Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with poop

Am I normal? (poop filter)

Dilemma — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:05:23 -0800

Alternating between frequent bowel movements and none, on a one- to two- day cycle - is this normal? I tend to fluctuate between 1 or 2 days of feeling constipated with no bowel movements, and 1 or 2 days of slightly loose stools and going to the bathroom more than three times a day. I don't have pain or gas, but I feel uncomfortable and bloated on the days I don't have a bowel movement, and on the other days it's inconvenient to have to go to the bathroom so many times and my innards feel upset. I'm a female in my early 30s, I eat pretty healthily (omnivorous), I exercise regularly, no major health issues, no food allergies (I've been tested). I do have some trouble with anxiety and am on a low dose of thyroid medication for hypothyroidism. Is this normal or could there be some underlying problem? Is there something I can take or eat that will make me more regular?

My second poop AskMe

fozzie_bear — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:51:42 -0800

When one strains during defecation and thereby has a little bit of bleeding, why doesn't this cause an infection? I googled this a bit and it seems it can be a complication from bleeding hemorrhoids, but what I want to know is why, exactly, poop coming into contact with broken skin does not typically result in an infection. If one had a similar skin injury elsewhere on the body, I'd expect exposure to that much bacteria without properly cleaning it would cause problems. Please enlighten me! Thanks.

The sofa is soiled.

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 09:48:28 -0800

There was poop on the sofa after the party. What do we do? There was a little get-together at the neighbors' house. There were 9 people there, six adults and three kids. When we started tidying up, a substance approximately the dimensions of a fun-size candy bar was discovered resting between two couch cushions. The only people there were the hosts and I. The hosts refused to touch it, and so I was deputized to pick it up with toilet paper. It was most definitely fecal material. Given the size and condition, it appeared human, fresh, and not tracked in from somewhere. The whole room is carpeted and there was no sign anywhere but the sofa.

The hosts were understandably horrified, expressed a burning desire to figure out what happened but don't want to say anything to any of the guests. They are both "guess" culture, I am definitely "ask".

Complications:

Two of the kids at the party are my children, one adult is my partner. Both my kids were near enough to the sofa that it could have been them, potentially.

After the discovery I went home and scrutinized the kids' laundry and shoes. There was no sign that the poo was either emitted or tracked in by them. I also asked my partner, who denied any knowledge of the situation. Both of us had removed our shoes in the hosts' house.

Four of the adults never sat on the sofa.

Both the hosts sat on that sofa.

The other kid at the party, who is about 10, laid on that sofa for a while, then moved over to the sofa next to me. Their parent was sitting on the floor the whole time.

There was definitely a smell in the air midway through the festivities. I actually took the time to speak to the host in the kitchen and say "look, i'm sure you can smell what's going on out there and I just want you to know - it's not me farting up a storm in your house, okay?" They laughed but admitted that the smell was noticeable, and jokingly said that I was trying to blame the kid next to me on the couch for my stomach discomfort. I said that it was probably the host's food making everyone ill, we both laughed, and then went back into the living room.

Everyone there was wearing long trousers. It seems inconceivable that someone could actually befoul themselves to the point where excrement would fall out the leg of their pants and not react in a way that would be noticeable to others.

After the sticky discovery, the hosts and I talked about the situation and all agreed it was most likely the third kid at the party. They would like for the parent to know, but are reluctant to bring it up themselves, and indicated they'd prefer someone else brought it up.

I can see the merits of either saying something, or keeping quiet, but I feel like if the parent is going to be told, it should be right away. Alternatively, I could just ask the kid directly. Given the relationships of this group of neighbors, it's unlikely that this event will stay much of a secret, and I think it's kindest for the kid who is likely to be blamed, and their parent, to know immediately rather than hear about it much later. However they choose to resolve things with the host is up to them.

I want to know if I should say something, and how to best broach the topic.

Throwaway email: soiledsofa@gmail.com

What makes feces sticky?

dontjumplarry — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:08:38 -0800

What causes feces to sometimes leave excessive, difficult-to-remove residue on the perianal area or on toilet paper? What causes it not to leave any residue at all? Is it related entirely to macronutrient intake (fat, fibre, water)? Or are other factors involved? (Supplementary questions. If it is caused by a high-fat, low-fibre diet, does that mean low-carbers always have sticky feces? And why is cat feces never sticky?)

