As a holistically trained veterinarian, I love stools. One, they give great feedback as to the health status. Two, they are now part of a therapy gaining prominence – MBRT (Micro Bione Restorative Therapy) that restores the immune system, helping dogs heal from allergies,  cancer, inflammatory bowel syndrome and many other problems.

 

First, does every “healthy” person have the same stool? No. Therefore it makes sense that healthy dogs do not have the same stools. Some go once a day, some twice a day and there are few who may go more or less than that. Some have fairly firm stools while others have firmer stools. All of this can be healthy.

 

The holistic perspective looks at the whole animal, not merely one symptom. When I merely had my conventional training (UGA graduate – 1980) I focused and treated merely one symptom at a time. Now I look at the early warning signs of illness, especially focusing on the general energy and alertness. If a dog has a more liquid one day, yet is eating and active, I may suggest increasing the probiotics, fasting for one meal, or another mild approach.

 

There is a wonderful DVD – Eat, Drink and Wag Your Tail available at www.homevet.com that has a “poop detective” section where children with magnifying glasses are on a field trip examining stools. It also covers the benefits of feeding a fresh food diet (which can be cheaper than commercial foods and not that hard).

 

When should you have some concern about your dog’s stool? Basically when it is different than what she normally passes.

 

  • Mucus on the stool (formed or watery) indicates an irritation or inflammation of the intestines which produce the mucus to protect the sensitive absorptive cells. Think what has happened recently – ate a lot of grass; had a birthday party and scavenged food and paper and ribbon; ate more bones than usual; was eating the mulch or sticks; etc. That would explain a few days of mucus.
  • Rock hard stool can be from diet (too many raw bones being fed, rawhides (often have chemicals in them), lack of water, secondary to constipation (retaining stool in the colon or rectum for too long),
  • Black fresh stools are of concern. They could black from something eaten, but often it means there was bleeding in the stomach or front part of the intestine. When the blood is digested, it becomes black.
  • Red stools could mean blood or that your dog ate beets. Looking carefully and not panicking will allow you to tell if it is blood. When there has been a lot of straining from constipation or diarrhea, blood vessels can break and you will see drops or streaks of blood. While of concern, this is no need to panic. If you have a puppy or the dog is acting lethargic or vomiting bloody stool with a distinctive horrible odor does indicate parvo virus disease, so head to your integrative veterinarian while you administer Reiki.
  • Rarely do we see the orange or green stools indicating gall bladder issues. While diet can cause those color changes, it should be transient.
  • You will notice tapeworms as small white segments looking like grains of rice – near the anus, on the stools or on your furniture. If they dry out they are more like flat, brown rice. The veterinarian may have just told you the stool is negative for parasites because the eggs are inside those “rice grains” and would not float to the surface in the fecal.
  • Many dogs pass undigested food, especially corn and other grains (not a natural nor healthy food for any dog to eat, especially the GMO ones). If you frequently see undigested foods that are not grains, it may indicate gut allergies or other digestive disorders, so pay attention to how the dog feels in general.
  • White stools can indicate pancreatic insufficiency if they are white when being passed. However, healthy dogs on a wonderful raw meaty bone diet may pass firm to very soft stools that become white as they dry, then fall apart into powder (saves having to clean up yard).
  • Size of stool. Big stools (often thought normal) indicate that a lot of the diet is not being absorbed. My raw fed cat has stools the size of the tip of my little finger twice a day and is super healthy. On a raw meat diet the stools will be much smaller and may be soft or even liquid occasionally.
  • Frequency of stool. Again, every dog is different. Most go 1-2 times a day, but some very healthy dogs may go up to 4 times a day. If there is a change in frequency, evaluate overall health and ask for health if needed.

 

What you can do to build health for your dog, which results in healthy stools and what to do for a few problems.

  • Follow the 7 keys to healthy animals 
    • Feed a fresh food diet from local sources
    • minimize toxins from pesticides, vaccines, flea “preventatives”, etc
    • learn totally safe healing methods you can do yourself – Reiki, acupressure, Healing Touch for Animals, Tellington T Touch, flower essences, essential oil therapy.
    • Learn fairly safe methods by studying with an expert – herbs, homeopathy, Chinese herbs,  Remember my 6 day introduction to homeopathy for animals will be in august in the DC/Baltimore area.
    • Form a healing team with an integrative veterinarian, intuitive/animal communicator, other holistic healers.
    • Have holistic books to get more information on the following treatments.
  • For diarrhea
    • Fast for 24 hours if they are well otherwise
    • Marshmallow root made into a slurry with water. (Many people use slippery elm which is not as sustainable.)
    • Flower essences such as Bach crab apple and Rescue Remedy; spirit Essence Happy Tummy; green hope essences; anaflora; petessences;

 

  • For constipation
    • Marshmallow root made into a slurry with water.
    • Flower essences such as Bach crab apple and Rescue Remedy; spirit Essence Happy Tummy; green hope essences; anaflora; petessences;
    • Canned pumpkin (or freshly cooked and well pureed)
    • Organic, drinkable aloe vera, or squeezings from a fresh plant.