[hgar78]

we just took madeline out for her evening walk and noticed blood in her stool.  the last two days she has been less interested in her food (natural balance) in the morning but will eventually eat it all in one take...like later in the day.  when we were giving her samples of the timberwolf organics she loved it so we just thought that maybe she was unhappy about the change back to her usual food.  now we wonder if she has an allergy.  has anyone had experience with this?

i should also mention, she is otherwise completely normal in her routine.  she's frisky, sleeping like always, playful and drinking lots of water.

 

[ChloeAndBrodisMa]

I don't know much about blood in the stool because that's one thing Chloe never had but I would be taking her in to see your vet. Chloe has tons of allergies but never had bloody stool as a result of it.  Hoping someone on here has a better answer for ya ((hugs to Madeline)) Hope her stool issue gets resolved soon.

 

[hgar78]

my husband just pointed out that she recently had a large rawhide so this may be the problem.  thoughts???

thanks for the suggestion on allergies, this was something we thought too.

 

[nano]

Yes, the rawhide could have done it.  Don't feed that junk as it can cause a blockage for dogs.  They don't digest it, it's like swallowing a big hunk of gum for us.  It sounds like she has colitis.  I would watch it and if she has more blood take her in with a stool sample so they can give you some meds.

Nano

 

[Ladybugdrives]

Yeah, our box was having diarrhea with blood and vomiting and it all boiled down to what we were feeding him too much table yummies and we had switched dog food.  Now that you mention it Tug had also had a rawhide chew. :?:   Well he gets no more of those either!

 

[hgar78]

thanks everyone.  this morning my husband did not see any signs of blood in her stool.  so we'll watch very closely for the next few days and if it reappears we'll take her in.  so far there has been no vomiting, no lethargy and she's eating (albeit, slowly and more picky-like but i think this is because she misses the timberwolf)  i think we may go and get her a bag of timberwolf but i just hate to waste the almost full bag of natural balance we got her.

 

[HannaBanana]

i think we may go and get her a bag of timberwolf but i just hate to waste the almost full bag of natural balance we got her.

Mix them together for a bit, or donate the food to a local rescue league or shelter if she is not doing well on the NB.

Hope everything goes better

 

[samsonsmom]

Like Hanna said, you can mix them, which when you are changing foods is necessary anyways. That might entice her to eat more, course be prepared, she may pick out the good stuff and leave the rest..Angel is notorious for doing that :roll:

 

[hgar78]

Mix them together for a bit, or donate the food to a local rescue league or shelter if she is not doing well on the NB.

Hope everything goes better

i thought about donating it but i had transfered it from its bag and into her tupperware container to keep it fresh....she's actually eating regularly just not right when we give it to her.  does anyone think that maybe she's just started self-regulating her food?  i've never had a dog do this before but i have friends whose canines do.  we have only had her for a month so her "routine" is certainly not set in stone yet; she could still be finding her own routine.

i did call the vet and they are only seeing urgent care animals today.  the guy i spoke to sounded very familiar to this type of call and didn't seem concerned enough to have her come in today.  i made an appt for tomorrow but even he said that if it looks like its getting better you may decide you don't need to come in.  he said that its probably a minor irritation in the lower GI (since it's--sorry for the graphic image--a bright red and not a tarry red/black).

 

[hgar78]

i forgot to update this post.  we took maddy last week and the vet thought it was colitis but wasn't 100% without seeing a sample (which they were unsuccessful in getting and didn't ask me to bring).  so we've been doing a 10-day med and had her on the hill's w/d food.  that REALLY firm things up!!!  so all is looking good now--the blood disappeared almost immediately.  

now that we're done with the w/d however, the stool is getting soft again so i'm going to try the pumpkin.  thanks for all the advice as always!!  

