Bloody Looking Red Spots on Shih Tzu

I have a 4 year old shih tzu. Two days ago I noticed he was bleeding from his butt after he went to the bathroom. Then today, his belly, penis, and legs are covered in red spots that look bloody. Some of them have a raised black dot in the middle of them, but some do not. He has not had any change in diet or temperament. We live in Michigan so he is exposed to multiple types of bugs (fleas, ticks, spiders). Also, he is the only surviving pup from his litter, all others died of renal dysplasia, although his vet said he did not have any kidney problems. What does this sound like?

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

How about taking him to the vet?  Blood from the anus is not normal, and I don't know if the two problems you have listed have any relationship to each other.

It could be anything from an anal gland sacculitis, or abscess, gastrointestional parasites, UTI (if the blood was coming from his penis, rather than his anus), and more.

Skin parasites could be anything, even skin bots which should be removed by your vet!

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

hope you get a good answer but i wanted to ask if yours has skin problems and if not what do you feed him, because i had one for 17 years that had bad skin problems, getting a 8 week old next week just trying get help hoping she not get skin problenms. thanks

[Cheyenne_08]

He has been on the same dog food for years, and never had any skin problems. The spots resembled the spots of lyme disease, but since I wrote this, the individual spots have merged into a big rash. You can still see the dark outline of all the individual spots, but they are all touching and look like one huge spot now!!! I have no idea what is going on and can't get to the vet until tomorrow!

[Cheyenne_08]

Okay, I just pulled 7 ticks of my dog!!! Three were in seperate spots, but 4 of them were all in one spot and appeared to be a mama and three babies....!!! I have NEVER had this happen. My dog's eye lids are red and appear bruised....I am taking him to the vet in the morning, I am a nervous wreck! My dog has NEVER had ticks on him like this! He is all shaved except for his back legs because I cut him with a pair of scissors yesterday when I was cutting mats out of his hair and now he won't let me anywhere near his legs! This is horrible!

[ibizan]

Oh Lord sounds like Lyme's!good luck at the vets this morn and keep us posted.....prayers for ur dog!

[Cheyenne_08]

I just talked to the vet. He said I could bring Kracker in if I want, but he has seen TONS of dogs with this same rash appearance and says it is black fly bites from the grass. He said that we need to get a flea/tick medication for him to get rid of the tick issue, but to him it sounds more like black fly bites than lyme disease.

[ibizan]

oh that is a relief other than that damn Lymes..maybe take him in anyway?my vet won't prescribe meds unless she sees the animal!

[Cheyenne_08]

Oh, I do have to take him in to get the tick/flea med, but he said we don't need to rush in because he does not believe it is lyme disease! But the fact that I have pulled so many ticks off him recently, I am still a tad worried. Michigan is horrible this year because it was so wet this spring that there are BUGS all over!

[ibizan]

all those ticks would worry me!i'm in Ohio and thank God not in an area where my dogs r xposed to ticks!if he gets ill u'll know he has Lymes but paws crossed this doesn't happen!:)

[Cheyenne_08]

Right, I have been watching him to see if there has been any change in his behavior and stuff, but so far so good!

[ibizan]

i know u will keep a watch over him.....yikes!when do u pick up the meds for the flea and tick stuff?

[Cheyenne_08]

I am going today or tomorrow to get the medication. The spots are gone and I have been cutting back on the amount of time I let him outside. Maybe it really is fly bites???

[peekawho]

My dogs used to get those fly bites, but they never came together to form a giant rash.  
They used to get them all over their tummies.  Never bled from the back end after going to the bathroom as you described in the original post.

I used a fly spray on them (make sure it says safe for dogs) before putting them outside, if they had to be out for any length of time.  It works well.