# Diarrhea, vomiting, blood



## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

So yesterday late afternoon I gave both dogs a turkey wing for the first time (first time they ever had turkey as well). I had given two chicken necks in the morning to both dogs also. One dog is absolutely fine, no problems. I went out last night and didn't come home until late where I found my girl had thrown up. I went to take her outside and she had some liquid diarrhea before we could get to the door. She had some more outside. Came back in and she threw up a couple more times during the night. Took her out again and she had more diarrhea and now there's blood in it as well. Bright red, quite a few drops. I'm freaking out and about ready to call the vet. She's acting normal otherwise and drinking water. I just finished giving her some kaopectate. She's been having a bit of a hard time with the raw, it's taking a long time to transition her and she will get loose stools or even diarrhea sometimes if she gets a little fat or too much skin. She's always had bone in meals so far. Does this happen often? I'm at the point where I'm considering, at least for her, not feeding raw anymore. I'm freaking out!


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## BichonPoodleMom (May 22, 2011)

These symptoms happened to my dog and he was diagnosed with HGE (Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis). I took him into the vet and he stayed there for 3 days. Thankfully he has recovered nicely, however, since then I have been more in-tune to his diet and potential allergies. We had an allergy test done and I found out foods that Zeke (my bichon-poodle mix) was allergic to. Now we are feeding him a rice, pea, and potato free food that is sensitive to his digestion, and he is doing great. I would recommend taking your dog to the vet asap to clear up her bleeding, diarrhea, and vomiting. Then when that clears up, have your vet do an allergy test to see what foods trigger an upset in your dog, then cater to meet her needs from the results of the test. You may discover, as I did that one of the main ingredients you are feeding her is something she is highly allergic to. That happened to me, unfortunately. Zeke was raised on organic, free range chicken, and when the allergy results came back, we discovered that he is highly allergic to chicken (no wonder he was having stomach issues  poor thing!!) Now he is on beef, because that is the only meat he isn't allergic to. 
Good luck with this! I hope your sweet girl makes a quick and healthy recovery, very soon!!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

If its just a few drops of blood, its probably nothing to worry about. 

How many times has she thrown up in the last 24 hours and WHAT is she throwing up? Is it bile or is she throwing up bone & meat too? 

It sounds to me like the turkey got introduced too quickly and it has irritated her digestion system. If she's had trouble thus far maybe you should wait on introducing a new protein for a bit yet. What has she gotten so far? Just chicken? 

Lets take a look at the whole picture and not jump to conclusions just yet, I think the easiest and best bet is to go back to square one and start over.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Sounds to me like just a case of minor colitis, which is not something to worry about. 

Fast her for a good 12-24 hours but allow her as much water as she needs. 

Once you're done fasting her feed chicken backs only for at least several days. You may want to trim excess fat and organ meat off for a few days as well. 

Turkey wings are a RMB that I don't recommend to anyone to start out on turkey. Not only do they have a lot of skin/fat, they don't have a lot of easily digestible bone. Even my Danes have some issue digesting those dense bones. I would recommend feeding turkey necks instead for a beginner turkey meal because the bones are soft and digestible, they are not as fatty. 

Don't let this get you discouraged, its just a bump in the road like most people run into when transitioning a dog to raw.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

BichonPoodleMom said:


> These symptoms happened to my dog and he was diagnosed with HGE (Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis). I took him into the vet and he stayed there for 3 days. Thankfully he has recovered nicely, however, since then I have been more in-tune to his diet and potential allergies. We had an allergy test done and I found out foods that Zeke (my bichon-poodle mix) was allergic to. Now we are feeding him a rice, pea, and potato free food that is sensitive to his digestion, and he is doing great. I would recommend taking your dog to the vet asap to clear up her bleeding, diarrhea, and vomiting. Then when that clears up, have your vet do an allergy test to see what foods trigger an upset in your dog, then cater to meet her needs from the results of the test. You may discover, as I did that one of the main ingredients you are feeding her is something she is highly allergic to. That happened to me, unfortunately. Zeke was raised on organic, free range chicken, and when the allergy results came back, we discovered that he is highly allergic to chicken (no wonder he was having stomach issues  poor thing!!) Now he is on beef, because that is the only meat he isn't allergic to.
> Good luck with this! I hope your sweet girl makes a quick and healthy recovery, very soon!!


