Dog frequently passing mucus

[wntrwhte]

I’m at my wits end.

Our rescue dog, that we’ve had for 2 1/2 months now, frequently has spats where he’ll start passing mucus. Last time it was small solid poops with bloody mucus, which we got treated at the vet with antibiotics. This time it’s liquid stool with mucus. The last episode was 3 weeks ago.

I can’t live with it-- he poops in the house if he’s left alone for more than a few hours and we both work so that’s non-negotiable. I don’t understand why he’ll be fine for awhile, perfectly good solid stool, then have these issues. And I’m really tired of waking up to my whole house smelling like poop and having to clean it up at 3am.

This time we’ve been feeding him boiled chicken and rice for 2 days now and he’s still pooping liquid and slime all over my wood floors.

As much as I love him, I can’t afford to be paying several hundred dollars every other week to take him to the vet. I don’t know what else to do. I had no problem getting him treated the last three times but the bills have been more than a thousand bucks in the past 6 weeks and I can’t keep that up.

He’s eating kirkland chicken and rice though I will be switching to salmon and sweet potato as I kind of suspect a food allergy. This dog is also itchy and I found a clump of hair while I was cleaning up the latest accident.

Any advice? I’m going nuts over here.

[irkenequine]

To clarify, you mention he’s a recent rescue, as in he’s not a foster correct? You adopted him–how old, from a private rescue, did you find him, public shelter, was he vetted when you adopted him? How old is he? What breed?

I absolutely don’t think he can be blamed for accidents in the house that sound medically related but you do sound aggravated by the situation, understandably so.

I am floored that GI issues could accumulate a bill that high without a definitive diagnosis in such a short time. Has he had fecals run? Did you bring the poop or did they grab some with a loop? What did the fecals say? Any bloodwork? Is he running a temperature? What medications has he been treated with? Giardia and coccidia are always my go-to off the shelter stomach gunk but it could be any number of things, depending on what the vet ruled out.

[wntrwhte]

[QUOTE=irkenequine;6266300]
To clarify, you mention he’s a recent rescue, as in he’s not a foster correct? You adopted him–how old, from a private rescue, did you find him, public shelter, was he vetted when you adopted him? How old is he? What breed?

I absolutely don’t think he can be blamed for accidents in the house that sound medically related but you do sound aggravated by the situation, understandably so.

I am floored that GI issues could accumulate a bill that high without a definitive diagnosis in such a short time. Has he had fecals run? Did you bring the poop or did they grab some with a loop? What did the fecals say? Any bloodwork? Is he running a temperature? What medications has he been treated with? Giardia and coccidia are always my go-to off the shelter stomach gunk but it could be any number of things, depending on what the vet ruled out.[/QUOTE]

He is an 11 month old boxer/lab mix.

We adopted him from a private rescue. We have his complete vet records. He had coccidia as a puppy but nothing from the vet thus far. He was vetted right after we got him and he was fine.

I don’t know if he’s running a temperature. I feel that his head/ears are hot, but it comes and goes.

Last time, we paid for a abdominal x ray, subQ fluids, fecal. Fecal showed nothing. Vet gave us antibiotics and it cleared up. That visit was $400. The first time, he got an exam, a fecal, and subQ fluids and that was $300, plus antibiotics. That’s within 6 weeks and now he needs to get seen again, so that level of cost isn’t sustainable.

Now he’s doing it again and I’m very frustrated. I can’t keep taking him to the vet and I can’t keep cleaning up after him. I don’t understand why he’s fine for 2 weeks then sick again.

I’m going to try feeding him boiled hamburger and rice to see if it gets better, again, but I’m just at my wits end.

[KTRider]

I went through something similar with my Chessie when I got her. Ultimately it was food allergies, or intolerances. The fix was to put her on a good probiotic and a limited ingredient food. She had projectile diarrhea, it was awful, and we fought it for months with rounds of antibiotics. It would get better then come back. Two days on probiotic tablets and new food and it was fixed. She eats Acana duck and pear or lamb and apple now. If I were you, I’d try the food switch now.

[tradewind]

I would check him for coccidia again, and I would worm him. Whips are particularly difficult to find on a fecal and they cause watery stools and mucus.

[HydroPHILE]

I would also recommend having your Vet do a panel for pancreatitis issues. It sounds like there are some issues there with lacking the ability to fully absorb nutrients from the food he’s being fed and could be a digestive enzyme imbalance.

A probiotic is a good way to start after a panel.

[JanM]

No possibility of Giardia? That’s a bad one, and humans can catch it.

A semi-funny story from my vet in Colorado. He was surprised my asymptomatic dog with Giardia antibodies or whatever they measure was treated by my previous vet for it. He said that it’s so prevalent there that he only treated for it when there were active (and icky). And that usually the dog was treated after the owner caught it and had the same awful symptoms. He said that almost all dogs there had the disease, but it was inactive. Apparently many dogs are carriers without symptoms.

[HydroPHILE]

[QUOTE=JanM;6266591]
No possibility of Giardia? That’s a bad one, and humans can catch it. [/QUOTE]

That was my congratulations gift courtesy of our honeymoon (not contracted from an animal.) NOT FUN.

When we thought our GSD might have Giardia, we bought SafeGuard dewormer since it has the same active ingredient as Giardia treatments from a Vet. Deworming wasn’t going to hurt him anyways, and his diarrhea and symptoms cleared up within a few days (SafeGuard + Probiotics.)

[wntrwhte]

I had been debating probiotics but do you think it is worth trying the safeguard?

