Blood in stool?

[meb0254]

Hi everyone! I hope you guys have some insight into this problem...

Twix is my 1.5 year old perfectly healthy sheltie girl. The last few days, her stool has been soft. Not raging diarrhea, but pudding-like. She's been going about three times per day, no urgency, not asking to go outside more frequently than usual. We don't have a yard, so I take her for walks. As a result, I get to keep a good eye on her bowel movements. This evening, when she went to the bathroom, her stool was more runny than usual and had red blood in it. Obviously, I was shocked. She still acted normal, barking at cats, trying to chase cars, and jumping on me. She vomited about an hour later (though I think the culprit here is a frosty paw), so that combined with the bloody stool, I took her to an emergency vet.

Her blood work came back fine, so no HEG. Since she's always either within my sight or in her crate we opted not to do any X-rays. She let the vet squeeze her belly without tensing up or wincing or getting angry. No lumps or bumps, gums are fine, lungs are fine, everything appears to be normal. No more vomiting either. They gave her antibiotics and fluid, gave me antibiotics to start her on tomorrow morning, and told me to keep an eye on her.

She's still acting pretty normal. Not lethargic, begging for my dinner, etc. Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Is it possible that this is just a fluke?

I apologize for the wall of text! Thanks in advance! I'm glad to be here with some fellow sheltie lovers!

[Eagle]

I am sure there are a lot of possible causes, many not serious, but I would follow up with your own vet.

I did have a dog with this and, in his case, it did turn out to be serious, BUT, I know there are much less serious and more common causes because those were eliminated first.

Initially, my vet put him on metronidazole. When that did not work, she tried a second medication, I don't remember what. When that did not work either, I was refereed to a large veterinary hospital, an ultrasound was done and that diagnosed the problem.

My dogs case did have a happy ending, but he did have to have surgery. My dog was also much older.

[Ann]

Did the vet test for worms? Frequently blood in the stool is a sign of worms such as coccidia. Your pup would need a round of medication other than metronidazole to eliminate them.

I agree with Eagle, I would see your vet and explore further.

[Georgie'sMom]

Those were the symptoms that showed us our pups had whipworms.

[Justicemom]

Originally Posted by Ann

Did the vet test for worms? Frequently blood in the stool is a sign of worms such as coccidia. Your pup would need a round of medication other than metronidazole to eliminate them.

I agree with Eagle, I would see your vet and explore further.

That was exactly what I was thinking. Happy active with soft stool with frank red blood I think coccida or whipworms. The metronidazole should help but if parasites are involved not clear completely.

[Tagg]

My friend Cindy, with Portuguese Water Dogs, had this happen to her male dog River when he was about 9 months old and continuing for at least 3 months. He also wasn't gaining weight. Multiple times fecals were done in clinic and sent to the lab but always came back negative. The clinic was about to perform an exploratory on him when she decided to take River to a naturopathic vet for a second opinion. The new vet - she is a DVM as well - said that Cindy was to treat the dog for whipworm with some holistic type product that had to be started on a certain phase of the moon. Yeah, I know, we were shaking our heads too, but you know what - it worked. After months of dealing with the problem, the dog is now fine. Lesson learned, never just rely on what fecals tell you in regard to any type of internal parasite.