The care and keeping of anal glands.

phunniemee — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:25:40 -0800

Please explain to me how my dog's butt works. Thank you. My dog, Truman, is a 9.5 month old border terrier. He's been neutered, he's healthy, and he's freaking adorable.

Lately, he's been chasing his tail a bit and sniffing at his butt, and apparently this can be a sign of anal gland issues. He doesn't seem to be terribly displeased with the state of his butt, but better safe than sorry, right?

Problem is, this is my first dog, and I don't know anything about anal glands other than that dogs have them and sometimes they have problems. When he got neutered at 6 months, the vet tech told me she expressed his anal glands while he was still sedated, and that there was poop in there so he might need a poop later, not indicating that there was anything wrong with said anal glands in any way. (Speaking of poop, Truman's poops tend to be a bit on the soft side of normal, which might not be enough to naturally take care of the anal glands? I don't know.)

Anyway, I've read around the internet a bit on this, but I'd like some practical advice:

1) Is this something I need to concern myself with? If so, how often? He's not due back at the vet for several months still, unless he gets sick. He's not scooting...how would I know if he has issues? When I look at his bum, everything looks hunky dory.

2) How would I go about doing this? Most things I've read say leave it to the vet or the groomer (simply because it's gross), but I'm reasonably competent, have a full arsenal of gloves and cleaning supplies, and Truman takes very well to all other sorts of grooming when I'm there doing it.

3) Anything else I should know?

Thank you!

Biohazards and swimming pools

peter1982peter — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:06:26 -0800

Sorry for the squick factor but I'm curious. What happens if someone bleeds, vomits or poops in a public swimming pool? Do they just fish out the solids and let the rest disperse? Or does it all get emptied out?

poop is not a toy

insectosaurus — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:56:31 -0800

My very playful kittens love their litter boxes . . . a little bit too much. How can I encourage them not to play in the litter boxes, and more importantly, not to take their poop out of the litter box to play with? The kittens are just over three months old. If they are awake, they are playing with something. Res is the biggest troublemaker and most likely to play with poop, but Essie will also join in. The playing with poop is not for lack of toys, and the playing in the litterboxes is not for lack of kitten-specific hidey holes. If we notice the poop playing, it's easy to distract them.

We have three litterboxes (one covered, two uncovered) and do our best to keep them clean all the time, but we do sleep and leave the house. The kittens use the litterboxes just fine; they usually pick a favorite for the day and will both use it exclusively for a while, then once all three boxes are clean, they'll pick a new favorite. I have no idea why, cats are weird.

I've thought about a top entry box like this, but I'm not sure if the kittens would use it. They're fine using a covered litterbox without the door, but refuse to use it if I put the door (a swinging door) on.

I saw this almost identical question from several years ago, but I'm hoping for more suggestions!

should my eyes water when I poop

TheJoven — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:50:52 -0800

My eyes water when I poop. Is this normal? Or at least not rare?

Should I pick up other dogs' poop while walking my dogs?

dottiechang — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:23:38 -0800

Should I pick up other dogs' poop while walking my dogs? I pick up my own dogs' poop but I don't pick up other poops when I am on walks. Am I being clueless when I step over another dog's poop without picking it up? While out walking today, an angry woman ran out of her house in her bathrobe to demand that I pick up poop on the sidewalk in front of her house. I was already a few houses away but I started to walk back towards her so I could hear what she was saying.

I told her that it wasn't from my dogs, pointed to the big roll of orange dog poop bags dangling from my leash, and let her know that I pick up all my dogs' poop the second it comes out. If I ever run out of bags, I walk all the way back with a bag later to get it.

I was just about to pick it up out of courtesy when she started accusing me of lying, how my dogs had been lingering there and it was obviously their poop. I explained that it wasn't mine and went on my way because I don't like dealing with crazy people pointing at a dried up old poo and yelling.

My question is about etiquette--is it wrong for me to just walk past another dog's poop without picking it up? I stepped right over the one in question today without a thought. There isn't a huge problem in my neighborhood but you still stray poops around.

I don't even think about it for some reason, I'm sort of concentrating on my own dogs. If there's one right next to my own dogs' poop, I'll grab it too but I don't tear off a new poop bag for every poop I pass. Am I being impolite? I don't want to be rude.

It's a spider poop remover AND a dessert topping!