I’m going to switch him to the sweet potato and salmon from 4Health this week as a start. I was thinking of adding the salmon oil that has probios in it, is there a better one I should be getting?

His monthly dewormer covers whipworms and he got it 1.5 weeks ago. He’s wormed monthly on the 7th.

[LauraKY]

Our hound had the same problem. It took three fecals to discover he had hookworms and he was on a monthly dewormer. He got the industrial dose of wormer twice. He’s now on a salmon and potato diet (4Health) with no problems (unless he gets really stressed, but then it’s just not solid). If he is stressed, and the collie is the same way, I give them a half of a Pepto Bismal.

[Bacardi1]

Another solid vote for worms!

I went through the EXACT same thing with my last shelter dog, & even though the shelter swore up & down that she’d been wormed several times prior to release, a stool-sample revealed that she was riddled with worms. One worming later - no more bloody/mucousy stool; no more accidents in the house.

[anel]

Since he is a boxer mix boxer colitis (histiocytci ulcerative colitis) should also be considered. This is a relatively serious disease that is treatable (with fluroquinolone) if diagnosed via biopsy. Happens in boxers under the age of 2 and is characterized by mucous diarrhea often with some blood. Allergies are another very resonable option in a young dog with these signs (treated with novel protein diet that you have just started). Stress colitis or antibiotic resposive diarrhea could also be a cause. This can often be treated with long term tylosin.

Hope your dog feels better soon.

[SGray]

as for the mess - I’d crate over night at least

[Bacardi1]

The problem with that is that a dog with bloody/mucousy loose stools can’t control themselves. They HAVE to go. Like immediately. While crating the dog may contain the mess, the mess will also be ALL OVER the dog as well due to the containment.

Until dog can be taken to the vet with a stool sample & get wormed, my vote would be containment in a more easily cleaned room like a kitchen or bathroom where the dog can get away from its mess.

[Canaqua]

The mucuous in the stool implies colitis of one sort or another. If you are lucky, it is a temporary symptom of something else and finding the cause and treating it will take care of it. If it’s the previously mentioned ulcerative colitis, that’s pretty serious.

Our BC mix was passing mucousy stools with a bit of blood a few weeks ago…vet found hook worms, likely the cause of the colitis. She was treated for the worms and put on sulfasalazine for 10 days to treat the inflammation in her bowel. It cleared up, phew! Total bill for that was under $100, but we did get the cause of the colitis diagnosed on the first try.

[wntrwhte]

[QUOTE=Bacardi1;6267095]
The problem with that is that a dog with bloody/mucousy loose stools can’t control themselves. They HAVE to go. Like immediately. While crating the dog may contain the mess, the mess will also be ALL OVER the dog as well due to the containment.

Until dog can be taken to the vet with a stool sample & get wormed, my vote would be containment in a more easily cleaned room like a kitchen or bathroom where the dog can get away from its mess.[/QUOTE]

He’s had 2 fecals in the past month and neither showed anything. They tell us to give him the interceptor on schedule.

That’s why I asked if I should give him the real 3-day safeguard in addition, to eliminate the possibility of worms.

[Blacklabs]

Another vote for worms. My foster had the same and I went through exactly what you are.
It took a while but we got them. He was also very sensitive to different foods.
My vet told me that they don’t always show.

Here’s more info for you.

Important author’s note: dog whipworm eggs are considered to be quite dense and ‘heavy’ as far as parasite eggs go and many texts suggest that canine whipworm eggs can be quite difficult to find on fecal flotation tests that employ the most-commonly-used fecal flotation solution: sodium nitrate. The reason the eggs may not be found using this fecal float solution is simply due to the fact that the heavy eggs may not ‘float’ in it (thus they won’t be picked up on the cover-slip). Many texts suggest that, if whipworms are suspected, it is best to use a denser (higher specific gravity) fecal flotation solution like Sheather’s sugar solution, zinc sulfate solution or a solution of potassium iodide at 50% saturation to get a more accurate result (i.e. have a better chance of finding them).

http://www.pet-informed-veterinary-advice-online.com/dog-whipworm.html

[lwd]

Inflammatory bowel disease The mucus with a small amount of blood is highly suggestive of this disease. Has he been put on flagyl and or ZD a non allergenic food. If this is what your dog has he truly can’t hold it! It may take more diagnostics for them to rule out or confirm this disease. Paw crossed for your doggie!!!

[SquishTheBunny]

I would also think some form of IBD (colitis, allergies), and maybe worms…but usually worms dont present “come and go” like IBD.

Ask for the metronidazole (assuming this is the antibiotic they gave you) for more than 2 weeks, my dog took a month of treatment to settlle her gut.

It wouldnt hurt do deworm again, just incase.

Probiotics (ie. fortaflora) works well in mild IBD cases. And a novel protein diet may help too (or a bland diet if you arent concerned about allergies).

If all else fails, sounds like GI biopsies are warranted. However, because the dog is normal between episodes, I bet long term flagyl will be your secret weapon!

[drs]

My JRT has had issues like this in the past. We tried changing food to a limited ingredient food, home cooked, tested for worms, tried the special food for allergies from the vet, 2 ultra sounds. In the ultra sound we found his adrenal glands to be smaller than normal. Did the test to see if they responded, which they did but still was having problems. The vet thinks he has atypical addisons, where at times his adrenal glands will work, others times not. We put him on a extremely low dose of predisone and the really has responded well. The vet called addison disease the great pretender as it will show symptoms of other diseases.