Bloody diarrhea caused from food intolerance?

  Poor Charlie; I would follow the vets' advice unless you're certain your dogs' allergic to grains. Food allergies are much more likely to cause itching and ear infections than diarrhea; Jessie is allergic to chicken and licks her paws bloody if she gets some.  Food intollerance, in this case to the lamb, can cause diarrhea. Did the vet find enough Salmonella or E-coli in your dog's stool to be causing this? There is enough Salmonella in dog feces to be considered a health hazard if not cleaned up but perhaps he thought it was the cause of your dogs' diarrhea because of the amount present in the stool. Could your dog have gotten into something you're not aware of?  Has he been tested for Coccidia and Giardia? Keep us posted about his progress; I hope he gets better quickly.

There was no Salmonella or E-Coli found in his stool.  The vet said he had a lot of bacteria. Since I posted this, I spoke with the Vet on the phone and explained my lamb intolerance theory and much to my surprise she didn't disagree with me.  She said she thought it may very well be either an intolerance to the lamb or possibly inflamatory bowel desease (which may explain the extreme amount of bacteria in his stool.)  She said both could cause bloody diarrhea.  She told me I could give him cottage cheese and potato if I didn't want to give him rice. 
 

The title of your thread says bloody diarrhea, so I'll assume you mean a watery, bloody diarrhea, like that of enteritis. If I remember correctly, Charlie was diagnosed with a C. perfringins overgrowth and this can cause a bloody diarrhea. Since stress can cause C. perfringins to sporulate and it wasn't completely controlled the last time, OR is under some type of di-stress, OR something in the diet or environment is re-infecting him. It's very easy for old feces (or residue) to re-infect, so if you didn't clean it up well, the bacteria can re-infest the GIT.
 
I highly doubt that bloody diarrhea is coming from the food. I do however think it could be bacteria, parasitic, or protozoan. Hopefully, the vet has check for the obvious Giardia and Coccidia as Janice said, but some vets don't unless you ask. Also, you might want to ask about whipworms or colitis. Hopefully you can get this thing figured out, but I would do as the vet says with feeding, except I would probably fast him for a day (only offering water) first.

The diarrhea isn't like water, it's very soft and mucasy.  They didn't find the C. Perfringins bacteria like last time.  My Vet did say that dogs can absolutely get bloody diarrhea from an intolerance to a certain food if they have a sensitive system or if they have Inflamatory Bowel desease.  As far as him being contaminated from the poop with the C. Perfringins, I pick up the poop in the back yard immediately after they go.  I've also never seen Charlie with his face in the grass in the area where he poops.  It seems strange that he had bloody diarrhea another time right after he was fed cooked lamb.  I'll call back and ask about the other things you mentioned. 

Mucous with blood can suggest IBD or Colitis which could be triggered by a food intolerance.
 
The contamination I refered to can come from residue that is left on the ground or surface after the stool has been picked up and it can be transfered when walked upon and then licked off the bottom of the feet. I did not mean to imply that you didn't clean up after your boy.
 
 
 

On the dog food review site that Elizabeth posted a user commented that their dogs get bloody diarrhea from Timberwolf.

Whether it is bacterial overgrowth/ imbalance/even an allergy to bacteria ( which can occur) or a food intolerance or allergic reaction. Task one is to get  his GI tract healthy again so that it will be less reactive. The GI tract is the largest immune organ and the lining is brimming with immune cells.  IgA is an antibody that protects that lining from foreign proteins, bacteria, parasites, all of the things that are perceived to be a threat. When an immune response occurs there is often inflammation. That inflammation will create damage in the lining as cells die off and leave ulcerated patches (that bleed). So you can have bloody diarreah from various reactions that take place in the GI tract because many of them result in inflammation and therefore damage to the lining.

To make matters worse when the diarreah starts then the motilty (motion) of the GI tract is often increased and it moves very fast and water is not removed in the colon to form a stool. I think that this may be nature's way of washing out the bacteria, virus, etc but it can cause dehydration as well as lose of beneficial bacteria. So it's a double edged sword I suppose.

With my own dog, I find that a fast (allowed water only) for twelve hours if possible helps immensely.
It gives the GI tract a time to relax and heal without the burden of digestion. I then feed a non-reactive food (for my dog it could be lean pork and sweet potato) and I will feed a high quality probiotic and perhaps a live culture yogurt. I will give a couple doses of probiotics daily for the first two or three days and by then we are usually back on tract with nice firm blood free stool.

I do think though it can be a combination of things that are often immune mediated that cause these issues.
When one is sparked it can leave the door open for another unfortunately. If they are back to back it is longer and harder for the GI tract to recover versus a reaction that occurs six months later when the GI tract has healed already prior to it. Some people speak highly of slippery elm and L-glutamine to heal the tract but for my dog a fast, then a non-reactive food (something she's had already on her elimination diet) and probiotics helps very much. It all depends upon what works for your dog though.

The probiotics are quite helpful. There is a new product called FortiFlora for diarreah, enteritis and improving the immune system available from vets and it's just one form of probiotic but one that is commonly used for pets and livestock. I have never used it but I do use various human ones with several strains of probiotics, I get good results from a few types as well as live culture yogurt.

I did not mean to imply that you didn't clean up after your boy.

 
I didn't think you were saying that...[]  I just wanted to explain that I keep my yard pretty clean.  I really think there's something going on with his digestive system.  I think the lamb might be too fatty and rich for him.  I appreciate the feedback. 
 
