# Mucous in the stool - AGAIN



## pat_in_az (Jan 18, 2009)

Our seven month old Lab Maggie just pooped and it contained, for the most part, mucous.

She is an extremely sensitive dog and our vet (whom I get the sense doesn't really understand much about dog nutrition other than what her office peddles) put her on Iam's Low Residue. She had a couple of good bowel movements but then started the diarrhea again.

We have since switched her to Natural Balance Salmon and Sweet Potato formula and she seems to be doing much better. Much happier eating, takes her time, and her stools have all been firm-to-hard.

A day or two ago I gave her some peanut butter in her kong and a couple of baby carrots. Today, I gave her 3-4 baby carrots during our training.

She then went outside and pooped. Semi-diarrhea, semi-mucous. She then moved around the backyard and squatted again and three to four "blobs" of clear mucous came out.

Is this a result of the carrots and peanut butter maybe being too much for her sensitive GI? Could it still be a result of us just switching her off of the Iams? We did that last Sunday (6 days ago). She was also itching pretty badly on the Iams and the itching seems to have tapered off but she still does it occassionally on her knees, but I've read it can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks for her body to flush out everything from the old food.

Put my mind at ease, call me stupid for feeding her peanut butter and carrots, but tell me this is normal and something that shouldn't cause alarm.

Thanks.


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

Has your vet tested for colitis or giardia?

The NB Salmon and Sweet Potato worked well for my guy with Colitis.
Did you make the switch slowly?

Did your vet give you any flagyl? 

I wouldn't call you stupid for giving her pb or carrots, but if she has an intolerance to pb that might have been the trigger.

It's not normal and should be cause for some concern. You might want to talk to your vet. I'd stick to my guns though and keep her on the salmon and sweet potato. But that's just me. 

Good luck.


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## pat_in_az (Jan 18, 2009)

With her already having diarrhea from the Iams, I got the vets suggestion that a slow switch wasn't necessary. I found that advise odd however. I didn't want to compound whatever problem she was having. I switched her over the course of 3-4 days and noticed a marked improvement in her bowel movements. Needless to say, I was extremely excited when she started pooping "right" again.

She has been tested for everything under the sun, including colitis and giardia. Our vet did tell us that mucous production in the stool is usually a result of an large intestinal issue and that giardia is an infection of the small intestine. We've had fecals, rectals, stool tests, blood tests. The only thing they ever did come back with was that there was some bacteria or enzyme that is primarily located in the gut (chotacholamine (wayyy spelled wrong, excuse me) that they found traces of in her intestine, but not at levels that are uncommon in dogs with inscessant diarrhea.

The vet did prescribe us some metronidazole, which seemed to help during the bouts on Iams. I have gotten a new script and haven't had the need to use it since we've put her on the NB. I did give her one (375mg) after I saw the mucous earlier today.

I plan on sticking to my decision to keep her on NB. After tons of reading time here and elsewhere, I can't believe the amount of chemicals, fillers, and general bad stuff that are in dog foods. My disgust is only multiplied by the fact that a large number of vets will peddle this stuff without educating themselves, just to make a buck from the manufacturer. I've already let my vet know (very sternly. I _am_ from New Jerser after all) what is in the foods she is advising her clients to feed their best friends and family members. She was a little taken aback, which might have been a good thing and make her consider it twice.

Since we've had Maggie, she has never had proper stool or bowel movements until now. It was probably my fault, jumping in and giving her peanut butter and carrots without waiting longer and making sure the Natural Balance was going to work out for her. I just like spoiling her sometimes and I know how much she loves carrots 

Maggies pooping is fortunately like clockwork so sometime by 3-4PM here we'll see if its getting any better. Maybe she just needed to flush that stuff out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

Sometimes it takes more than 1 round of meds to clear up a problem. 

Maybe a 2nd opinion might be the next step???


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## pat_in_az (Jan 18, 2009)

Perhaps a second opinion would be good. There is a vet that is the same distance from me, only in the opposite direction. If Maggie continues to have diarrhea today, we'll most likely be going in.

Just wasn't sure what the actual cause of the mucous was? Is it an infection? The bodies way of coating the internal GI tract so what it feels are contaminants cannot be absorbed into the body?


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## wabanafcr (Jun 28, 2007)

I had two puppy boys with the same problem. My boys had gotten a bottle of Ibuprofen, and we were not sure if they ingested any or not, but they ended up on some heavy-duty medications for 10 days. The medications were intended to coat the stomach lining and increase mucous production, to protect their stomachs in case they had ingested any ibuprofen. My problem was that they never quite stopped having slimy mucous-y stools after they finished their meds.

Tons of people swore to me that the problem must be that they had worms, which my vet and I both knew was false, so we decided to switch their protein source and add some digestive enzymes. I switched their food to Eagle Holistic Duck and Oatmeal and started adding Dogzymes from Nature's Farmacy. 

They got NO dog treats for 2 months, and only got low-residue kibble for treats. Like your girl, they had not done very well on the Iams Low-Residue as food, but a kibble here or there for treats worked just fine (we feed this to one of our older dogs that has IBD, as it is the only food that seems to work for him).

After the two months, during which time I saw NO mucous and instead only very firm, perfect stool, I started giving them Natural Balance Duck and Potato treats, and only in limited amounts. Now I have also added Eagle Holistix Menhaden Fish treats, and they are doing fine. There is also a new Holistix formula that is Duck and I'm sure they will be fine on that.

The funny thing is that they are perfectly able to consume Bully Stix and Rawhide (which I normally don't give my dogs, but it works for these two, for some reason, and they only get it under direct supervision) with no repercussions. 

I don't know for sure why this works for my guys, but they are doing great. I don't know if it would work for your girl, but you might try a digestive enzyme or even adding just acidophilus.


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