My 9 year old malamute

[Nebraska0204]

My nine year old malamute has been having issues with her bowels.  We have taken her to our vet and he says she is healthy.  However, in the last week or so this dog has gone from sleeping through the night, 12am to 630am, and holding her bowels to only sleeping 3.5 hours and then pooping all over my bedroom.  she is eating and drinking normally but she sleeps a lot.  I don't know if this is old age or if I should seek a second opinion.  We have been with this vet since she was a pup.  

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M.]

This could be an aging issue, if so, your vet could give you prescription medication to try on you dog called Anipryl which is a drug for cognitive disfunction.  Other possibilities can include: giardiasis or other parasites (to check for giardia a seperate fecal antibody test should be performed), IBD, or neurological disease of the colon or gastro-intestional system,  food allergies, or cancers of the rectum or colon, and others.   Your vet could try deworming for general parasites and giardia,  also a dietary change of food such as low residue prescription food may help, or you may have to change your dog to a food that contains no gluten (which is a high allergen, among other allergens).  There are also medications that can increase tone in smooth muscle (the gut and bowel are smooth musclel).  This may be a trial and error process, in that you may have to try several different protocols before you find something effective.  Lastly, at her age she may have some spinal or hind leg arthritis that can contribute to the problem.