Thanks M.W., what you said makes sense.  Unfortunately, I already started him on the meds the Vet rescribed and gave him some potato and cottage cheese.  If it happens again, I'll definately fast him for a day.

Hi Kelly---
I'm new to this forum, though I have been a long time lurker.  I came upon this site while researching my Shih Tzu's digestive problems 2 years ago.  Your Charlie's symptoms sound a lot like my guy's.  Loose, mucousy stools-occasionally with blood. Through a lot of trial and error, and along with an elimination diet, we have found that he cannot tolerate ANY grains-especially rice. (Strangely enough, when we went to my first vet with Oscar's symptoms, he prescribed cooked rice----let me tell you, it's not pretty when your dog eliminates rice encased in mucous)  We have since found a new vet, and in addition to grain intolerance, he also cannot tolerate ANY kibble or hard biscuits--they remain in the colon too long and create irritation. 
 
Anyway, to make a long story short, we started him on Nature's Variety (Prairie) freeze dried raw and canned, along with a digestive enzyme--I like Berte's Digestion Blend from B-naturals.  Within a week, his stools hardened up and we have not had a bout with mucous since.  It's been 2+ years with normal stools and a healthy, vital dog.  I should also mention that I now only add the enzyme once, maybe twice a week.
 
Here is a great website to check out with information on IBD/IBS and colitis
 [linkhttp://www.dogaware.com/]http://www.dogaware.com/[/link]
 
Good luck getting to the bottom of this.
 

Good luck Kelly, just do whatever it takes to get his GI tract healthy again. It is like an open window to the outside world (sounds silly but it's true) . That GI Tract lining is so important to good health. It's is supposed to allow small nutrient particles to get through to the bloodstream but when it gets damaged,that lining thins out, gets porous and permeable. That's when bacteria, undigested food particles, pathogens and all kinds of harmful things end up entering the bloodstream when they should not. It's also when you may find new food allergies turning up, as those intact foods particles pass though the mucous lining.

ORIGINAL: tzu_mom

Hi Kelly---
I'm new to this forum, though I have been a long time lurker.  I came upon this site while researching my Shih Tzu's digestive problems 2 years ago.  Your Charlie's symptoms sound a lot like my guy's.  Loose, mucousy stools-occasionally with blood. Through a lot of trial and error, and along with an elimination diet, we have found that he cannot tolerate ANY grains-especially rice. (Strangely enough, when we went to my first vet with Oscar's symptoms, he prescribed cooked rice----let me tell you, it's not pretty when your dog eliminates rice encased in mucous)  We have since found a new vet, and in addition to grain intolerance, he also cannot tolerate ANY kibble or hard biscuits--they remain in the colon too long and create irritation. 

 
Hi tzu_mom, great to see another Tzu owner on here. I have 2 of them so I'm especially interested in other owners' experiences with them!
 
When I first got Cinnabun about a month ago he had bloody, mucousy diarrhea for about 10 days straight and then sporadically for about a week after that. [] The vet thought it was caused either by the stress of going to a new home or Coccidia. So he was on Albon for 9 days... that didn't seem to help much, if at all.
 
The vet prescribed canned Purina EN, which is beef and rice. I also gave canned pumpkin and plain yogurt. My 1 year old Shih Tzu was having a little bit of soft stool, so the vet recommended he also eat EN... well in that time I discovered that he doesn't seem to be able to digest rice at all. I would find whole, undigested pieces of rice in his stool when I was cleaning up after him. [:'(]
 
They're now both doing great eating Timberwolf Orgnics Elk, which has no rice. The only grains are millet and oats and it also has sweet potatoes in the top few ingredients. I also mix lamb babyfood, yucca, and rozyme in their food and occasionally Grizzly salmon oil. Anyway! Just wanted to support the idea that it really does seem like Shih Tzus don't do well with grains. Mine seem to be very allergic to wheat, not able to digest rice very well, etc. With them I think the few grains in their diet, the better.

Hi tzu-mom! 
I use a product from Berte's Naturals too, it's called Zyme which has natural enzymes for digestion, they're great.  I don't feed my guys grain either because they have so many skin and eye issues.  Cooked rice goes right through Charlie undigested, and no, it's not pretty!  I fed raw for about a year with no problems at all, I tried the Nature's Variety and it made both dogs poop too frequently.  It seemed like other problems started happening after I started on the NV like fleas, but I can't be possitive.  Anyway, after reading scary articles on feeding raw, I decided not to take any chances and I'm now joining the "What kibble should I feed my dog" group.  I will probably go to mostly cooked as soon as I can find a good formula to make sure they get a balanced diet.  For now, I'm giving the younger one TO Wild & Natural because he seems to be doing great on it and he loves it.  I'm thinking about trying the Natural Balance Duck and Potato for Charlie.

Thanks for the welcome.
Kely, isn't it funny how each dog can have such specific needs?  Oscar only poops once a day on NV!   I hope you find a good kibble for Charlie.  I know people who have had good luck with the NB Duck and Potato.  Oddly enough, Oscar does not tolerate potato either.  He does fine with sweet potato, though.
Luvntzus, I have a friend whose shih tzu is doing great on both the TO bison and elk formulas--so nice that TO is working out for you as well.
 
 
 

It could be the lamb.
 
My boy has beef intolerence. It took us alot to find out the problem when he was a pup, with lots of vet visits and trying different foods, and it came down to beef. As soon as we stopped feeding it to him he was fine.
 
I know how frustrating it can be, you just want to find out how you can make your baby better and stop the problem.