating his SIBO, Spencer developed IBD. All the food changes we made before we solved the problem came back to haunt us, as he had developed an inflammatory response to beef, chicken, salmon, rabbit, lamb, and buffalo. We were left with venison and kangaroo as protein sources he could tolerate, once he had gotten on budesonide (prednisone-alternative immunosuppressant for GI trouble). Additionally, IBD dogs need very simple formulas. So we had great luck with Natural Balance venison and sweet potato. We didn't need blueberries and all that other stuff that came in otherwise good foods.

 

We *had* had great luck with Iams green bag! But once he got sick, he couldn't use it anymore. Grain-free is also the direction we went, and I hope you get good results.

 

There seems to be a LOT of greyhounds that do well on Natural Balance. I checked it out, but it's SO darn expensive. Plus, I'm hesitant to switch foods when Iams seems to be doing the trick, for the most part.

[Guest RMarie]

 

There seems to be a LOT of greyhounds that do well on Natural Balance. I checked it out, but it's SO darn expensive. Plus, I'm hesitant to switch foods when Iams seems to be doing the trick, for the most part.

Sadly, we've already done Natural Balance. It worked for a bit. Then, things just started getting soft. Same thing with green bag, though it took a lot longer this time around.

[Guest AngelPup]

Sadly, we've already done Natural Balance. It worked for a bit. Then, things just started getting soft. Same thing with green bag, though it took a lot longer this time around.

 

So frustrating! Brady got the runs again mid-week (worse than ever), but it seems to be getting better now that I gave him 1/2 Flagyl pill two days in a row. He has his yearly exam/shots appointment in a couple weeks, so I'm definitely going to bring this up to the vet. She'll probably just suggest that I keep giving him 1/2 pill every other day to keep things from going downhill, as she's already told me that some dogs seem to need that.

[Guest RMarie]

So frustrating! Brady got the runs again mid-week (worse than ever), but it seems to be getting better now that I gave him 1/2 Flagyl pill two days in a row. He has his yearly exam/shots appointment in a couple weeks, so I'm definitely going to bring this up to the vet. She'll probably just suggest that I keep giving him 1/2 pill every other day to keep things from going downhill, as she's already told me that some dogs seem to need that.

 

UGH!

 

James is back on Simplicef for another staph infection. The vet thinks it's related to the issue that's causing his mucousy, loose poops but basically said to just pick another food and try again. Terrific.