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Why is my dog's skin red and itchy, and he has bloody diarrhea?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | 17 years old

My dog has blood in his diarrhoea and his skin is itchy and red

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 26th, 2017

There are probably two separate issues going on with Buster. His skin looks very irritated and infected which usually occurs because of an allergy or fleas. To treat this he will need to be put on a good flea control, antibiotics and something to help the inflammation in the skin. Bloody diarrhea is usually indicative of colitis, gastroenteritis, or pancreatitis. I would be concerned also about intestinal parasites, Buster possibly getting into something he shouldn’t have, or less likely,irritable bowel disease. Because Buster has several issues going on I would recommend taking him to a vet to be fully worked up. Your vet will likely want to run a fecal test, a skin scrapping and cytology (to understand the cause of the skin infection) and possibly blood work and X-rays. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 13th, 2019

    This can be caused by various reasons such as fleas, mites ,fungal infection, bacterial infection and allergies. the first 4 needs to be ruled out before we start treating for allergies. in order to do that first de-flea Bentley with a high quality flea treatment such as advantage spot on, if it doesn't help - take him to the vet in order to check for/treat the other possibilities. If everything is ruled out, then an allergy treatment can be started. Usually an hypoallergenic food is a good way to start together with anti histamines. if it doesn't help - the best solution is a medication called Apoquel which treats allergies with great success and without side effects.

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