Watery Diarrhea w/blood and Pink vomit

Hi again! My poor girl can’t catch a break 😞 I have a 10 y/o dachshund/ bichon frise  mix.  Long story short, she was taken to the animal hospital on Thursday (11/25) for back pain and again on Friday(11/25 ) for back pain and because she hadn’t eaten or drank water in 24 hours. 2nd Animal hospital prescribed Gabapentin and injected her with buprenorphine. She finally ate that night (chicken + chicken stock). The next day (Saturday 11/27), I took her to her vet and she was prescribed Metacam. She got X-rays and labs done. Everything was fine. I fed her chicken in it’s chicken stock 2 hours before giving her metacam. My dog is 17 lbs and I was told to give her a dose for 35 lbs for the first day and a dose for 17 lbs for the remaining days. I gave her metacam around 3:30 pm and 3-4 hours later she presented with watery diarrhea. 12 hours later, she had watery diarrhea again. Around 2:00 pm; she had watery diarrhea with what looked like blood. I called the animal hospital and consulted with them. They weren’t concerned at that time due to the metacam she was taking and the fact that she was under a lot of stress. I continued to monitor and she continues to have watery diarrhea with pinkish blood. Last night at 10 pm she vomited the last meal she ate (steamed rice + chicken). Vomit looked normal. Today at 6:00 am and again at 7:25 am she has vomited pink liquid. She seems to be alert and is wagging her tail. I stopped giving her metacam after the first initial dose. She did get gabapentin again last night. I’m calling her vet in a few minutes to get her in today. But for the time being, what do you think is going on with my girl? Any and all responses are appreciated. Warning: pictures attached are TMI they are from this morning, and a cute picture of her face. 

Hello!  There seem to be two issues here, the backache (radiographs appear normal, but muscular signs etc would not show on rads) and vomiting (tinged with blood).  There are a few ways I can think of for the two to be linked:  first, is that back pain and abdominal pain can sometimes present surprisingly like each other in some animals (palpating the back causes a slight twinge, but if there is abdominal pain the slight twinge triggers stomach pain, for example).  The second is if abdominal pain has led to an abnormal posture, leading to back pain, or back pain has led to an abnormal posture, promoting abdominal pain.  Of course, there is always the chance that the abdominal pain and back pain have two completely different causes (eg pancreatitis and arthritis).  I have read that 'labs were done and everything was okay,' but of course there are labs and labs;  I wonder whether pancreatitis has been fully ruled out for example, or whether an ultrasound might show more.  There is something else that I need to check and I will get back to you. Obviously the person who will know much more about what is going on is your vet; ask them to list the main causes of abdominal back and back pain and bloody diarrhoea; which ones have they ruled out? Which are still to rule out? They will probably be doing this themselves in their heads in any case, while getting on the the important business of controlling your little one's pain and hydration and possibly helping to treat the cause of the bleeding. Best of luck and please let us know what is found when a diagnosis is reached!

Hi! Thank you so much for answering. I took her to the vet and she got an injection for nausea. She was sent home with carafate suspension and metronidazole benzoate. Her back issues started after she jumped and possibly pinched a nerve doing so. Back issues have resolved. We didn’t get a definitive diagnosis from the vet. He said it could be colitis or gastro issues. He started her on the medications mentioned above. She hasn’t thrown up since yesterday morning. As far as the diarrhea, she had 2 bouts yesterday afternoon after going to the vet. The diarrhea stopped for 23 hours until about 2 hours ago. She had diarrhea again today at 1:20 pmand 2:20 pm. The first bowel movement looked to still have blood in it. The second one came out brown in color. Both had a little more consistency than it did in previous days. I attached a picture of her bouts of diarrhea from today. At what point should I start seeing improvements in her?? The vet said to monitor for 72 hours once she started the medication. Yesterday she didn’t eat at all, but drank water. Today, she nibbled on a little bit of food and had little 2-3 bites but hasn’t really eaten. I’ve never been so worried about her in my life. She been overall healthy. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated! also, she was fatigued yesterday and slept through the evening. Today, she’s been walking around more. She was alert at the vets and seems to be alert today.

Hello!  It sounds as though the overall trend is a positive one for the last few hours and that your vet has already given you instructions as to when to contact them / resee.  If these instructions are not clear, or if the situation has changed (e.g. things are getting worse again) it definitely makes sense to call them back and double-check.  However, just like humans recovering from a stomach bug, it can take a few days for all the clinical signs to fully subside.  You may have been asked to feed a particularly bland food for a few days;  if so, this is definitely worth sticking to, so as not to inflame the gut lining too soon.  At the moment it sounds as though your vet is treating the symptoms;  symptomatic treatment can sometimes solve a problem without any diagnosis being reached.  However, if the problem recurs, then they may decide to investigate further.  Best of luck - and please do keep us posted!

Thank you! I’m thinking of giving them a quick call I’m a bit. She had another bout right now and it was a lot more watery than the previous 2 :(    as a vet, is this concerning to you? Should I be looking into something else? I’m desperate at this point. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it!

Of course, bloody diarrhoea is always a concern; the extent of the concern depends on the clinical factors (ie what's causing the blood loss and how the patient's coping mentally and physically with the fluid / blood loss and any other disease processes).  Thus clinical context needs to be considered, not just the appearance of the poo.  Some things can be told from it, however;  diarrhoea suggests that fluid is being lost into the gut, and obviously this can lead to dehydration when unchecked.  Blood loss suggests that the inner gut wall is damaged (in general, the redder it is, the further along the gut the bleeding is - bleeding into the stomach or higher tends to look black; bleeding into the small intestine can be various degrees of digested red and bleeding into the colon or rectum can look very fresh).  However, this is only a single price of the jigsaw and the redness is not an indication of the prognosis;  rather, vets use this information as part of the overall picture to make a decision as to what to do next.  So far, it sounds as though clinical progress has been good but the bloody faeces are still coming.  Success will depend on a combination of what is causing it, and how it is managed.  You are doing the right thing to keep monitoring, worrying and communicating with your vets at the moment.

thank you! I appreciate you. I consulted with a vet tech since her vet is out of the office for a few days starting today. They told me it would take a few days for the medication to take effect. I’m going to try my best to be patient. It’s just so sad and scary to see my girl with these symptoms. Again, thank you!! I will follow up with updates once I get more answers. Or if I have questions. If that’s okay.

All the best; looking forward to hearing how things progress.

Hi! I have an update since my last response. My dog started getting better by the 4th day after starting medication. Her stool went back to normal and there was no more blood present. Her appetite came back and she ate pretty well for about 3 days or so. However, yesterday and today she doesn’t seem to have an appetite. She threw up clear liquid yesterday morning and today. I’m wondering if this could be due to the medication she’s on? She had her last dose today. She’s taking carafate suspension 2cc 2x/day and Metronidazole benzoate (liquid form) 3cc every 24 hours. Her only symptom that I can see is low appetite and possibly nausea and a lose stool, but no diarrhea. She nibbled on her food yesterday, but didn’t eat. Same thing today. She’ll take snacks (bacon) and Cheerios but nothing else.

Sorry to hear about your Dachshund. How is she now? I also have a Dachshund and has had Diarrheal for a few days. We stop feeding her and the Diarrheal has stopped, but probably only because there is nothing to process. But she has started vomiting pinkish, thick, mucusy liquid. Not sure if this is the same thing. Her attitude has been ok. but since the vomiting she seems a bit down and not herself. She was sick twice at around 12am, then sick again at 6am, and again at 9:30am. She is still taking in water which I hope is good. Just wondering if you found the solution. We are taking her to the vets today. Thanks.