Number of Bowel Movements

by Sheila
(Canada)

My 2yr. old Norwich Terrier eats a combination diet of Acana Light & Fit (1/2 cup over two meals) and 1/4 cup of Honest Kitchen (over two meals), per day. She has a tendency to gain weight so I watch the calorie intake.
She has three bowel movements, normal consistency, fair volume, per day. Is three normal due to the type of food? She seems normal and happy. Honest Kitchen is more of a natural raw food in dehydrated form.
Thanks SZ

My Comment:

Hi

The number of bowel movements is quite individual.

More important is the appearance of the stool. it could be Soft or very hard, semi-soft or runny. Any colour changes, mucus or blood?

Has it changed compared how it has been before? If it has changed, can the diet change be the reason....and so on.

If a dog passes more stool compared to normal and no diet change can explain it, I often think to rule out some kind of pancreatic disease. In many cases the stool has changed in colour and as well in its consistence. So if both is normal now this might not be so likely.

You can try as an experiment and for a period of time try to change his diet. Now you are giving two different foods you can change to give only one of them for a period and see if this is is mirrored in his bowel movements.

If you wish to rule out chronic pancreatitis it is very simple to do. It is a blood sample and that's it.

I may not seen that likely but if you are worrying about it it really could be worth it.

All the best

Per Schonbeck