Toekneesan — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 09:15:11 -0800

Do you have any recommendations for the tough job of removing spider poop from vinyl siding? We have a nice big porch and it's lit by a string of lights on a timer. The lights can make it popular with bugs and the bugs are popular with spiders so under the roof, spiders tend to live and feed. This inevitably seems to lead to these smeary spots under their webs. I figure it's spider poop, but I suppose it could just be spilled insect innards. Anyway it's a bothersome chore to scrub. Any suggestions for quick and easy removal? Colors seem to range from white to red to brown to black. Is this poop and why is it so hard to clean? Tips and tricks?

Shit or get off the pot can't mean 20 minutes, right?

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:15:24 -0800

How long does it take you or a loved one to poop? It takes Hubby around 20 minutes to poop...once in the morning before work and once when he gets home from work (doesn't matter what time of day). 20 minutes a poop seemed really excessive to me so I asked if he was spending a bunch of that time reading or enjoying alone time, but he insists that he needs the entire time to get the deed done and that he is healthy. He absolutely denies having any other issues (i.e. constipation) that would require extra time. I do not go the same time every day but when I have to go, it seriously takes no more than a minute or two from sitting to flushing and fully dressed again.

I think 20 minutes is an absurd amount of time on the crapper absent some digestive problem. So now we are curious...what is the norm in this department? Do not include time spent reading or whatever else might be going on in there. Just the average time really needed to get deed done.

I know this is a super weird question but since our son has been born 3 years ago, I find it slightly annoying having to accommodate an adult human's pooping schedule to the degree I do. Seriously, Hubby spends 40 minutes of home/quality time per day pooping! I know this is my Price of Admission and that the Price is cheap. Hubby is super awesome and this is not an argument or point of contention between us. We have laughed about it for years and last night we finally decided to take the plunge and seek "The Truth" on the Green--Grab Bag category, not Human Relations.

oh no no bo bo!

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:09:30 -0800

im finding it hard to balance giving my new cat attention without reinforcing negative behavior. he seems starved for attention, but also shouldn't even be rewarded with even a glance when acting up. the problems seem small enough to nip in the bud. but how? are there any cat whispering techniques? i apologize for this being all over the place. i have been reading every ask mefi about cats but of course i feel like a snowflake.

details & problems:
i rescued a tiny, very cute and bright eyed cat from the street, got him neutered, named him bo, and brought him home to my open but still not huge loft in brooklyn. he is about a year old. he is a great hunter of mice and flies. he does not bite or scratch. he seems smart.

my roommate isn't a cat person and does not hold a lot of warmness for him but tolerates him and feeds him as our shifted schedules dictate. he works nights and gets home late. i work from home and am trying to negotiate the fact that the cat cant be on my lap or desk. i attempt to remedy this by unceremoniously dumping him on the floor or banishing him to the common area where his food, litterbox, comfy couches are. i also go to a bf's house every weekend (which i guess i am learning isn't the best for giving the cat attention but i assumed a house cat can handle being left without mom for a few days.. especially when roommate is feeding cat.)

trauma from the neutering caused him to pee once on my roommate's (of course) bean bag chair about a week after being in the house. of course he went and peed there three more times after that.. and im either replacing the chair or trying to more permanently deep clean it.

he runs around our loft and is very vocal all day (cute sometimes annoying at night) and claws open all doors and gets on the AC and all this other typical cat stuff that now apparently irks my roommate who thinks its due to me not giving him enough attention. (im so busy working but still scratch and feed the cat, when i can..i mean i am still home all day with him!) i have had cats before but he seems so extra rowdy and needy.

just last night the cat strangely pooped on the roommates bed when he was not home. this may have followed my attempts to punish the cat for knocking a bunch of books down. i banished him to the common room because it was 4am and i needed to sleep.

i guess the real questions here are:

how do i appropriately train him to not be needy by giving him play time but also let him know pooping and crying for attention are bad and not things i give him attention for?

yes i use feliway, keep the litterbox clean, provide him with toys, boxes and treats. i have had the cat one month and the roommate has already suggesting giving him up (after this poop incident).

does this cat truly need my attention so much that i should not shack up at my boyfriend's on the weekend? i thought cats could be low maintenance.

halp.

Can't poop for the life of me. (Maybe NSFW)

dubious_dude — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:06:38 -0800

Can't bring myself to poop in public. Absolute brick. Need help on how to break this up (pun intended). May not be work safe, and sorry if it's a bit on the TMI territory. I've got a, well, shitty problem. Pun intended.

