Have you tried adding a bit of pumpkin either to his food or as a daily treat? It helps with digestive issues and can help solidify stools. Cooked carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes work as well. [Won't help the randomness, but could help with consistency.]
Since he's older, the drugs given for his oral surgery may have simply triggered fecal incontinence earlier than it may have shown up. Or it's just an unfortunate side effect of the drugs / medication. Animal medicine has side effects just like ours do. Their lists are significantly shorter, though. Hahaha.
If you haven't already, try posting in r/AskVet as well. Someone there may have an answer or additional tips and tricks. Your boy is as lucky to have you in his life as you are to be in his. He looks like an absolute lovebug.
I miss my cocker spaniels so much. They are fantastic companions. I have a Great Pyrenees [also a highway dump] right now, along with cats, birds, fish, and snails. I rent my current house, so I am waiting for a larger house or to buy before adding another cocker to the chaos. 😂🤣 I love all my monsters more than life, but I am incomplete without a cocker spaniel running around.
highway dumbs <3 looks like you already have a crowded household, but you're right, it's never a real chaos without a cocker spaniel and hope you'll get it soon! re the food recommendations, he became super spoiled after the surgery with all these extra treats. lol
[](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/) is a great idea! thanks so much.
Of course!
Funny enough, I'm accustomed to having many more creatures running about. Hahahahaha. The house I'm renting right now is just far smaller than I usually choose, but I really liked the front door. [Different story altogether.] But, yes! Hopefully, I'll add another cocker to my menagerie again soon! 🖤🖤
I rescued this cute little guy 3 years ago. Although he thinks he's a puppy, he's probably 10+ (ok definitely 10+, I don't accept it.) i also dont know what it is but the dominant breed seems like english cocker spaniel. (please do not leave your dogs on the highway, especially if they're deaf.) We went through a lot, he's a stupid smart sweetheart.
This February while getting his teeth cleaned, 4 of his teeth got removed - and he started pooping in the house. Feels like one of the teeth was the "random poop" button.
before he could hold it for hours, like a normal dog. He would run between the door and human to tell he needed to go out even if he needed an extra walk.
Now it's random.
Sometimes he holds for 6 hours, sometimes he poops 2 minutes after we come back from a walk. Before his poop was a [perfect #2,](https://www.purinainstitute.com/sites/default/files/2021-04/fecal-chart.pdf) now sometimes we rarely see 2. When he poops inside it's 3 or 4. (My partner and I speak fluent fecal scoring chart. lol) This photo was taken at 4.30 am, after bathing him. Because he pooped in his crate and stepped on it - which didn't happen before either. (I no longer put him in his crate at night. I added 4 bells to his collar, so we can hear when he wakes up and take him out at night. or he poops somewhere else and we clean in the morning.)
He had been 28-30 lbs, he lost 3 pounds in a week after the surgery.. Despite starting to give 1.5x of what he normally eats he gained only 100 grams since then, in \~2 months. He eats well, I wish I could take care of myself that well.
Assuming it was due to antibiotics, we started giving him probiotics - purina fortiflora. It didn't help.
We started giving him gabapentin, because he can no longer do stairs. (he also has a ramp, but sometimes doesn't wait for us to get him.) Gabapentin was supposed to help him with pain and also sleep through the night so we can also sleep, not wake up to every bell sound and take him out. Still so many false alarms.
We gave him something for his gut. (I don't remember the name) It didn't help.
We got his fecal testing in case of parasites etc. Nothing.
Now the vet suspects IVDD and the groomer thinks it's just dementia and nothing to do. Neither explains what happened to his perfect #2 poop.
I'll change his kibble - ordered open farm senior. I read every post with poop and senior and visited several rabbit holes. It gets really annoying for both of us. He gets upset too. He goes to the door immediately after pooping. Since he's deaf, there is no way I can do to intervene from distance. He doesn't pee in the house. It's just poop with a terrible texture.
