![]() Bear in mind that the blood may not be red. You should keep a sample (sorry!) to show to your vet. Blood in the stool – this may be caused by anything from a parasite (such as a worm) to a stool that is too firm.Very hard – if your dog is on a processed food diet then the cause is probably one of the ingredients included to keep the stools firm: it is not unknown for dog food companies to use sawdust for this purpose! If your dog is on a raw food diet, a hard stool is usually the result of a healthy meal of bone.Again, you should probably discuss with your vet. Foamy – could be an infection in the intestine or colon as a result of undigested fat.A greasy, sour-smelling stool may be an indication of an underlying pancreatic issue. Greasy – when dogs have a pancreatic problem, they are unable to digest fat efficiently.Light-coloured – especially if greyish may be caused by a liver or pancreatic problem, so worth consulting your vet.Greyish – usually the result of eating grain and/or processed food.Very dark or black – caused by a high percentage of meat in the diet, especially liver and other offal.If you see a dog pulling its bottom along the floor it could well be because its anal glands are causing it a problem. This may cause discomfort as the full anal gland pushes on the anus. When the dog’s stools are soft, they may not exert enough pressure on the glands, which then may fail to empty. These excrete a particular smell when dogs move their bowels, thus allowing them to mark territory and so identify other dogs.ĭog faeces are normally firm, and the anal glands usually empty when the dog defecates, lubricating the anal opening in the process. Why? In the area under the tail, dogs have two anal glands. It is important that your dog passes relatively firm (even quite hard) stools on a regular basis. This is vegetable matter the dog hasn’t digested and it helps to stimulate the mechanical function of the intestine. It is also normal to see the remains of vegetables in the stool. This is the old mucous membrane, which the intestine sheds every few months. It is normal to find a greyish bag of slime around your dog’s stool from time to time. If you want to firm your dog’s stools up, the simplest way is to add bone. The more meat in the diet, the softer and darker it tends to be. Its colour will be determined by the dog’s diet: anything from a mid-brown to nearly black is usual. Normal? What’s normal?Ī normal stool should be soft, yet firm. Dogs on a raw food diet produce much less excrement, and what little there is of it biodegrades quickly and doesn’t smell. ![]() Why? Because it is an important indicator of your dog’s health.īefore we tackle the nitty-gritty (as it were) of this subject, some good news. There’s no point in beating about the bush: this article is about your dog’s poo. A few words about something no one likes to mention ![]()
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