Yorkie puppy not pooping? Veterinarians will tell you what to do. Constipation in dogs: common causes and treatment

Almost every dog ​​owner knows what constipation is. At least once in his life he had to deal with this problem with his pet. In this article we will talk about the main reasons and what to do to alleviate the dog’s condition.

Causes

This pathology cannot be called an independent disease; rather, it is a sign of other diseases, most often gastrointestinal. But diseases of the digestive system are not the only ones that can be accompanied by constipation.

Few people know that difficult defecation occurs due to prostatitis, proctitis or gluing of fur around the anus.

Constipation is often caused by lack of exercise, improper feeding or fasting. After long-term treatment of diarrhea with astringent medications, the dog may also experience difficulty in trying to pass a big bowel movement.

Any febrile condition will necessarily be accompanied by hardening of the stool as a result of dehydration.

Another group of cause-and-effect relationships leading to constipation is intestinal obstruction, which occurs against the background of intestinal volvulus or strangulation due to hernia.

Constipation symptoms

How can you tell if your dog is constipated? According to statistics, a healthy dog ​​of a decorative breed goes to the toilet at least twice a day. If the number of bowel movements decreases to once a day or stops altogether, then this is a reason to wonder if everything is okay with the pet.

But not in all cases you should panic: defecation depends on the age of the animal, its size, physiological and individual characteristics.

To begin with, pay attention to the general condition, behavior of the pet, as well as the nature of the feces. If the dog is cheerful and cheerful, eats well, the feces have a uniform doughy consistency without foreign impurities (blood, foam, undigested food, etc.), and do not have a musty or putrid odor, then you can wait with treatment and contact a veterinarian.

Usually, when constipated, a dog makes several unsuccessful attempts to go to the toilet per day, greatly straining the abdominal walls. The pet is experiencing pain and discomfort, which is easy to understand by its plaintive squeal.

Constipation due to digestive problems

Gastritis

So, constipation may be a sign of hyperacid inflammation of the gastric mucosa. With this pathology, the feces are compacted, dark in color and often covered with mucus; the temperature rises slightly; the tongue is covered with a gray coating. Prolonged absence of bowel movements leads to severe intoxication and disruption of the heart.

Flatulence

accumulation of gases in the intestines and difficulty releasing them. At the beginning of the disease, diarrhea with frequent passage of gases is observed, but later the excretion of feces completely stops. In advanced cases, rupture of the intestinal tube is possible.

Chemostasis

compaction of feces in the ileum and duodenum, more common in older dogs. Naturally, the symptom will be constipation or complete absence of bowel movements, which is additionally accompanied by anxiety, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and sometimes vomiting. When palpating the abdomen on the right, a small “sausage” of dense consistency is felt.

Chemostasis occurs due to overfeeding or feeding for a long time with bones, ligaments and cartilage. Suggestive factors include a sedentary lifestyle, a lack of minerals in the diet, and insufficient watering of the dog.

Coprostasis

Its symptoms are similar to the previous disease, but stagnation is observed in the large intestine. Most often, this type of constipation occurs as a result of excess bones in the diet.

But this is not the only cause of constipation with coprostasis. For example, in elderly male dogs suffering from prostatitis, the rectum is compressed by the enlarged prostate gland, which makes it difficult to pass feces. As a result, stagnant feces become dehydrated and form a dense lump, which ultimately clogs the intestines.

Intestinal obstruction

It is characterized by blockage of the intestines with stones, bones, calculi, helminths or accidentally swallowed foreign bodies. The prerequisites are long-term feeding with the same food and metabolic disorders. In mild cases of the disease, in addition to constipation, slight anxiety is observed, but as the pathology develops, colic appears and gas formation increases. In rare cases there will be a fever.

Liver diseases

Along with the characteristic signs observed with hepatitis (yellowness of the mucous membranes and skin, increased body temperature, decreased appetite, thirst, change in the color of urine, etc.), there may also be constipation, but this is not a necessary symptom of liver pathology.

Everything is good in moderation: dogs often get constipated from excess bones.

