New ower ! Blood in stool !! Help !

Steve Doyon · Nov 19, 2015

Hey guy's,

First time posting and first time owning a puppy, we got Meeka last Sunday night and she's 14 week's old. I took her to the vet on Tuesday because all day Monday every time she goes to the washroom its diarrhea mixed with blood and a few drop's after that ( always dark red ). The breeder told me he had no knowledge of this and it was probably stressed related. The vet said the same thing but to be safe tested her poop and everything came back negative. She gave me some antibiotic's to help firm up her stool. She told me to wait it out and see.

Also if the wife and I leave for 3-4 hours at best we put her in her playpen with toys and the tv left on. She will pooh about 2-4 times and some time's there even more blood then if I were home and with her ( Meeka ). Could this be stressed caused my anxiety separation ?? I feel so bad for her, she is so playful and has a huge appetite and drinks well ! The Vet told me to wait it out tell her antibiotic's were finished and they wont be done until Saturday.

Anyone ever have similar problems ???

PugandTwoFrenchies · Nov 19, 2015

I've had this a couple of times with my male puppy, and we attributed it to him eating so many sticks and stuff out in the back yard. I'm sure he's getting scraped as whatever he's eaten is making its way out!

Does your puppy do the same? Eat 'rough' things that could perhaps scrape him internally as they make their way through?

Steve Doyon · Nov 19, 2015

Thanks for the quick reply ! No we only fed her the food the breeder gave us then switched to "lifetime" other then that she can't get into anything that would scrap up her internals. How long did it last ??

Chiana · Nov 20, 2015

I have no personal experience on this, but as a default if there is blood on the stool it is important to find out what is causing it. Good that you already went to the vet.
Could be stress related to being in a new environment. Did you gradually transferred her to new diet? Change of food could also be one of the causes to upset the intestines.
If it continues still after couple of days, I would take her back to the vet or get other opinion from another vet.

blushy · Nov 20, 2015

I would go to another vet.

We brought our puppy home at 10 weeks and he had a very severe coccidiosis infection, and giardia infection. These are both intestinal parasites. Giardia is a separate test, so make sure they test for both of those.

My puppy had dark red blood in the stool.

Stress can cause this I've read, but id get the parasite testing ASAP.

Steve Doyon · Nov 20, 2015

Chiana said:
I have no personal experience on this, but as a default if there is blood on the stool it is important to find out what is causing it. Good that you already went to the vet.
Could be stress related to being in a new environment. Did you gradually transferred her to new diet? Change of food could also be one of the causes to upset the intestines.
If it continues still after couple of days, I would take her back to the vet or get other opinion from another vet.

She had it with the food the breeder had her on for weeks and it rained the same with the food I switched her too ( Lifetime ).

Steve Doyon · Nov 20, 2015

blushy said:
I would go to another vet.

We brought our puppy home at 10 weeks and he had a very severe coccidiosis infection, and giardia infection. These are both intestinal parasites. Giardia is a separate test, so make sure they test for both of those.

My puppy had dark red blood in the stool.

Stress can cause this I've read, but id get the parasite testing ASAP.

Yahh I might do that ! We paid for a fecal test already but I'm not sure what was tested. I'll call my Vet and find out ! Thanks !

PugandTwoFrenchies · Nov 20, 2015

When he does get it, it'll last maybe 2 or 3 days tops? One time he had it worse than usual, but again, it cleared up on its own. Good thing is at least you had your pup checked by the vet and nothing *serious* is going on. I wonder if switching to a different food would help? Like others have suggested, if it continues I'd ask for more testing. The good thing is that your pup is still eating, playing, not vomiting, etc. Those are good signs. Still, it's a bit worrisome!

eeturk · Nov 20, 2015

I had a friend with a Frenchie who had this problem. It ended up being a sensitivity to something in his food that was causing distress internally. They tried our different proteins, no grain etc and finally found a food that "agreed" with his body. A food issue could be worth looking into if the tests from the vet all came back negative.