For a long time now, I've had this really bad fear of going poop in public, and even with other people around at home. It's not a fear, per se, or anxiety-related, because my heart isn't beating every time I'm going poop. It's more of a psychological thing, I guess.

Let me backtrack. When I was in middle school, I lived in a dorm with other boys (went to a residential Deaf school). While I was in the bathroom, other residents would kick/pound hard on the door, startling me and even scaring me, causing my heart to beat and feeling in fear (because of the strong pounding sensation). That, combined with the chaotic environment, really influenced my ability to go poop with people around.

As I got older and moved on to high school, I could only go poop in private, secluded places, or late at night when I was sure everyone was asleep. This resulted in me sometimes having to hold in poop for 2 or 3 nights.

This 'fear' also remained with me at home, and even having my own family around did not allow or enable me to go poop when anyone was around, and I also had to wait until late at night.

This has carried on with me throughout college and now, and I'm very tired of it. I've tried therapy, suggestions that I imagine a barrier between me and others and an inability for people to cross that barrier, and breathing. None of those has helped. It's even came to the point that I can't text or email anyone a while before going poop, out of the 'fear' that they will text me back and it'll disrupt my 'quiet time' before going poop... and my iPhone must be in airplane mode when going poop. No expectations. As I can't go poop at home (roommates), I must find hotels or other isolated places where I can go poop... most preferably in a private bathroom, not a shared stall space. This delays my schedule, because after work, I have to find somewhere to go poop, and really interferes with the quality of my life in terms of texting and feeling comfortable. I go almost everyday now, but sometimes after eating, I have cramps and feel a "must" to go poop. In true emergency situations, I will be able to do a few poops in a 'public' space (such as a restaurant bathroom), but it's still uncomfortable.

Help me with ideas and solutions on how to overcome this problem. It's really gotten old and just downright unbearable. Please do not suggest therapy, as I have already tried that route. I hope my ruminating made sense, because in my head it all makes sense, but on 'paper' it probably makes no sense to any of you.

Thanks, hive minds!

Scotch but not American whiskey upsets my stomach. Why?

Earl the Polliwog — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:41:00 -0800

Why does single malt scotch, but not whiskey, upset my stomach the next day? Most if not all of the times I've had any of my first bottle of Lagavulin 16, I wind up with a mildly queasy gut and enthusiastic bowels that last a good portion of the next day. I believe this has happened with Laphroaig as well.

It does not happen with any of the American whiskeys I have tried, nor with gluten-free beer. I haven't had regular beer in a while but I don't recall it ever causing this either (I am not celiac, just trying to make my paleo/primal cheats less cheaty).

So, what's in single malt scotch that might be bothering me? I'm going to re-home this bottle, but I'd like to avoid those symptoms in the future.

Poop chronicles: there is blood in my stool, and I am skeptical of my doctor's explanation.

rhombus — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:09:03 -0800

My colorectal surgeon has only done a proctoscopy and says the blood in my stool is coming from my hemorrhoids. He wants to treat with sclerotherapy, but I don't want that kind of intervention and still have a weird feeling in my descending colon. What's the medical best practice in a case like this? Am I worrying unnecessarily, or do I need to demand a colonoscopy? And if so, what's the best way to do that?

Yes, I am not a doctor, you are not a doctor, you are not my doctor, you are not a lawyer, you are not my doctor's lawyer, and you are not my mother. But I'd still like your advice.

The following goes into positively fecal detail. Reader discretion is advised.

My story:

I've been living in Germany for about three years.

I have had anemia on and off for years. The anemia, when present, has always been very mild. I had been a vegetarian for twenty years, and my doctor in Canada (who is also an instructor in family medicine at the university hospital in our area) never felt it was much reason to be concerned. My ferritin was checked a couple of times and always hovered around 95 µg/L.

Last fall, I decided to start giving blood. I wanted to challenge myself and do something good for someone else. I had tried giving blood in my late teens and had a pretty nasty syncope with seizure, so I had always thought that I was done donating blood for good. Well, I tried again in August of last year, and it worked -- I was nervous and I sweated a bit but stayed conscious through the whole thing and walked home a changed man.

I did it two more times in the next five months.

By the time February rolled around, though, I was feeling pretty atrocious. On a visit to see family, I saw my doctor back home in Canada again, and he did a complete blood work up. I had the light anemia again, and a ferritin level of 11 µg/L, which is rather low for a guy in his late thirties.

