[Tere]

Shadow has always had weird pooping issues. Pooping 8 times a day. He got quite sick almost 2 years ago with diahrea
and vomiting. It took almost 2 months for him to get better. So I am always careful with him, he eats the same food for almost 2 years and nothing else until a month ago. I started to give him 1/4 of a treat, Blue A Apple and Yogurt once a day.

Since the change in diet, his pooping has been reduced to maybe 4X/day. A few days ago, it went down to 2X/day. So yesterday morning, it looked like maybe there could be some blood mixed in his very solid poop. Today, when we walked this morning, it was the same as yesterdays. Then he pooped again, straining and a few more small pieces came out with definite blood.

I called the vet this afternoon, they said to stop the treats and see if the blood clears up over a few days. Maybe bring a sample in to check for parasites sooner. Anyhow, he has not pooped since this morning's poop, eating(no treats) but I am so scared. He is only 5.5yrs. Can anyone talk me down? Any words of wisdom?

 

[Tere]

If the poop was normal in consistency, and the blood was red, it is probably not anything very serious. Bloody diarrhea is cause for an immediate trip to the vet, and black, tarry stools can be a sign of problems up higher in the intestines in both people and dogs. But I would agree with your vet… take a deep breath, stop the treats and give it a day or two.

Thanks, Karen. I do need to take a deep breath. It was definitely not black or even close. He seems a little subdued. I think he can tell that I am nervous and upset over something.
PS If something happens to Shadow, can I have Ducky?

 

[Tere]

He seems like normal, eating, had a nice visit with his best friend this afternoon. We went for walk with his friend who came over because of Shadow's problem. Shadow was as crazy as ever with Bandit.
I notice that he is not following me as much as usual. He has been "scooting" a few times in the last couple weeks and a couple of times, he sat to eat his food. I wonder if it might be a gland problem. I can't feel anything odd though.

 

[Tere]

Little Ducky is going to loose his innocence? It feels like he was born yesterday. Is it going to be soon?

 

[Tere]

Update. This is day 3 of blood in the poop. I stopped the treats now for 2 days. No blood in the poop today(2 poops). I decided to throw the rest of the Blue Health Bars in the trash but keep the empty bag for future reference. So I was reading the ingredients. They have chicken meal in them. Shadow has had issues with chicken in the past and I avoid it like the plague.
I wonder if the treats were the culprit. I am feeling very guilty about this. It is totally my fault.

 

[Tere]

Thank you everyone for your kind words. Today, 2 poops, no blood.
Looking at Amazon's website, I realize how this happened. I was going to get the Banana ones(no chicken in ingredients), and somehow ordered the Apple. It says in big letters "no chicken, no wheat, no soy" on the website. I read all of the Q&A, and everyone said there was no chicken. Well, maybe in some of the flavors but the Apple does. I should check and double check and then read the stupid bag. I really do know better.
I'm going to call it a "senior moment" and try to forget about it.

 

[Tere]

I may have to start marking my own treats. I just want to give him something special once a day when I go out and he goes to his crate. He was a big separation anxiety dog when I got him. He seems to have gone backwards recently so I wanted to show him that it wasn't all bad being left alone. A special treat once a day. He seemed so happy to get something different.

 

[Tere]

No liver or raw but thank you for the ideas.
I was thinking of something like banana, oatmeal and yogurt bars. I'm going to search for a recipe that is easy with very basic ingredients.

 

[Tere]

I don't eat it. The smell makes me ill so liver is a definite no.

 

[Tere]

I don't have one. To be honest, I am not even sure what they do. But I will investigate this when I get over this situation and make sure that Shadow is really 100% better before I start on another disaster.