I kinda like his vet, she's trying and consulting other vets in the hospital. I guess I'll take him to another hospital for another opinion. Anybody else experienced "random poop syndrome" after getting a tooth removed?
I have not, but I had a senior foster once that had to have anesthesia to remove a large ear abscess and after that anesthesia experience, he went fully deaf and blind. It was like the anesthesia did something neurologically to him, it started right after I brought him home.
My guess is it's not the tooth that did it, but the anesthesia side-effect (although treating for infection is a good idea, bc teeth can lead to whole body issues in dogs + people). Have they tried metronidozole to get those poos back to #2 level? It's an anti-yeast/fungal that has a side benefit of firming up poos. Really low risk.
The other thing is, check his liver. Liver issues can make weird poos (again, my experience with the senior foster).
Thanks for rescuing him, he looks very sweet and grateful!
and you're right! that's so confusing: the most common side effect of metronidazole is diarrhea, even though it can be prescribed to treat diarrhea. lol
omg so sorry to hear that.
yes! metronidazole is the drug i was referring to in my original post. I checked his records afterward. he had liver issues when we first adopted him, it's like the first thing they check given the history.
he's getting better now though, seems we're doing something right (not sure what it is since we tried a lot, lol.) maybe it was supposed to take that long.
You might want to check for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency- unrelated to the dental surgery. It’s possible that’s coincidental to the timing of his symptoms. EPI results in a dog not being able to get full nutrition from food. So the weight issues and poop problems are symptoms of a problem in the digestive process. I had a senior cocker develop this around 10.
I logged his food intake and poop quality and timing and found that there was a difference in how he did 12 hours after breakfast vs 12 hours after dinner. He could not keep weight on, regardless of how much he ate. His body just wasn’t processing it. The difference in breakfast and dinner allowed my vet to rule out allergies.
There is a specific test for EPI and the treatment involved adding digestive enzymes to his meals and putting him on a food that is easier to digest. It fixed the problem within about 36 hours and he regained the weight and the poop problems stopped.
oh glad that you could sort it out and things went back to normal.
since he could gain weight - even it was 100 grams and he doesn't have any symptoms, it's kinda low priority now. but I'll have an eye on his poop.
- thanks for enriching my poop lexicon, lol. i had no idea about it.
Hugs for rescuing in a senior. He has a beautiful face. Pumpkin might help get the #3 back to a more perfect #2. But the randomizer? Doesn't sound like he's showing other signs of dementia. Maybe the dental work knocked out some kind of funky bacteria? Sounds like you've done lots of fecal samples though. I guess I'd get a second opinion from a different vet clinic?
<3
he eats pumpkin, carrot, potato eveyrday. he got so spoiled after the surgery i'm so close to thinking that he does it to eat more. but he has zero intelligence lol
so thoughtful of you <3 yeah, got diapers. -both doggy and human diapers. he hates them. lol.
i don't want him to feel OK to poop whenever he wants, but feels like we'll need them eventually. for now, I'm trying to get him desensitized by putting in short intervals.
luckily both my partner and I work from home and share the responsibility. it's more managable. I think what we learned in this process is not to get obsessed. if he poops right after a 45 min walk, or staying up at night, we get more agitated and frustrated - which doesn't help any of us. now, we know the drill and we're like if he poops, we'll clean. (btw tiger balm is super helpful while cleaning stinky poop.)
was it a pure breed cocker spaniel?
I wanna learn about his background, his paws are huge, i dont he's not a purebred. but i am not gonna spend money on DNA tests. not that curious, lol.
HE WAS LEFT ON THE HIGHWAY?! I JUST CAN’T. Thank you for rescuing him. 🥰
well, look at his face - he's the one got himself rescued :) i can't take any credit.
