What to Do When Your Dog Hasn’t Pooped in 3 or 4 Days

Constipation is when your dog is unable to poop, and it can be a very serious situation that requires veterinary attention. If your dog hasn’t pooped in three or four days, it might be worth visiting the veterinarian to ensure that nothing serious is going on. Below you will find some of the most common reasons why your dog hasn’t pooped in days and what can be done about this potentially serious issue.

Why Your Dog Hasn’t Pooped for a Few Days

There are quite a few different reasons as to why your dog hasn’t pooped for a few days, with some reasons being more serious than others. Sometimes just a change in diet can cause your dog not to poop for a few days, such as starting on a new kind of dog food.

Environmental stresses could be what’s making your dog not poop, which includes changes to food, changes to shelter, and changes to routine. These are usually minor changes in pooping habits and constipation will subside within a few days if it’s an environmental trigger.

Dehydration could also be causing your dog to not poop, which happens when the moisture found in poop is absorbed in the body in order to make up for the loss of fluids. Severe dehydration should be taken seriously and you should take your dog to the veterinarian immediately if this is suspected.

Fiber and regular exercise are needed for your dog to maintain a healthy digestive tract. You should also encourage your dog to drink more fluids, especially during hot months. Use ice cubes and possibly even a Popsicle to get your dog to take in more fluids. Canned wet food also contains water and should be given to encourage your dog to take in more water.

More serious conditions such as a gastrointestinal blockage could also be why your dog isn’t pooping. A partial blockage would allow some poop to move through whereas a complete obstruction would block the poop entirely from moving through the system. If your dog likes to chew and eat things, sometimes items that aren’t edible, then a blockage is more likely the cause of the constipation. This can be life-threatening and requires surgery to fix any obstruction.

How to Treat Your Dog’s Constipation

The first step to treat your dog’s constipation is to visit the veterinarian since they can prescribe laxatives, although that depends on the cause of the constipation. You also want to maintain a healthy diet, which involves feeding your dog more wet food to allow him to take in more water and nutrients. Wet food is typically better and healthier for dogs over dry kibble, so switching to wet food might solve the constipation issues.

If you still want to give your dog dry kibble, then you can add some moisture to the dry dog food, such as broth or water. You should be trying to encourage healthy water drinking habits too, which includes washing and cleaning out the water bowls every day and giving ice when needed to supplement the drinking water.

It’s also important that you make sure your dog is getting enough exercise to keep the bowels moving properly. Exercise is very important for proper digestion and is needed to help food move through the intestinal tract. The more your dog exercises and plays, the more likely he will be to have a healthier digestive system.

Even if you cannot play with your dog all of the time, purchase interactive toys that will get him moving around and running. Even moderate or light exercise multiple times a day will help the digestion of food and prevent constipation.