@eeeefarm I saw that as well. The odd thing is that he doesn't have diarrhea — when he goes #2 on a walk, it's fine. He's just...leaking a bit when he's napping/sleeping and relaxed. He's finished the Rimadyl as of a couple of days ago.

@tanza The Rimadyl is a pain reliever. I did ask about the possibility of the meds causing the issues. Doc indicated that was unlikely, but obviously we're pursuing all angles.

@zande Yes, obviously we're working closely with the vet to resolve the issue. But given the depth of experience that folks here have with B's compared to the average vet, it seemed prudent to ask to see if anyone has dealt with something similar.

@elbrant He was in Rimadyl and Flagyl through yesterday.

Hoping someone here might be able to help since we seem to have stumped our vet...

TL;DR — Our dog had surgery last week unrelated to his rear end but now is suffering fecal incontinence while sleeping.

This past tuesday, our 8yo male basenji went in for surgery to have 5 (presumably — still waiting for the biopsy) lipomas (fatty build-ups) removed as we'd seen some growth over the last couple of years and felt it was time to take care of them. They were on his: belly, front/high chest, each side, and one by his scapula.

Surgery went fine. No issues during or after with any of his surgery sites. However, since surgery he's been having fecal incontinence issues. His stool is generally normal consistency to slightly soft (but not diarrhea); he's eating and drinking fine. None of his surgical sites are bothering him or infected.

This started Tuesday night (after his surgery) — we woke up and noticed his rear was dirty which led us to discovering a very small smear in his bed. Thursday morning I woke up and sat on the sofa only to find I'd sat in a very small amount of poop (we didn't see it happening). After that we noticed a small amount of discharge around his rear. His rear also seems itchy and uncomfortable (some butt scooting and tenderness when we wipe him off with a baby wipe).

We thought he was out of the woods as he woke up fine yesterday morning. Took him to the vet anyway (already had the appointment, wanted to be sure) who examined him, expressed his anal glands, and couldn't find anything wrong. Thought he was in the clear, but the issues continued later yesterday and today.

Vet is now saying it might be neurological but I find that unlikely given that he has physical symptoms of tenderness and discomfort in the area. He was on Rimadyl and Flagyl till yesterday; again the Dr. said those are unlikely causes. I've also (since) been pointed to the BRAT article on anesthesia in B's which may be the issue, but 6 days out seems like a long time to be suffering the impacts still and we've seen no other signs of neurological issues, no trouble walking, etc.

We're stumped and would like to help our pup recover. Any insights, experiences, etc would be greatly appreciated.

He's not outside a ton as he goes to daycare most days. We're also in NYC where nature isn't terribly invasive.

I posted on two facebook groups I follow as well and the answers have ranged from "winter ear" which seems like no big deal to vasculitis which (if you believe the hype) will soon have his skin falling off, zombie-style.

We'll probably swing by the vet this week to be sure, but I've been rubbing some vitamin E oil on his ears for the last 36 hours and it's already looking better.

Our pup Ernest has had some dry skin issues in the past. We've started giving him 1 capsule's worth of fish oil daily which seems to have curbed his "dandruff" issue, but recently I noticed some very dry skin inside his ears. That peeled (like after a sun burn) but now the fur along the edge of his ear is coming out a little bit.

Anyone have ideas for causes and/or remedies?

@eeeefarm:

Where is his crate located? If it isn't beside your bed, I would try placing it there. He may take his cue from you that it isn't time to get up yet. If you let him sleep with you, it's even more likely that he will figure out it isn't time to rise and shine. All of the Basenjis I have owned prefer to sleep in, often staying in bed after I get up. That said, if his system is used to "potty" at a certain time, changing the last time he goes out won't necessarily help. Changing the time you feed him would be a better strategy, IMO.

Unfortunately, moving his crate isn't an option. As I mentioned, we're in a space constrained apartment that's been very carefully laid out to make the space work for us. Not sure changing his eating schedule would help either. We're pretty loose about his eating schedule, but often he only has to pee in the morning anyway.

Our ~6mo. pup Ernest has been awesome. He was crate trained within a few days and sleeps in his crate/pen at night with no problem. Save one: he's up at 5am every morning like clockwork. Doesn't matter if his last walk was at 8pm or midnight, come 5am he's rattling around to get out, but this also indicates to me that he could hold it longer if he wanted to.

We get up and take him out and he'll always potty. If we bring him back inside and let him get in bed, he'll fall back to sleep for another few hours. if we put him back in his crate/pen though, he just rattles around because he wants to get out.

Anyone have tips on training him to sleep a little later? Even until 6am would make a huge difference in our routine at home. I should also add that we live in a NYC studio, so separating him from us isn't an option.

@DebraDownSouth:

they make them cute so you don't pinch their heads off!

It is still tempting sometimes!