Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
My small dog just had a small drop of brownish red blood come out of her rectum, and so I took her out to potty and she had a softer stool than usual, but still solidly formed. My boyfriend gave her a small piece of pizza this morning, and after she had a gooey stool but, obviously things were more firm this evening. I’m taking her to the vet tomorrow to get one of her shots updated, but do I need to find an emergency vet now, even if she’s acting completely normal?
Yesterday he kinda cried out when someone touched his one side of the face! But we checked no marks or cuts. Well he seemed ok after a few hours after then today he seemed really different a lot calmer didn’t wanna get out of bed his usual normal things he did during the morning wasn’t the same! He then starting to walk funny now he refuses to walk he won’t come upstairs unless he’s carried!He usually runs around when husband gets home but he stayed on the couch wouldn’t move I had to kinda help him off the couch to even go near my husband but he still didn’t act the same! Even when my son coming home from school he’s always waiting happily at the door but he just lays on the couch! Also he’s been shaking here and there! He’s eating now but wasn’t he’s drinking and peeing! He hasn’t went number two today except this morning a little! He was running around fine yesterday just minus the touching his face a few time! Other then that he was ok ! It’s scaring me. then today he seems not to be getting better, he starting crying he wont stand up. he does still use the bathroom and hes drinking!
Hi, I have 2 dogs, a 13yr old Sheprador and a 7yr old Staffordshire bull terrier. They both have great temperaments generally speaking. Today I brought home my new puppy after waiting 6 weeks for him to be ready! My Sheprador is fine with him and just lets him get on with things, however my Staffy is a little hostile. Initially he sniffed his back end and then his face, walked away and left him to it. Now his hackles go up and he runs away in order to avoid him and growls if he doesn’t want to move but the puppy has come up to see him. I have followed Cesar Millan’s method of training with my Staffy but it is so hard to find general advice anywhere. My question is how do I deal with this? Do I make my Staffy stay in the same room as the puppy, or do I let him have his own space and get used to the puppy in his own time? All of my animals have always got on but the Staff was my latest addition until today (I had the Staffy from 8 weeks old too). Thanks!
Thanks for your reply. This is the line I was thinking of taking so it has confirmed everything for me. The only thing I can’t do and am desperate to do is to take them for a walk together as the puppy hasn’t had his injections as yet. Thank you so much for your advice I shall certainly keep this in mind whilst settling everybody in!
Please no negativity here. Let me explain the situation. I live with roommates and I have 2 females and she has 2 males, I had my females before she got her males. Anyways, we had separated the males from the females at the end of May. I don’t know how I missed all the signs, denial? I don’t know but it wasn’t until July 5 when I noticed that her teats were getting bigger and realized she was pregnant and didn’t know how that could have happened as we had separated them and the reason why we separated them was because we were going to get them fixed through a program but they couldn’t do it until the middle of this month so we thought it’d be best to separate them. Anyways, at around 1130pm on July 13th I heard a lot of cries coming from outside as if to say an animal was in distressed, so I went outside to check on my two and they were both acting very excited and my pregnant girl disappeared into the back yard where it was dark, so I grabbed a flash light and followed her and that’s when I realized she was in labor, she was panting heavily and found herself a spot.
So I picked her up and took her into a bigger spot where I can keep an eye on her and I waited with her. At 1:30am July 14, she had her puppy but only 1 so I thought okay, we got lucky and only have to find a home for 1 puppy.
Now today she is still crying and panting and keeps licking her vulva, is that really normal? I’m just very concerned with her and right now she is crying too. I need advice please.
By the way my female dog is a white german shepherd/lab mixed and the father of the puppy is a boxer/german shepherd mixed
please get her to a vet. now.
Sorry it’s been forever ago since I posted here. Had my hands full. Ok, I took Chloe to the vet and they told me she was fine even t he though she wasn’t acting herself.
She had only 1 puppy, I have an appointment to have my other dog and my roommate male dogs as well but of course they won’t fix the mama dog until her puppy is weaned at 8 weeks and everything. Chloe seems to be doing much better though
I will be keeping the little guy as his mom refuses to feed him anymore and I have been bottle feeding him since he was about a week and a half and he is now 3 weeks old as of yesterday. I just haven’t decided on a name for him yet.
I am adding this special little guy to our family, his name is Buddy and he is so advance for his little age, it is so cute and adorable. I just love him and he is an awesome addition and his mama has a spay date as well.
Over the weekend I had to leave my 4.5 month old puppy at a local kennel while I was away. Today I picked him up and brought him home, and he seemed very tired. I assumed he had played a lot and ignored it.