So I started on iron replacement and changed my diet, switching to a "paleo"-style diet that includes meat, and after about six weeks, I started to feel markedly better.

It is now about four months since I started the iron replacement. About halfway through I switched formulations, and am taking ferrous glycine-sulfate. This works very well. When taking it, I feel better in almost every respect except one: the wicked constipation, which is a well-documented side effect of oral iron supplementation, so I can only assume that's the cause.

Last Tuesday, I had a particularly awful bout. I had not had a bowel movement in three days, which is very unusual for me and also very uncomfortable -- I had pain just under the rib on my left side, about where the descending colon begins. I used a lecithin-bicarbonate suppository, which had the intended effect. When I wiped, though, there was a huge streak of blood on the paper. As this has never happened to me before, I was shocked. There was a dollop of fresh-looking blood in the toilet, perhaps a teaspoon. Concomitant with this - despite my now empty bowel - was a much sharper pain around the upper part of the descending colon. I don't recall any pain in the anal area, but maybe I was too stunned by the blood to notice.

I continued to have blood on and off in the following days. It does seem to be tapering off now. The pain in the colon has also subsided and is almost totally gone now.

I saw my doctor here in Germany today. I explained what was happening and that I was worried. He said that I needn't be; that in someone my age this was almost invariably just a hemorrhoid. He asked me about malignancies in my family history, and I said I didn't know of any (my mother later told me that her grandmother had died of colon cancer). He did a digital rectal exam but couldn't feel anything. He referred me to a colorectal surgeon just to be safe.

I saw the colorectal surgeon right afterward. After hearing my story, he said "that is certainly consistent with hemorrhoids". He stuck a proctoscope in me, told me I had two grade I hemorrhoids, and offered to treat them with sclerotherapy (polidocanol) right on the spot. Now, if there's one thing I have learned over the years, it's that it is a bad idea to make decisions about your treatment when somebody has a cold metal instrument in your ass. I demurred and said I would like to think about it before we go ahead. When I thought about it later, I thought he'd been awfully quick to suggest this kind of treatment, especially for grade I. (He also failed to mention the very high rate of recidivism with sclerotherapy.)

My question is this: is this sufficient investigation? Perhaps this blood came from the hemorrhoids, but what if it came from farther up the colon? I was struck by the fact that the blood was only ever visible at the end of the stool, plus I hadn't really had much in the way of anal pain.

The points suggestive hemorrhoids as the cause are:

- I've been on iron therapy for months, and constipation is a problem
- I have had to strain when taking a dump for some time
- When it appears, the blood is pretty fresh
- I have a tendency toward venous varicosities and have them in a couple of other spots (it runs it the family :) )
- my dad had a similar stubborn anemia, was scoped in his fifties, and came up clean.

On the other hand...

- this sensation in the descending colon is strange
- the blood has so far appeared only at the very end of the log
- my great-grandmother died of colon cancer (albeit in her 70s)
- although I've always thought I had a logical explanation for the mild anemia, this event has got me reevaluating.

Finally, the psychological factor: I lost a very good friend to colon cancer in 2010. He had visible blood in his stool for years (on and off for at least five) and his doctors explained it away as hemorrhoids the whole time. Finally the bleeding got so severe that a colonoscopy was ordered. He was 30 years old, and it turned out to be stage IV, with tumours in the liver. He died at 33.

Senior dog poops inside at night.

Four Flavors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:06:45 -0800

Senior dog pooping inside. How to let him out and keep racoons out too? We recently moved into a new house. Our German Shepherd is almost 13 and is adjusting pretty well to the new space. He uses his dog door and poops outside with no problems during the day.

The issue we have is that he's starting to have less bowel control- on walks or at home he can no longer hold it more than a minute until he finds the right place to go. On walks this results in him going in places he never would choose, like on the sidewalk- he would previously always wait until he was on grass, dirt or gravel. At home it is now resulting in him pooping in the house sometimes at night.

In our old house we let him have outside access at night, so he was probably pooping outside at night there.
In the new house we need to lock the dog door at night because racoons have started testing it out and will come in for certain if we leave it open- I've caught one halfway through. The dog is deaf, so he doesn't hear the door opening/closing, but if he finds a raccoon inside it's going to be a bloodbath.

His food and water are in the garage, which he has access to until we go to bed.
He has taken to eating only part of his dinner when we serve it @ 5 and part of it later, between 7PM and bedtime, or not at all. It's not clear if this has anything to do with the late-night pooping.

