First time puppy owner here. This is an odd question but, should I be worried that some of Larks poo's are sort of lose? She's had a stool sample tested at the vet last week and they said everything looks normal. She had some diarrhea 2 days ago but seemed normal the next day and her poo was normal. Then tonight she pooped 3 times (usually she will only go 1 or 2 times) and 2 were sort of runny again. I just want to know if I'm being overly concerned or not. I feel like a worried mom over here!
Don't worry, you are in good company here. Lots of pondering over poo on the boards! Puppies tummies are tricky things sometimes. Have you switched food lately? Sometimes that can cause loose stools. Or over feeding. Or something "tasty" she ate while you weren't looking. If she seems well otherwise I wouldn't be too concerned but definitely keep an eye on it and if you feel there is something going on that just isn't resolving another chat with the vet doesn't hurt.
Puréed (cooked/mashed) pumpkin can help a lot of times to firm things up if there's no underlying medical condition which needs vet attention. Runny poos and the occasional vomit are just part of life with a dog - your own stomach will get used to it (eventually!). When they are little it's more concerning as they can get dehydrated very quickly, so I'm all in favour of erring on the side of too many trips to the vet vs. letting it go on for too long. Monitoring activity levels and gum color is also helpful - if you know what she's like when feeling good, it's easier to spot when she's feeling punky (and not just tired out from playing, for example). But hopefully she'll be feeling fine again for her next trip outside...and congratulations on your new puppy!
It always makes me smile when our American/Canadian members say this. Pumpkin just isn't something we're used to seeing on shelves in the UK (or in Andorra or Spain). Around Halloween, sure, but the rest of the year? Er, no. I imagine the big supermarkets may have tinned pumpkin on their "international" shelves (it's been a long time since I've browsed in a UK supermarket, vile places) but it's not really something we "do" Butternut squash and sweet potatoes, sure.
Good point! I actually thought about that before replying, but I thought @Maddison "sounded" like a fellow Yank (mom vs mum?), so I was maybe safe with the pumpkin tip. When I came over from the US, I had to figure out other things for Brogan's tummy during our travels. Steel-cut oatmeal slow cooked into a sludge seemed to work really well and I could find it anywhere. And in Italy for some weird reason they nearly always have chunks of fresh cut up pumpkin in the produce section. I have no idea what Italians use it for (soup?) but at least I could get it. Otherwise, like you say - pumpkins only at Halloween (and then only as a novelty)!
Or Dubai as coincidentally I've been looking for this this week for a recipe....I had to look long and hard and when I did find somewhere that stocked it it was in the baking section by the pie filling!
She seems completely normal, energetic and playfull today so I'm sure she's fine. I haven't changed foods or increased the amount I'm giving her recently so I'm not sure of the cause. I'll try some pumpkin or sweet potato if it happens again. How much would you reccomend giving? She is 12 weeks old today and at her last vet check she weighed 10 pounds but I'm sure she's a little hevier now
Had a hard time finding canned pumpkin at my US supermarket! Because I was looking in "canned vegetables," and it was in the baking section. I've just been giving a tbsp or so. She gobbles it right up. We've had trouble with runny poop off and on; I am thinking it may be chicken in our case. I was giving them my son's chicken scraps pureed up in their Kongs and that seems to be the change that made it worse, here.
This fecal scoring chart (poop chart) might help, I used it with our Vets when Oban had extremely bad diarrhoea, so we could be sure we all meant the same thing by "loose" and "runny." Oh gee, sorry if this comes up very large right in front of your face. Today it did for me, YUCK http://www.foothillpethospital.com/images/fecal-scoring.jpg I don't worry about one or two of any of the higher numbers. It's not unusual for the later poops of the day to be a higher number than the first, especially when on a walk and meeting other dogs and playing, a bit of excitement will do that. Sweet potato has SIX times the amount of fibre that pumpkin does so you could use much less. Introducing too much fibre at once is likely to make things worse, looser stool. Now for a bit of silliness. On this side of the pond we call the stuff POOP. Over the pond you tend to call it POO. Now, is it just me, or does the second word seem to connote a greater degree of softness than the first word which ends in a nice firming repeat of the first letter?
Glad to hear she feeling herself again today! I've not had such a tiny pup in a very long while, so I'll leave the "how much" question to others.
Just you, yup! Although I pronounce "poop" differently to you lot, too. If you take the "pu" from "put" and then put the p on the end, so the "oo" is much shorter. rather than
When Jesse had some loose stool. I stopped the kibble and made some rice, chicken breast with sweet potatoes. He loves it and his stool was normal and 24 hrs. I kept him on it for another 2 days and slowly changed him back to his Kibble, no problems since.
