blood in poop

Question
Hi,

My name is Jennifer.  My dog, Buffy, just turned 2yrs old. She is a terrier/chiahaha mix.  I found what looked like blood in her poop.  It was a little gooey.  What does it mean?  Should I go to the vet? Should I keep an eye on it?  

Please let me know,
Thank you,
Jennifer

Answer

Rev Susan R Griffin Blood in the stool can mean a couple things. 1) she ate something that didn't agree with her %26 2) she may have hook or whip worms. These worms are not visible to the eye, but will cause a softening of the stool which eventually will turn into a very mushy stool with signs of blood and a very foul, metallic odor. There are several over the counter worming meds and also several homeopathic and herbal remedies that you could use should you want to treat her 'just in case', or you could drop a stool sample off at your vet to have it checked.  They don't actually have to see her if you have a vet that will let you do that.  Unfortunately most of them want to get the office visit bucks as well. Keep in mind that hooks and whips will only show up in a stool sample when they are in the egg laying phase of their life cycle, so even if you spring for a trip to the vet, they may not show up even if they are there.

Personally, if you have her on a high quality natural diet, especially a raw food diet, aI would just keep an eye on things for a couple of days and perhaps track down a natural worming remedy to give to her. Also, a little of a high quality colloidal silver in her water for about 10 days could also take care of a plethora of possible causes. We have one at Naturals for Animals that is 500 parts per million that is totally awesome for any number of things for you and Buffy.