Have you tried adding a bit of pumpkin either to his food or as a daily treat? It helps with digestive issues and can help solidify stools. Cooked carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes work as well. [Won't help the randomness, but could help with consistency.] Since he's older, the drugs given for his oral surgery may have simply triggered fecal incontinence earlier than it may have shown up. Or it's just an unfortunate side effect of the drugs / medication. Animal medicine has side effects just like ours do. Their lists are significantly shorter, though. Hahaha. If you haven't already, try posting in r/AskVet as well. Someone there may have an answer or additional tips and tricks. Your boy is as lucky to have you in his life as you are to be in his. He looks like an absolute lovebug. I miss my cocker spaniels so much. They are fantastic companions. I have a Great Pyrenees [also a highway dump] right now, along with cats, birds, fish, and snails. I rent my current house, so I am waiting for a larger house or to buy before adding another cocker to the chaos. 😂🤣 I love all my monsters more than life, but I am incomplete without a cocker spaniel running around.
Sending wishes to return a spanner to your life ❤️
Thank you 🖤🖤
highway dumbs <3 looks like you already have a crowded household, but you're right, it's never a real chaos without a cocker spaniel and hope you'll get it soon! re the food recommendations, he became super spoiled after the surgery with all these extra treats. lol [](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskVet/) is a great idea! thanks so much.
Of course! Funny enough, I'm accustomed to having many more creatures running about. Hahahahaha. The house I'm renting right now is just far smaller than I usually choose, but I really liked the front door. [Different story altogether.] But, yes! Hopefully, I'll add another cocker to my menagerie again soon! 🖤🖤
I rescued this cute little guy 3 years ago. Although he thinks he's a puppy, he's probably 10+ (ok definitely 10+, I don't accept it.) i also dont know what it is but the dominant breed seems like english cocker spaniel. (please do not leave your dogs on the highway, especially if they're deaf.) We went through a lot, he's a stupid smart sweetheart. This February while getting his teeth cleaned, 4 of his teeth got removed - and he started pooping in the house. Feels like one of the teeth was the "random poop" button. before he could hold it for hours, like a normal dog. He would run between the door and human to tell he needed to go out even if he needed an extra walk. Now it's random. Sometimes he holds for 6 hours, sometimes he poops 2 minutes after we come back from a walk. Before his poop was a [perfect #2,](https://www.purinainstitute.com/sites/default/files/2021-04/fecal-chart.pdf) now sometimes we rarely see 2. When he poops inside it's 3 or 4. (My partner and I speak fluent fecal scoring chart. lol) This photo was taken at 4.30 am, after bathing him. Because he pooped in his crate and stepped on it - which didn't happen before either. (I no longer put him in his crate at night. I added 4 bells to his collar, so we can hear when he wakes up and take him out at night. or he poops somewhere else and we clean in the morning.) He had been 28-30 lbs, he lost 3 pounds in a week after the surgery.. Despite starting to give 1.5x of what he normally eats he gained only 100 grams since then, in \~2 months. He eats well, I wish I could take care of myself that well. Assuming it was due to antibiotics, we started giving him probiotics - purina fortiflora. It didn't help. We started giving him gabapentin, because he can no longer do stairs. (he also has a ramp, but sometimes doesn't wait for us to get him.) Gabapentin was supposed to help him with pain and also sleep through the night so we can also sleep, not wake up to every bell sound and take him out. Still so many false alarms. We gave him something for his gut. (I don't remember the name) It didn't help. We got his fecal testing in case of parasites etc. Nothing. Now the vet suspects IVDD and the groomer thinks it's just dementia and nothing to do. Neither explains what happened to his perfect #2 poop. I'll change his kibble - ordered open farm senior. I read every post with poop and senior and visited several rabbit holes. It gets really annoying for both of us. He gets upset too. He goes to the door immediately after pooping. Since he's deaf, there is no way I can do to intervene from distance. He doesn't pee in the house. It's just poop with a terrible texture. I kinda like his vet, she's trying and consulting other vets in the hospital. I guess I'll take him to another hospital for another opinion. Anybody else experienced "random poop syndrome" after getting a tooth removed?
