What is Pooping Blood?
Should your dog be pooping blood (also known as hematochezia or having blood in his stool), it is likely that you will notice when you are scooping up his poop. There are various reasons as to why your dog would be pooping blood to include:
- Infectious agents
- Dietary intolerance or allergy
- Tumors
- Colitis
- Proctitis
- Trauma
- Bleeding disorder
- Narrowing of anus or colon
- Anal sacculitis
- Perianal fistulae
How serious it is that your dog is pooping blood will depend upon its cause. Blood in your dog’s stool will frequently point to an underlying condition that needs to be identified and addressed.
Why Pooping Blood Occurs in Dogs
The reason for your dog pooping blood will depend upon its cause. For example:
Infectious Agents
Parvovirus, corona virus, bacterial infections (Clostridium and Salmonella), protozoal agents like coccidiosis and intestinal parasites like hookworms and whipworms are all infectious agents that can lead to blood in your dog’s stool.
Dietary Intolerance and Allergy
This can occur as the result of eating food that is no longer good, overeating, consuming a material that is not edible, a sudden change in diet or eating their human’s food can cause inflammation in your dog’s lower bowel and blood in their stool. An allergy can occur to a protein in a particular food causing colitis and blood in your dog’s stool.
Masses
These can be present in the colon, rectum or anus and include benign and malignant tumors.
Colitis
When blood in your dog’s stool is ongoing, it can point to his colon being inflamed, which is also called colitis. Colitis can be caused by a mass, infectious agent, food intolerance or allergy, as well as due to an immune-related or unknown cause.
Proctitis
This is when the rectum of your dog is inflamed. In many cases this is linked to colitis.
Trauma
Trauma from a bite wound to your dog’s anal area, a pelvic fracture that interrupts the colon or rectum, a sharp item ingested and passed or an instrument or material being placed in your dog’s rectum can lead to blood in his stool.
Bleeding Disorders
Should your dog have a bleeding disorder, he may bleed from the lining of his lower bowel. Types of bleeding disorders include thrombocytopenia, which is when there is a decrease in the number of your dog’s platelets, inherited clotting disorders like hemophilia and abnormal platelet function problems, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (the result of a severe infection, organ failure or a major liver disorder).
Narrowing of Anus or Colon
This is secondary to other trauma, inflammation, cancer or foreign body. When stools are passed when the anus or colon are narrowed, bleeding can occur.
Anal Sacculitis
An inflammation or an abscess of the anal sacs can lead to the consistency of the fluid in the anal sacs to change into a bloody liquid. This liquid can provide a coating to the stools as your dog defecates.
Perianal Fistulae
Ulcerations that can be seen in the skin around your dog’s anus. If the ulcerations connect to the anus, blood can be present in the stool.
What to do if your Dog is Pooping Blood
If your dog is pooping blood, you will want to make an appointment for him to be examined by your veterinarian to determine what is causing this to occur. Upon examining your dog, your veterinarian will likely ask you for information regarding any other symptoms you have observed in your dog. Symptoms that may be connected to your dog pooping blood include:
- His having to strain during a bowel movement
- More bowel movements than usual
- Excessive drinking and urinating
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Lack of appetite
- Weight loss
After discussing any symptoms that you have noticed in your dog and depending upon what is seen during the examination, your veterinarian may conduct a rectal examination, a complete blood count and biochemistry profile, urinalysis, fecal examination, coagulation profile, abdominal x-rays and ultrasound and/or a colonoscopy. Through the examination, an understanding of the symptoms your dog is experiencing and the test results, your veterinarian will determine why your dog has blood in his stool.
Prevention of Pooping Blood
To prevent an infection by infectious agents, you will want to keep a close eye on your dog and keep him on his leash so as to ensure that he does not eat feces of an unknown animal. It is also important to keep your dog from eating food that has spoiled and minimize the human food that he eats. A veterinarian or technician can perform anal gland expression on a monthly basis which will help your dog avoid developing anal sacculitis.
Providing your dog a well-rounded, nutritious diet and ensuring he gets plenty of exercise will help his overall health. It is a good idea to take your dog for annual examinations so that your veterinarian can catch any issues before they become a serious health concern.
Cost of Pooping Blood
The cost of treatment for your dog having blood in his stool will depend on why it is occurring. For example, should your dog need his anal glands removed, the cost can be between $750 and $2,000, depending on the cost of living where you reside. If your dog is experiencing colitis, the average cost is $800.00. Treatment for a bacterial infection in your dog can average around $1500, depending upon your location.
Pooping Blood Questions and Advice from Veterinary Professionals
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My 8 Lb yorkie had a tad bit of blood in her stool. The stool was well formed with slight orange color to it. She's eating perfectly fine, and her energy levels are normal as well. She is on bed rest though since she got spayed about a week ago. Should I be concerned ?
