The Schnauzer Forum

Hi I'm slightly worried about 13 week old puppy. She has done 2 stools now (about 4 hrs apart) that have a grey colour. I had a closer look at the second one and halved it and it seems it's a normal but softer poo than usual, with a mucus like coating. Googling is worrying me but I don't know if it's an emergency? Can it wait til normal vet tomorrow (assuming they are open as it's bank hol..?).

She seems ok in herself, playing and eating as normal although perhaps not AS active as usual?

I have photo if anyone interested!
Thank you

Hi Menna,

If there's no blood in it - and from your description there isn't, I'd keep a watching brief. You'll probably find her back to normal tomorrow.

Mucus in the stool is not an emergency but does indicate the bowel is irritated...this can be caused by changes in the diet or even stress..,I would give the dog enterogermina,a probiotic and monitor stools and general behavior as you are doing.
Your pup is also teething at this moment which could influence things.
If stool worsens,vet check for sure.
Around five months I always take a stool sample in to vet to do a worm test.This is just a precaution,but is to ensure any parasites pup my have acquired from the dam in utero are eliminated.

Thank you both. I checked her during the night and let her out (which I always do). She urinated both times and 4am 'this morning she emptied her bowels and it was harder and a better colour. There was one bit with some mucus but much better.

I did end up calling the vet last night and explained to the triage nurse over the phone. She said didn't sound like she needed seeing urgently and to keep an eye, feed her rice and boiled chicken (do I do same weight as normal food?). Then she said to call vets tomorrow when back open.

She did have a yak chew yesterday but hardly made a dent in it, plus she had one of those veg dental chews. Or could be something from park? She ate some soil, grass..

She's full of beans this morning so on that front she seems fine!

I did same volume as normal food, not weight, and did 2/3 rice, 1/3 chicken

She's just been out gain, no mucus this time. Will stay on chicken and rice today though

If you've got one microwave a sweet potato and mash up with chicken instead of rice. It's much better than rice.

If you haven't don't worry just make sure the rice is cooked to a porridge like mush. If it's not cooked enough it can give them wind.

Sounds like she's on the mend. It's always a great relief when they're back to normal.

Oh no really Alison? I actually threw one batch away because it was overcooked!
I don't have any sweet potato but there's a greengrocer up the road, I can pop and get one later.

I know Sam, especially as I'm new to all this! I'll know not to panic next time!

I would not give the dental chew...a lot of them are Chinese in origin..also rawhide are not ideal...

How many meals is she on now? If four ,cut to three and consider going to two around 6 months...over feeding can also cause a looser stool..be sure to keep to your daily amount split between the meals..
With my bigger dogs I go,to adult kibble around five to six months too.

Hi Menna, glad your pup is on the mend. Release of excess mucus is caused by an inflamed intestine due to something eaten. I had years of managing Oscar's colitis which flared up regularly. Can be scary to see. Allowing the tummy to rest for several hours and then feeding small meals used to fix it. It could have been caused by the veg dental chew - was it a whimzee by any chance? They are intended for pups older than 9 months. I fed Otto one and was not happy about the large chunks he was able to bite off and swallow.

Jo she's on 3 meals a day, which is what the breeder told us to give at 8am, 2.30 and 9pm. I have changed this to 7.30, 2 and 8.30 because she is up at 6 and she's conked out by 9.30.

Will not get any more dental chew then. Having just looked up whimzee it does look identical to that (and thy had them in different shapes). I asked at the pet hop (pets t home) what I could give her to chew on and the woman recommended that (I gave her breed and age). I'm really annoyed if they're for 9+ months. Is that because of content or fear of choking or damaging teeth? When it got to about 2.5 inches big I threw it in the bin as I didn't feel comfortable

I agree re the dental chews that they are not something I would recommend for a puppy and even older dogs can sometimes get a soft poo after eating them.
I have as standby in the cupboard for any minor digestive upsets:
Yudigest powder - a probiotic which is useful also if a dog is ever on antibiotics or anything that might upset digestion:
https://www.lintbells.com/products/yudi ... -for-dogs/

Tree Barks Powder - which calms inflammation and soothes the gut:
https://www.dorwest.com/product/tree-ba ... -and-cats/

And a tin of unsweetened pumpkin! A teaspoon of this added to the food can help normalise poo whether too hard or too soft. If need be, you can freeze in an ice cube tray and keep individual portions for when needed but do defrost before adding to food if giving for a digestive issue as freezing cold food will not help in that situation. Do be sure that it is just 100% pumpkin and not pie filling with added sugar etc.

Glad to hear that Kiki is OK though now anyway. Puppies almost always do have the odd bout of diarrhoea or horrible poo as they can pick up all sorts of things to eat that they shouldn't even when you are really careful and their digestive system and immune system are still developing at this young age so less able to cope with some things that would not worry a mature dog at all.

If she's leaving meals and getting picky,I'd go to two meals after five months..what is her weight ? She looks a big pup in the pic,but could just be the pic..keep her on three meals for now,but between five to five and a half m consider going to two meals if she continues to refuse meals..
if you excercise early give an hour after. excercise ....
Eg...We feed around ten am and again around six pm..fixed walks are around 8 am and 7 pm or later,whilst it's hot..
In winter we do the second walk late afternoon and feed an hr later in the evening.

In the food section there is a link for healthy chews for our dogs...?..lots of ideas here.

search.php?keywords=Safe+chews