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Jakeyjake · Nov 20, 2015

If the vet did a fecal and everything came back normal, I would consider switching him (slowly) to a better quality food. Some foods just don't agree with certain pups.

Steve Doyon · Nov 20, 2015

I've tried two different food's so far and her poop has stayed the same. I switched her too "Lifetime fish and oatmeal " ( Nutreco Pet Nutrition ). The breeder food I had enough tell Tuesday morning and since then I've had her on this food. Should I try a third food for a couple days ? If so any recommendations ?

Also I forgot to mention that she gets almost a dry heave/gagging reflex a few times during the day but it happens a lot at night ( like 3-4 times)

Jakeyjake · Nov 20, 2015

Steve Doyon said:
I've tried two different food's so far and her poop has stayed the same. I switched her too "Lifetime fish and oatmeal " ( Nutreco Pet Nutrition ). The breeder food I had enough tell Tuesday morning and since then I've had her on this food. Should I try a third food for a couple days ? If so any recommendations ?

Also I forgot to mention that she gets almost a dry heave/gagging reflex a few times during the day but it happens a lot at night ( like 3-4 times)

Have you transitioned the foods slowly? Switching too quickly can cause intestinal problems. I would check out Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor and look at some top rated puppy foods to make a decision and then slowly transition the new food with the old (1/4 new with 3/4 old for a couple of days, then 1/2 new with 1/2 old, and so on) In the meantime you could add a little bit of white rice to see if that helps. Not sure about the heave/gagging reflex, unless it could be an elongated palate. Good luck and let us know how she does.

Mavis · Nov 23, 2015

Such a worry. Lots of good advice here. Maybe another trip to the vet is in order to get some more diagnostics for intestinal parasites, giardia, etc. As a stop gap, maybe the vet can give him something to quiet his intestines and solidify the diahrea until it quiets down. Once they get a bad inflammation, it can just stay inflamed without some help. Maybe he will tell you to switch to hamburger and rice for a while, too. When we need to do that, I boil the hamburger to remove as much fat as possible. Maybe ask him about Pedialyte, too, to make sure he isn't getting dehydrated. Good luck and let us know.

Steve Doyon · Nov 24, 2015

Hey Everyone,

I did go to the vet a couple days ago. He was really shocked with the bloody stool because she eats like a horse and has the energy of two dogs. He ended up giving me something to harden her stool and some meds too deworm her again just in case ( he was talking about lung worm ). She has this really weird gag reflex since we got her. Last night was the first time ever that when she was doing the dry heave/gag reflex that she actually vomited up some clearish mucus.

I switched to too cooked white rice and white chicken. So far i would say the blood in the stool is about the same but last night she had explosive diarrhea so I would say thing's got worse. I'll call the vet again when there open but I just wanted to give you guys an update.

Oh yah I called around to other vet's and was told by several that it might be stress caused by separation anxiety. We don't leave her much alone but maybe 2-3 hours sometimes. My mother in-law comes over and watches her everyday.

Squishy Walnuts · Nov 24, 2015

Poor girl! I hope everything works out OK! Please keep us updated.

Mavis · Nov 24, 2015

Yes, please keep us updated. She is so sweet! I hope she starts to respond.

hotrod351 · Nov 25, 2015

every puppy ive ever gotten had this problem. thats why i always hate getting a new puppy. now my olivia didnt have the problem but i gradually switched her to taste of the wild dog food. id had tried nutro natural and she started with runny stool but taste of the wild caused no problems at all. i also remember a shitzu that had blood in his stool after switching food and my vet said it was because of switching and not to worry. i have used Pedialyte. i know its awful worrying about it. again, taste of the wold for puppies is the first dog, and puppy, food that never caused any problems at all.

Steve Doyon · Nov 29, 2015

Sorry for the late update, we've been moving into our new house

However Meeka since I last posted has greatly improved. She now has harden stool for the past few days and the blood is 95% gone. The vet was almost certain it was stress related but he ended up giving her some deworming medications and something to help firm up the stool. She still has a couple days left on her meds so I will update again once the meds are gone and a couple days have gone by.