Bleeding Rectum/vomit With Blood

[SanTanSnuggles]

I have the most awesome hole digging, trash picking, hyper-active little white greyhound that is an awesome roacher as well. While my Greyhound Surprise was preparing for surgery yesterday, his girl developed problems after we all returned last night. She was not her typical self, and did not come to greet us at the door with enthusiasm. She only had a few Kirkland dog bones before we left in the morning, so we knew she should be hungry. She loves to eat with vigor, and the little princess wants to be hand fed. We offered her chicken and she walked away. In addition, she did not want to drink. That is okay, we thought as she may have been missing her Surprise. Pasadena loves her playful interacting playtime with Surprise and their walks through the park together.

 

Surprise had his typical post anesthesia reactions, and he was not in the mood for kibitzing with Pasadena. We all had a late dinner, did a little TV, and went to bed. It was now 11:00 PM and Pasadena was pacing like Surprise who was still working off the effects of his anesthesia. Odd for sure that Pasadena would also be pacing. Pasadena kept asking to go outside and did. A little later, Pasadena began to vomit. The lights were low to help calm Surprise down, so when I cleaned it up, I did not look at her vomit very close. I just thought it was a tummy issue. Pasadena did not have access to all of her foibles while we were gone earlier, as the gates were up and my son was keeping an eye on her.

 

She then became projectile in her vomiting. On with the lights and to my dismay, there appeared to be very pale, pinkish color in the foaming mucus coming out of her facial orifice. Okay, not normal, so I called up to my husband to inform him that if it continued, we would be off to the ER. She made a slight yelp and defecated on the wood floor. Immediately, her precious little butt was red with some blood. It happened again when I went into the kitchen to call the ER. This time, it was as if she farted and it came out in a small stream, and then dripped across the floor and stopped.

 

The ride to the ER was uneventful, other than the fact that she continued to vomit all over her new bolster bed in the back of the SUV. They ER performed the standard check in, and whisked her off to the forbidden back area where only employees are allowed. We arranged after speaking to the DVM on duty, for her to get x-rays, blood tests and whatever else would be required. By now, it is five in the morning and no sleep since the morning before. The tasty coffee in the waiting room did not help. The DVM on call said that Pasadena would be hooked up to an IV after the tests to keep her hydrated and would be spending today in their watchful care.

 

We received an early morning call from the ER at about 7:30 AM. None of us heard it as we were exhausted. Nothing profound was found according to voice mail, but they were waiting for the ER Radiologist to come in and read the x-rays. They said that Pasadena was still hooked up to the IV and was resting comfortably and that there was no more diarrhea. I later spoke to them and questioned what did they mean? Diarrhea? That it was blood coming out of places it should not have been. Yes, they said, that is what they met by diarrhea. My voice mail said they also did a sonogram. However, when I spoke to them at 1:00 PM today, it was stated as being a mini-one. Since the person I spoke to over the telephone was not there when things were being done, I let it be for now.

 

We feed our guys a low fat protein healthy diet, with a little milk. (No artificial sweeteners ever)! They also eat after their meal, a Nyla edible chicken bone, some Kirkland chicken and rice bones (a milk bone kind of thing) Surprise and Pasadena get chicken apple chips also sold from Costco when available. We ration the apple treats out, as they are not on the shelf much. I am going to make my own. They get a little pasta now and then. Some Greek yogurt. A taste of ice cream now for something special. Whenever I am eating one of my health bars, I may share some with them. However, over all their diet is easily digestible.

 

I was told that upon examination, they did not see any lumps, bumps, or protrusions. It was stated that the x-rays did not show anything in her body that would cause the bleeding. There are some issues in the blood work, but again I was told that there were no remarkable differences for a greyhound. So far today she has not ate on her own. Before I bring her home, should I insist on an endoscopy or such? A full sonogram on some part of her body? A CT Scan? They would have to put her to sleep to do that and we all know how we hate to do that to our greyhounds.

 

Below are her blood tests they emailed to me. I am open to opinions that you may have, so I can share them with the vet before we bring her home. They are talking about sending her home tomorrow morning. They told me that I could have a copy of the x-ray to take home when I pick her up tomorrow.

 

I have tried to post her blood work numbers, but I keep getting a message that I have posted too may images.

Edited November 16, 2017 by SanTanSnuggles

[LaFlaca]

Had she been exerting herself in any way prior to the bleeding? See rhabdomyolysis.

