Puppy Constipation-- What Should I Do?

Factual Questions
1

A bit of background for those who didn’t see my thread in MPSIMS: Polaris is about five weeks old, 1.6 pounds. This is her third day with us.

She was wormed at the vet yesterday. She vomited, and had diarrhea, both times expelling dead worms. Not knowing that this was a normal reaction to the worming medicine, I panicked, and put in an after-hours call to the vet. He said not to worry, as long as she wasn’t vomiting all night.

This morning she seemed fine. I fed her a tiny bit to see if it would stay down, and when it did, I resumed feeding her normally. She’s been eating canned puppy food-- she didn’t like moistened kibble, and as tiny as she is, I’m giving her what she likes so she’ll gain some weight.

This afternoon, when I took her outside, she hunched like she was going to move her bowels, but nothing happened. A few moments later, a car made a noise on the street and she stopped. She didn’t try to defecate again, so I took her back inside.

About twenty minutes ago, I took her out again, and she hunched up, but nothing happened. She stayed in that pose for a while, then straighted up and walked back toward the house. She had a small piece of fecal matter sticking out of her anus, which I gently removed. However, I could see that there was more lodged in the anus which she wasn’t able to pass.

On the advice of my mother, I gently wiped her backside with a warm washcloth, trying to simulate a mother dog’s licking, but nothing happened. She hasn’t tried again to move her bowels.

I’m worried and upset. I don’t know what to do. I paged the vet, but he hasn’t returned my call. Maybe I’m over-reacting, but she’s so tiny and young. I’m sure she’s probably a lot more resilient than she looks, but I’m so scared that the wormer and antibiotics which she’s on are too strong for her little system.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

2

Vomiting and diarrhea both cause dehydration and dehydration can cause constipation so your best bet is to simply make sure she is drinking and getting water into her system. At this stage of the game, the constipation is certainly not life threatening, so relax if you can and wait to talk with the vet. He may want to palpate her abdomen to feel for blockages, but I suspect the diarrhea indicates that there are no blockages. He may recommend a glyceryn suppository, but wait until you talk with him.

3

My vet suggested a few drops of vegetable oil mixed with his food when this happened to my dog. It worked OK.

4

I would have the puppy seen by a vet. Oil given orally would take a while to have any effect, and a dog the age/size of Lissa’s does not have as much buffer as a larger/older canine. A rectally inserted glycerin suppository would be something I would suggest if Lissa were stuck on an island without access to veterinary care. Along with plenty of oral fluids. Worse case scenario, a mass of dead roundworms can act as an obstructing mass. I would watch closely for vomiting. Do you have a rectal thermometer? Lube up the end with petrolatum and take the pup’s temperature. That may allow defecation to occur.

5

I’m leaning more towards mild dehydration. Make sure pup’s got plenty to drink, feed as normal and take outside as soon as pup eats. I’d think about switching to kibble soon though.

The same as with humans, roughage, water and exercise are what’s needed to promote normal bowel movements.

6

Hmm.

Talk to your vet about this, your dog being a puppy who’s trying to settle onto a diet, but a bowl of prepared (but cooled) oatmeal might help.

Our dog chewed up her Nylabone Frisbee and swallowed several large chunks. Our vet recommended oatmeal, which, shall we say, “widens the bore” on the intestine, allowing larger items to escape without doing damage. He was right. He mentioned in passing (HA! Killer! :smiley: ) that there is a lot of new literature on the benefits of oatmeal as both a treatment for diarrhea AND constipation.