The onset for the bowel movement for dogs starts with sniffing for the right location, circling and digging prior to the hunched back stance. If there is back or leg pain, the squat is difficult to obtain.

For cats, it is mostly about texture of the medium. Something they can dig in that is not repulsive to their nose.

Holding the stance extra long often means diarrhea with colonic discomfort for dogs.

The characteristics to observe throughout the life of our animals is position, the time required to start and to finish, plus the characteristics of the stools such as size, shape, consistency, color and odor.

The color of the stool can be defined by using a paint color chart. In general, we don't want red, black, very yellow or green stools.  For most foods, the stools that are produced are a medium brown to darker brown if digestion and absorption is normal. 

Size, shape and consistency are defined for humans using the Bristol Stool Chart. For dogs and cats, the type 3 stool is most desirable and easiest to pick up on a walk.



Cat stool needs to be examined regularly for color, consistency and volume. Any changes need to be noted.