Blood In Stool

[WalterWallerson]

Last summer, Walter had worms, and at the end of July had several bowel movments with blood in them. At the time, it was very hot, and the vet said "sometimes when dogs are hot, they tend to pass blood."

 

I took him to Northstart Vets (http://northstarvets.com/) and he got fluid for dehydration and a few other items.

 

 

 

Today, when Walter pooped, I noticed a small amount of blood in his stool. I'm worried again - the worms have been resolved but why do greys (or dogs in general) pass blood? What does it mean? How serious is it?:

[mychip1]

Is it a small bit of blood (red and mucousy?) on an otherwise normal poop? Is it bloody diarreah?

[Guest brindleandfawn]

In our experience (we fostered a grey with both heart and hook worms) stool covered in a mixture of bloody mucus, can be an indicator of worms. Some worms like hook worms tend to reoccur in the digestive tract, apparently migrating from other organs, but since it has been close to a year since Walters last episode this seems unllikely, on the other hand some worms (again, hookworms) have the ability to survive in the soil for long periods of time.

[Riverhound]

How much do Walter and Blossie hang out? Since C. just treated Blossie for worms and he's doing better, is it possible Walter picked them up from him? OR Did you go to the picnic yesterday (we didn't make it) and did he eat something unusual that might have bothered him?

[mychip1]

If Dustin's anal glands are bothering him, he gets the bloody coating around otherwise normal stool. If his belle is the issue, then it's more of a bloody diarreah.

[WalterWallerson]

It's regular poo with a small amount of blood on the outside.

Edited May 21, 2012 by WalterWallerson

[mychip1]

It's regular poo with a small amount of blood on the outside.

 

With Dustin, when this happens, as I said, he is usually also having the problem with his glands. He tends to have very small poop piles - and extremely hard poop (unless his tummy is flip-flopping). As a result he strains - and sometimes has the secretion. I have him on one squirt of ecosiderm every day and it has helped.

 

Of course, you would want to rule out the worm question! At one point we did do a precautionary round of panacur as sometimes the stool sample does not always give a positive when there is a presence.

Edited May 21, 2012 by mychip1

[WalterWallerson]

Once a week on our walks. Walter enjoys munching on grass and he will eat it if I'm not on top of him or in a "grab and go" snack on walks. We did go to the picnic, we both had a great time!