The pooping inside happened a few times recently at the old place when he was locked in (due to barking at night), so I don't think it's being caused by the transition to the new house, only the raccoons are new to the equation.

So, is there any way to solve this dilemma? He sometimes whines at us a bit right before he poops inside, so sometimes we wake up enough to let him out, but then usually we end up going to bed leaving the dog door unlocked with him outside (he will happily sleep half the night outside), which is bad for raccoon access.

Is there a way to have the dog door unlock only for him? I've heard of such things for cat doors.

The other option we're considering is having a place inside near the door that's his designated pooping spot at night. We really don't want him to get too used to the idea of pooping indoors though.

Help me spend less time in the bathroom while I'm on a liquid diet.

Wordwoman — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:50:53 -0800

How do I keep from having diarrhea while on a liquid diet? I had laser gum surgery yesterday and need to be on a liquid diet for a week, and a mushy diet for 3 weeks following. How do I keep pooping normally? I was on a post-surgery liquid diet once before for a much shorter duration and spent way too much time on the toilet. Part of this may have been because of too much dairy, which I intend to avoid this time around. Would a fiber supplement help? (Please note that I do not have a personal M.D. to consult, and my dentist did not have any insight into this question.)

Running & S****ing

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:43:32 -0800

Two weeks today I'm running a half-marathon (my first). The running is not the problem; issues with my digestion and its effects are. How can I deal with running and the need to poop? I'm down to run a half-marathon in fourteen days. I haven't run this distance before, although I'm pretty proficient at shorter distances. I've been training hard, and I'm confident that all else being equal I can do the distance without too much pain and suffering. But there's a complication. I have had a medical condition related to my stomach and oesophagus for a few years now, for which I take daily medication. One of the side effects of this med regime is that I experience some IBS-like symptoms (hell, it could really be IBS to be honest): the chronic urgent need to poop which cannot be quelled, bouts of appalling fecal laxity, you get the picture, but it's all extremely unpredictable. Believe me when I say diet doesn't change this, and the meds have been juggled and chopped and changed and the regime I'm currently on is an improvement to how things were. So, with my running, I can be merrily out on the road in the middle of nowhere and get suddenly horribly gripped by a all-powerful need to shit, and it's impossible to carry on. After a couple of close things, I settled on a scheme: how it usually works is I go out first thing in a morning, twice a week, and I make sure that the day before I eat a very light lunch and then skip dinner entirely, so that I have very little in my system, physically, and this will be alright for me to get through an hour's running. But as I've increased my distances in these morning runs in prep for the half-marathon, I've found that with this scheme of very limited food intake 24 hours before running, I find the second hour extremely hard going indeed, almost impossible. So I was wondering if the hive mind has something insight here. Is this a common problem for runners (I don't know any to ask)? Can it be overcome by eating normally, and then taking some sort of pill (like an anti-diarrhea pill) to jam myself all up inside? Or can I get energy from non-food forms, like runners drinks or bars or gels or something? Any other idea about energy-rich foods that will have a very very light impact on my digestive system?

Deworming for humans

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:21:58 -0800

[Grossness warning] I accidentally ate food that was tainted with a small amount of feces. I am concerned about parasites. How do I take care of the fallout, and what are my best human deworming options? Everything I can find on this topic (information and, annoyingly, worming tablets too) seems to be geared towards deworming dogs, cats, and horses. I went to a dimly-lit bar, then went to a bathroom to pee. I went back outside, and sat in a circle with other girlfriends. There were crossed feet, causing feet in everyone's faces. I have a supernose and smelled shit, but didn't say anything because I have long since learned to stop commenting about scents, because half the time, I'm the only one who can smell it. I assumed it was at the bottom of someone's shoe. I checked over myself. No smell on me, or anything at the bottom of my shoe.

There was a basket of french fries on my left hand side. I don't remember which hand I used to eat with. Probably both.

I eventually couldn't stand the poo smell and checked over myself. I discovered that the scent was now on my left hand. I went to the bathroom for better lighting. Around hand level, on the left side seam of my jeans, was some semi-dried poop. GROSS. Probably picked up from the bathroom earlier. My hand wasn't covered in poo, but clearly there was some contact because of the smell.

I am going to call a doctor in the morning, but any available information is really, really appreciated. Once-off deworming? Regular deworming every week, for the next x amount of weeks? Anything is useful.

