Blood in stool

[meiram]

My husband and I took our shitzu-poodle for a walk this evening and when he did #2, there was blood in it.  I plan on calling the vet about it first thing Monday morning, but was wondering if anyone had any ideas.  He has been sneaking leftover soft cat food for the previous 2 weeks, and I know that isn't really good for him.  Other than that he pretty much sticks to a dry dog food diet.  My 15 month old dd sometimes gives him part of her snack, but he doesn't get bones or anything like that.  He is only 4 yrs old, and has had a pretty good health history so far.  He had a lump on his shoulder that was removed by the vet about 3 years ago.  

His first elimination this evening was pretty normal, but the next two were the ones that had the blood in them.  

Any ideas?  I am really worried about him.  

[Red931]

That is great news!  I thought is was the cat food.

[meiram]

I posted an update yesterday, but for some reason it didn't show up.  Everything is back to normal and the vet said to keep an eye on him and call back if it happens again or if his behavior changes.  He said that perhaps the cat food had "backed him up a little" and caused some friction when he went.  He recommended no more cat food and stick to his regular dry dog food.  Thanks for the concern and the information.  

[ginger899]

Red's list of foods toxic for dogs is pretty thorough. I downloaded it onto my computer, for future reference. There are many foods you'd think would be harmless (like broccoli) but which are bad news for dogs!

My dog once ate some food with a high liver content, and had similar symptoms. I immediately realized what I'd given her that had caused the symptom, so fed her plain boiled white fish and rice for the next day, and her stools returned to normal.

Also once she got into some chocolate left out on a plate, and had bloody diarrhea.

It is almost impossible to watch your dog's every single move every minute, while out on a long walk. There are many instances while walking through a woods or something, when my dog stops to sniff at something and I walk on a short way, knowing she'll catch me up. Occasionally I've glanced back and caught her eating. I hate this because eating mice can give her worms.  I also hate it because she snaffles whatever it is down so quickly (as she knows I'll tell her to drop!) and I have no clue what she has just eaten!

If you were walking in an area where other people go, picnickers, or children, it is very possible for her to pick up some piece of dropped chocolate bar or similar thing.

As a single incident, this may be nothing to worry about, as dogs can get this symptom simply from eating something which is toxic for them, and then recover from the incident just fine, and naturally. But the best thing is to see if it happens again with absolutely no cause you can pin down. In that case, off to the vet!

[Beckytay42]

can cat poo if eaten by my dog  cause blood to be in the poo?

[meiram]

Thank you for the information.  I will take a look at it.  So far this morning he hasn't gone, so nothing new to report.  

[Red931]

Here is the link to the thread:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dogs/What-non-traditional-food-does-your-dog-love/show/950512?personal_page_id=411428&post_id=post_4464600

[Red931]

I am sorry to hear that you lost your cat. Ghilly beat me to the rasins so to speak. I just recently posted an entire list of things you should not feed your dog two days ago. You can go back and look at it if you wish or there is another listed in the Health Pages.


Please let us know how he is doing.

[meiram]

Thanks for the reply.  You got it, no more raisins until she is old enough not to give them to Tucker.  His urine is still yellow,  and he is still behaving normally.  I will be sure to call the vet and take him in first thing Monday morning if necessary.  Maybe we will go for another longish walk today to see if it happens again.  He does love his walks.

[Ghilly]

PLEASE, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let your daughter feed your dog raisins.  Raisins and grapes can be deadly for dogs and cats.  They can cause the same problems that onions can, the most dangerous of which is Heinze body anemia which causes the red blood cells to explode and disintegrate and be excreted in the urine.

Keep a close check on your dog's gums, they should be a healthy pink color and not a whitish, light pink color or a dark muddy color.  Also, try to see what his urine looks like.  It should be some shade of yellow.  If you notice a dark-colored urine, if too many raisins or onions have been consumed, that is the result of the red blood cells being excreted in the urine and emergency veterinary care is needed.

Other than that, there are several things which can cause blood to be in the stools, some of which are minor (irritation caused by diarrhea) and some of which are life threatening (cancer or something lodged in the intestine).  If your dog is still behaving normally, then chances are it's something minor, but it's best to get it checked out by the vet anyway.  Please let us know what happens.

Ghilly

[meiram]

Thanks for the reply.  
It is not unusual for him to go three times when we go on long walks.  He has done this since he was a puppy.  The stool will start out normal and progressively get thinner and thinner each time until there is very little left.  On a daily basis, however, he goes once and then comes back in the house.  

1) We have been giving my sick cat moist cat food (iams) a couple of times a day.  The amount that the dog ate equaled about 1/2 a can per day/10 days.  I tried to pick the dish up after the cat was done eating, but he was often faster than I was.  This won't be a problem anymore because unfortunately I had to have the cat euthanized.  

2) He has not had any chocolate.  Typical snack food that my daughter "shares" is goldfish crackers, graham crackers, raisins, or cheese.

I definately would consider taking him in to emergency care, but he is acting normally.  Still active and eating and drinking normally.  

[Red931]

When a dog has bloody stool it can be serious. I am also concerned that he went three times tonight. He should be seen by a Vet asap, however, I want to ask a few more questions.

How much cat food has he eaten? Some cat food can cause this.

What has the child been giving him? Was there chocolate in it? These things are dangerous for dogs.

If you are not going to take him to a Vet right now, which I recommend, please post back with answers to these questions.