Pooping a struggle?!

edited April 2009 in Shiba Inu (柴犬)
I'm beginning to get just a bit worried about my 11 week old Space and his pooping struggles.

First off, I feel like he poops too infrequently. He probably pooped 5 times in the last week.

Second, when he does poop, its a process. He doesn't whine, so as far as I know, it doesn't appear that he is in pain. But the pooping process can take up to a minute and a half or so. He'll get the bulk of it out right away, and it looks like decent poop, but then he'll stay squatting and push every once in a while. Anything that comes out during this time, which isn't much, is mostly kind of wet.

He's being fed almost exactly what he was eating at the breeder for the first 9 weeks of his life, which is:

teaspoon of wellness for puppies
teaspoon of abady for puppies
2 teaspoons of abady granulated stress and maintenance
squirt of fish oil
and occasionally a teaspoon of raw beef

He's fed three times a day, as well as plenty of kibble throughout the day.

He has access to water at all times, though he doesn't drink as much as I'd think a puppy would.

What do you think?!

Comments

  • edited November -1
    Sake always looked like she was having a tough time pooping. It could just be a shiba puppy thing.

    Have you had a fecal sample examined by a vet? Just to be safe I would do that.
  • edited April 2009
    Yes, they examined his stool on his first week home, which was negative.

    Could it be that its the fastidious Shiba puppiness that wants to just clear out completely?

    Also, my breeder is wondering if its because of the deworming medicine they gave him a week ago yesterday. She claims he didn't need to be dewormed again, but the vet did it anyway...
  • edited November -1
    When Miso poops (he is now almost a year and a half old) he will poop out the majority and then walk around in his squat for a few minutes trying to get the rest out.

    Now that Sake is older she poops and then runs away from it as fast as possible.

    Shiba's are nutty.
  • edited November -1
    Both Nola and Bella seemed to struggle a bit when they were puppies. Bella never really had the runny poo at the end, but Nola did for the first few weeks we had her. I think it may have been the stress from the change of environment. (from breeder to us)

    If you think he might be a bit constipated, I would talk to your vet. She may be able to give him something for that.

    If you think he is not getting enough water, feed him a few ice cubes. Puppies love them. Well, most dogs love them, not just puppies!
  • edited November -1
    If the majority is solid, I wouldn't be too worried about it. It's not uncommon for Nemo to strain out some extra, I'm pretty sure he does this to mark spots after he has run out of urine. It's possible the dewormer has had an effect too, if it's has antibiotics in it, that could cause some stomach upset.
  • edited November -1
    I know that Tetsu sometimes takes a bit to get it out ending with a drip or two of wetness, and Tikaani will go 2-3 times in a row (anytime he see's something of interest, he stops to check it out), all of which a reminiscent of horse droppings. My sisters schipperke is a traveling pooper and takes forever to get it over with. Every dog is different.

    I would be careful with the beef, cow can be a bit much for a young stomach. Veal and lamb would be safer.
  • edited November -1
    Puppies usually poop within 15 to 20 minutes after each feeding. Generally multiple times a day. You might want to change the meal plan a bit. Some of the supplements and the environment change may be making it a bit rough on him. Is he taking a big dump when he goes? If so I would not worry too much unless you see blood in it.

    If he is only pooping once a day, my thoughts are that maybe he ate bits off of one of his toys or he is snacking on accidents he has made in his crate etc overnight. Yeah I know it's gross, some puppies will do this but usually grow out of it. If you see bits of string or fleece in it when you scoop his poops you'll know he ate pieces of some of his toys.

    Generally I put puppies on a schedule 3 x's a day and do not free feed kibble. When feeding kibble I add some warm water and let it soak for a minute or two to make a broth. To that I will add a small amount of the fish oil (not a full squirt). In between feedings I would give the supp. maybe vastly reduced. The water in the food will help to get some fluids in him without worrying about how much water he is drinking.

    If he does not improve and he keeps straining then get to your vet soon, he maybe swallowed something she should not have which is binding him up.

    Snf
  • edited November -1
    actually a lot of breeders who use raw to ween their pups use raw beef over chicken, veal or lamb. I don't know exactly why, but raw beef is so chock full of iron, zinc, selenium and vitamin B's and raw beef organs give a good boost to growing immune systems. Not that other raw meats don't have these qualities, I've just noticed more suggest raw beef over other raw protein sources.
  • edited April 2009
    Good point Jen.....Iron in foods will tend to bind and reduce poop output so that could be it if raw is being fed over the course of a day.

    Snf
  • edited November -1
    Have you tried adding a little pumpkin to the diet??
  • edited November -1
    Mineral Oil will help. Sachi had some issues with constipation, so I switched food brands and she hasnt had a problem since.
  • edited November -1
    That's how Tojo used to poop, although he pooped more frequently than that as a puppy.
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