Dog Poop Is Like Jelly: What Owners Should Know

If you’ve spotted some jelly, mucus-like substance inside or outside of your dog’s poop, it’s important to take note.

While some causes of jelly-like poop are not a big deal, some can be really serious. So it’s always good to look into it more.

This article explains what you need to know if your dog has jelly-like poop, the causes, and what to do next. Let’s get to the bottom of your pup’s poop!

Jelly Poop: The Basics

All dogs produce a jelly-like substance (mucus) in their lower intestinal tract glands.

This clear mucus-like jelly is for the purpose of lubricating the colon, allowing your dog’s stools to pass through them with ease. This is a good thing as it prevents straining.

Sometimes, owners will see a bit of this mucus coating the poop or will see a clump of it at the end of a poop.

• Vets explain that it’s “okay” to see a little mucus in with your dog’s poop, so long as it’s not all the time.

However, if you’re seeing jelly/mucus in with the poop all the time, then it’s something to investigate.

Spotting Abnormal Mucus in Dog Poop

So if some mucus is normal, how can you identify when the mucus is a problem?

🎯 What owners should look out for:

• Mucus happening all of the time with every poop
• Mucus is in large amounts compared to the poop
• Mucus is colored (healthy mucus should be clear)
• Mucus contains blood
• Your dog has additional symptoms, including the mucus poop

If you notice any of the above, then it’s important to talk about this issue with your veterinarian as soon as possible.

6 Common Causes of Jelly-Like Dog Poop

There are a handful of reasons behind excessive jelly poops. I’ll run through a basic explanation of each of them below. This section explains everything.

1. Stress or anxiety | non-life-threatening

If your dog is stressed or anxious their body can react in a myriad of ways, including excessively jelly-like poop.

Usually, if the stress negatively impacts their digestion, they’ll have diarrhea too. So you may see a combination of jelly diarrhea.

👉 Resolving this of course means getting to the bottom of the stress trigger. This is a broad topic and your veterinarian will be able to help you best identify the correct trigger.

Anything from daily routine, time spent alone, environment, lifestyle, diet, past experiences, and even the loss of a pet of loved one can cause a dog excess stress.

2. Inflammatory Bowel Disease | non-life-threatening

Dogs can suffer from IBD (Irritable/inflammatory Bowel Disease) just like us, and it can range in level of severity.

While it’s not a life-threatening issue, it can cause a lot of discomfort for your dog.

👉 Causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in dogs include:

• Stress
• Digestive upset
• Infections

👉 Watch out for additional symptoms: If you notice your dog has additional symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, lethargy, or weight issues, then IBD could be the problem here.

IBD usually comes with additional symptoms like above.

👉 Consult your vet: It’s hard to identify at home whether or not your dog has IBD so it’s best to consult with your veterinarian if you do witness jelly-like poop AND any of those additional symptoms.

3. Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis

Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE) is a serious and life-threatening problem that is related to jelly-like poop.

HGE will typically come with the following symptoms:

• Black or red-colored diarrhea
• Excessive jelly-like diarrhea
• Signs of abdominal discomfort
• Lethargy
• Weakness

If you notice your pooch has mucus diarrhea with any of the additional symptoms it’s crucial to contact your veterinarian about it.

It’s said that although HGE can affect any breed, small breeds are more susceptible.

HGE Is an idiopathic disease, meaning experts do not really know what causes it. Still, some speculate it could be caused by trauma, foreign bodies, parasites and bacteria, coagulations disorders, or ulcers.

4. Parasites | non-life-threatening

Parasites often cause poop to be covered in jelly-like mucus. If you have a new puppy or a rescued dog, it’s really important to give them worm medicine.

Tapeworms and roundworms are two of the most common types of worms in dogs, both negatively affect the colon, and intestinal tract, and can change your pooch’s poop.

If you think your pup or rescued dog might have worms, it’s important to contact your veterinarian. Basic treatment plans should rectify this issue quickly and easily.

5. Ingestion of toxins

If your dog has eaten something toxic then this can certainly trigger an excessive amount of mucus to be produced and cleared out of the system (usually) with severe diarrhea.

Toxic ingredients for dogs include:

• Chocolate
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Grapes, raisins, currents
• Mushrooms
• Onion, garlic, chives
• Xylitol (very common artificial sweetener)

Dogs that have consumed any of the above could have issues with jelly-like poop.

Usually, excessive mucus production is a natural response in trying to fight the toxins and remove them from the body as soon as possible.

It’s important to take toxin ingestion seriously and call your veterinarian if your pup has eaten any of the above.

6. Parvovirus

Parvovirus is a common virus that can affect ALL dogs but is most common in unvaccinated dogs and puppies ranging from 6-20 weeks of age.

The virus negatively impacts the dog’s intestinal tract and causes jelly-like poop, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, weight issues, and nausea.

🎯 This virus is life-threatening and can kill affected dogs: The AVMA states the following: “Most deaths from parvovirus occur within 48 to 72 hours following the onset of clinical signs. If your puppy or dog shows any of these signs, you should contact your veterinarian immediately.”

What To Do Next?

How can you help your dog with mucus-covered poop?

Consider the following:

• ✅ Is this a one-off occurrence with a little clear-colored mucus? If so, it is likely to be okay.

When to call the vet:

• ❌ How much mucus is there? If it’s A LOT then call the vet.
• ❌ Is there blood or discoloration? If yes, call the vet.
• ❌ Does your dog have other symptoms mentioned throughout? If yes, call the vet.

Due to the fact that there are some serious causes of jelly poop it’s always best to call the vet if you have any concerns at all, or are worried for your dog’s health.