Mucous on stools - colitis

Serephin

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I have two mini schnauzers - our eldest is 2 in May. She has always been a bit sensitive when it comes to food. Having tried a few different diets (always the best I could find) we have settled on Natures Diet Lamb wet food trays.

Before this she did have a bought of colitis which I noticed as sausage like skin on her stools and then quite a bit of blood. She was treated with antibiotics and a prebiotic paste. It seems to be an intermittent thing now. Her stools have a little bit of mucus, but not always. Some days they are hard and some days they are soft.

Over the last few days, her and her partner in crime have obviously eaten something that disagreed with them, either on a walk on from the garden. Both have been pooing a lot, very soft and light coloured poos - quite squitty at times, and she was panting at one stage as she was in the car and had to wait until we could pull over to have a poo, which was very soft. They both seem to be getting over it now, so fingers crossed all will go back to normal.

But she did have a little bit of blood and mucus in one of her stool yesterday and I am just concerned that she is always going to be be sensitive with her digestive system, and am not sure what to do really.

Generally her stools are okay - she is a happy and fit little dog. Her coat shines and she has lots of energy. She loves her food and whereas before she was not bothered with kibble and other foods she does like the Natures Diet food and gets quite excited whereas before when on raw, kibble etc she ate it begrudgingly. And she would have whole days of not eating and being sick. The natures diet food is also the first food that doesn't make then fart like mad.

Is it just stuff they eat out on walks - we try to be quick but they are both very sneaky and can scoff something nasty before we get a chance to intervene. They both seem to be of the sensitive type, maybe it is a breed thing?

So it colitis something she will always have bouts of? I can get the prebiotic online and did give them both a course a few weeks ago - might get some more and give them both another course any way.

Any advice/ similar experiences with mini schnauzers and their dodgy guts?
 

Adina

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Try cutting out any food with gluten in it, for a start. Remember most doggy treats have some form of wheat in them, so none of those. If you must give a treat then the dental sticks based on pumice are OK. Don't feed any "table scraps".
 

Serephin

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Try cutting out any food with gluten in it, for a start. Remember most doggy treats have some form of wheat in them, so none of those. If you must give a treat then the dental sticks based on pumice are OK. Don't feed any "table scraps".

None of their food has gluten - I myself am gluten intolerant, so am very aware of gluten in products. The only treats they get are sea jerky treats, which are basically dried fish skins. She does get meaty treats when doing dog agility, but these are also gluten free and 100% meat.
 

Serephin

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Forgot to suggest a switch to the salmon one.

I did wonder about that yesterday, when I was making an order for some more of the lamb! Its salmon and prawn isn't it, for sensitive dogs. Its probably too late to switch the order now, dammit!:(
 

Adina

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Looks like you are doing the right things. It might take a while for tums to fully settle down. I have had problems with "100%meat" treats. It depends what the meat has been treated with. When I did training with her I would make my own. (Just slow bake meat in oven until its dry - but cube it first.) However my girl has major sensitivity issues, so you might not need to go this far.
 

muddygreymare

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Our dog (cavalier king charles spaniel) was very similar to this. Vet initially thought colitis, treatment for that didn't help, was put of hypo-allergenic, gluten free diet, that helped a bit and then they eventually found he has a pancreatic enzyme deficiency and is now on Panzym (contains the enzymes he lacks) for life. Not saying that's what your dogs problem is, but little Harvey had similar symptoms and it took a year and over £1000 of vet bills to figure out the problem! It's now controlled and he's doing great :)
 

Serephin

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Glad to hear your dog is better.

I hope its not something like that wrong with her *crosses fingers* - how did they discover the issue in the end?
 

SCMSL

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Serephin, has your dog been tested for giardia? Symptoms are very similar to colitis and although it is a parasite, it does not clear out with regular dewormer.
 

Serephin

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No, I haven't got further than treating her for mild colitis at the moment. I am keeping an eagle eye on her and will mention it to the vet when she goes next time. Thank you for making me aware of it, its another avenue to go down if its not colitis.
 

satinbaze

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Try adding tree barks powder to your dogs food. It's available from dorwest herbs. My first flatcoat had colitis and this helped to control the diarrhoea and mucus. However her turning point was feeding raw, she never looked back after I switched
 
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