Please help! Bulldog with issues toileting

[Stacey Phillips]

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Hi all we got our bull dog 2 weeks ago 8 months old and he appears to be incontinent with poo! it’s just falls out
Vet started him on antibiotics and probiotic which worked slightly because previously it was wet and so smelly but now we are are a kinetic sand consistency. Still didn’t know what he was doing but was more solid.
Food he was in wet and biscuits but we know just give a moist and meaty biscuit, vets asked us to do scrambled egg every 4 hrs till we see them!
Consulted with private vet and pdsa and pdsa think may be neurological and nothing they can do. Not sure how often I can clean up mess in a home with 3 kids. He has no idea he’s pooing and doesn’t squat earlier he walked towards the door as we saw some coming out but think it was a coincidence.
With wees he drips a lot the norm when excited or we leave the room which we are working on but he will wee little drops throughout the day just walking too. He has gone for purposeful wees but not many assuming because he’s empty from all the drops! Any ideas or experience of this ? Got pdsa and private vets this week again! Is there anything I can buy or could it be a training issue?

He’s had no vaccines (previous owner didn’t get them but still walked him) but vet won’t start them till we get the all clear so we’ve not walked him and stick to the garden. I’m So desperate to help him after not a great start in life he’s a happy dog and enjoys a fuss but he also can’t cope being alone we’ve took it in turns to sleep in the same room downstairs. Considering crate training but he does poo when he sleeps. Please help!

 

[Tinytom]

Poor boy ....have you considered feeding him a raw diet see if that helps with smaller poos ....did the previous owner tell you about all of these problems ....good luck at the vets ....
If you felt you couldnt or afford to pay for treatment he may need ...prodogs direct (a fabulous dog rescue ) may be able to help they take dogs with lots of medical issues ....
Let us know how you get on

 

[JudyN]

He's a lucky lad to have found you. I don't know about the medical side of things, but wondering about 'management' options, basically to make life easier for you. I second Tinytom's suggestion of a raw diet to try to firm up the poos and make them easier to pick up - if the vet gives him an 'all clear' then there's also other dietary approaches to help firm it that would be worth trying.

Does he have a routine, a time when he is more likely to poo? If you can predict this, it might help to manage it. If this is going to be a long-term problem, you might also need to restrict him to an easily cleaned area, maybe even a pen covered in towels/pads, for 'downtime'.

 

[Stacey Phillips]

Poor boy ....have you considered feeding him a raw diet see if that helps with smaller poos ....did the previous owner tell you about all of these problems ....good luck at the vets ....
If you felt you couldnt or afford to pay for treatment he may need ...prodogs direct (a fabulous dog rescue ) may be able to help they take dogs with lots of medical issues ....
Let us know how you get on

thank you for your reply that’s a good shout we’d hate to part with him my 3 boys love him! I don’t know much about raw food diet will do some research!
We’re hoping with using stair gates and a crate we can keep it manageable home wise!
She was very vague and we still haven’t been able to recover his vet history but hopefully getting to the bottom of it!

 

[Tinytom]

You sound a wonderful person...please ask anything here ..there are quite a few of us that feed our dogs Raw ...natures menu is readily available in most pet shops and is a ready made food ...
Keep us updated

 

[JudyN]

You sound a wonderful person...

Seconded

We have a post on raw feeding here: Raw feeding

 

[Stacey Phillips]

He's a lucky lad to have found you. I don't know about the medical side of things, but wondering about 'management' options, basically to make life easier for you. I second Tinytom's suggestion of a raw diet to try to firm up the poos and make them easier to pick up - if the vet gives him an 'all clear' then there's also other dietary approaches to help firm it that would be worth trying.

Does he have a routine, a time when he is more likely to poo? If you can predict this, it might help to manage it. If this is going to be a long-term problem, you might also need to restrict him to an easily cleaned area, maybe even a pen covered in towels/pads, for 'downtime'.

Thanks that’s what we’re hoping to do with crate and gates. When we do the school run if he’s inside it’s worse like he nervously shits because of sept station anxiety? I wfh so I’m only out for 30 mins doing the school run! If I go the toilet at home he follows me but when it’s just us he’s perfect at home his bum is loose though and is leaving more residue everywhere so hoping this shows he has some control but maybe bad training? Just feel like we have so much work to do and unsure where to begin because it seems so intense. Like I knew a dog would be hard work but it’s been intense cleaning.

