poo questions

[alicia723]

hi!
i'm a new puppy/frenchie owner. I have been trying to read through other stories and different health issues but i feel so overwhelmed! My little guy, Curtis, is 5 months now. When we first got him he was having problems with diarrhea. When we saw a drop of light colored blood at the end of one bm we took him to the vet right away. She said the blood was probably from straining. She took a stool sample, put him on an antibiotic, i/d prescription diet food, and gave me a deworming pill to give him just in case. the poo came back negative and the antibiotic and food seemed to help. His poo was nice and firm(most of the time). no diarrhea. eventually it came to switching off of the prescription diet food and we started feeding him nature's diet. his stools were a bit on the soft side so i decided to start reading up on good foods for french bulldogs. Now he is eating Orijen. His poop started getting firm again for a while but it's so unpredictable! Now I've noticed that in the morning his poo starts out firm and then throughout the day it gets softer. Sometimes its just firm at first and then gets softer toward the end of his bm. Sometimes there's a bit of what looks like mucus? :eek: The other day he actually had a bit of diarrhea, but it was only once. maybe it was something he ate? I don't know. He was just at the vet the other day to get his vaccines and have a check up and she said he looked great. Just when i think he's getting better the poo acts up again.

[gmacleod]

Now I've noticed that in the morning his poo starts out firm and then throughout the day it gets softer. Sometimes its just firm at first and then gets softer toward the end of his bm.

Within reason (and notwithstanding the mucous), that is normal. Exercise is a bowel stimulant, and it is very normal for dogs to have firmer stools in the morning than later in the day when they've been more active. In a great many cases, dogs who poop more than once on walks will got from firm to mushy in the space of less than an hour (same with running around at dog parks, etc). Is there any correlation with activity/exercise that you can see with your dog?

Another thing you might consider is the amount of food that you feed. Just a little too much can also affect stool formation, so it may be worth experimenting a little with the amount to see if that makes any difference.

[alicia723]

thank you! I'm glad that it seems pretty normal. Curtis is my first puppy and i guess I'm a bit nervous about getting things right.
I'm feeding him 3 times a day, about a half a cup each...so about 1 1/2- 1 3/4 cups a day. Does that seem ok? I had to cut back because he put on a bit of weight and and seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing at night. Now he sleeps soundly. :)
He does poo a lot when he goes. I haven't noticed any mucous in the past few days, though. I just get nervous when it gets a bit watery at the end. Maybe I'm just being a nervous mother? :o

[gmacleod]

I would have thought that 1.5 - 1.75 cups per day of Orijen actually sounds like quite a lot... That is about the lower end of what I'd expect the average boxer-sized dog to be consuming (which means a dog roughtly double to triple the weight of a similarly average adult French bulldog). How does it fit with the feeding guideline given by the manufacturer? If it is at or near the upper end of the range recommended for his age/size, then I'd suggest cutting it back a little and see if that makes a difference to his stools.

[alicia723]

It's actually the lowest amount listed for a puppy his size and age. Actually, I feed him a bit less than what it says on the bag too. I get it from a farm, and the man told me to feed a little less than the amount it tells you to. I guess i could try cutting back a bit more? I just don't want him to be underweight. He weighs around 19 pounds and the vet said he looks great. I told her that i had already cut back and she said that i really didnt need to since he's still a growing puppy. But you think it might help the poo situation then maybe i should?

[BrindleMama]

Try giving him a couple of tablespoons of pure,100% pumpkin every day for about 4-5 days. It worked for us.

[dreambig]

I too have a 5 month old Frenchie male who has diarrhea, soft poop with some blood at the end sometimes. His attitude has always been happy and playful, but this is getting frustrating. I am feeding him 1/2 cup morning and evening of California Natural Lamb & rice. Yes, he does have regular poop as well, but most of the time it's soft. I've been thinking about adding a probiotic to his food, would that help? I've taken in 2 different stool samples to the vet both negative! I recently put him on a bland diet per my vet and he STILL had soft, diarrhea on that too! I gave him, boiled ground turkey, chicken, rice, some yogurt & pumpkin puree and he was always hungry on it. So i just added back in some of his dog food with rice & yogurt. Am I just being an overly worried mom or should I be worried about something else? I still think it could be coccidia.... but i'm no vet.