Loose stool w/mucus & red

Question
Hi!
I have an 11 months old chihuahua and for the past two days he's had a loose stool.  I have him on a water and rice diet, but since last night, he has not had anything to eat or drink.
He looks fine, but what concerns me is that I saw mucus and red spots in his the last two times that he has gone.
The symptoms made me think of Parvo, but he's had his shot and his booster is due in January of 2009.
Would you please advise me on what to do?

Thanks!

Answer
Well you are on the right track Victor. First of all, add some boiled turkey burger to his rice. That will give him some protein.
The concern with Parvo is valid if he has only had one vaccination especially. But if he has had a few then he most likely has the loose stool from some dietary indiscretion or a bug- like a stomach virus.

You didn't mention vomiting so parvo is the least likely reason here. If you gave him some of your sandwich or a piece of meat that is more likely to cause it then anything else.

Bad commercial dog food also can cause diarrhea. Bad meaning not formulated correctly and changing ingredients from bag to bag.

Most commercial foods are like that now.
I don't know what you are feeding now but he should be on Science Diet Small Bites and maybe even on the Sensitive Stomach formula.
It is a very small amount of food this dog needs to eat so it cost pennies a day to feed it.

The blood is from ruptured vessels in the colon or by the rectum from irritation. It is the dark blood you would see from higher up in the intestines that is a sign of Parvo.

So feed him the rice/turkey for a few days unless he gets really listless then you need to get him into the vets right away. He could then have gastritis or pancreatitis. Either one of those needs to be treated by a vet.

I hope this helps. Please let me know how he is doing in a few days.