Little to no bowel control....

[gsdlove212]

My heart dog, Shadow is 10 years old. She will be 11 in March, she is in overall good health. However she has had some weakness in her back end as well as arthritis that she gets Metcam as needed. She does suffer from seasonal allergies as well. However, our biggest problem is that she is becoming increasingly more and more unable to control her BM's. I know she feels horrible about making a mess, even though I just clean it up while she goes outside. Is there anything out there that can help with this issue? Supplements? Anything? Oh and her poo has been a bit softer lately and that makes it even worse (harder to control).

[cassadee7]

I am interested in this as well. My (nonGSD) dog is 11 and this year has become semi-incontinent with the bowels as well. I hope someone has some ideas to help your Shadow and maybe my Speedy as well.

[marksteven]

When mine was about that age (11) and had arthritic problems the vet prescribed Tramadol which helped the pain but caused the same problem you are experiencing.

[gsdlove212]

Mark, she hasn't needed the Metcam at all in over 3 months. So I don't think that the meds have anything to do with the issue. Thanks for the thought though.

[Raziel]

I dont have an answer, but Im sorry.
I heard pumpkin works both ways.
Maybe harden up her stool?

[rjvamp]

I'm very sorry to hear you are going through this. My older shepherd / malamute, Lobo, got to where he couldn't walk on his back legs...then we changed his diet and that helped. Then we slowly started adding in Metcam, Tramadol and Gluc/Chondrotin as needed. Have you checked the side effect of Metacam? http://www.1800petmeds.com/Metacam-prod10588.html

"What are the side effects:
Side effects include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, unnaturally dark stools, and drowsiness. Symptoms of an allergic reaction to this medication can include facial swelling, hives and rash."

The days he couldn't really walk well on his own or just had an uncontrolled bowel movement I would just clean it up and then walk him outside. He did live to be 14 years and 45 days old.

I did put towels down wherever he would lay so it would be easier to clean up. I invested in lots of Clorox bleach. Has the vet offered any advice?

Here is a video of Lobo when we celebrated his 13th birthday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhuLSXsfChc

[gsdlove212]

AngelesVonLobos,
thank you so much for your tips. as i mentioned earlier, i do not think this is a side effect of the metacam b/c she rarely needs it...maybe 3 days out of a year, and she has not needed it in over 3 months. we jsut recently moved (well about 4 months ago) and we have not had to have her into the new vet yet, but i will at least put in a call to her old vet, and also see about scheduling her check up a little sooner than we planned. we are currently renting and the house is almost all carpet, so I don't think I will be using a whole lot of bleach, but the towels would be a great help. thank goodness i have a carpet shamppoer , best 300 bucks i have ever spent with 4 kids and 3 dogs .

Angel,
I will try to give her some pumpkin I always have some up in the cabinet as Duchess is prone to bouts of the squirts, but she always makes it outside (knock on wood).


I was jsut wondering if there was anything hollistically that might help with muscle control or something...I know this is a fairly common issue in seniors, especially those with weaker rears. I never scold her for it, I jsut let her out and clean it up.

[rjvamp]

Your welcome...and the bleach is for the towels - not the carpet Great idea with the shampooer - we did the same!

Honest Kitchen has a product called Perfect Form. That might be of interest and could help maybe firm things up some? http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/

[LJsMom]

Are you using a high quality joint health supplement? A trip to the chiropractor may help.

[Spiritsmam]

I have had the same problems that you describe with several of my seniors. The worst was poor Bonnie who started getting fecally incontinent when she was about 15 years old. Bonnie had LS disease and severe arthritis and HD.

Bonnie was always fastidious about being clean and you could see that she was upset when she couldn't hold her poop. She would know that she needed to go, but there was some "delay" and by the time she realised she had to poop she was already doing so :-(

I attribute these changes to aging and just clean up after my pups, but do have my guys vet checked regularly to make certain that there isn't another medical problem.

wishing you and Shadow the best
Joanne