QuestionQUESTION: Hello I am a first time yorkie owner and absolutely love this breed. My question is that my pup is about 5 months old and recently she has been having a problem going to the bathroom. She is able to urinate but her feces when she can push them out are hard and big for her size. At this time she is having a hard time passing a bowel movement. Is there something I should do to help her?
ANSWER: Andrea,
My first question is what are you feeding her? The most common cause of constipation is the food that is being fed to the puppy. She should still be on puppy food because her body is not able to digest adult food properly. It can also be related to food that she was fed when she was very small. If you could tell me what you are feeding her (that means everything including table scraps) I might be better able to help you find a solution to your problem. I will wait to hear back from you.
Sincerely,
Melinda
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QUESTION: Hi Melinda,
Thank you for responding. I have been feeding my pup Eukanuba puppy chow because the crunchies are small. We do not feed our pup any type of table scraps whatsoever. She is so small being 1 lb 11oz at five months. I also give her a daily dosage of Nutra-Cal. I had switched her food once since we had brought her home this may have done that I'm not sure. Since she has been constipated I have given her a few licks of milk to try and soften her bowels but this did not work either. I hope this is a little bit better of information. Thank You so much.
Andrea
AnswerAndrea,
OK, you have several options. You could switch her to a soft puppy food. Usually switching their food will cause the opposite effect, they will get diarrhea. The first thing I would suggest is to take hot water and pour it in a bowl with the Eukanuba Puppy Chow and let it sit for about 15 minutes. When the water has all soaked up into the food take a fork or spoon and stir it up. It should be soft enough to stir if it is not then you didn't put enough water into it. Keep in mind that in the beginning it will be a learning process so you may have to throw away a couple of batches. Only make enough for one meal because after a day it can spoil. Milk can cause constipation so I would stop that for right now. Try the water soaked dog food for a few days and see if that makes a difference. If not I have some other ideas you could try so let me know how it works out. She is very small and just like a baby even though she is 5 months old her system may be a lot younger. One last thing you should know is that yorkie poops are always hard. They are always like little rocks so if she is pooping and not straining it may be that you are just not used to a dog with hard poops. Yorkies are hard to potty train but I always found that one saving grace about it is that when they poop you can just pick it up with a Kleenex, no fuss no muss lol. I hope it works out for you but if she continues to appear to be straining after a few days of the soft food you may want to call your vet.
Sincerely,
Melinda
