Bloody Diarrhea

[Han1014]

Hello all,

At the beginning of march I had to take Luke to the ER for pooping watery blood (no stool just blood). Because he tested positive for hookworms he was given a dewormer and was put on a bland diet with an anti-inflammatory meds.

However, he has relapsed since then. It started with just watery stools with a couple of streaks of blood, and on Sunday morning he pooped watery blood again. I took him to the vet and they gave me an anti-diarrhetic and put him on a bland diet again. He tested negative for hookworms but they also gave me more dewormer to be safe. As of this morning (Tuesday) he still has bloody poops (raspberry jam). The vet told me to let her know if it keeps up until Thursday and to make sure he is still taking his anti-inflammatory meds.

His diet since then has been  chicken and rice twice a day, with a packet of fortiflora at dinner.

This is my first dog/Greyhound. Am i freaking out too much or is there something I'm missing to help him?

Thanks.

[greytpups]

Hookworms are nasty and can take months to eradicate. Dr Jennifer Ng on Facebook has a great hookworm protocol. If you’re not on fb, I can copy and paste it for you.

our greyhound, Katie, had a terrible case when we adopted her from Southland in AR. She was on meds for 7 months, mostly as a precaution from reoccurring. 
 

Hookworms can be fatal, so I’d keep on top of it.

al

[greytpups]

Dr Jennifer Ng - Hookworms

[macoduck]

Definitely have your vet follow the protocol on the Dr Jennifer Ng link. She's become an expert on dealing with hookworms. You'll need more than an ordinary dewormer. The protocol should be followed for at least a year, even if you have a negative test.

[greysmom]

Yes, you should be freaking out about now.  Losing that much blood - no matter the reason - can be very serious, so it's important to try and get it stopped as soon as possible.  The most likely culprit is the hooks, which, as said above, are particularly resistant to treatment and extremely difficult tp clear.  But they can destroy a dog's intestinal tract if left unchecked.  Be vigilant about checking him for dehydration as they can go downhill really quickly with bloody diarrhea, requiring hospitalization.

Talk with your vet about the protocol listed above and follow it exactly and stringently.  You need to have THREE negative fecal tests following treatment - one two weeks after the last treatment, one two weeks after that, and one two weeks after that.  And then keep up consistently on monthly worming medication, because once you have it in your yard, you will *always* have it in your yard.  Don't walk out there barefoot anymore either!

Alternatively, if all those pills and medications make you nervous, you can discuss with you vet giving your dog the ProHeart 6 shot, which is a long-acting internal parasite killer (they come for either 6 months or 12 months).  This shot was available previously and was quite controversial, causing bad side effects, but has since been reformulated and re-issued for use.  You do have to keep up with  external tick treatment at the same time.  My vet clinic has been trying it for dogs with heavy infestations and they have had very good results and low incidence of side effects or other issues.  All three of my dogs are on it with no problems whatsoever, and the one with hooks has been clear for two months now.

[zimsmom]

2 hours ago, Han1014 said:

to make sure he is still taking his anti-inflammatory meds

Am I missing something?  what anti inflammatory meds?  Don't they cause GI bleeds?  Is it prednisone?  

[Han1014]

Thank you for all of the feedback, I've been worried sick about this guy.

I've been giving him 500 mg Metronidazole every 12 hours, the vet gave me it when first time i brought him in and i was given more when he relapsed.

I'll show that article to my vet, we've been following a similar plan alternating interceptor plus and another dewormer every two weeks( its supposed to be pyrantel but every time we've been about to start he's relasped and has gotten Panacure instead) I've only had him two months so we've only just started with this process.

[Time4ANap]

Panacur isn't strong enough for the current breed of hookworms that are running through greyhounds that come off the tracks and farms in the US.  

Petunia had symptoms very similar to your hound including very bloody stools once we started hookworm treatment. . Because of her age (11) we did Dr. Ng's modified protocol and modified it a little more, but using the drugs in the protocol.  After 6 months she was clean.  That was about 4 months ago, but we've since adopted Kate (11) who also came from one of the greyhound farms. Kate was positive for hookworms, and now Petunia has tested positive again for the antigen but not eggs. We will probably be revisiting the protocol, I am just waiting for final instructions from our vet on how she wants to handle it this time. 

As a side note, we started Petunia on Interceptor monthly once she had several clean fecal tests, however with her now being positive I;m thinking it may not be sufficient either. 

[SanTanSnuggles]

second opinion?

 

[Scoutsmom]

My dog Tess came with hookworms.  These are not the hookworms most vets are used to seeing.  These came from racing kennels in the south and are very resistant to being killed.  There was a good article about them about a year ago in a veterinary journal on parasites.  I don't remember the name.   If you do google search for scholarly journals--greyhounds and hookworms--you will find it.  We put Tess on Advantage Plus and Panacur.  Each time she was given the Panacur she had massive bloody diarrhea and she spent several days in the hospital.  My Vet switched to Drontal with the Advantage which was easier on my girl (and the carpet).  After several months of the treatment we got the 3 clear months.  My vet kept her on the Advantage Plus and tested her again in three months.  Unfortunately the hooks are back, but not as many so we are doing the protocol again.  

Edited March 25, 2020 by Scoutsmom

[Scoutsmom]

Of course there are other reasons for bloody diarrhea, the hooks are just the most likely cause.  But it could be something like Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Hooks are easier to deal with.

[Han1014]

Just a quick update:

I brought Luke back to the vet today. He's lost 8 pounds in the last 9 days, the vet drew a blood sample and we should have the results by Saturday, She's thinking it's might be Addison's , the blood test should help us figure out what we're dealing with. on that note the prescribed him steroids see if that helps him improve.

I asked about Luke's initial Hookworm test last month and she said he had a very small amount of hookworms at that time.

Thank you all for help, its been great to be able to talk to other greyhound ownersto help luke get better.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Hope you get some answers soon

 

[Scoutsmom]

How is Luke doing?

[Han1014]

Once we started the steroids, Luke finally stopped having blood in his poop. His poop is still very loose but its the best it has been in all week.

Tomorrow I'll be calling the vet again to see how we want to move forward. Right now I'm just happy we're finally seeing a improvement!