Problems with painful conditions

Constipation can occur after surgery and with some somatic diseases. Anesthesia itself relaxes not only the striated muscles of the body, but also the smooth muscles of the intestines. Naturally, this leads to decreased peristalsis and even paresis of the pelvic organs. It is not difficult to guess that a poorly functioning intestine will lead to fecal stagnation.

That is why all veterinarians prescribe a special diet before and after surgery to help quickly restore and maintain the functioning of the digestive tract.

Typically, easily digestible liquid or mucous food in the form of soups, cereals, etc. is used for feeding. It is important to give food in small portions.

A similar problem with fecal retention occurs with some spinal injuries, when the innervation of internal organs is disrupted.

Treatment

In some cases, the owner himself can help get rid of problems with the pet’s stool. First, they find the cause that led to this condition and eliminate it.

For example, if feeding bones has led to fecal retention, they are removed from the diet. The dog is put on a diet with a predominance of foods rich in fiber. Additionally, the pet is prescribed laxatives: saline solutions, vegetable or petroleum jelly, and also given antispasmodics to reduce pain. It is important to follow the regime: the dog is fed often, but in small portions.

Enema

In more severe cases, you have to resort to an enema. For a small dog, a regular rubber syringe will be enough to wash the intestines.

How to give an enema to a dog? It is more convenient to work together: one securely fixes the dog, and the other inserts the bulb cannula into the anus and slowly releases the solution. The anus is pinched with your fingers for a couple of minutes so that the stool can soften a little. It is important to carry out all manipulations with rubber gloves.

As an enema, you can use simple tap water heated to a temperature of 30 C, a warm chamomile decoction or a weak saline solution, for example, based on magnesium.

It is not recommended to do enemas if you suspect intestinal volvulus, as it is possible to increase peristalsis and further worsen the condition. Such constipation is treated surgically. Surgery is also used in complex cases of chemostasis, when conservative treatment does not lead to a positive result.

When treating constipation after surgery, diet is used. Eliminate dry food, switching the animal to canned diet food. With natural feeding, in the first days they give broth, gradually introducing fermented milk products, liquid porridge, and then minced meat into the diet.

When treating constipation, as well as preventing it, be sure to ensure there is clean water in the bowl. It must be constantly and freely available.

If the listed first aid methods do not help, and the dog only gets worse, then it is urgent to show the pet to a specialist. And one more warning: you don’t need to do everything to your dog at once, stick to just one treatment option: either an enema, or oil inside - excessive enterprise does not lead to good things.

Preventing constipation

The easiest way to treat constipation is to prevent it. We will tell you what to do to ensure that you never encounter it.

1. Follow the rules and feeding regimen. Eating plenty of heavy food, bones once a day is one of the reasons that can cause intestinal blockage.
2. Avoid bulky foods in the diet.
3. Provide unimpeded access to water at any time of the day.
4. Periodically introduce mineral supplements into your dog's diet.
5. Walk your pet more often, but not on a full stomach - active movement helps the intestines work better.
6. Carry out periodic deworming, and do not forget about preventive vaccination.

Hello, friends. very important in the first days of life. Let's look at the main points of caring for newborn puppies. Now you have puppies. Their bunch is growing in size right before our eyes. The puppies have become active, crawling around the box and actively suckling their mother. Their fur has become shiny, they have become stronger and are growing quickly. But inexperienced owners may have many questions and worries along the way. Today I will try to cover the main points of caring for newborn puppies.

(The puppy in the photo is 5 days old. compare with the photo in the article about childbirth and pregnancy. how he changed)