How do we convince our cat to stop pooping in front of her litter box?

item — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:47:21 -0800

One of out cats has decided that she will only poop in front of her litter box. This is a new and unpleasant habit. What can be done to fix this behavior? Our lovely one year old cat Maggz has taken to dumping her load directly in front of her box. This started a few weeks back; before that she never had any problems with where she went (well, except for a brief use of the clothes hampers for a toilet when she was younger, but that issue worked itself out quickly and with ease). She's been fine with sharing the box with our other cat, another female two months younger than she is. They get along great, for what it's worth, becoming fast friends upon introduction.

She only poops outside the box - no peeing whatsoever. Occasionally she'll try to cover her out-of-the-box turds with litter from inside the box. I suppose it's the thought that counts. She couldn't ask for a cleaner box - I clean it twice a day and a few days ago we got one of these self-cleaning boxes, which she happily pees in. I should note that the pooping in front of the box thing started before we introduced the fancy new box.

We thought she might've been thinking that the newspaper we had laid out on the floor under and around the box was the proper place to go, but she continued to do the unspeakable deed after I replaced it with a plastic mat.

We're stumped. She's happy, well-adjusted, and is given much love and attention. She plays, purrs, and is affectionate. While not a lap cat, Maggz is social and hangs out with my girlfriend and myself whenever we're around. She seems to be a bit more intelligent than most of the cats I've had and exhibits a healthy level of curiosity. We found her when she was about four or five weeks behind our house, mewing in a flowerpot. She took to using the litter box right away and, as I said, used it up until a few weeks ago. There have been no changes at all in either her life or ours.

What do we do? How do we get her to poop six inches to the east?

A Tale of Two Poops

itsacover — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:23:02 -0800

poop + cats = problems. How do I keep my sanity, save my nose, and help my kitties? Back in June, my adult male cat had one of his anal glands rupture (I asked a related question here). About a week and a half ago, he had some trouble with waste removal, shall we say. I had to help him a little bit and this concerned me that maybe he was having gland problems again. A trip to the vet and it was decided that he didn't have problems, but that he was awfully irritated back there. I was given ointment and told to wait to see if things improved.

He had another problem a couple of days later which resulted in poop "presents" in the living room. I took him back to vet with a stool sample. They found nothing in the sample that was of any help. Due to the irritation around his anus, the poop problems, and the itchy ears he's been having, the vet suspects food allergy. I was feeding both cats Orijen dry and Natural Balance wet food. He has been eating both of these for awhile now, so I was surprised that this was possible. Currently, we are transitioning to a prescription low allergen food in order to see whether it is actually a food allergy. I'm supposed to feed him the prescription for 6-8 weeks to see. I am not thrilled about this.

Meanwhile, my 1 year old girl cat is now developing a scooting problem. She has done it every once in awhile and has had very stinky poop for as long as I've had her, I think. It's not always smelly, but when it is, it's very bad. I never thought to check the consistency of it until tonight. She scooted after using the box, though there didn't appear to be anything on her. The poop was not firm but not diarrhea loose either. She is transitioning onto the dry prescription food with my male cat, as it would be next to impossible to feed them separately. She is eating the same wet food that she's had for the whole time she's lived here (about 6 months or so).

So I am looking for a bit of help on both of these. I would love to hear from people who may have pets with food allergies about how they were discovered, managed, etc. After the 6-8 weeks are up, I have to try and transition them to ANOTHER food ("over the counter" food, if you will) and now I am unsure what to go to. Orijen has been wonderful up until now and I like the idea of low grain, high protein.

I am also looking for advice on the girl cat. Should she be going to the vet also because of her looser stool? Or could it just be from food transitioning? What if she's had a problem all along that was indicated by her smelly stool and it's somehow gotten into the boy cat?

I haven't had a lot of problems with my cats in the past, so to now have two cats that are showing signs of problems is making me a little nervous, I guess.

Why does my toilet hate poop?

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:13:28 -0800

I have a rather...sticky situation happening in the bathroom regarding poop and my new toilet. Please help before I die of embarassment! I feel so weird even asking this, but here goes.

I moved into a new apartment a few weeks back. I have been having issues regarding poop not flushing in both of my toilets. The issue is not that the poop is too big, rather, it gets stuck to the bowl and the water pressure doesn't force it down when I flush. Even if the poop in question does finally make it into the water after repeated flushing, there is almost always a shit-smear left on the bowl afterwards. This is gross and embarrassing for obvious reasons. There have even been a few occasions where I have had to get a wad of tissue and kind of shove the, erm, turd down so that it would flush. Ew.

