Bloody diarrhea
 

Hi all!

I haven't posted in quite sometime, as I have been enjoying my little darling Tucker. Tucker arrived here August 8th from a previous owner and he adjusted so well. He is the light of my life and we can't be apart for long. He is always on my lap or by my side somehow, some way.

Anyway, yesterday afternoon, Tucker just seemed really lethargic. He wasn't interested in playing with me. He had a normal poo around 3 and no urination until middle of the night. During the night he started with diarrhea and now its turning bloody. He finally peed this morning. He also vomitted once during the night, but not since, but he hasn't eaten since yesterday morning.

I have taken him to the vet first thing. They did blood tests and his liver and kidney functions are fine. We are waiting on fecal tests to come back. He has no appetite. He has received medication for the diarrhea and some pain medication for the blood test and they think his belly is tender, but he will allow me to pick him up with out a cry.

Anybody have an experience like this or may know what this could be? I would greatly appreciate any input.

Mary
Mom to Tucker a tiny 5 pound 1 1/2 old Yorkie.

I'm so sorry that Tucker is sick. What kind of food is he on? I just finished reading the thread on Nutro so I hope it's not that. Prayers for your little furbaby.

Tucker and Jazz (our other muttley) is on Iams Mini Chunks. Both dogs have been on Iams forever. Tucker was fed this with his other family and since Jazz is on it too, we decided not to change.

Jazz is healthy!!!

The only time mine have had both vomiting and bloody diarrhea were after they ate something they shouldn't have:( My Kalani had eaten part of a plastic mat and my Pi'i had eaten some duck poop.

This happened once with Gus, and it turned out to be a GI infection. The worst is that these little babies can get dehydrated so quickly; Gus spent the night at an animal hospital on IV fluids. Keep trying to get your baby to drink. If it is something like this, it will come out in the fecal tests.

Update
 

Well, the Vet called back this morning, his fecal test was negative for parasites.

Tuker is doing well this morning. No more vomitting. He has eaten and I have given him water through a syringe to keep him hydrated. He was playful this morning, like his normal self. He pottied, both pees and poos. His poo is still soft, but not diarrhea. I checked to make sure no blood and there wasn't. I checked his bottom and it was clean. I was getting his breakfast together and he was sitting at my feet on the kitchen rug, then he squatted as if he had to potty. I went to grab him and he had left spots of blood on the rug. He ran to another rug and then scooted acrossed it.

Could this be an anal gland problem? I had him groomed and expressed last Friday. If this was a blockage, he would throw up what he has eaten and wouldn't have made any fecal matter.

Any other guesses?

Thanks,
Mary & Tucker

:( coccidia and pancreatitis come to mind but if he had a fecal then that rules out coccidia -

have they talked to you about pancreatitis ?? Did the vet run a blood test ??

Has he had any vaccines? Chip had a very similar reaction (3 times) to vaccines.

Yes. They did blood tests for liver and kidney function, they came back normal.

No vaccines. He had all of his boosters and the like back in May.

Mary & Tucker

Maybe it's just a severe upset tummy. Did you change his food suddenly or too much at once?

No change in diet. I have kept him on the same food as his previous owners as I know how upsetting it can be to any dogs system. That and he had quite a bit left over. I was wanting to change him. He's on Iams Minichunk and would like to switch to Royal Canine, but wanted him settled in with us first, before making any other changes.

He is quite a theif though. He will steal any food that is remotely left alone. He's taken food right out of my three year olds hand that wasn't offered, just low enough he could steal it. However, I didn't notice him getting anything on Wednesday before this all happened.

Mary & Tucker

I would probably ask my vet to do xrays as well. Hopefully he didn't swallow anything that he shouldn't have. When we were trying to figure out why Chip was getting sick so often, the vet did xrays to make sure nothing was stuck in his intestines or stomach.

But wouldn't he still be throwing up and not make any fecal matter if there was a blockage? He's eating his rice and cottage cheese mixture. I know its easily digestable, but I would still think in order for him to have pooped this morning after not going for over 24 hours that something had to have gotten through.

I have a feeling that x-rays will be the vets next step. I am waiting hear back after reporting to them this morning.

Mary & Tucker

I know that Chip was pooping bloody stools when we took him that one time. He was also throwing up white foam.

A few years ago Cinnamon had hemorrhagic gastroenteritis with the same symptoms. It started with a lot of tummy grumbling and diarrhea on a Friday, then a lot of poops during Friday night and Saturday. She usually poops twice a day, but this was a lot. Then, she started having blood in her poop, where it looked like raspberry preserves, and she was throwing up white foam. Once I saw the blood, I immediately called the emergency vet (Sunday morning). All tests were fine except for her red blood cell count was off (I think high?). They asked if she got into any bad food, trash, etc. I thought back to the night she started having these symptoms, and it was when she ate her kibble I keep in an airtight container for when we visit people. When I got home, I checked the container, and found that some of the kibble was softer than normal, so water must've dripped into it a time before and bacteria grew. With the symptoms she was having (belly tender as well because of gas) along with the red blood cell count being high, they concluded hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. They kept her through the day and overnight on an IV of fluids and kept checking her red blood cell count. I picked her up on Monday, and all was fine!

The vet says that small dogs can go downhill quick with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. It sounds like if all other tests were fine, no recent shots, etc, it could be the same thing. Were his red blood cell counts high in the blood tests?