# Dog with internal bleeding



## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

Our 13 year old Italian Greyhound boy has been experiencing diarrhea the past couple of days, so I've been feeding him a bland rice and chicken diet with a little yoghurt. This morning there was bright red blood in his stool after I gave him his morning dose of medication.

The boy is on benadryl for a mast cell tumor per our vet. Benadryl has a tendency to cause drowsiness, and the boy has been a bit sleepy for awhile now, something we attributed to the drug. 

My concern is that he might have an internal mast cell tumor. We had a dog many years ago that suffered from this problem, and the vet had told us although Josh's tumors were under the skin, he could develop them in any internal organ.

I'm hoping that whatever is causing the internal bleeding will correct itself, which may just be wishful thinking. He seems very comfortable and readily ate the bit of bread I had tucked his pill into, along with a few bits of chicken and broth I gave him. If he stays comfortable, I will call the vet tomorrow. If things get worse, I'll take him to the emergency vet but if that happens I know most likely he won't be coming home :Bawling:

Any thing else I can do?


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

If he's been having diarrhea, that is the most likely cause of bright red blood on the stool. Bright red blood comes from the end of the digestive tract. If there is bleeding further up the digestive tract the blood will be darker and digested. I don't get worked up about a little bit of blood when there is diarrhea. Of course you need to get the diarrhea taken care of, but a small amount of blood is simply due to the irritation. I'd call your vet tomorrow if the diarrhea hasn't subsided.


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

Sarah, thank you for the calming words. In the back of my mind was something about bright red blood not being as big a cause for alarm as dark, tarry stools but I wasn't sure if it was just another case of "wishful thinking". It was more than a little bit of blood (or it sure seemed like it!) but he's resting comfortably and wants his afternoon snack. Right now I'm only giving him bits of boiled chicken and have pulled him off everything else. Might not be balanced, but I figure for a few days it won't hurt. I hesitate keeping him off all food, as he tends to be a light eater and difficult to keep weight on.

I'll look online and see if there's anything I can give him OTC for the diarrhea.

Thanks again, I'm feeling a lot less panicky


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

A couple of days of unbalanced food is not a problem at all. Keep him comfortable and well-hydrated and call your vet tomorrow.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

We just went through this with one of our puppies. Antibiotics finally cleared it up. Good luck!


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

I freaked out when my dog had diareeah and there was blood...lots. Looked like a small handful of cherry jelly. I rushed him to emergency vet (sunday of course) and they were like oh no problem....happens all the time with upset stomachs. They had me give him pepcid ac before bed. He had been having problems for a while with gurgly stomach and discomfort. I guess my point is that according to the vet...bloody diareeah is not uncommon..no matter how horrible it looks. I thought his insides were coming out!!!!


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## troy n sarah tx (Dec 31, 2005)

My dogs always get rice and eggs anytime they have a bad stomach. It was recommended by the vet. I agree with golden mom that it is probally due to the diarrhea that he has the blood in his stool. Several bacteria like salmonella, giardia lambia and others can all cause bleeding. Hope he gets feeling better. 

Sarah


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

I checked a few online websites and bought some Imodium for the old boy. I also gave him a few drops of Oregon Grape tincture this morning when I first discovered the problem (DH uses Oregon Grape for his sinus infections, so we have quite a few bottles on hand.) He hasn't had a bowel movement since this morning, which I am thinking is a good thing, and by this afternoon was a lot more active, acting more like his ol' goofy self. I gave him a small bit of the Imodium tablet with a few more drops of the tincture along with a bit of chicken and broth. We bypassed the benadryl just for tonight because I didn't want to dose him with a whole lot of stuff. He's sleeping soundly now, hopefully in the morning all will be well.

Thanks for all the great advice! I really feel a lot better, knowing that this is not an uncommon occurrance.


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## Keri (May 8, 2003)

I was always told grapes were toxic to dogs. I'm not sure of how many it would take to make a dog ill but a grape tincture may be a bit more concentrated. I would be careful giving that to your dog unless you knew for sure it couldn't make things worse. Hope your dog feels better soon, we've gone down that road with very old dogs & cats with the tumors and the cancers. No fun. :Bawling:


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

The old boy is feeling much better this morning, his stool is firm and it looks like there is no blood.

Keri, that is a very good point about grapes. Oregon grape isn't actually a grape, it's a mahonia which is related to another medicinal herb that is more popular called barberry.

We used to give our dogs bits of cinnamon raisin bread or oatmeal raisin cookie until I heard about grape poisoning. I'm happy our ignorance of this didn't harm any of our pets!


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## Labrat407 (Aug 24, 2007)

Our Chihuahua had similar symptoms, turned out she had eaten a part of a corn cob, and it blocked her intestine and caused a prolapse. Quick surgery and she is doing great.
Keep an eye out if it continues.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I think it takes a lot of grapes to make a dog sick. Of course, that would also depend on the dog! When I was a kid we had a dog that would eat grapes off the vine! He never got sick.

Glad to hear your doggie is doing better today!


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## Keri (May 8, 2003)

MariaAZ, I didn't know that! I zeroed in on the 'grapes' part and was worried. 

Ravenlost, we had a dog that used to eat them too. I never knew they were bad either. I looked last night and found this page. 

http://www.lacetoleather.com/fataltodogs.html 

It worried me too because there are things on that list that my dogs have eaten, like garlic, onions, tomatoes. Now I'm wondering if some of the times my dogs have had stomach problems/allergy symptoms was more due to the foods I gave them of ours and not the foods I bought pre packaged from the store?? 


MariaAz- glad your dogs feeling better today. Hopefully he's over that rough patch!


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