I went out and bought one of those toilet wands with the disposable cleaning ends and have to scrub the bowl every time I poop. This is less than ideal, but I'd be horrified if someone dropped by for a visit and saw my brown-smeared toilet bowl. Also, if I don't clean it every single time, it smells. Gawd, this is almost too awful to type.

Other relevant info (since this is anonymous):

- I don't think this is a problem with my actual poop, since it's never been an issue before.
- The issue happens with both toilets at my place, but never anywhere else.
- I have tried sitting further back, for lack of a better description, but apparently the physics of my butt dictate that some poop will always get stuck to the front of the bowl.
- I considered using some sort of....poop ramp? that would ensure my poop lands in the water, but the idea of cleaning and storing such a devise grossed me out.

Is there any solution that I'm not thinking of? I'd rather not call up my new landlord and ask them to replace my toilets. I'd also prefer not to have a poopy brush in my bathroom at all times, and the disposables are pricey (and wasteful). I'm a rather clean lady, and this new development is dampening my enjoyment of an otherwise perfect new house.

Unexpected Toddler Poop Accidents

leahwrenn — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:48:32 -0800

My basically potty trained three-and-a-half year old has started having poop accidents. Any ideas why this might be happening (and how we might stop it)? So, I'm not sure what's going on.

She's potty trained, although she typically has pee accidents a couple times a week, but she's always been good at letting people know when she needs to go poop (and poop accidents have been rare). She's had issues with very squishy poop since she was about a year old, but has still been able to successfully poop in the potty.

This week she was sent home from daycare on wednesday because they thought she had diarrhea, although I'm not sure she did---I think the daycare provider, who is new, overreacted to typical squishy poo. However, that evening, she had another poop accident, and my husband said she looked really surprised. Ok. Thursday was fine; nice non-particularly-squishy poop in the potty. Friday, things were fine as far as I know. Yesterday, poop accident, but the poop was a nice firm consistency (sorry!). Today, poop accident (and looked surprised).

She's been maybe a bit under the weather, but nothing particularly treatable. (maybe a cold or something; she seems more tired than usual, and gets wicked overtired-out-of-control at night).

Nothing's changed recently otherwise except she's not been getting much exercise, because we've been having a cold snap and the kids can't go outside for recess.

I'm happy to take her to the pediatrician if there's some sort of issue, but we've got a very high deductible, so I'd rather not if it's not necessary.

I'm having trouble pooping!

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:21:50 -0800

Pooping has become increasingly difficult and I think something inside my colon is blocking my ability to defecate. Thoughts? (Kinda gross, but not really.) 28. Very healthy (well, on the outside). I've had issues with small, external hemorrhoids in the past that just seem to go away with time (and reduced pressure on the area).

A few weeks ago I had yet another small (size of a pea) hemorrhoid pop up around my rectum for whatever reason. I've been to the doctor in the past about this and they basically told me to reduce pressure on the area and hope it goes away, and they always have. And while the visible hemorrhoid that I had a few weeks ago has disappeared, going to the bathroom has become very difficult.

I know my body and while I eat a good amount of healthy food, and feel the need to go to the bathroom, when I sit down it is just impossible for me to get anything out without significant pressure. And when something does come out, it feels/seems like the waste material has to 'sneak' around something in my rectum in order to actually make it out of my body. Basically it feels like there is a block somewhere.

If things don't change in the next few days (it has been going on for at least a week now) I'm going to see a doctor, and I know you aren't my doctor, but has anyone been in this situation before? Is it more serious than I think? There is no blood or mucus in my stools.

How does one get rid of their scat fetish?

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:19:35 -0800

Okay, so I'm gay and I have a scat fetish and I really hate it. It's embarrassing, shameful and disgusting when I think about it. How on earth do I get rid of it? I want it to be so that it doesn't turn me on any more.

Previously, I've taken unflushed turds out of public toilets home, and played with them there. I've even put it in my mouth, but I spat it out again. After I did that I felt especially shameful. When I think about it normally, I hate it and want to stop thinking about it and doing anything about it. But, when I think about it in a sexual manner it turns me on and my thoughts of disgust seem to disappear temporarily.

Please help