Canine Constipation: A Comprehensive Guide

Hi, this is Rita Hogan and welcome to the Dogs are Individuals podcast. I'm a clinical canine herbalist and I've been practicing for over 20 years. This podcast is all about your dog through an herbal lens. So let's get to it and dive right in. Hello. Today we are going to talk about constipation. Yes, it's true. We are talking about constipation. And before we get into it, I would love to say thanks to adored beast Apothecary for being my sponsor, because without my sponsors, I would not be here. I do want to call attention to one of their products, which is called your go to. Okay. It's your Go to. I carry it on my website. They carried on their website, adored beast.com. oh, and they have a great 15% off coupon for their website. For my listeners, it's all caps. Herbs rock. Okay. Herbs rock. H, E, R, B, S, R, O, C, k. Herbs rock. 15% off. But let's get back to why I love your Go to. Your Go to is a homeopathic remedy. It comes in a little pump and it has homeopathic arnica and homeopathic aconite together. And it's such a powerful duo for all of those things like car rides, vet visits, thunderstorms, freaking out, carrying on all that kind of stuff. Your Go to is fabulous for that. You can use it for cats, dogs and horses. For horses. I know this isn't a horse show, but it's very good for when the farrier comes. And if your horse is being weird about getting their feet touched, your Go to is a fabulous thing for that as well. Check it out and give me some feedback right into the podcast. Tell me how you like your go to. You're going to wish you went to it a long time ago. Okay, let's talk about constipation. I know. How can I sound so excited about talking about constipation? But it is an important, often overlooked subject. If your dog is not pooping twice a day, there's a high possibility that they are constipated. Even if they eat once a day, dogs should normally defecate twice a day. Okay? And that includes you. So these things I'm talking about, most of it is going to apply to you as well. Constipation is a big issue among humans and it's also, you know, a kind of hidden issue among dogs. Because a lot of people think that their dog isn't constipated cause it poops. You know, this small poop once a day. Constipation can lead to a lot of issues. I know that, you know, too many bones can cause constipation, but you're gonna see a white crumbly poop when there is too many bones. Dogs that are cool are much more prone to constipation. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my energetics course on canineherbalism.com and you can find out all about your dog's energetics. But dogs who are cool are more prone to constipation. And then there is dogs who are dry. They have excessive dryness, can be constipated. And then, I mean, excessive dryness. You're going to see other signs of dryness, like brittle nails, dry eyes. You can get dry mucous membranes, different types of stone formation in the body, rough fur, like stiffness in the body, for sure. Too much tension. If your dog has too much tension, they might get like alternating constipation with diarrhea. That tends to be a symptom for that. But also too much moisture dampness can cause constipation, too. It kind of. It causes stagnation and kind of a dilution. And that can also cause your dog to be a little backed up for that. Okay. And again, stagnation in general, cool to cold dogs are more. Are definitely more susceptible to that. And, and again, tension, which is not enough relaxation in the body. Just too kind of tense, you know, tight as that fluctuates, it can cause alternating constipation and diarrhea. Another factor that can cause alternating constipation and diarrhea is low intrinsic factor in the gut, which intrinsic factor helps process B12 in the stomach and throughout the gastrointestinal tract. But when there's low intrinsic factor, you can see alternating constipation and diarrhea. And usually you'll see more muscle weakness. This usually happens in. It can happen a lot in older dogs. It's not confined to older dogs, but, like, you'll probably see some more like some dementia and possibly some low stomach acid acid reflux along with it. Another factor in constipation is a stagnant lymphatic system. And a lot of people don't even know what the lymphatic system is. I think I did a podcast on it, so check that out. But it is how fat soluble hormones and vitamins and nutrition get to your dog's cells. And it also cleans and neutralizes viruses and pathogens inside your dog. And it doesn't have a pump so it needs to be stimulated. And a lot of dogs by lack of exercise, poor energetics, like not eating energetically appropriate food can get stagnant and stagnant. Lymphatics are part of stagnation, and it can cause constipation. Keeping the liver in mind, you know, constipation is always related to liver health. And like, you know, for instance, like on a blood panel, you might get high GGT levels, which is gamma glutamyl transferase. I believe you might get high GGT levels. And constipation can be one of the reasons why you're gonna see elevated GGT levels. I'm sure you all can know by now of those of you who have been listening to me, I'm all about liver health. Liver, liver, liver, liver, liver. And so everything's connected. And the liver, you know, is really at the top, along with the heart and the kidneys and the