Had she taken any NSAIDS?

 

Praying for your pup's recovery.

[greysmom]

What about her physical exmination? Abdominal tenderness? Did they see excess gas with the xrays or ultrasound? I might suspect the nylabones as I have seen them splinter as they're eaten, but if she didn't have one up to 24 hours previous to the issue beginning (that morning) then probably it isn't that. It wouldn't show up on an xray though (I don't think).

 

The last time I dealt with these symptoms my girl had a bad reaction to penicillin post-surgery. Nothing to do but let it run it's course and do supportive fluids. Lilly didn't eat anything for about three days all told, and we had to really work to get her system back on track.

 

Hope things turn around for your girl.

[SanTanSnuggles]

So here are the numbers only that had some levels posted next to them. The vet said they are of no concern

I did not post all of the numbers as this format does not into this post and I tried a facebook link, but the face book

did not give me options to post. To get here, I converted the pdf to word, than pasted.

 

 

LIPA

1930HIGH

200-1800U/L

LAC

3.05HIGH

0.50-2.50mmol/L

Osm Calc

309

mmol/kg

RBC

9.99HIGH

5.65-8.87M/µL

HCT

* 69.2*

37.3-61.7%

HGB

24HIGH

13.1-20.5g/dL

LYM

0.45LOW

1.05-5.10K/µL

 

MONO

0.18

0.16-1.12K/µL

 

EOS

0.01LOW

0.06-1.23K/µL

 

[SanTanSnuggles]

Had she been exerting herself in any way prior to the bleeding? See rhabdomyolysis.

Had she taken any NSAIDS?

She had not been exerting herself any more than usual. Since her partner was not at home, she did not have anyone to compete with.

She had not taken any medications. Not since last winter/spring when she was on doxy for ten weeks. Both she and Surprise were on it

together, as Echinaeca showed up positive in her tick test. That is when I changed to the Seresto Flea and Tick Collar. As the spot on

was not doing it's job. I took her to the vet because she had gotten a few ticks on her and she got tested early on. I asked the ER vet

if that was an issue and she assured me that it was not. Since changing to Seresto, no ticks. Never any fleas have been found inside

or on the dogs. But we live in the country next to a state park and there are deer, bear, skunks, squirrels, snakes, groundhogs, birds, big

and small. That is just to name a few. Along with that come the fox, horses, coyote, bobcats, mice, moles, opossums, and more. A few years

ago, we even had a pot belly pig come by for a visit. They are in a fenced in yard and only get out to go for walks with me, Lots of stuff to

consider for sure, but the vets seem not to be concerned and use to the wildlife in the area. They do get their heart guard every month.

[SanTanSnuggles]

What about her physical exmination? Abdominal tenderness? Did they see excess gas with the xrays or ultrasound? I might suspect the nylabones as I have seen them splinter as they're eaten, but if she didn't have one up to 24 hours previous to the issue beginning (that morning) then probably it isn't that. It wouldn't show up on an xray though (I don't think).

Before we went to the vet, I did a lot of pushing on her abdomen and washed off her butt area and checked the color of her gums and put my finger slightly down her throat to see if she complained and with those palpitations, she did not. The vet did not see any flinching or such when she checked the abdomen.The vet did not think an endoscopy was necessary according to Pasadena's symptoms. There is no choking, or coughing or gurgling or belching. On the xrays, the vet said that the stomach appeared to be just a little cloudy, but the vet said no worry. The radiologist did not have a concern on them either. I have not seen the x rays yet, but will tomorrow and get a copy. The vet did a rectal exam and said she did not see anything there. I was told they did a mini sonogram for a look see, and did not see anything and they feel that a complete one is not necessary at this time. The nylabones so far have never splintered, as they are the baked edible ones, not the real nylon bones just to chew on. I would not trust them to be safe. They do not get animal basted bones or any animal bones of any kind. I did discuss with the vet, her diet. Glad they took the xrays, as she is a working trash baby. We keep lids on them, but folks forget every once in a while, and than they have the wrath of Linda upon them. She mainly likes to steal paper or boxes and tear them to shreds in piles. I was assured by the vet that they did all of the necessary testing. I would have liked more just to avoid having to drive back again and again and again.

They kept her again tonight, as she still has not ate for them and she remains on IV fluids to stay hydrated. No more bleeding. I will take her home in the morning and see what I can entice her with. But being competitive is good, as once she is around Surprise I think she may eat. They only grow at each other now and then and steal bones back and forth all day. She will steal his, bury them in the yard while he watches. Afterwards, he just goes and gets his due and she could care less. It is a game.

