Overnight poos

[Stitch]

I have a small breed dog that I inherited from my mother.  He would be about 13 years old and he is happy to be crated overnight.  I have had him for over 12 months now and recently he has started randomly pooing in his crate overnight.  There has been no change in his diet all this time but every week or two he will poo overnight.  He is regularly vet checked so no obvious unexpected problems other than old age.  I feed him every morning about 8am.   Seeing as we can't work out any obvious cause I wonder if there is a better time to feed him so that he poos during the day rather than overnight.  Any ideas would be appreciated as I am not fond of early morning surprises to clean up.

[Rebanne]

it may just be an old age thing Stitch, sorry not much help

[The Spotted Devil]

No issue with the spinal nerves? Ziggy is 15 now and that causes him to need to toilet more frequently. He's treated with fortnightly acupuncture and laser therapy, monthly Synovan injection, twice daily gabapentin and nightly Galliprant.

[Stitch]

No spinal nerve problem that I know about.  He does have luxating patellas but the vet treats that with injections in the colder months and currently he is managing well.  

Personally I think he does it because he can....but that's probably a bit harsh of me.

Maybe I should feed him a different time???  What do you think?

If it takes 24 hours for food to pass through maybe feeding in the middle of the day?

 

[Deeds]

I agree with Rebanne.  It sounds like an old dog thing.

[jemappelle]

I would feed him two small meals a day and see how that goes.

[Papillon Kisses]

It is suspicious for spinal nerve pain to me; we saw this with Malcolm but he was urinating instead. Sometimes vets trial analgesia (suspect gabapentin or pregabalin in this case) to see if it has any impact. If it does, there’s your answer.

[Stitch]

If all else fails....Metronide works wonders.  We caught him eating something in the paddock.

I will try the two small meals though after the Metronide course comes to an end.

Thanks everyone.

 

[stellnme]

It can be an old dog thing - perhaps slight incontinence, but in my experience with old dogs they do not like to soil where they sleep.  Can you put the crate in an enclosed area where you can put puppy pads down at night and leave the crate door open?  I've also found that the type of food fed can affect night time bathroom breaks.  Mine are fed the same diet but on the occasions that they have a small amount of skinless bbq chicken, invariably one or both will need to go during the night.  Feed dinner a little earlier and give him ample time to be outside before bed. 

[OzzieLioness]

I also agree that in the absense of ANYTHING else .... it's probably an old dog thing. My sisters 14 year old White Shepherd will, from time to time poop while he's inside laying down. She tried feeding at different times etc., but it didnt stop it. He's inside a lot because he has a little pink on his nose and so he's never out in full sun. It's a small thing and we dont worry about it for such an awesome dog and  so much love from him. 

 

I hope you can work it out