 

[hgar78]

geez...the blood is back.  i called the vet and they had me bring in a stool sample and gave her some parasite medicine that you sprinkle on wet food until we got the results.  well, the sample came back negative but there's still traces of blood in her stool.

so, what on earth could be wrong with our little one?  again, she seems perfectly fine otherwise.  any one think this is just diet?  she's almost done with the natural balance and we're going to switch her to timberwolf.  i do not want to put her on W/D food for several reasons but mostly because Hill's tests on animals...

 

[sharonL]

Well hmmmm...it is hard to say without knowing the results of the fecal sample.  It could be diet, IBS, parasite (coccidia, giardia, whipworms).    

I was kind of wondering about them using W/D food because that is the (Weight Diet) food. We use to use Hills I/D for upset stomach a million years ago .  Maybe it is the food since she did well when on the W/D.

Also, the thing with it being bright blood and the reason they say lower GI is if it were upper GI the blood would have time to darken and not be the bright red.  

Did they feel her stomach to make sure it was not tender to the touch, hard or bloated feeling? Is she having any vomiting along with this?

 

[hgar78]

[quote="sharonL\";p=\"32642":39ave0wn]Well hmmmm...it is hard to say without knowing the results of the fecal sample.

 

[sharonL]

I understand it can be very frustrating.  I would say that once you get on the other food see what happens from there.

 

[BurningRiver]

If one of mine looses interest in food, I don't fight it. Loss of appetite is nature's way of trying to work something out in the body. For loose stools, I fast for 24 hours and reintroduce food with 100% pure canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) and rice. As soon as I see a solid stool, I add a bit of chicken (I add raw because my dogs are raw fed, but you should add cooked if you're planning on transitioning back to kibble). Just make sure to boil the chicken or nuke it (don't cook it in cooking spray or oil).

It may be bacterial overgrowth as well. If it is, you can add a probiotic supplement to her diet to introduce good bacteria back into her gut. Some use yogurt, but be cautious with it - many dogs don't do well on dairy.

Good luck - sending solid poo vibes your way!

 

[Donya]

wow Hills tests on animals? i didnt know that. my cat is on hills cd because he has crystal build up often. Anyway I hope your pup is better soon and everything goes back to normal for you.

 

[hgar78]

If one of mine looses interest in food, I don't fight it. Loss of appetite is nature's way of trying to work something out in the body. For loose stools, I fast for 24 hours and reintroduce food with 100% pure canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) and rice. As soon as I see a solid stool, I add a bit of chicken (I add raw because my dogs are raw fed, but you should add cooked if you're planning on transitioning back to kibble). Just make sure to boil the chicken or nuke it (don't cook it in cooking spray or oil).

It may be bacterial overgrowth as well. If it is, you can add a probiotic supplement to her diet to introduce good bacteria back into her gut. Some use yogurt, but be cautious with it - many dogs don't do well on dairy.

Good luck - sending solid poo vibes your way!

i hadn't heard of the bacterial overgrowth theory yet.  would this be visible in a fecal test?  madeline did have one and it turned out negative...

the latest update is that her stool is firming up (a tbls of pumpkin twice a day and new timberwolf food) and we haven't seen blood in the last couple days.  she has started pooing a lot more--yesterday we counted four stools--though!!  

why, oh why must my life revolve around the question "what did her poo look like today?"  

 

[hgar78]

wow Hills tests on animals? i didnt know that. my cat is on hills cd because he has crystal build up often. Anyway I hope your pup is better soon and everything goes back to normal for you.

yep, we were shocked to learn that too...apparently they are one of the worst!  our cat was on hills as well for crystals but we've switched him to royal canin/IVD's perscription food within the last year.  it's better although they probably aren't the best company either (its actually been hard to find out much on royal canin).

 

[BurningRiver]

The bacterial overgrowth may or may not show up, depending on how well her body is fighting it off. If the pumpkin is helping, great! Keep us posted on how it goes.

Oh, and she will poo more if you add pumpkin - it's bulk fiber, which bulk's up the stool.