Bloody diarrhea! Help!

[rspates]

Last night Elsa (10 1/2 months old)had diarrhea. This morning, Ryan went into work early but woke me up to tell me that she had had some more, only it looked like there was some blood in it towards the end.

Well, this morning after I dried my hair, I came out into the living room and found a glob of blood/mucus on the floor about the size of a quarter. Then, I looked up and Elsa had gone all over the floor and it was all liquidy, bloody and with mucus in it.

I have called the vet...the lady who answered the phone told me that this is not uncommon for dogs to have some bleeding when they have diarrhea (maybe she was trying to calm me down, but this has never happened before!) They put me on hold and then someone came back on and asked if I could come in at 3...so we are going at 3pm today!

I am sorry to ramble...I am a little freaked out. Elsa seems to be happy and fine (well, not happy that she has been in her crate while I cleaned the mess up) but her behavior is normal for her.

It's just killing me to wait until our apointment. Is there anything that I should do in the meantime, or that I should ask the vet when we get there?

Thanks!

A very worried Rachel

[Sharon Marples]

Be sure to run a test for parvo. Also for worms. Those are the first two things I wold test for in this situation.

Sharon

[rottcrazed]

Has your vet checked for Giardia? If you do send a fecal sample in, please have them test for parvo, worms and giardia. All can cause mucous-y, bloody diarrhea.

All of my dogs just went through a bout of Giardia because my puppy brought it home from the breeder and your symptoms sound like what they had. Although giardia doesn't cause them to act or eat any differently than normal.

Kristi

[TrishB]

The good news is, you're acting on it now! :) So please relax. You're taking your girl to the vet and that is the best way to go. Blood in diarrhea is common to the point that it causes irritation to the intestional tract and bowels. That irritation can cause bleeding.

Take in a sample and your vet will test it for all of the above mentioned problems. In the mean time, be sure that she has free access to water.

Let us know what the vet says!

[rspates]

Thanks everyone, I am TRYING to stay calm.
I started cleaning up things before it struck me that I would probably need to bring a sample in, so I hope they can make do with the small amount that I have for them to do all of their tests.

She has lots of water and I've been giving her some ice cubes because she likes to play with them and eat them. She still seems fine...she was just bringing her ball to me to play fetch and is currently going to town on her galileo bone:)

Part of my anxiety is that we are still new with this vet....we have taken Elsa there for a checkup after we moved, but the people at her previous vet were like family. They knew Elsa from the first week that we had her and our vet even had a rottie from the same breeder. They loved her and she loved them and we all knew each other by first name and Ryan and I were very comfortable with them. Not that I don't have complete faith in these new people...I just miss our old crew right now.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes this afternoon!

Rachel

[Sheenagirl]

Another thing that can cause bloody diarrhea is an intestinal blockage. Sheena ate some of the ends off of a rope toy (of course didn't know that was the problem until after I took her to the Vet's). Anyway, the diarrhea started and then turned to very bloody diarrhea and then to very bloody explosive diarrhea (going outside every 15 mins.). Scared me plenty too. Sheena passed the blockage at the Vet's office later the next day. My Vet isn't all that upset at seeing blood either - he said it is easy for a dog's intestine to bleed - but of course we always must look into what caused it. Good luck and let us know how Elsa is doing.. ;)

[TrishB]

Hi Rachel,

I worked at veterinary practices for 9 years. 7 of those were in management. Here's what you can do to help your vet become as close to you as your last ones!

1) Bring in a sample. If your girl has diarrhea, I'm sure she'll give you another sample before your appointment. They can't test it if they don't have it.
2) Be sure to tell them how close you were to your previous vet! That will give them a guideline as to how close you'd like them to be. Some people just want to come in and get out. Others want to know everyone's names, titles and Social Security Numbers! ;)
3) Be open to a different style. This is a new vet, with a different style than the last (everyone's different). If they do something that you're not sure about, ask! They'll be happy to tell you.

Most vets are happy to discuss your concerns. If they aren't, then I suggest you find a new one. ;) You need to be as comfortable with your vet as you are with your own personal doctor. Be open and honest - it will make the best of the situation for you, your vet and your pets. :)

[rspates]

Ok...we are back from the vet's. I brought in what I had collected for a sample and they are running tests and will call me back if there is a positive result.

The vet that we met with was very nice. He came into the room and said (to Elsa) "So, you have the bloody runnny poopies and have scared the crap out of mom and dad because they thought that your insides were coming out, right?" To which I answered, "yep":p

He gave her a physical examination and noted that she was not lethargic which is good (Elsa was checking out EVERY inch of the room and was in hyper-mode). She also had a slight temperature (102.7 I think)

Again, he said that they would run tests on the stool sample and get back to me. He did not seem to think it was Parvo as she has had the diarrhea since yesterday and is still so energetic, but said that we are right to be concerned about it as rotties are prone to it more than other breeds. He also did not seem to think that she had a blockage (I did check all of her toys before we went after reading the post from Sheenagirl-but they all looked fine) Although, he had just had a dog in there with this problem because he ate a children's toy rocket ship
He did say that Giardia was a possibility and that it can often be hard to detect. He gave us Flagyl for Elsa to take twice a day for 10 days and to feed her a bland diet until her stool firms up. I just finished cooking up a bunch of rice and skinless chicken for her and will be feeding her several small meals.

When we came home she finally did go again. She had A LOT of diarrhea but there was no blood in it this time. :)

Again, thanks everyone for all of your advice and reassurance. It made it a little easier to "wait" today. I'll let you know if the tests turn up anything and how the next few days go!
You're all wonderful!

Rachel

[RottiMomCT]

Having gone thru a similar bought of diarrhea with my 3 1/2 yr old male less than a month ago, I found that adding Kaopectate and a spoonful of canned pumpkin ( NOT the pie filling with spices, just plain canned pumpkin) helps to firm things up a bit quicker.

I mixed 1/2 cup of rice/boiled hamburger with 2 tablespoons Kaopectate, 2 tablespoons of pumpkin, and bit of beef gravy for flavor. Fed it to Ben for two weeks...he firmed up after 10 days so I began adding a bit of kibble to the mix. I fed this mixture to him until I ran out of rice/burger mix and had begun to add more kibble to the mix.

He's back to normal, but the other 4 dogs have had the same stuff within the past week or two....not fun at all when four dogs all have it!

I think it all started when Ben drank out of a community water bowl at a rescue event - lord knows what peoples dogs are putting into the water when they stick their noses in it...

Ben now has his own bowl that nobody else rinks from...and I'm soon to be getting a nice new floor to replace the ruined poopy stained carpeting!!

Sometimes the blood comes from the intestines being inflamed/irritated and they bleed. Ben actually passed undigested grass and rice at one point - freaked me out bigtime!!!

[rspates]

It's two days later and there hasn't been any more diarrhea (knock on wood!;) ) All of her tests were negative. However, Elsa has only gone once since Tuesday evening and it wasn't very much but it was firmer. Ryan was concerend that she hasn't gone more, but it sounds like this is normal while she is just eating the rice/chicken from what I have read in the other posts.

I did look for canned pumpkin at the corner store, but they did not have any and I have not had a chance to get to the supermarket.

Thanks to everyone for the good advice and well wishes.

Rachel