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Dog Poop Transit Time

For years now, we at Epi4Dogs have been telling people to do the chopped carrot trick to figure out their dog’s transit time…. even though the existing research suggested that a dog’s transit time is about 12 hours…. well………..because of the carrot trick and our observations with it…Epi4Dogs has been telling people that we think the range is more like anywhere between 12 to 72 hrs

A new study by UC Davis Vet School on the transit time in normal dogs via a prophylactic gastropexy ( this is accomplished using minimally invasive techniques (two small incisions and the assistance of cameras that look inside the abdominal cavity)  done laproscopically … has proven, for the first time ever where they were actually able to test the gastric transit time that is is not 12 hours like previously thought but rather a range…. a range between 12 and 72 hours and within this range, the most frequent times (almost equally divided) with these normal dogs on a consistent hydrolyzed diet, was a transit time of 16 hours and 58 hrs after eating.

Even though dogs with gastrointestinal health conditions were eliminated and only healthy dogs were used in this study…. it is very interesting to learn that normal dogs who were physically tested are showing similar transit times that we have observed in our EPI dogs via the “transit time carrot trick test” our members do.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.14816/full

Short Transit Time in the Small Bowel / Intestine

Off color stools – -Yellowish or Green Stools:

Yellow or Greenish Stools indicates rapid transit time the small bowel …….  as food moves through the digestive tract, it usually turns from green to yellow-orange to brown. Bile and bacteria are what gives stool its final brown color.

(1) We now know that with our EPI dogs, there seems to be a Bile issue with our dogs…. so this can always be part of an underlying factor

(2) and we also now know that EPI dogs in general have “less” families of bacteria in the gut issue from normal dogs… which is another consideration that we always have to keep in mind as part of the cause…as not only is the population of existing bacteria in EPI dogs messed up… but just in general, they do not have a wide variety of bacteria in the gut like normal dogs do with healthy guts

So that is 2 strikes already that all EPI dogs have to deal with and both can be part of the problem with yellowish and even green stools.

  • Bile acid misfunction
  • Insufficient variety of bacterial families

So 1st our EPI dogs are more readily to develop problems…………………..

Next greenish stools are supposedly nothing to get overly concerned as it usually does, over time, correct itself….. BUT….. there are some interesting “other” causes in people that (i suspect) might also be applied to dogs :

  • prostaglandins
  • serotonin
  • acidic foods
  • stress and anxiety
  • tumor

Risk factors for Rapid Intestinal Transit (in people and may also be relevant in dogs too):

  • Glandular
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Medical Procedures
  • Having had a small bowel resectionMental
  • Stress / Anxiety
  • Stress and anxiety are common causes of rapid food transit through the intestines
  • Supplements, Medications, Drugs
  • Magnesium-based antacid useAntacids containing magnesium can reduce the time that food stays in the intestines
  • High acid foods (might want to check how acidic the foods are that you are feeding your pup/cat)
 
Not sure if the above can be a cause of short bowel transit time in our dogs, but it might be a consideration.