lymph, lymphatic system, basically. And then everything really does trickle down from there in the gastrointestinal tract and all of that good stuff. And one thing in the gastrointestinal tract is a little something called. That you can use is a little something called saccharomyces bolidarti. But please know that if you move fat too fast with that supplement, which I'm a big fan of, it can cause constipation. So that's another factor in, you know, dealing with constipation and what you should do. Heart weakness can be. Constipation can be a co factor in heart weakness or a symptom of heart weakness. So keep that in mind. We're just going. We're going through, like, all things. Constipation, respiratory weakness, chronic constipation. You know, when you have weakness in the lungs, you might see constipation. Also kidney weakness. Are you seeing the correlation between all these major organs? Right, Kidney weakness. Constipation can be a factor there. And definitely kidney disease, you know, along with dark urine. But lethargy, nausea, poor appetite, it can indicate constipation. One factor that dog people, and I mean dog dogs and dog people can suffer from is and have constipation is yeast overgrowth in the gastrointestinal tract can definitely lead to chronic constipation. So when your dog has constipation, it can. You know, we tend to panic. But for me, I want to bring attention to the fact that a lot of people should be concerned and aren't concerned because the large intestine and the digestive system move Waste through the colon, and it needs to move, it needs to go through. Constipation can cause so many issues with the internal organs and everything that is underneath them. Everything that trickles down, okay? Cellular nutrition, you know, everything is about assimilation and elimination. And when you're not eliminating, you're not assimilating correctly. And we need our dogs to assimilate everything, all the good stuff that we. That they eat, basically. Okay? And so, you know, we've went over a few reasons for constipation, okay? And we've got some big guns. You know, heart, kidney, liver, lymph, lungs, and then we have all of these little things that, again, trickle down. So I think one of the big reasons for most constipation is energetics. You know, if your dog is a warm dog or a cool dog, where are they on that spectrum and what are you feeding? And again, if you don't know what I'm talking about, take my energetics course. It's $75. It's worth its weight in gold. Love it. It, you know, and you have lifetime access. You can find it@k9herbalism.com and I update the course when I find out new information or when I experience new things. We have live Q and A's. Check it out. But energetics is really important because if you are feeding a cool dog, cooling proteins, you're going to cause more stagnancy and everything is going to start to slow down because they're going to get colder. And when things are cold, they get stagnant. Think of it, really frosty, cold day. You know, things don't move very quickly on those days, do they? And then if you're feeding a really, like a warm dog, really warming proteins, consistency, con consistently, because that is what energetics is all about. If you're feeding it consistently, things are going to really warm up and they're going to get too hyperactive, right? And then you usually get diarrhea or alternating constipation with diarrhea. But diet is often the cause of constipation. You can get too, you know, not enough fiber. It can happen a lot with raw feeding because hair is usually in a wild diet and they're not getting hair in their food. One of my old sponsors was Real Dog Box, and they have some lovely treats that have hair on them that can really help with fiber consumption. So check that out. Kibble is very drying to the body, so it causes a lot of constipation unless they put in the lovely beet pulp, which does not look like fresh beets from the garden. Okay, let's be sure about that. And that makes dogs poop hard, like very, very firm stools. But they can still get constipated, especially if they are inactive, because inactivity or overactivity can cause a lot of stress, and that definitely can lead to constipation, and it also can lead to diarrhea. Pharmaceuticals can definitely cause constipation if your dog is on any type of painkillers or nausea meds, you know, over vaccinated, which I do not recommend. And surgery anesthesia can definitely be constipating. And the longer your dog's poo stays in the large intestine, the harder it is to pass. And also it ups your dog's toxic load. I have a client that we've been working with for a while now that has insomnia. It's a little dog, but he. He like, cries out in the middle of the night and he gets really uncomfortable. And we've been trying to figure out, okay, obviously we think there's some type of pain. Vet can't figure it out, like, what's going on here? And then we were having a conversation via email, and it came out of the woodwork. That puppy only pooped once every two to three days. Puppy only pooped once every two to three days. It is. That is insanity. Not for the person who has a dog she didn't know, but this conversation, yeah, oh, my God. It's definitely going to be an issue. Heard back, started giving a supplement for constipation. And this is a very geriatric dog that has some blindness. And so, you know, it is a special