After going to a walk, I have realized that my pup keeps attempting to urinate, but only manages to get a few drops out. We got home and he drank 3 full cups, 24oz of water instantly. About a half hour later he was peeing great and back to 100%
Now, about 2-3 hours after giving him the water he is back to trying to pee with nothing coming out, due to his bladder being empty. What is wrong with him, I took him to the vet but he didn’t do anything or say anything for help, told me he was fine and all test results turned up normal.
My cats neck was Swallen and now Postles coming out in the holes the size of a BB what should I do
Sorry AutoCorrect. My cats neck was swollen and today I noticed that there was Puss coming out and the swelling was gone but there was a hole in her neck the size of a BB anything I should do
This puppy is the last of a large litter, he was one of the only ones who would keep a clean crate/puppy pen. When the ground froze he discovered the practice of eating poo when he was outside in our fenced in yard. He was neutered a week and a half ago and we thought it would be an opportune time to remedy the poo eating issue since we had to leash walk him. He now refuses to poo outside, we do take him out every 1-2 hours and give a high value treat for pottying outside. He will go in his crate immediately after coming in and will immediately eat it. It almost seems that since I won’t allow him to eat what is in the yard he is just going to make his own snack. I will add that he is a very quick learner, he learned sit and down in an evening. He is very driven by treats and praise. He will urinate outside and looks to me for a treat and praise as he is going. He does not like to be in a messy crate, we know almost the moment it is soiled as he barks/whines and we clean it up. He will only poo in his crate, I do tether housetraining pups to me to eliminate the possibility of accidents (I try to set them up for success) and he has not accidents in the house. He will poo in his crate once I have exited the room where his crate is. I of course can smell the moment he goes, I run in the room and catch him eating it. I have gone as far as letting him out to potty in a pen thinking maybe he does not want to potty with an audience, I watch from a nearby slider but have only “caught” him pooing outside twice in a week and a half, both times I was able to deliver praise and a high value treat as soon as he was done. Lastly his crate is appropriately sized for him, it is a wire folding style crate that is just tall enough for him, he has enough room to lay, stretch out and turn around. This is something I would like to rectify as I know it will be a potential problem in a forever home.
Your puppy is just being a ……puppy! Sometimes the art of pet parenting is like the TV show Survivor–Outwit, Outsmart, Outlast.
Be diligent in cleaning up after your puppy poo’s. Do not give him the chance to play with or eat poo. Try placing the puppy on a leash when you take him outside to relieve himself, and do not allow him to inspect his poo. Distract him from by calling him to you, and when he responds appropriately, reward him with a treat and verbal encouragement (go crazy and act like he is the BEST PUPPY ON THE PLANET!) and then take him inside before you go back to pick it up.
If he hates poo’ing on the leash this is where the “Outlast” portion of the program comes into play. You just have to wander around the yard with him until he does it.
Some have found that adding meat tenderizer or natural additives to the puppy’s food makes a big difference, since these additives cause the stool to have a particularly unappealing smell that will discourage him from eating it. If you cannot immediately clean up the stool, or if there are some old stool piles in your yard, you can spray it with hot pepper sauce or mouth wash. It is more effective to just clean up after the puppy.
A good resource for puppy training is The Complete Idiots Guide to Dog Training. You can check it out of your local library. Good luck!!
Walking helps the bowels move. How about taking him on a walk when he comes out of his crate, and after he eats his meals. The walking will get him eliminating and you will have him on a leash to control his movements while you pick up the poop. This may work faster/better than turning him out in the yard and waiting, or wandering around the yard while he decides if he is going to poop or not.
It may also be so exciting to be out and about that he forgets he wants to poop inside where he can snack.
Good luck!
Thank you for the suggestions. I actually had given more info in the details when I posted that I am doing all of these. This isn’t a typical housebreaking issue but more of a compulsion to eat stool. The issue of eliminating in his crate began AFTER I restricted him from eating poo outside. In the past year alone I have fostered 30 puppies, all were well on their way to being housetrained when they were adopted. As a board member of a local rescue and seasoned foster I provide support to adoptive families on the subject of house training. My approach to house training is to set a dog up for success eliminating the possibility for accidents and rewarding appropriate elimination. I vary my method according to the dog as not all dogs respond to the same method. I have had great success with training dogs who have come from horrendous living conditions, spending months in their own waste.
There are products out there to make the poo taste bad and most of them (I believe) have the main ingredient of MSG, which is the same thing as meat tenderizer. Dr. Foster and Smith has a product called Dis-Taste, but I’m sure there are others. If a dose of MSG isn’t harmful, give it a shot!