They are sending her home with medication for inflammatory bowels , an antibiotic, an antacid and of all things, worm medication. They have never shown up with worms in previous examinations. The heartworm is also supposed to take care of hook works per the directions. I always look for tape worms in their poop, as she is a killer hound. In the past she has killed a groundhog, a rabbit, a ground squirrel and I think a field mouse. I told the vet I gave them some panacur C in the spring, even though I did not see anything. I worry a lot about over medicating.

They are fenced in with a tall,small animal fence and then chicken wire over the bottom to prevent critters from getting in. But critters are smart and climb fences, etc to get in a place that they will be sorry they got into. Their yard does not have a gate for folks to get in or one they can get out of.

She did have nylabone, a kirkland milk bone and some milk that morning. My son said she did not get into anything as the gates were up between the rooms and at times she laid on the couch with him. She did not have any scratches or wounds on her after he let her in her yard to pee while I was at the vet with Surprise. I checked that out myself. She can catch a fly now and than as she is very fast. I have not seen her eat any other bugs like bees or stink bugs, spiders etc, but who knows. Did someone say country living is healthy?

[Scooby172]

Random thought, my grey/whippet mix had similar symptoms, was diagnosed with HGE, she recovered fully with supportive care. Hope your girl is feeling better soon.

[tbhounds]

Sounds like hge-hopefully will recover quickly with supportive care.

[Houndmommy03]

I can't remember details unfortunately, but a number of years ago I came home to 3 very large areas of diarrhea (my pup had been fine when I left the house). I was totally freaked out and sure my baby had something dreadful. The vet put him on a course of meds and he was fine and lived years after that with no similar issues. I'm thinking it was some kind of bacterial infection and so was given antibiotics. Good luck and hope your pup feels better soon!

[EllenEveBaz]

Sending good thoughts for your girl, and for Surprise.

[SanTanSnuggles]

hemorrhagic gastroenteritis-That is what they said. She is home and resting. They gave her an antibiotic, panacur-even though they did not test for worms, a probiotic to sprinkle on her food for a week and told me to give her an acid pill as well. She has not had any issues since being released and took a small walk today and is on her usual bland diet of chicken, turkey, etc. Made them both some Chicken-Apple-Rice treats. The treats are a soft cookie like thing. They love them. Guess it will become a regular on the treats. Any regular or non-emergency follow-up appointments for Pasadena will be done through her regular vet. Any suggestions or thoughts are always appreciated.

 

Thank you to everyone who has read this thread and for the support. It is very much appreciated.

[Batmom]

Aw, glad she is home and feeling better!

[greytpups]

Hope she continues to improve

[SanTanSnuggles]

Just wondering if no symptoms show up after the meds are done, how long should I wait to have her stool rechecked for blood? I was told that it would take about a week to ten days for that to clear up. Neither the ER or the vet suggested a follow up, unless systems returned. But in my mind, I think a recheck would be a good idea.

 

She even roached a little. She loves to do that. I keep looking to see if she has any bloody leakage and thank God, she is not leaking or throwing up. Going to make more of the treats today. The chicken rice ones. Both Pasadena and Surprise seem to really like them. The advice that I have received here has been awesome.

Edited November 19, 2017 by SanTanSnuggles

[Scooby172]

As I remember with my grey/whippet mix, "Keeva" once she started on meds and I believe she had IV fluids also she felt much better. She improved rapidly, there was no need for a follow up in her case. I think you will see your girl will continue to feel stronger and more like her old self. See how she does, if you think she needs a follow up schedule one but it may not be necessary. I remember when Keeva was sick I did not think she was going to make it, the amount of blood that poured out of her was very scary and she was a senior dog. I was very surprised at how quickly she recovered with no residual issues. Good luck and hope she continues to improve.

[LaFlaca]

Prayers for continued improvement.

[juliemac]

what a terrifying time -- I'm so glad Pasadena is doing better!! Prayers that she continues to improve.

[SanTanSnuggles]

Thank you. Pasadena is continuing to improve. On our second batch of Chicken Rice treats. Boy do they love them. Tomorrow, making the Turkey and will be making more of the same with some Pumpkin. Happy Thanksgiving to All.

[RaineysMom]

how scary!!! I'm glad she is doing better! sending all of you hugs.