case. But this week we've had two nights of constant sleeping since we've added another poop to the regimen. Okay, super excited about this. Can't wait. I'm going on a unplugged vacation. But by the time you hear this, I might have already went on my vacation. I don't know. But I'm excited to hear back. What's going to be happening when we get back. We're doing some things to relax. We're doing some things to de inflame, but the pooping has to happen because it is very uncomfortable to have that stool in the colon. Okay. Very uncomfortable for dogs. I also worked with a client that this was a human client. I worked with a human client that had this pain in their pelvis when they would sit down. And they used donut hole cushions so that basically their coccyx did not touch anything. When they sat down, because that's when the pain would start. They tried sitting on a yoga ball. They tried all these different types of chairs. Spent a lot of money, and. And I asked them, how many times do you poop? They were pooping a couple times a week and eating three meals a day. And I said, well, I think the problem here is you're constipated. Oh, I'm not constipated. I poop. Yeah, okay. No, you're not. You don't poop, not consistently. And we started them on a supplement for pooping. It's called oxy powder. It's ozonated magnesium, and it doesn't cause any cramping. It doesn't cause you to basically shit your pants. You know, no one ever likes that. Doesn't cause that. Like, oh, my God, you know, you break out into sweat, that kind of stuff. Who needs that? It just helps you go consistently without having, like, really bad poop or really horrible runny poop. She started pooping and all the pain went away. She could sit normally. Everything was fine. So don't underestimate the power of the poo. There are definitely, again, some dire, like, dire things that can be at play when dogs are constipated. You know, swallowing things, tumors, obstructions, things like that. And usually there's other things going on, like vomiting, vomiting and diarrhea at the same time, or vomiting and constipation. Chronic vomiting, chronic constipation on the same day. You know, you might want to bring your dog in for an X ray and get them looked at by your veterinarian, especially if there's lethargy or the, like, distended stomach or having a hard time breathing. These are all things that indicate something more is going on there. Something more. So you want to look at that. Let's go over some herbs for constipation. Okay. The goal is that you want to lubricate the gastrointestinal tract. You know, well, number one, look at your dog's energetics. Make sure you're feeding an energetically appropriate diet. Make sure you're not giving too many bones. Make sure that the food is agreeable to your dog. That's number one. Diet, diet, diet, diet. Then you want to lubricate the gastrointestinal tract. As a sponsor, Adored beast Apothecary has a wonderful product called gutsoothe can help with constipation. Probiotic. Probiotics can help with constipation for sure. Different types of probiotics can definitely help. Four Leaf Rover's got a great probiotic called Protect. It's a probiotic mix. It has a little clay in it. So I definitely would get things going first and then you could add that in. But they have bifido. Soil based probiotics are good. Adored Beast has a lot of different types of probiotics. Not all probiotics are good for every dog. So, you know, start small and see. But prebiotics, probiotics are very good for constipation and diarrhea and regulating the gastrointestinal tract. So we first again, want to lubricate the tract. We want to lubricate the stool. Most people think about laxatives. I don't give dogs laxatives unless it's dire, okay? And I would say, I mean laxatives like Senna. Senna is one that will give you cramping and cause you to break out in a sweat. And we don't want that to happen to our dogs either. Gentle laxatives are a good idea. And the key word there is gentle. Okay? They should be your first choice. And slowly adding more fiber to your dog's diet. Or again, checking out their energetics and making sure that that is squared away. Mild laxatives gentle coat the intestines of the colon, and you want it to create like a mucilage environment. And yes, you may get some mucus stools when you're working on constipation. So don't freak out. You want to help move that stool along the colon so that your dog can poop, right? And some good herbs for constipation. Chickweed, whole dandelion. Now, dandelion can be a little drying longer term, but initially using acutely, you can mix it with things like marshmallow root or plantain or slippery elm. Those are good things. And those are all really kind of cooling herbs. But they can be used acutely to get the stool going. And like pharmaceutical constipation. Burdock root, again, marshmallow root, milk thistle, Oregon grape root, slippery elm. Those are all ones that work for that as well. And if you've got alternating constipation with diarrhea. Yellow dock root. And again, these are acute uses, okay? Acute uses. Foods, apples, berries, small amounts of sprouts, carrots, celery, lettuce if your dog isn't cool. Moringa, medicinal mushrooms. They're an excellent prebiotic. Pumpkin spinach. Those are things that can help also with constipation and add more fiber. One supplement that I like to use for dogs while we're Figuring out where in their diet or their constitution what is, off balance, causing the constipation. While we're working on that, I love to use the ozonated magnesium oxide for constipation. Now I know how to get it for humans, but for dogs, I've only been able to find it one place, and that is a website called Pat McKay P A T M C K A Y.com forward slash Pyrazone powder P U R I Z o N E- powder P O W D E R patmck.com Purisone powder I use this product for dogs that are constipated and it is like oxy powder. