Accepted Answer

Thanks for the question XXXXXXXXX.

Provided your JRT is otherwise bright and alert, happy and eating you have little to worry about when there is a small amount of bright red blood in the faeces, particularly when you have just seen it on a small number of occasions.

Small bleeds like that are usually the result of your dog straining and that might happen if your dog has diarrhoea or constipation, or it may be caused by something your dog ate such as the cooked bone.

I always say to clients that if you blow your nose often enough you will get a nose bleed and this situation is much the same, it is just a rupture of a small blood vessel close to the anus which will resolve without treatment. You have much more to worry about if you see dark blood in your dog's faeces which can represent a bleed from further up the intestinal tract.

The key to sorting this out would be to resolve the diarrhoea so assuming your dog is otherwise bright and happy you might want to try and control the situation with diet alone before you try anything else. This is logical and often works, I have often advised my clients at my clinic to do the following :

A. Starve her today but make sure she has access to water.

B. Tomorrow feed her four or five small light meals in the day. These meals should be the likes of chicken, fish, scrambled egg etc. with a little rice.

C. If she pick up on this diet gradually reintroduce her normal diet over the next few days.

Live yogurt added to the food can often help. Some gastro-enteritis situations are caused by an imbalance in the bacteria in your dog's gut. Live yogurt is full of " good " bacteria and will seed them into your dog's intestinal tract and restore the balance.

Of course if this does not clear up the diarrhoea or if your dog deteriorates and you see more blood from the rectum you should consult your vet without delay.

If I have not covered your question fully enough or you would like to ask more I will be online for the next hour or so and I will be at your disposal.

Scott Nimmo BVMS

Expert:	Scott Nimmo BVMS, MRCVS.
Pos. Feedback:	99.9 %
Accepts:
Answered:	1/23/2009

Dog Veterinarian

I have 28 years experience in all aspects of canine medicine and surgery.