1 year old weimaraner with sensitive stomach

Question
For the last 4 months our puppy has been occasionally eating grass and when
she has a bowel movement there is a small amount of fresh blood in it.  The
vet has tested for parasites and it was negative.  After taking her in a few
times for this, he came to conclusion that is was probably a severe sensitive
stomach and maybe a food allergy.  She is now eating the perscriptive diet
"ID". Whenever she eats something that she should not, even the smallest
amount, her stomach will grumble, eat grass and poop a small amount of
blood.  She has not eaten anything differnt (that I know of) in the past week
and she has had an "episode" twice.  Could this be anything else that our vet
is not testing for or telling us?  Please help. Thanks

Answer
Hi Amy,

Blood in the stool is a sign of a problem in the GI tract. It calls for testing to determine the cause. The tests which might be needed include: stool sample, blood work up, ultrasound or x-rays. After these tests are concluded, your vet should be able to determine the cause of the problem, and discuss treatment with you.
If your dog hasn't yet had those kinds of tests, that would be a great start in finding out why your dog bleeds.

Should the tests come back negative, the bleeding can be attributed to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

You can read more about IBS here:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_irritable_bowel_syndrome.html

You puppy might be able to eat different foods (and maybe even grass) after his irritated system has ample time to rest, and heal. Try to keep him on the prescription diet, if that diet seems to be tolerated.

Your vet should also rule out the possibility of Colitis, as a symptom of that can include fresh blood in the stool.

Many dogs that have conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Crohn's, Ulcerative Colitis etc. respond to a low protein diet. Though they might continue to have break through "episodes" when medication would be used on an "as needed basis", on the whole diet can be very effective in controlling symptoms.

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,
Patti