Bowel habits

Question
Hello !  Shelley,
Our three year old dalmation blood hound mix has periodic
bouts of constipation. The poor thing seems to strain and
sometimes takes a long time to finally go. She seems to urinate
fine but has problems with her bowel movement. This is not day
to day but it does seem to bother her on a monthly basis.

Is there anything you can suggest to help clean her out or help
with her constipation ?
Will the same treatments for adults with constipation work with
dogs ?
I have heard that the pedialite water reccomended for babies is
good for dogs. Would it help constipation.

Appreciate your advice !
Thanks !
Karen

Answer
Hi Karen,

Thank you for contacting me about your dog's periodic bouts with constipation.  

I am unclear as to what you are feeding your dog.  Often, the quality of what goes is results in the quality of what comes out.  Many ailments stem back to a dog's diet.

If you are feeding processed dog food and wish to continue doing so, I would highly recommend switching to a human grade high fiber all natural dog food.  If your dog can handle raw, there are now excellent freeze dried or frozen raw foods.  There are also excellent dry foods such as  Solid Gold Fish and Potato, Biljac, Flint River, Avoderm,   Spot's Stew, Paul Newman, Eagle Pack, and Nature's Variety is a highly recommended freeze dried raw food.  

I have always used canned pumpkin for both diarrhea and constipation.  I get the large cans of plain pumpkin and add them to a dog's food.  The fiber content seems to solve the problem very quickly.

I only use Pedialyte for diarrhea in order to replace lost electrolytes.  I don't think it would be helpful for constipation.

There is a great site on dog health which includes great information about the best way to feed your dog.  I urge you to spend some time studying the information that this wonderful site has to offer.

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/animals.htm

Good luck with your precious pooch.

Best,
Shelley Davis
www.bednbiscuit.com