Why does my dog get recurring diarrhea with mucus, blood, no appetite?

Question

about once a month for a couple days up to a week my dog gets diarrhea. It starts with his poops going from dry consistency to kind of mushy incased in mucus, sometimes bloody. And then he just stops eating. The vet has him on a special prescription diet to help with it because it was a constant thing but now only happens once a month. I have tried natural food that treat it, but all they do is make it worse. Any idea what actually causes this? (Vet has ruled out all parasites and infections). Pet's info: Dog | Plott | Male | neutered | 3 years and 6 months old | 52 lbs

Ana M, DVM · Accepted Answer

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Harrison. Your veterinarian ruling out parasites and instituting a diet change were great first steps. This will give an answer or resolve the diarrhea in 75% of cases. Unfortunately, it seems that Harrison is still suffering from intermittent diarrhea. I would recommend bloodwork next. Low cholesterol and/or low albumin levels can indicate serious GI disease. In this case, I typically perform an abdominal ultrasound (by a board certified radiologist) and run blood to check pancreatic function as well as cobalamin and folate levels (vitamins used in digestion). This will guide my treatment protocol as far as diet (I may consider a hydrolyzed diet which can have anti-inflammatory properties), medications (chronic antibiotics, steroids or other immunosuppressive drugs) and supplements (probiotics, vitamin B12, etc). There are lots of options to resolve his diarrhea, but will take a further work up since he has not fully responded to the common causes and treatment. I hope this information helps and I am available for a consultation if you want to discuss Harrison further. Good luck!

Why does my dog get recurring diarrhea with mucus, blood, no appetite?

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