Bloody Diarrhea

My dog started having diarrhea yesterday. At first I thought it was normal, it had happened before and it turned out to be nothing. Today it turned bloody and now I'm frightened.

His eating is normal (hasn't lost appetite). He's had plenty of water, so he's not dehydrated (that I know of). He's acting like his normal self, though at times you can see his discomfort. He's almost 3 or 4 yrs old.

Any ideas on what I should do/feed him/give him? I plan on bringing him in to the vet in the morn.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Blood=vet

Vet right away! Blood is never good!

Echo ..............

Emergency Vet dont wait for morning

What does the blood look like? And what does the diahrrea look like? Really soft stool; soupy; watery with chunks?

Occassionally you will find little bits of gel like bright red blood in the stool. It's most commonly stresscolitis, brought on by stress. Has anything big happened or changed recently?

You're best bet is to get her to a vet just to make sure it's not indicative of a larger problem, not every drop of blood is a life or death situation.

Keep us updated!

Everyone - Unfortunately I couldn't take him in today for I have no way of getting to a vet soon. Believe me when I say that, I don't want to get too much into it, but for the most part I have someone that can take me in the morning. (Wed morn)

Zoom - His diarrhea is soft, though today I notice that is it getting more ... "firm". He'll start off that way (no blood) and then he'll move to another spot where it'll look like mush (with blood). I would say the blood is bright red.

As for anything's that's changed, the only thing I can think of is that I started going to school at night and even so, it's only twice a week.

This might be a question for a vet, or anyone with knowledge in the matter, but when I called the vet, he said my dog would have to stay for a couple of nights. While I spoke to another person who's dog had the same symptons, she said she brought in a sample of the stool and the vet just prescribed a medication. The dog didn't have to stay. My sister thinks this is just a way for the vet to make some money since it's $100 a night if the dog has to stay.

Now, no price is too much for my best friend. If I had it. I'm currently unemployed and you could imagine the stress I'm going through. Having never been put in this situation before and then for it to happen while I'm financially unstable ... I just feel like it's a matter I can't control.

Because I have to wait til the morning, is there anything I can do to make him comfortable now? I was told not to feed him but to keep him hydrated and that giving Imodium might do him good. I don't want to try anything first without getting some feedback (on the Imodium).

And I'd want to thank everyone for leaving feedback. It helps me to know that I can find help here. I'll keep you guys updated.

The Immodium won't hurt but it probably won't help either. If he is not having frequent bouts of diarrhea, I would skip it.
I never heard of a dog having to stay over night for something like that. Now, if he was having projectile diarrhea with blood or even just projectile diarrhea, I would say get him to emergency.

Zoom is right. Blood in a dogs stool is more common than you would think.
As long as he is acting normal and eating and drinking, I think you are safe in waiting til tomorrow to take him to the Vet. A stool sample should be suffice to figure out what the problem is. I'd start with that and take it from there.
Keep us posted, please.

Pam

Sometimes dog strain a bit and rupture a blood vessel or two, which is why it comes out at the end. Also, if he's been having diarreha for a couple of days, his intestinal tract could be irritated, which leads to blood. Or he may have worms.

My vet gave Dixie watered down Pepto once, I still have it just in case. It works to harden the stool but not constipate the dog.

Quick update: I gave Bernie Imodium and so far he hasn't had diarrhea since, though he hasn't relieved himself either, so I don't know if he's getting better or if him not doing so after all this time means something positive. He's drinking plenty water and I've been playing around with him all day. He's in good spirits.

I will be checking his progress throughout the night and hope that he would leave a sample. I would like something to bring in with me when I take him to the vet.

Thank you all for your constant feedback. I will update tomorrow after the vet's visit.

Update: Didn't go into the vet today. Bernie didn't leave me a sample to bring in, but I am very happy to say he's looking alot better. What I forgot to say before was that he has the tendancy to bark whenever someone came near our apartment door. For the past few days while he was sick, not a peep came out of him. I never thought I'd be delighted to hear his bark ever, lol.

He's back to his protecting ol' self. He ate today and I'm going to continue monitoring his progress. Thank you all for sticking in there with me. I feel very fortunate for finding this forum (accidentally) the way I did.

Thank you all once again!

Stay with us now !!! Hope all's well and it was just an upset tummy.