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the same ingredient. Oxy powder is a product that I have been using for years with my mom and other people that I work with that are constipated while we work on their internal tissues to get them to stop being constipated. Right. Oxy powder is ozonated magnesium oxide and citric acid. And usually the citric acid is tapioca derived. And it works better than anything I have ever used on the market. And it's pretty benign. It definitely helps kind of neutralize the issues that are going on in the colon and get the stool moving. It's pretty effortless. And that's what I like about it. There's no side effects and no straining and no sweating and no discomfort. With this product, you start out very slow with dogs, very, very slow. I would probably use a sixteenth of a teaspoon for pretty much all small dogs twice daily. And then, you know, I would say a 30 to 40 pound dog, I'd probably use an eighth of a teaspoon twice daily. And for large dogs, maybe a quarter teaspoon. And you just, you know, just put it in the food and you'll see some good results with that. Another product that I can recommend without knowing a lot about your dog is Animal Essentials Colon Rescue. That's a like a glycerin made with slippery elm, licorice root, plantain and marshmallow root. That one is a good one. A couple of other products that I like are especially for dogs that are cool and you need it more consistently. I would usually the oxy powder, I mean the oxy product from Pat McKay. But also look at the lymphatic system. So things that stimulate the lymphatic system, like calendula, is great for constipation. And then you have to use a tincture of calendula and then we have another one like turmeric. Turmeric and ginger are also good for constipation. I like to use ginger as an infusion or a decoction, like making a hot tea out of ginger. Make sure you test it yourself to see how kind of like how hot the flavor is. Don't give it too intense. And then turmeric is also a good anti inflammatory and it will help get the stool moving. Okay, so that's a little bit about constipation. If you have any questions, write into the podcast and you'll see. You'll go to my website, canineherbalist.com you'll see in the dropdown menu that we have a podcast contact if you want me to cover a subject in the podcast. If you have a question about what we just talked about, you can write into the podcast. I will answer it here on the podcast. And I do want to thank my other sponsor or my next sponsor and that is realmushrooms.com I think I said this a while back, but when we have the changing seasons, when we're moving from fall to winter or summer to fall, one mushroom that sticks out and that real mushrooms has a really great quality product is Reishi Mushroom. Reishi Mushroom really helps with that seasonal change. And if I could recommend one mushroom for this season and you can use it acutely for any dogs, energetic for, you know, a couple of weeks, maybe three to four weeks is Reishi Mushroom. It's gonna help with the immune system. It modulates the immune system. It gives the immune system what it needs to function during these crazy up and down temperatures that can lead to like pneumonia and different types of ailments like bronchitis. During this time it also time for like kennel cough and different just kind of like weird immune function. And if your dog and you know, your dog is nice and cool, you can add Cordyceps mushroom from realmushrooms.com the reishi cordyceps mixture is excellent for this time of year. Thanks for listening to this episode of Dogs are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app. And don't forget, sharing is caring. So if you love Dogs Are Individuals podcast, share it with your friends and family who love dogs. This will help me so much. And remember, as a listener, I appreciate you much. Thanks to Resonant Media, my podcast production team. This podcast is produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. Any questions, email the show, go to k9herbalist.com, click podcast contact in the menu and then fill out that form and I'll answer any questions here online. Okay, so thank you so much for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals Podcast and I'm going to talk to you in our next episode. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or healthcare provider first before starting anything new. And that includes herbs. I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe anything. I'm a traditional herbalist providing herbal support education only. Regarding any products I may suggest the statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here on the podcast is not meant as a substitute or alternative to information from your vet. Please consult your veterinary provider professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any production.