He goes more in the morning but because he’s had no vacs we can’t walk him yet our vet is reluctant to vacc yet incase other issues.
The poo coming out of him is small bits throughout the day no real schedule but the wetter it is messier it is!
Feel like if his poo was more solid he may make more effort to pass it?

 

[Stacey Phillips]

You sound a wonderful person...please ask anything here ..there are quite a few of us that feed our dogs Raw ...natures menu is readily available in most pet shops and is a ready made food ...
Keep us updated

Thanks Tom will check it out we will see what PDSA say we registered him with private vets and PDSA because we qualify for low cost treatment and though anything emergency would be cheaper this way. Definitely not wanting to give up on him like previous owner did!
Worried if he has issues in his record insurance won’t cover! We took out insurance based on limited info we had? Not sure where we stand there

 

[Tinytom]

It sounds as if he has no control over his bowels ....i expect his seperation anxiety is down to the changes in his life and what maybe going on inside his body

 

[JudyN]

Is there any way you can avoid having to leave him when you do the school run, to help with his separation anxiety? The best approach is always to work within their comfort zone, which might start as walking out the front door and coming straight in again. But I imagine you're stuck at the moment, as you can't take him with you and you can't get someone in to dog sit because of lockdown. You could try a longer-lasting chew that might keep him occupied for a bit.

 

[Stacey Phillips]

Is there any way you can avoid having to leave him when you do the school run, to help with his separation anxiety? The best approach is always to work within their comfort zone, which might start as walking out the front door and coming straight in again. But I imagine you're stuck at the moment, as you can't take him with you and you can't get someone in to dog sit because of lockdown. You could try a longer-lasting chew that might keep him occupied for a bit.

not really because we’re in a Different village to the school so kids can’t walk themselves. Yes I’ve been reading about doing it at his pace but just not possible to be here that much and never leave so we can do it at short intervals and even a doggy daycare wouldn’t take him with the bowel issues and being unvaccinated? Otherwise I could arrange a dog Walker or something at that time maybe so he was distracted. maybe once we start walking Itll ease off as less energy?

Is they’re any treats for distraction etc anyone would recommend that are best for his poo issues? We tried a Kong with cheese as he likes cheese. We only have him cheddar to disguise his antibiotics we thought the kong with dog cheese would be a good distraction but made his soiling very wet.

 

[JudyN]

Hmmm, possibly frozen yoghurt in a kong? I'm not well up on long-lasting treats as my dog's a guarder. Could the cheese you're giving him upset his tum?

Chances are things will get better when you can walk him, as a good walk gets the digestion going and hopefully he'd empty himself out before you got home.

I did wonder if nappies might help at times, but it's probably easier to clean poo off the carpet than off a dog's bum when you change him

 

[Tinytom]

Try using goats cheese ...milk and yoghurt as dogs can digest this easily ...cows milk can upset some dogs tummys ....

 

[Tinytom]

Adding cooked butternut squash to his food may help firm up his poo too ....
We fostered an unvaccinated dog that couldnt be vaccinated due to health issues ...we still walked her we just made sure she didnt sniff the ground ....i know not ideal but she was allowed to go out for a walk ...

 

[Stacey Phillips]

Hi vets findings were Nerve damage to his left rear side. Left rear legs unresponsive to the reflex test. Anus muscles not very responsive. 3 diff vets looked at him, Could be injury or hereditary, She said there’s a massive possibility he won’t get better

What do we even do now? We can go to a specialist in Birmingham that will do mri etc etc and lots of fees I’m sure but vet said today this will diagnose only and not change anything ??

 

[Tinytom]

It will be making sure he has a good quality of life...so they should be able to vaccinate him and exercise may help his muscle control...it will be about wether you feel you want to clean up after a dog that may not get any control over his bowel movements
If it all seems daunting..dont feel awful there are people that can help and as i have said if you didn't think you could keep him Prodogs direct are amazing people xxx

 

[JudyN]

Hugs. And chocolate, cake, wine, gin......

I wonder if his tummy issues are aggravated by the lack of sensation he has, and maybe inability to push? I think you need to concentrate on three things for now:

1) Getting him vaccinated so he can go out for walks, which may help.
2) Sorting his diet to get his poos as good as they can be.
3) Finding ways to cope in the short term, whether it be pen, newspapers all over the floor, even an outside run.

In the long term, you do need to consider if you can do this for however many years he will live and if not, whether there are any other options that you would be OK with.