Anal Tone and Fecal Incontinence

Annie

My name is Cathy. I have a beautiful Boston Terrier named Annie.  That's my little Annie looking at you.

Just to share a little of Annie's story with you, she came to me as a foster last summer. She had been pregnant, and someone shot her full of bird-shot and left her in the woods to die. The shot fractured her pelvis, and is still embedded in her spine, pelvis and all under her skin. Because of the neurological damage she suffered she is crippled in her back legs and both fecal and urinary incontinent. But, just like your little guy or gal, she doesn't let it stop her one bit.

Fecal incontinence is not necessarily a pleasant topic of discussion, but it’s a problem that many in rescue face on a daily basis.  During my early days of caring for my Boston Annie, I saw many vets and obtained a lot of information about anal tone and incontinence.  She was the first dog I’d encountered with this problem, so I had much to learn.  One of the most important things I learned is that a dog can have relatively good anal tone, and still be fecal incontinent.  

Let’s use Annie as an example:  

As I said, Annie has neurological damage from being shot.  She is both fecal and urinary incontinent because of this.  When she was first examined by a vet, he stated that she shouldn’t be fecal incontinent because she has good anal tone.  You can tell about a dogs anal tone by gently touching around their rectum.  If the muscles involuntarily contract when you touch his rectum, then there’s anal tone.  However, I knew from observing Annie that she really had no clue when she was about to poop, contrary to the vet saying that she just needed to work on her housetraining.  

Further examination by a different vet yielded another possibility – one that I believe is true in Annie’s case.  Annie’s neurological damage causes her not to be able to feel when her bowels are moving.  Her good anal tone allows her to feel when it’s already on its way out, but she cannot tell when she needs to poop.  In other words, she can’t feel the “urge” to go.  So, by the time she can tell she’s pooping, it’s too late for her to do anything about it.  

Once we established what Annie’s particular problem is, then the task of managing her incontinence began.  Initially, I kept her in a diaper all the time.  I use a regular baby diaper pinned inside of a doggy diaper cover instead of the true dog diapers because they are really only for urinary incontinence.  The hole cut in them for the dog’s tail allows the poop to escape.  However, after treating Annie for her second urinary tract infection in 3 months, I decided that I needed to find an alternative to keeping her in a diaper constantly.  The bacteria from a soiled diaper, especially for female dogs, will cause a urinary tract infection or bladder infection very quickly, because the poop is right at their vulva.  It didn’t matter how clean and dry I kept her bottom, she still wound up with infections.  

What I have found that works for Annie, and us, is to keep her on a high-quality low-waste food, and keep her on a strict schedule for feeding.  Feeding the low-waste food means that she will poop much less than on a cheaper food.  It also produces a much more firm stool.  Since most dogs need to poop right after they eat, she goes outside once she’s finished.  Generally, while she’s outside walking around, she’s also pooping at the same time.  When we are home, she is not in her diaper at all.  If she should have an accident in the house, we just pick it up and go on about our day.  The low-waste food makes it much easier to pick up after her, and she’s getting much better nutrition.  

The only time that she wears her diaper now is at night and when we’re not going to be home for long periods.  The biggest hurdle is finding the solution that’s going to work for you and your dog.  It takes time and a ton of patience, but the solution can be found. 

You can also help your little guy or gal out by using a sling under the middle to support the backside while he or she walks. Even though you'll actually be supporting his weight, it will give him a sense of freedom and normalcy. That way, he can go outside in your yard and be mobile. Also, if he stays in one position too long, he will develop pressure sores just like people who are bedridden do. It is much more difficult to heal a sore than it is to prevent it.

I would suggest that you visit a web site called www.handicappedpets.com. They have a wonderful support board with people who face the same problems we do with our BTs. I have received some excellent advice and tips from those folks.

If you want to talk about your pooch, email me at mailto:CTriche@carolina.rr.com

Cathy and Annie