Dog Sphincter Problem

ButtercupsMom · Newbie Joined: Apr 03, 2009 Posts: 1

My dog is a normally healthy 3 yr. old 65-lb female pitbull. She recently went through a foreign body ingestion ordeal that landed her in the Animal Hospital ER. She ended up puking the foreign body but went through her recovery in the ER through the night and my vet's office the next day so that she can be monitored to be sure that there wasn't a 2nd foreign body in her and to keep her on IV fluids. She was dehydrated from the constant vomiting.

It ended up that there was only 1 so we are in the clear from that aspect. I am a bit worried however because when I picked her up to transfer her to our normal vet, she had leaked diarrhea all over herself. She was obviously in pain. The vets at the hospital said that the nature of the diarrhea was normal though I have a feeling that they didn't walk her enough to let her relieve herself outside.

Her episode happened late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning and today is Friday. I woke up this morning to find that she had leaked a lot of poo while she was sleeping.

Could the fact that she was not allowed to relieve herself comfortably outside while at the ER and constantly holding inevitable diarrhea have damaged her sphincter muscles? She's okay now during the day. I work from home sometimes, so I've been able to check every now and then to make sure she's not leaking during the day, but she's also more alert during the day, looking out the window, chilling with me, etc. Maybe at night, she's so relaxed that her normal sphincter capabilities let loose a little too much now? Could this be permanent damage?