Hello Jennifer. My Great Dane did this and then my Golden Retriever starting doing it. Learned behavior? I agree with Dr. Mag’s suggestions. I taught the leave it command and do not leave them unattended when it is ‘potty time.’ I tried to read a lot of remedies for this issue. What I found was mixed reviews on the food additives to deter the poop eating. I read about nutritional deficits and remedies. What I read and think was going on with mine was most dogs like to keep their play and living areas clean. Sometimes when a mother has a new litter, she will demonstrate this issue to keep the area clean for her pups. I too have a fenced in back yard which doubles as their play area when I cannot take them out in the unfenced area. I taught the leave it command and keep the area clean of feces. Somehow, imo, your dog has associated the crate pooping as safe but then cleans the area since it is his ‘safe spot.’ It took a few weeks to dissuade my dogs from doing this. Still, if I am not diligent about watching over them and keeping the area clean, the issue will persist. Your reaction whether positive or negative outside, may be influencing what the dog believes to be ok so he returns to his ‘safe’ area and only poops when he thinks you are not paying attention (because of your reactoin?) then gobbles the tasty morsel up for maybe cleaning? I found with my dogs when there is an unwanted behavior/issue the best reaction is no reaction. Remember, running to the crate to stop him may be interpreted as him doing something wrong so he tries to ‘destroy’ the evidence. It is learned somehow.
An anecdote. My very sensitive Great Dane when she was young had what I perceived to be separation anxiety when my wife and I would leave. We would come home and rugs would be chewed, pillows destroyed, etc. I would come in and immediately react, negatively. I posted on here and in short, the response was it was my fault. I was at first offended thinking I was a great doggy parent, but then I thought about it. My Dane associated our leaving with her getting negatively in trouble when we came home. This caused her great stress and her acting out was a reaction to fear and anticipation. I quickly changed my behavior. When I came home I would simply clean up what was destroyed and before leaving I would remove anything I could. I did not react. She would cower in her chair while I cleaned. I simply went about my business without noticing her. When I was done, once she came out of her chair, I acknowledged her and said hello. It was my responsibility to break the association, not the behavior. It took a little time, but we became successful. Now when we leave, we make it no big deal. When we come home, it is not a big deal. She isn’t afraid of us leaving and her ‘just’ getting in trouble when we come home. We no longer come home to destroyed items or a fearful dog. I personified her hiding in her chair with her knowing she did something wrong. Nope. I taught her that when we come home I would yell at her so she anticipated that with great stress and fear.
Maybe, without knowing it, we teach our dogs to do negative things. The hard part is realizing and accepting it then correcting OUR behavior.
Good Luck!!!
” The issue of eliminating in his crate began AFTER I restricted him from eating poo outside.” Maybe he learned it is not ok to poop outside?
Hello people of Pawbly, specifically friendly vets.
My dog is not doing well and I need some advice.
I just moved from a house with a doggie door that allowed for bathroom time, any time. Now I am working on a schedule and trying to get into a routine with my pup (2 y/o red heeler/terrier mix). For the most part it’s been fine. I have him in the kennel when I’m at work from 6-2 Monday through Friday and only live 5 minutes from work. I take him out right before I leave And right after. He sleeps with me at night.
Last Friday, I took him out before going to bed, waited forever but no number 2. I woke up the next morning and there was crap- a LOT of crap- more than I thought caninely possible, all over the floor of my room. Normal color, texture. I blamed myself for not waiting long enough and let it go.
So last night, same routine, didn’t crap. I ran him around for 20 minutes trying to jostle whatever loose. Nada. So I figured he could wait until morning. I was awakened at 3 am by horrible, hot steaming dog land mines all over My bedroom floor again. Same color and texture as normal.
So I out him in his crate For the rest of the night Because I think since he’s a den animal He won’t go crappin it up in there. I take him out before work And come home to a crime scene.
In his crate, he is huddled in the corner, and this wave of old sour milk or something hits me and there are puddles of yellow liquid that I’m assuming is crap since I didn’t smell bike and there are other, little piles of similarly colored solid poo elsewhere. He hadn’t eaten since the land mines the night before.
I take him outside and he pisses and squirts out a little more diarrhea and keep straining for another 2 minutes but nothing else comes out. There is a little blood now on his backside from straining so hard.
I googled it, and it said right now it’s acute, if it persists, to take him in. He seems in good spirits except was ashamed when I came in and as I was cleaning up after him. I was going to feed him but Google told me not to for the day.
I should also note: at my previous residence I lived with an elderly relative who used her early stage dementia to feed him whatever the Hell she wanted. “Oh I forgot you told me not to”- Fritos. Peanut butter sandwiches, leftover foods. And now he is only eating the expensive all natural food I give him.
So I don’t know what to do. Is it an adjustment period to the new place (only been here 2 weeks) is it the change of diet? Is it my bathroom schedule? Is it stress from being alone all day?
Any advice would be fantastic. Thanks guys and gals.
