Advice re old dog and fecal incontinence overnight

[glamapple]

We have a rescue border collie mix approx 14 years old (not really sure). In the last few months we’ve come downstairs in the morning to find a poo somewhere between his bed and the back door. He doesn’t bark to be let out and we have even found the poo in his bed.
His back legs are getting weaker but the vet isn’t too concerned given his age she also said his anal tone is good.
He’s on Librella, pardale V and gallipeant for his pain with gabapentin and option if we don’t see much improvement on this new regimen.
I had thought that maybe us getting up earlier would help but the last couple of days we’ve been up at 6am and it’s still happened.
So is there anything else we can do? I was wondering if feeding him his dinner at 3:30 instead of 5ish would possibly mean we could get a poo out of him before bed at 10/11 ish…..
Any ideas??

My 13 year old lab was doing this. I found pooo in her bed. She’d poop when she was eating. Her bed stank of urine.

She was incontinent. Wasn’t even aware of what she was doing.

Maybe get a second opinion? Maybe he’s incontinent too.

@SoSadSoSadSoSad It’s just poo with the odd little wee accident when he’s barking or jumping around. I know librella can cause urinary incontinence as a side effect so it could be that…..
We often see different vets at the same practice and their opinions are broadly the same - that it’s related to the hip
pain and effort he has to
put in to move about. Although very occasionally he does poo while he’s eating 🙄 so we feed him outside now!

How can his anal tone be good if he’s incontinent? I would ask your vet for advice then.

Have you tried waking in the night to let him out? That seems like a logical first step

I think this is just him now. He likely doesn't even know he is doing it, hence poo in his bed. Our lab was the same when he got to that age.

My old chap started wetting his bed and having poo accidents at night, aged 15 (nearly 16). This was the trigger for us to seriously assess his quality of life. We decided it was kinder to let him go.

Given the meds you listed, alongside age and incontinence issues I would highly recommend a proper quality of life check with your vet.

We have an oldie who sometimes does this. Been improved a lot with a very regimented regime of “garden first” food later. And last meal at 6. Actually split his twice daily food into 3 now so there’s less going through at a time if you see what I mean!

luckily it’s all fairly solid so if there is an accident it’s quickly cleaned up and we don’t stress too much about it, as long as he is happy.

also - pondering Librella, would you recommend?

My dog started this, she’s 14. I had been giving her the leftover ends if vegetables daily so a red pepper stalk or the end of a courgette and no
more accidents, I think she was constipated.

Ah thanks everyone for your tips.
thankfully - the poos are solid and we have hard floors downstairs so clean up is fairly easy unless it’s in his bed. But I now line his bed with old towels and that helps. I can also tell he’s not weeing in the bed as the towels aren’t stained or wet.
He’s seems happy and loves to go out for walks so right now I think his QoL is good but I am keeping an eye on that.

We will try feeding him earlier in the day, say 4pm and then having a walk after our dinner at 6 or 7. Also maybe a very short walk before bedtime - there’s an alleyway near us full of dog smells so that might produce the goods.

Will also think about maybe moistening his food in case it’s constipation related…

Librella - yes I’ve found it really does help with his mobility. Our vet told me the incontinence thing mainly affects female dogs.

as for his anal tone - well I’m going on what the vet checked last week. They think it’s more to do with his pain making him less mobile which means he hangs on until It’s too late.

I’ll report back!

@glamapple seriously considering librella, thank you.

all the best, there is something so very special about our oldies ❤️

My previous Labrador had this problem but like you I just dealt with it. To PTS when his QoL was otherwise good wasn't a decision until it worsened.

@muddyfordyes I agree, until there are other issues I don’t think it’s a PTS problem. Thankfully we have hard floors and cotton rugs that I’ve put down to make it easier for him to walk around. They get hosed down on the washing line if there’s been an accident so it’s really not too o serous to deal with.
We’re just trying to see how we can minimise it….. 😬

My 13 year old spaniel has 3 meals a day, he has congestive heart failure and is on meds for arthritis. This means no big poops, just little ones. It also means I can spread his medication through the day - paracetamol, galliprant and Vedmedin. He's a nightmare for taking them unless they're very well hidden.