Jelly Stuff In Poop!

[ravenau1]

Hi all

I have a 10 week old Dobermann pup. Yesterday morning (her first poop of the day) we noticed that there was a clear jelly like substance around her poop and that it was softer than usual. The other poops of the day were still softer than usual but no jelly stuff. This morning her first poop of the day was fine, but her second had the substance in it and was very soft. No blood or anything like that.

She seems to be feeling fine, absolutely no changes in her behaviour, she's as energetic and bouncy as always. She's been wormed etc. She's be eating Black Hawk for 10 days now and the day before yesterday she had a beef bone. Other than that she really hasn't eaten anything different than normal.

Any ideas? I plan on taking her to the vet if it doesn't improve, but since she doesn't seem ill I don't think it's an emergency?

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

maybe it's just the mucus from her anal glands?

[Alibi]

One of my girls would sometimes get this when she had an upset tummy when she had eaten something she shouldnt (very sensitive tummy), she would get the mucous with softish poos too. Would always go away when her tummy would get better. Was nothing to do with anal glands, just her gut.

Edited December 25, 2010 by melt

[Jed]

99% sure to be worms. Worm now, and worm again in a few days. Doesn't matter when you last wormed, worms can slip by, depending on where they are in the life cycle.

Oh, and even if it isn't worms, wont hurt to have an additional worm treatment.

It's not an emergency

Edited December 25, 2010 by Jed

[stormie]

Mucous is usually a sign of an upset bowel. The bowel secretes mucous as part of normal function to act as a lubricant, however when its a bit upset or irritated, it produces excess mucous which you see in the stools. It's not uncommon to see some blood with mucous too.

Have you changed the diet at all or fed something different?

Worming is also a good idea.

[ravenau1]

maybe it's just the mucus from her anal glands?

One of my girls would sometimes get this when she had an upset tummy when she had eaten something she shouldnt (very sensitive tummy), she would get the mucous with softish poos too. Would always go away when her tummy would get better. Was nothing to do with anal glands, just her gut.

99% sure to be worms. Worm now, and worm again in a few days. Doesn't matter when you last wormed, worms can slip by, depending on where they are in the life cycle.

Oh, and even if it isn't worms, wont hurt to have an additional worm treatment.

It's not an emergency

Mucous is usually a sign of an upset bowel. The bowel secretes mucous as part of normal function to act as a lubricant, however when its a bit upset or irritated, it produces excess mucous which you see in the stools. It's not uncommon to see some blood with mucous too.

Have you changed the diet at all or fed something different?

Worming is also a good idea.

Thanks everyone!

She still seems to be feeling fine, bouncy and 'full of beans' as usual. I recently wormed her but will do so again tomorrow then in a couple of days again, thanks! The only thing out of the ordinary that she has eaten was a beef bone on Thursday, usually she would get lamb.

Her poop this afternoon was relatively firm with no jelly/mucous but I will keep an eye on it. Would something that she usually gets fed with no problem just start to cause some sort of irritation?

[becks]

yes, a food they have been fed awhile can appear to suddenly start to cause problems as the dog builds up a reaction to it.

If you do worm again so soon, try using a different brand of wormer - ones from the vets work better then the cheaper brands.

You say she has been on Black Hawk for 10 days, has she been changed over to this food over a week or so? What was she on before? It could be the BH doesn't suit her tum as much as the food the breeder had her on.

[Guest]

Hi Ravenau1, we noticed that our Labrador had the same problem everytime he had a big beef marrow bone to chew on, and also those rawhide chews, I have noticed will do the same thing.

lablove

[Mason_Gibbs]

Mucous is usually a sign of an upset bowel. The bowel secretes mucous as part of normal function to act as a lubricant, however when its a bit upset or irritated, it produces excess mucous which you see in the stools. It's not uncommon to see some blood with mucous too.

Have you changed the diet at all or fed something different?

Worming is also a good idea.

My allergy boy gets this when he eats a food that he is allergic too and it upsets his tummy. For him beef and chicken do it.

[AmandaJ]

Mucus around stools is a sign of colitis - it is not always a sign of worms. Colitis is caused by an irritation to the bowels/intestinal tract. The irritation can be anything from something they ate to colon cancer. The mucus is the bodies way of making it easier to pass the waste through the intestine. If after re-worming it still occurs change the diet to a bland boiled chicken and rice diet and see how the dog goes. Don't let it go of for to long as it can cause other problems and also be a sign of other issues. If the dog has recently been on a course of antibiotics or recently had vaccinations this can also cause the problem. If it has get some probiotics (protexin or probiotic yoghurt) into the dog to re-balance the gut flora.

Edited to say - even worming them can cause it - you are after all giving the dog a poison which is foreign to their body. Dead intestinal worms also cause low levels of poisoning. As the worms breakdown they release toxins into the body. If you are using normal anthalmic preparations for worming - do not use the cheaper brands. Where possible use parasite specific anthalmics NOT allwormers. At this stage they have been associated with micro evolutionary changes in both the animal and the parasite which are making them almost useless - similar to the way antibiotic use is becomming next to useless in people.

Edited December 27, 2010 by AmandaJ

[ravenau1]

Thanks all

We haven't had any more problems with the poop since Saturday so I'm thinking it was the beef bone or something else weird that she ate (bug or something perhaps?) that irritated her stomach, or the worms because I've now wormed her a couple of times.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

My dog sometimes does a goo covered poo. It's most likely after too many rawhide chews - one small piece is ok, lots is bad. Or if she's eaten something spikey that she should not have. Most recently - she got into cousins' dogs' bones. And that got us a chunder for the bigger spikey bits, and a gooey poo for the rest.

I don't worry about it if the next poo is normal, but I am more dilligent about what she gets to eat - no cleaning up around the sports club bbq.