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Puppy constipated after new kibble? Pumpkin not helping, what now?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 29 days old | 2 lbs

9 week puppy is having trouble pooping. We just incorporated kibble into his wet food. We tried adding pumpkin but it's not helping. I'm waiting to hear back from his vet. What can I do in the mean time?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ann Dion, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 10th, 2017

Hello. It is very uncommon for puppies to have constipation, so I would be worried that maybe a piece of stick or mulch or bone (most common culprits) may be stuck in the colon or rectum. You can always look and if something is stuck try to gently manoeuvre it out, however be very careful not to cause a cut, as a cut in the bum is hard to heal due to the bacteria in the poop. If you are seeing something stuck it may be best to have it removed by a vet. If it is constipation, I would be switching the food that you are feeding to a better quality food. Canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just plain canned pumpkin) is very good as well at increasing the fibre and helping with constipation. Also, if you are feeding any bones then stop this, and it could be that Boo has a colon full of re-formed bone bits and this will require a veterinarian to remove bit by bit, likely under anaesthesia. (yet another reason to never feed bones to dogs). I would overall recommend that Boo be seen by a vet as there could be many different things causing his issues. Good luck with Boo.

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