Zoey has been doing this since she became older. We now roll up all rugs, clear countertops, remove plush toys, let them out repeatedly before leaving. This happens whether we are gone for 2hrs or 6hrs. We understand it is probably the anxiety that causes her to urinate and defecate. We also understand the behaviors are related to the same. But it is so disheartening and honestly, frustrating, when we return home to find what she has done. We are now trying the wall plug phermones, trying not to make it a big deal when we leave or come home and most importantly, trying not to react when we discover her latest destruction.
To make it worse, my 1 male who is dominant will mark her urinated spots if we do not clean and neutralize it sufficiently… which we always try to do. It seems the issue is cascading and we are at wits end.
Any thoughts?
Sounds good and thanks! We will setup an appointment with you to get a general checkup and talk about behaviorists.
Brian and Ericka
I have a feral cat that has given birth to 5 kittens in a old shed out back. This was 5 or 6 weeks ago.
There was another cat that is much more tame that also gave birth to 4 kittens in our yard leaves. These kittens and the mother were brought inside about 1 – 2 weeks old. They were exposed to people and are pretty tame. The mother comes in and out by the cat window. We did this so that we could possibly find homes for them.
We would also like to do the same with the other 5 kittens but the mother is very feral. The 2 mother cats I believe were from the same litter and live in the woods out back.
The cats in the back began to escape and wonder. 2 were abandoned and we thought we would try to incorporate them with the other litter. It was easy and we have made sure the other mother is not overwhelmed. They immediately began to eat solid moistened kitten food. They are a little older then the others. They are all now very friendly with humans and again hoping to find them homes. They are all in a childs play pen, modified, doing well and all beginning to try solid food. Mother is still coming in to check them and feed them. Sometimes we have to remove the 2 "outside" cats so that the mother is not overwhelmed and the cats not really eating solid food have milk, the "outside" cats are at least a week older and stronger.
So.. We happened to come across the other 3 kittens under a palate of landscaping stone. The mother was still around and had not abandoned them like we had thought.
We moved them back into the sheltered shed. They hissed a lot but once we were handling them they were ok. We have been going out there and holding them whenever the mother is not around cause she gets bent out of shape and attacks us.
FINALLY THE QUESTION.
We would like to remove the kittens in the shed and put them in a crate to acclimate them to humans in hope of finding them homes. They are all very beautiful and unique kittens. So we have a separate crate for these cats and I am pretty sure they have learned to eat solid food cause the other 2 from this took to it and had learned. We did not want to put all 9 kittens in the same pen now cause we did not want to overwhelm the one mother, what are your thoughts? Should we put them in a crate where the mother cant get to them and feed them food an water, making sure they do eat?
Any thoughts?
Also, we would like to trap and get this feral mother fixed so there are no more kittens from her, any thoughts about how we should do this or a place that could do this inexpensively? When can we do this? Did not want to do it while she was nursing.
Same goes with the other mother cat. When can we get her fixed, how old should her kittens be and when can we give them away?
I live in Delta PA area.
Thank you
Hello Gary,
Thank you for your question, and thank you for being so proactive and compassionate to these kitties.
I think that in general you have a very good plan and it sounds like you are doing everything just as I would recommend. I think that 9 kittens is too much for one mom if they are all nursing (it sounds like they are not though). A mom that has too many kittens nursing can get hypocalcemia (we call it eclampsia). This can be life threatening.
By 4 weeks old the kittens should be able to be transitioned to kitten food. I would recommend leaving dry kitten food, wet kitten food, or softened dry food with kitten formula out every 4 hours. If the kittens continue to nurse I would start to rotate them so they have more individual time with you and a better ability to be encouraged to eat.
We estimate the age of kittens by one pound per month of age up to about 7 months old. A one pound kitten is about 4 weeks old.
If a kitten is not socialized and tamed by about 6 to 8 weeks old it gets increasingly more difficult. Spend as much time and attention that you can with them before this age.
Please be warned that unvaccinated cats and kittens can carry rabies. It can be deadly to them and to you.
I would also recommend that you contact your veterinarian and any local rescue groups for help in humanely trapping, spaying, vaccinating, de-worming, feline leukemia and feline immuno-deficiency testing, and microchipping. Many of the non-profits or rescues have low cost options for these.
I have included information about some local groups below.
Of course, if you would like to talk to me, or anyone else at Jarrettsville Vet about any of this you can find me at the link below.
For help on affordable pet care;
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html
Alley Cat Allies;
http://www.alleycat.org/
Animal Rescue in New Freedom Pa;
http://www.animalrescueinc.org/
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com
Hello Carrie, there is obviously something very wrong with your dog. We can’t tell you what but he needs to see a Vet urgently.
It could possibly be a toxin or poison the way it started on his face and has spread….though it could be something else entirely.
You need to take him to a Vet urgently. Someone on here mentioned Care Credit perhaps you could try them…but this is an emergency it seems your dog is getting worse and needs urgent treatment.