In the last article we talked about dog pregnancy and how to take it. Let's be consistent and today we'll talk about what care should be like for newborn puppies and their mother.
We will consider the main points using the example of Yorkshire Terrier puppies. Since I deal with this particular breed, it will be much easier to explain what’s what with this particular breed.
In the first week, your gain is growing literally by leaps and bounds and before your eyes. In the first 7 days of life, a puppy gains approximately 100 grams of weight. In general, normal daily weight gain should be 15 grams on average. To do this, you need to weigh each puppy immediately after birth, and then weigh each puppy once a day every day. This is needed for control - if the puppy gains less than 10 grams per day, you need to pay special attention to it. Perhaps this puppy is weaker and less quick than his brothers and sisters, and he simply does not have enough milk. Such a puppy needs to be separately hung on the chest several times a day and ensure that other puppies do not push him away from the chest. If all the puppies are not gaining weight well, the problem may lie in the mother’s lack of milk. Strengthen the bitch's nutrition, add calories to her diet. For the first 10 days after giving birth, I do not recommend giving the bitch meat in order to avoid postpartum complications. The best choice is well-soaked dry food, which the bitch ate during pregnancy. You can also add buckwheat porridge with milk, a little low-fat cottage cheese or a boiled egg to your diet. I do not recommend giving rice porridge - the puppies may get stomach ache and have problems with defecation.

- be careful!

When your puppies squeak in the first days, this is normal. However, you need to feel the difference between a child's squeak and a squeak from pain. If puppies (and especially one of them) squeak for a long time and persistently, this is a signal that something is wrong with him. This usually happens at night. The puppy squeaks, crawls around the box, does not cling to the tit and is very worried. It means something hurts him. Usually at such an early age it is due to the fact that he cannot go to the toilet. Puppies at this age cannot yet pee or poop on their own; the bitch must lick the puppy’s tummy and under its tail for the reflex to work and defecation to occur. However, the dog sometimes forgets or simply does not want to lick the puppy in the right place. Then we need to help her. You can spread a little butter under the puppy's tail. Then the dog will begin to lick the puppy and he will poop. Or take a wet cotton swab yourself and massage the puppy’s tummy and under the tail. If this does not help, the puppy needs to be given an enema. To do this, take an ordinary 2-cc syringe, fill it with warm boiled water, lubricate the nose with baby cream and carefully insert the syringe into the puppy’s anus. After such an enema in 2 ml of warm water, the puppy will definitely poop and should calm down after a while.

In all my practice, I have not encountered any other problems in puppies of one week of age. It was just bad weight gain and a sore stomach and constipation. Which mostly happened after the bitch ate rice porridge. Therefore, I recommend not experimenting with dog food while feeding puppies.

Further. Puppies are 5 days old. According to the breed standard, a Yorkie should have 4 toes on its hind legs. But many Yorkie puppies are born with so-called dewclaws. This is the 5th toe on the inside of the paw. Sometimes they are even double. They need to be removed. In the article, of course, it is impossible to show how to do this correctly. But the point is this: you need to take sharp scissors, preferably stationery ones, slightly stretch the skin on the paw in the opposite direction and quickly cut off the puppy’s toe. After which the wound must be cauterized with potassium permanganate to stop the bleeding. I usually do this procedure in 5 days. Puppies at this age do not feel pain as much, and if this procedure is performed correctly, many of them will not even make a peep.
Your dog needs to eat properly and well while nursing newborn puppies. Add calcium to her diet. I recommend giving your dog a 2 ml subcutaneous injection of calcium glucanate every day at night for the first 5 days. Again, if you get used to it, the dog doesn’t even feel this injection. It's all about technique and practice.
So today we talked about the main points caring for newborn puppies. Let's repeat the main points.
1. Don't experiment with the dog's food during the feeding period. Give her her usual food. I do not recommend giving rice porridge. Give your dog milk.
2. Listen to the squeak puppies. A prolonged, strained squeak indicates a problem. Help him go to the toilet, give him an enema if necessary.
3. Monitor your weight gain each puppy daily for the first 7 days. For puppies that are not gaining weight well, attach them separately to the chest.
4. At the age of 5 days, dewclaws must be removed in puppies. For the first time, it is better to invite an experienced person to do this.
5. To avoid complications after childbirth- eclampsia, do not give the bitch meat for the first 10 days after giving birth, and give an injection of calcium gluconate for several days in a row.

In the following articles I will gradually cover issues related to the growth and development of puppies. If anyone has any questions about today's topic, ask them through the feedback form or in the comments to the article. I will definitely answer you.
Health to you and your pets.

