Bloody Mucus in My Dog's Stool - Causes and Treatment

A common disease in European and American dogs is parasitic colitis caused by the whipworm species Trichuris Vulpis. This is a parasite that causes our dogs to defecate mucus and blood in their stool. This parasite invades the proximal colon, inflaming and causing damage to its mucosa. In turn, this causes an infestation in our dog that has intermittent diarrhea as one of its main symptoms.

In addition to bloody mucus in the dog's stool, whipworm parasitosis might produce the following symptoms:

• Anemia
• Hypoalbuminemia
• Eosinophilia

It is diagnosed by parasitological diagnostic tests detecting eggs in feces or by colonoscopy. When treating this parasitic inflammation of the dog's colon, an antiparasitic treatment such as fenbendazole for dogs should be administered. This must be repeated after 3 months due to the prepatent period of the parasite. This is the time between the initial infection of the host and the first observable symptoms of the parasite.

In cats, the protozoan parasite Tritrichomonas foetus is a frequent cause of parasitic colitis. In dogs, parasitic colitis can also occur due to Pentatrichomonas Hominis. This must be treated with metronidazole for dogs due to its antiprotozoal potential. It is important to note that dogs affected by this type of parasitic colitis usually have bloody diarrhea which is not caused directly by the protozoan, despite a positive diagnosis of this parasite.

Learn more about the reasons why a dog has bright red blood in their stool.

Another reason why dogs might have blood and mucus in their poop is due to fungal infection. Fungi from the genus Histoplasma are common, a dimorphic fungal organism that proliferates in the United States .

Fungal infections are transmitted by environmental spores. Although most associated with respiratory distress in dogs, they can spread to the gastrointestinal tract. They produce an extensive granulomatous reaction of the tissue in the large intestine, producing large intestine diarrhea with fresh blood, mucus, fever and weight loss. This fungal colitis in dogs is treated with itraconazole alone or in combination with amphotericin B.

The quality and consistency of a dog's stool can help us to point to the underlying cause. Learn more about different variations by looking at the types of diarrhea in dogs.

Both the small intestine and the large intestine can also suffer from inflammatory diseases characterized by the infiltration of inflammatory cells in its tract. As a general description, this is referred to as inflammatory bowel (IBD) disease in dogs. The three main types of large intestine inflammation that explain why there are bloody stools in dogs and mucus are the following:

• Lymphocytic-plasmacytic colitis: it is the most common form of chronic colitis in dogs, manifested with cyclic symptoms of bloody stools in dogs and mucus. They also experience, an urgency to defecate or rectal tenesmus, i.e. feeling the need to defecate even with an empty bowel. The affected mucosa of the large intestine is fragile, with loss of vascularization of the submucosa, erosions and increased granularity.
  
  
• Eosinophilic colitis: this inflammatory disease of the colon can occur as an allergy to parasitic or dietary antigens. It consists of a diffuse infiltration of eosinophils in the colonic mucosa, in addition to being more friable and ulcerated compared to the previous type of canine colitis.
  
  
• Chronic histiocytic ulcerative colitis: this is the least common type of IBD and affected dogs exhibit hematochezia, tenesmus and intractable diarrhea of the large intestine. We can also see loss of appetite and lethargy. This type of colitis is most frequently diagnosed in Boxer dogs under one year old. An infiltrate of histiocytes occurs in the colonic mucosa. In this case, antibiotics such as enrofloxacin for dogs seem more useful compared to the immunosuppressants used in the previous two.

Learn about a related disorder in dogs with our article on intestinal obstruction in dogs.

Tumors in dogs can be malignant or benign, but either can produce blood and mucus in the dog's stool. The most common tumor is adenocarcinoma, followed by lymphosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma. The latter is often located in the cecum, although the majority of large intestinal neoplasms in dogs are located in the descending colon and rectum.

When a dog has a malignant tumor of the colon, a palpable abdominal mass, mesenteric lymphadenopathy, excessive granularity of the mucosa and dyschezia (difficulty defecating) can be observed. To assess the stage of the disease, imaging tests and a colonoscopy with mucosal biopsy will be required for definitive diagnosis.

In focal adenocarcinomas and leiomyosarcomas, the treatment of choice is surgical resection of the tumor. Diffuse lymphosarcomas are preferably treated with multiple chemotherapy.

Use our article on the different types of tumors in dogs to learn about this subject.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a rare disease that appears more frequently in large breed dogs. It is characterized as a non-inflammatory pathology associated with various issues, including:

• Abnormal myoelectric function of the colon
• Stress
• Food allergies or intolerances
• Lack of fiber in the diet
• Changes in the neurochemical or neuronal regulation of colon function

Affected dogs will present clinical signs of chronic, intermittent large intestinal diarrhea. Blood and mucus in the stool, tenesmus and dyschezia are common.

To treat this pathology, we must reduce stress in our dogs. This means assessing their environment and providing additional support. Ensure a sufficient supply of fiber in the diet to correct abnormal motility patterns. If dogs that pass stools with blood and mucus do not respond to this dietary management, they can be use drugs that modify digestive motility, such as loperamide.

This article is purely informative. AnimalWised does not have the authority to prescribe any veterinary treatment or create a diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian if they are suffering from any condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to Bloody Mucus in My Dog's Stool - Causes and Treatment, we recommend you visit our Intestinal problems category.