It Happens; what’s the scoop on your pet’s poop

Let’s face it, it happens. While we often think of communicating with our pets via eye contact or voice commands, we rarely think about how they can transmit with

us via “poop posts”. When your cat or dog leaves behind a log it’s like a storybook of their body. It tells you what they ate, how it agreed – or disagreed – with them, how much water they have consumed, and of course if they really did eat Bobby’s missing GI Joe figurine. The most important thing that their fecal friends tell us, is how our pets are doing.

Recently, my client noticed his 2 year old Border Collie’s poops were far from normal. Coupled with a few episodes of throwing up and lethargy, my client knew his buddy was in trouble. He knew all the signs.  Based on Samson’s symptoms, he knew he had to head to the vet. So off they went with a fecal sample in tow. Samson tested positive for Giardia.

My client became Samson’s hero. He knew from Samson’s stools that something wasn’t right. The large amount of grass he was eating and the normal stool mixed with mucous as well as blood, were all signs that something was wrong with Samson.

It worries me that a lot of people don’t examine their pets poop. As a pet sitter, I have found problem poops in yards, litter boxes and while walking pups. I cannot tell you how many people either don’t look at the poop, hurriedly scoop it into the bag, or thought that jelly-like melted Hershey kiss was normal. Donna Solomon, DVM wrote a great piece on poop in the Chicago Huffington Post called, The Scoop On Your Pet’s Poop. She describes what the poop should be like, what it can tell us, and just how important it is to checkout our fur-friends production pieces.

So while Fido is checking out the weekly pee-mail on the telephone pole, or while you’re digging for snickers in Scruffy’s box, take a close look at your pets poo. There might just be a story you could be missing.