How do I treat my dog with small feces with blood and mucous?

Our question this week was:

Hello, I have a small dog (5lbs) named Burton; he is a Chihuahua/Poodle mix, and a little over 1 year old. He is up to date on all of his shots and has had his Parvo series which was completed in June 2008. I've had him since Feb. last year.

Here is the history one the current situation: On Tuesday my boyfriend came home and found that our dogs had gotten into the trash and of that was some wrappers that had raw meat in them. On Wednesday my boyfriend came home and found that only Burton had a lot of terrible diarrhea. I wasn't home to see it but it was very foul smelling and I had to mop twice to remove the smell. That night Burton had more diarrhea, and Thursday. Now on Thursday night and Friday morning there was a lot and I noticed that it was very mucousy and had a small amount of bright red blood in it.So I made an appointment with the vet and took him in on Sat. The vet asked me if he up to date on his Parvo shots and I said yes, he said he asked because it looked like a parvo sample of poo that I brought in. So he gave him medication for an infection (amoxicillin) and another one called Amolin (not too sure on the spelling of the second one). So, I have been giving it to him and last night, the first night he has been on it he had another lot of mucousy diarrhea, today I don't think he has even used the bathroom. We have also had him on a rice and chicken diet.Please let me know if this sounds normal to you, or if you have any suggestions on anything else we should be doing or asking the Vet about. I have an appointment with them again tomorrow morning. I am just worried about Burton, he is my little baby and it would kill me if anything happened to him. I just want him to be healthy again. Thank you for taking the time to read my situation.

Alice Caudill

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote that your dog got in to the trash – had diarrhea and now is having small stools with blood and mucous.

It sounds like your dog has colitis. This is an inflammation of the colon that can cause bloody stool with mucous. Another possibility is a condition called HGE which stands for Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis.

I'd recommend talking to your vet again. Another drug that is very useful in dogs with colitis is called Metronidazole (Flagyl). I generally use it at 25 mg/kg twice a day for 5 days in conjunction with a bland diet like boiled chicken or hamburger with rice.

A couple articles that may be useful are Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis and Colitis in Dogs.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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