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Congratulations on becoming the proud owner of a new puppy, this cute and funny ball of fur! Now comes the hardest part: how to care for it? If you've cared for a dog before, you might think you already know everything there is to know, however, caring for newborn puppies is a little different. adult care. You must be prepared for various challenges to help your new friend get through the first few weeks of his life.

Here are 5 tips to help you both cope with the challenges and get through this journey fun and healthy.

1. Feeding a newborn puppy

As with newborn babies, mother's milk contains everything your puppy needs to survive and thrive during the first four weeks of life. However, if the puppy's mother is unable to feed him, you should use a dog milk replacer that has been specially formulated for newborns. It is very important to use the correct substitute because some other milk substitutes, including cow's milk, can cause diarrhea. Consult your veterinarian as soon as possible about how to properly feed your newborn puppy, as you may cause him pain if you do it incorrectly.

You should ensure that your puppy is fed every few hours for the first few weeks. After about a month, you can begin to transition to solid foods by adding water and milk to the dry kibble and mixing it into a porridge. Then you can gradually reduce the amount of water and milk, and after about a month (7-8 weeks), you can start feeding the puppy regular food, but only when he is able to eat it himself.

2. Warmth

If you do not provide newborn puppies with warmth, they can quickly die from the cold. Their mother can provide them with warmth when she simply lies next to them, but in case of her absence, you need to come up with a replacement. Blankets and heating pads are a good option, but as always, use caution and make sure the puppies don't get burned or get too hot. Try to get specific advice by talking to your veterinarian.

3. Helping the puppy go to the toilet

4. First visit to the veterinarian

A big part of caring for a newborn puppy is providing him with help when he needs it. And, as mentioned, your veterinarian can help you learn how to properly feed and help your puppy potty. There are several signs when you may need immediate professional help. If your puppy is coughing, vomiting, crying incessantly, has a runny nose, is unable to go to the toilet with assistance, is experiencing diarrhea, or is simply not eating, you should contact your veterinarian as soon as possible.

However, if the puppies appear healthy, most veterinarians do not need to see them until they are six weeks old. At this point you can start giving him his first vaccinations and deworming.

5. Training and socialization

You can start training your puppy to have his sleeping place, such as a crate, but this won't do you much good until he reaches 7 or 8 weeks of age, when he can eat solid food and go to the toilet on his own. Begin training in as friendly an environment as possible, offering them treats or toys when he goes into the crate, and only locking him in there for a few minutes at a time.

Other types of training and socialization can begin within the first few weeks as you begin to pet him and call him to you. If you want to bond with your puppy, you must let him get used to your smell, voice and touch.

Once the puppy reaches 8 weeks old, it is a good idea to introduce him to other people. Start off puppy socialization it is necessary gradually and very carefully, since all puppies go through the stage of “severe fear”. Any negative experience during this time can become very sensitive and memorable. Be attentive and watch the puppy all the time, focusing on its signals.

In this article I will talk about constipation in dogs and what to do. I will describe the main symptoms and reasons why the puppy cannot go to the toilet for the most part. I will list possible methods of helping your pet and what medicine to treat constipation at home. And is it necessary to resort to surgery?

Constipation is difficult, systematically insufficient bowel movement (defecation), characterized by a small amount of feces, increased hardness and dryness.

Reasons why a dog can't go to the toilet by and large

The main causes of constipation in an animal are:

Incorrect (poor quality) diet

Difficulties with stool occur when feeding an animal from a human table.

In the case when a pet does not receive enough coarse fiber (fiber) and eats mainly meat, intestinal motility worsens.

As a result, feces have difficulty moving through the intestines and are excreted.

Industrial dog food contains the necessary proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. The balance of all components helps to raise your pet strong and healthy.

Improper drinking regime

Insufficient water intake makes stool dry and hard. This complicates the process of defecation and even a small dog whines and cannot poop. Sometimes without special help, it makes it impossible.

Please note that your pet should always have a bowl of clean drinking water! The pet needs to be given water.