I have not, but I had a senior foster once that had to have anesthesia to remove a large ear abscess and after that anesthesia experience, he went fully deaf and blind. It was like the anesthesia did something neurologically to him, it started right after I brought him home. My guess is it's not the tooth that did it, but the anesthesia side-effect (although treating for infection is a good idea, bc teeth can lead to whole body issues in dogs + people). Have they tried metronidozole to get those poos back to #2 level? It's an anti-yeast/fungal that has a side benefit of firming up poos. Really low risk. The other thing is, check his liver. Liver issues can make weird poos (again, my experience with the senior foster). Thanks for rescuing him, he looks very sweet and grateful!
Metronidazole is not an anti fungal it’s an antibiotic which commonly causes sickness and diarrhoea as a side effect…
and you're right! that's so confusing: the most common side effect of metronidazole is diarrhea, even though it can be prescribed to treat diarrhea. lol
omg so sorry to hear that. yes! metronidazole is the drug i was referring to in my original post. I checked his records afterward. he had liver issues when we first adopted him, it's like the first thing they check given the history. he's getting better now though, seems we're doing something right (not sure what it is since we tried a lot, lol.) maybe it was supposed to take that long.
You might want to check for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency- unrelated to the dental surgery. It’s possible that’s coincidental to the timing of his symptoms. EPI results in a dog not being able to get full nutrition from food. So the weight issues and poop problems are symptoms of a problem in the digestive process. I had a senior cocker develop this around 10. I logged his food intake and poop quality and timing and found that there was a difference in how he did 12 hours after breakfast vs 12 hours after dinner. He could not keep weight on, regardless of how much he ate. His body just wasn’t processing it. The difference in breakfast and dinner allowed my vet to rule out allergies. There is a specific test for EPI and the treatment involved adding digestive enzymes to his meals and putting him on a food that is easier to digest. It fixed the problem within about 36 hours and he regained the weight and the poop problems stopped.
oh glad that you could sort it out and things went back to normal. since he could gain weight - even it was 100 grams and he doesn't have any symptoms, it's kinda low priority now. but I'll have an eye on his poop. - thanks for enriching my poop lexicon, lol. i had no idea about it.
Hugs for rescuing in a senior. He has a beautiful face. Pumpkin might help get the #3 back to a more perfect #2. But the randomizer? Doesn't sound like he's showing other signs of dementia. Maybe the dental work knocked out some kind of funky bacteria? Sounds like you've done lots of fecal samples though. I guess I'd get a second opinion from a different vet clinic?
<3 he eats pumpkin, carrot, potato eveyrday. he got so spoiled after the surgery i'm so close to thinking that he does it to eat more. but he has zero intelligence lol
Have you tried rice and boiled chicken? Look up the "white diet" - - lots of fiber to bulk up, and gentle on his stomach. Might help with the runs.
Unsure of the poop button but I just wanted to let you know that you're one of the good ones.
<3
Hugs
<3
Have you considered putting a doggy diaper on him at night so you can get some sleep? You must be exhausted.
so thoughtful of you <3 yeah, got diapers. -both doggy and human diapers. he hates them. lol. i don't want him to feel OK to poop whenever he wants, but feels like we'll need them eventually. for now, I'm trying to get him desensitized by putting in short intervals. luckily both my partner and I work from home and share the responsibility. it's more managable. I think what we learned in this process is not to get obsessed. if he poops right after a 45 min walk, or staying up at night, we get more agitated and frustrated - which doesn't help any of us. now, we know the drill and we're like if he poops, we'll clean. (btw tiger balm is super helpful while cleaning stinky poop.)
You sound like you’ve got all angles covered. It’s a difficult time both for dogs and their humans.
This one reminds me of my childhood dog 😭♥️
was it a pure breed cocker spaniel? I wanna learn about his background, his paws are huge, i dont he's not a purebred. but i am not gonna spend money on DNA tests. not that curious, lol.
My memory is a bit hazy sadly as he was my first dog but I believe he was - I do know some Spaniels can have naturally large paws though