What this means
Mucus looks like a clear or whitish, slippery, jelly-like coating on or between the stools. It usually means the lower bowel is irritated, but by itself it does not say why. So what you see alongside matters: does your dog go more often, strain, or pass loose stool?
Note how many times your dog goes in a day, the consistency, whether there is blood, when you first saw mucus and whether the food or daily routine changed. A photo helps your vet more than a description.
Mucus that lasts or keeps returning, especially if your dog is losing weight or eating poorly, is a clear reason to talk to your vet, because long-term gut problems often show themselves gradually.
Possible causes
These are things that can cause this sign. It is not a diagnosis, and they are not equally likely for your dog.
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A sudden change of food, or something picked up outdoors
A new food or a piece of human food can irritate the lower bowel. Mucus is then seen briefly and your dog stays bright.
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Intestinal inflammation
Long-term inflammation of the gut lining can bring mucus back again and again, sometimes with diarrhoea, vomiting and weight loss.
About the condition: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) -
Too many bacteria in the small intestine
When the small intestine holds too many bacteria, the stools may change, with gas and diarrhoea. This usually keeps coming back.
About the condition: Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) -
Protein loss through the gut
In certain gut disorders the body loses protein through the intestine. Long-lasting diarrhoea and weight loss usually go with it, and sometimes swollen legs or belly.
About the condition: Protein-losing enteropathy -
Stress or anxiety
A journey, visitors or a change of surroundings upset the gut in some dogs, and mucus then appears in the stool. It usually passes once they settle.
What else to watch for
These observations help your vet build the picture faster. Note down what you saw and when.
- How many times a day your dog goes
- Whether the stool is loose or firm
- Whether there is blood, and what colour
- Whether your dog strains, or still seems to need to go afterwards
- Whether your dog is bright and eating
- Whether it is losing weight or vomiting
When to book a routine visit
Book a visit if mucus shows for more than a couple of days, if it keeps coming back, if your dog is losing weight, eating less or the stools changed. If any of the urgent signs above appear, go straight away rather than waiting for an appointment.
Related conditions
Conditions whose entries mention this sign. The list is somewhere to read on, not a way to reach a diagnosis.
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Digestion and liver This is a long-term disorder of the digestive tract in which inflammatory cells build up in the wall of the stomach or intestine, so it becomes less able to digest food and absorb nutrients. The exact cause is not fully understood; an interplay between the immune system, gut bacteria and food is thought to play a part. Because many other digestive problems look much the same, a vet works out what is really going on with tests.
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) Digestion and liver This is a condition in which too many bacteria, or the wrong kinds, take hold in the small intestine. They compete with the dog for nutrients and irritate the gut wall, so food is digested and absorbed less well. It can be the result of another intestinal or pancreatic problem, so a vet also looks for the underlying cause.
- Protein-losing enteropathy Digestion and liver This is a condition in which a damaged gut wall lets too much protein from the blood leak into the intestine, where it is lost. It is not a single disease but the result of various intestinal disorders, such as long-term inflammation or changes in the gut's lymph vessels. When protein levels in the blood fall, fluid can collect in the belly or under the skin, so this is a condition that needs a vet's attention.
- Giardiasis Parasites Giardiasis is a gut disease caused by single-celled parasites called Giardia. A dog becomes infected by swallowing their cysts with water, grass or another dog's faeces. The parasites disturb the absorption of food, so the stools turn soft and the diarrhoea keeps coming back; a vet identifies the parasites from a stool sample.
Body systems: Digestion and liver Parasites