Sedentary lifestyle, short and infrequent walks

Each breed has a mandatory standard of physical activity.

Insufficient physical activity leads to weakening of the muscles of the entire body, including the intestines.

Binge eating

Dogs, for the most part, do not control their appetite and the amount of food they consume. How much food is available is what will be eaten. Therefore, portions should be dosed according to the age and weight of the animal.

If your pet eats commercial food, you must follow the dosage recommended by the manufacturer.

In case of feeding human food, it is advisable to consult a specialist.

Eating small bones, especially bird bones

Bones crumble easily and clog the intestines. Large bones should be given raw.

Other reasons why an animal cannot go to the toilet can be serious illnesses of the dog, such as:

1. Neoplasms in the intestines, abdominal cavity or perineum.
2. Prostate diseases.
3. Pain in the spine.
4. Diseases of the nervous system.
5. Blockage of the intestine by a foreign body.

Only a specialist can diagnose these diseases and prescribe treatment.

Constipation symptoms

There are several signs of constipation in an animal:

1. The pet tries to perform an act of defecation, but cannot. During pushing he experiences painful sensations. He squeals often.
2. The animal does not empty its intestines for several days.
3. The animal’s health deteriorates, the appetite disappears, the pet looks lethargic and inactive.
4. The abdomen increases in size and becomes tight.

These symptoms may also indicate the development of a serious illness.

This requires competent diagnosis by an experienced veterinarian and the prescription of special treatment.

Treatment methods at home

If constipation in an animal is associated with poor diet, little physical activity, or poor drinking habits, you can help the pet yourself. In addition to eliminating these factors, there are several options for solving the problem.

Enema

This procedure can be performed at home. To do this, you will need the help of one person to hold the animal, a syringe (sold in a pharmacy), and clean cool water. It is possible to add glycerin or a special oil solution to improve peristalsis and lubrication of the anal passage.

Enema has a large number of restrictions and contraindications. If you are not sure of the true cause of constipation, the procedure is prohibited!

Drug enemas should only be prescribed by a veterinarian!

Application of petroleum jelly

This event is aimed at softening stool and expelling it as quickly as possible. Vaseline oil is sold at the pharmacy. It is safe for dogs.

It is not absorbed in the intestines and is completely excreted in the feces.

Directions for use: 1 teaspoon should be mixed with food and fed to the pet. If there is no appetite at all, you can give it through a syringe (without a needle!) into the dog’s mouth. Carry out the procedure twice a day until constipation ends.

Massage for constipation

Light stroking movements clockwise in the abdominal area can improve intestinal motility and stimulate bowel movements.

Massage can only be performed in the absence of pain symptoms!

Diet

If constipation is noticed in your pet, it is necessary to urgently adjust the diet:

• exclude bones and dry food (we are not talking about industrial food, but food from the human table);
• exclude fatty foods and broths;
• add 1-2 drops of vegetable oil to food;
• dilute food with vegetables as much as possible (beets, carrots, pumpkin). You can stir it with meat, but not with broth!
• exclude baked goods and milk.

Soap

If your dog is constipated, it is possible to use regular soap: toilet soap, baby soap, laundry soap. To do this, a piece of soap is cut into small pieces and inserted into the anus.

The alkaline soap composition irritates the intestinal walls and stimulates contractions, helping to speed up bowel movements.

You should not often resort to this measure, since manipulation carries the possibility of developing dysbacteriosis and corroding the intestinal walls.

Laxatives

Medications to treat constipation in dogs are aimed at stimulating bowel function.

These include: guttalax, bisacodyl, etc.

Magnesia is an effective drug that has a laxative effect.

The action is to attract fluid into the intestines with further dilution of the stool.

Constipation is one of the manifestations of serious disorders of the digestive system. Often this symptom is a manifestation of a serious disease that requires urgent professional veterinary diagnosis and treatment. Be attentive to your pets and do not delay visiting the veterinarian.

In the article I talked about constipation in dogs. She gave the main reasons for the problem with stool. Described the symptoms of constipation. She listed possible methods of helping a pet at home.