Why would bright red blood come from my dog’s rectum?

Our question this week was:

My one year old pit bull dog was having a bowel movement and I noticed 3 drops of bright red blood coming out of her rectum right before she was finished. What can this possibly be and what causes this?

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Monica Brown

Answer

Hi – thanks for your email. You wrote that your 1-year-old dog had some bright red blood come from his rectum at the end of his bowel movement. This is not normal and can be caused by a variety of problems.

For example, parasites, inflammatory diseases (such as one called hemorrhagic gastroenteritis), bleeding disorders, food changes, problems secondary to bone ingestion, and more.

Read the links above. A general article that talks about blood coming from the rectum that may be beneficial to read is hematochezia in dogs.

Best of luck!

Dr. Debra

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