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Bella has been pooping small bits of blood and has been vomiting
a few times and can not help it she is tired and does not want to much she only wants to drink water
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My dog has had normal stools however it has been accompanied with blood. The blood seems to drip out at the end and is quite bright but watered down. He is not in any distress and is still crazy about eating and nothing seems off about his personality. I have also caught him chewing on sticks in the yard so I am thinking it could be something that scratched him internally... not sure if he needs vet attention or not?
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My dog is in fairly good health, she eats normally and likes to stay active and play! Today I noticed she pooped normally but afterwards she pooped a very soft stool accompanied by few bright red blood and I don't know what could be the cause :(
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My dog came on heat and has just finished crossing, she had a slight change in meal i was told, got home today and I discovered she tried to poo but pooed blood.. Am worried cause she seem gentle and not playful as usual
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We took our little chihuahua on vacation with us and yesterday we fed her the normal breakfast around 730 am. Then met some friends for brunch around 1030am at a dog friendly restaurant. Our friends ordered her a dog plate of chicken, rice, peas, and carrots. I left to go to the restroom and came back to notice that she was given an extremely large portion of it, one suitable for a German Shepherd and that she had eaten it entirely. Well she never pooped yesterday and today we’ve noticed a slight amount of blood in her stool. She still ate breakfast as normal this morning and seems to be fine but I’m wondering I’d her overeating can cause blood in her stool?
Luna’s dad
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My trixie just this morning maybe 3:30am woke me like she had to outside so i let her out and thought ot was diahera. Thrn like 10-15 mons later she was crying to out again so i let her. Then same thing again 10 mins after that she had to go but went on floor a little bit and it was little drips of blood now im worried but this had never happened before today first time ever
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My dog was at vet a week ago he had vomiting and tar like diarrhea. They did blood work and cpl idexx, giardia snap. Gave him fluids ,antibiotics, and vitamin b shot. This cost $700. They don't know what's wrong but wanted to do 2 X-rays and charge another$700. I couldn't afford the x-rays. It's been a week and he still has black poop. He is sleeping alot . Not eating as much and drinking alot. He is a 1 year old pomsky. Any ideas? Thank you
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My pup just had this weakness yesterday, we tried to deworm him today since yesterday his poop have worms on it, today he poop but it's a diarrhea, blood only. im really in stress on what to do. is it a normal thing after being dewormed or should i worry further?
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is it possible there are more parasites in his tummy?
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We have recently rescued a stray. We are unsure as to why there is blood in her stool. We have only had her for 2 days. The first day her poops seemed mostly fine. No worms in the stool but they were very moist. Earlier today she pooped and it was diarrhea with blood. Just now she attempted to poop but only blood came out. She is in heat (never owned a female dog who had not been spayed) and I’m not sure if she’s been urinating immediately after pooping. I’m just overall confused. She is scheduled to see a vet within the next week but what should I do in the meantime?
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JAY my Maltese is still normal he is running up and down and still playing with my Yorkie but when he Poops he cries and it has blood. he is eating and drinking water but idk what do do should next? His poop is liquid to solid i dont see any worms or any parasites. I guess i am just scraching my head now
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We’re on vacation and our little chihuahua ate breakfast yesterday than shortly after was given a large bowl of chicken and rice, much larger than she should have been given at a dog restaurant around 11amand never pooped yesterday. Then today we have noticed some blood in her stools and I’m wondering if it’s because of the extremely large amount of food she was given yesterday.
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Noticed blood in puppies stool 8 days ago. Took her to the vet and was advised to start a probiotic. It happened for a few more days then stopped. Now, has started again. Any suggestions why this is happening?
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Whitley has been in and out of the vet for the last week with gastroenteritis.
She lost 7 pounds while we were on vacation for a week and got into some chicken bones as well while we were gone.
When we got back she spent 4 days with the vet getting fluids and antibiotics after a bout of bloody diarrhea and passed the bones. Her stool returned to normal and we brought her home.
Since returning home she has been eating chicken and rice. She has now been home for 3 days and is pooping blood again.
She is going back to the vet today I just wanted to know what are other possible causes besides the gastroenteritis as treatment for that seems to have stopped working? Her vet says this is not normal.
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My dog started pooping blood today in the afternoon when I arrived home... this is the first time he’s ever done this and I’ve been giving him water and he’s been eating so I’m not sure if he just ate something bad and it’s making his stomach upset or what could be causing this to happen to him..
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Feya is usually active she is not eating drinking she is loosing weight pooping blood and she has thrown up a orange colored suptannce as well
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If Feya is defecating blood, you should visit your Veterinarian immediately as there are many different causes which may be due to infection, poisoning, foreign bodies, tumours etc… Until the underlying cause is determined I cannot advise you further. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
What good probiotic to give to my dog and where can I purchase it
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