What other profession can get as much mileage out of a discussion on POOP as veterinarians? 

The message you should take home from this blog is to become familiar with your pet’s normal POOP habits. The baseline of “normal” should include knowing the frequency of bowel movements, the size of each movement, the consistency as well as urgency of each movement.  If you are feeding a quality food without excessive treats (including no table food) then it should be fairly easy to learn your critters’ normal POOP habits.  Then, anything that deviates from this should be cause for concern and possibly a trip to your local veterinarian. 

Mucus and blood in your pet’s POOP may not necessarily be bad. You may see either of these with a diet change or stress in the environment (like a trip to the kennel, a new baby or moving to a new house).  Diarrhea is never normal, but it can be caused by a wide variety of things including, but not limited to, dietary indiscretions, intestinal parasites, pancreatic insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or several different viral infections.  Granted, the dietary indiscretions may be easily handled at home with a bland diet for a few days, but these animals usually do not feel bad.  If you see POOP changes of any kind in an animal who appears to feel bad, refuses to eat, or vomits, then these signs warrant a trip to the vet.  Also be sure to save a sample of the abnormal POOP so that your doctor can check it when you get there. Sometimes it is difficult to get a fresh sample once you arrive at the clinic.

Today’s blog was written by Dr. Angela Ivey, director of veterinary medicine at the Richmond SPCA. Dr. Ivey spent many years in private veterinary practice before joining the medical staff at the Richmond SPCA in 2004.

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