Thanks, I think I will take her to the vet. It's scary and I'm about ready to cry! From my understanding, allergy tests on dogs aren't terribly accurate, but I'm glad you found something that works for your dog!



Northwoods10 said:


> If its just a few drops of blood, its probably nothing to worry about.
> 
> How many times has she thrown up in the last 24 hours and WHAT is she throwing up? Is it bile or is she throwing up bone & meat too?
> 
> ...


It was more than a few drops, at the very end of her last bowel movement there were probably close to 10 drops of JUST blood, with close to or a little more amount of blood with diarrhea.

I think she's thrown up a total of 3 times, it's a little bile but mostly some digested meat and bone.

Well she's been on raw for nearly 6 weeks, chicken only. I'm afraid of nutritional deficiencies from feeding just chicken for so long and no organs at all. The reason why she's been on chicken for so long is because she isn't doing great on it all the time. I want to start over but now I'm just scared, and being on just chicken for even longer is also scaring me.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

What cuts of chicken are you feeding and how big is your dog? 

Like Natalie said, turkey wings are not a good thing to start out with for turkey. Turkey necks are pretty much all I'm comfortable with feeding unless its ground turkey. I've done turkey drumsticks and even with my dogs who are between 45-60 lbs I am not comfortable with feeding them. 

Start back at square one with the basics. Its not going to hurt her one bit to go back to day one and start over. There are lots of people who feed chicken and chicken only.....not that I would suggest it long term, but a couple of months isn't going to harm her. Take things slow, and depending on the cuts your feeding and how much skin is attached we may be able to get her into some normal stools. Also make sure your chicken is not enhanced! 

Don't give up just yet. This is what we're here for is to help you!


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> Sounds to me like just a case of minor colitis, which is not something to worry about.
> 
> Fast her for a good 12-24 hours but allow her as much water as she needs.
> 
> ...


How much blood before I should really start worrying? Sorry but I'm just really concerned. Yes I won't be feeding her anything until tomorrow morning. She always has water in her kennel.

She does good on chicken necks if I remove the fat, same with backs so I'll just feed her those, thanks.

I do not have access to turkey necks unfortunately, only wings and drumsticks that have bone in, for the most part. I think the next time I introduce a new protein I will just give her a really small amount in between chicken bone in and gradually up the new protein. Are there better turkey pieces that you can find in the grocery store besides wings that I should try next time? (not anytime soon) This is just really discouraging and scary, I just want her to be fine on a healthy diet. I guess she just has a more sensitive stomach than the other dog because he's absolutely fine.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Do you have any local butchers?

I bet they would be able to get you some turkey necks. Most grocery stores wont sell them. Although it might be worth it to ask if they have availability to them and its just not something they put out on their shelves. Try that.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> So yesterday late afternoon I gave both dogs a turkey wing for the first time (first time they ever had turkey as well). I had given two chicken necks in the morning to both dogs also. One dog is absolutely fine, no problems. I went out last night and didn't come home until late where I found my girl had thrown up. I went to take her outside and she had some liquid diarrhea before we could get to the door. She had some more outside. Came back in and she threw up a couple more times during the night. Took her out again and she had more diarrhea and now there's blood in it as well. Bright red, quite a few drops. I'm freaking out and about ready to call the vet. She's acting normal otherwise and drinking water. I just finished giving her some kaopectate. She's been having a bit of a hard time with the raw, it's taking a long time to transition her and she will get loose stools or even diarrhea sometimes if she gets a little fat or too much skin. She's always had bone in meals so far. Does this happen often? I'm at the point where I'm considering, at least for her, not feeding raw anymore. I'm freaking out!


how old is she and how much does she weigh?


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Northwoods10 said:


> What cuts of chicken are you feeding and how big is your dog?
> 
> Like Natalie said, turkey wings are not a good thing to start out with for turkey. Turkey necks are pretty much all I'm comfortable with feeding unless its ground turkey. I've done turkey drumsticks and even with my dogs who are between 45-60 lbs I am not comfortable with feeding them.
> 
> ...



She has gotten chicken necks/backs/legs/thighs so far, she is 19lbs, but has large teeth for a smaller dog.

Ok, maybe we just won't do turkey bone in. I have been trying to find turkey necks for weeks but to no avail. 

The chicken is not enhanced. If she eats too many chicken necks she will get very hard poops/constipated. There's a fine line between how much fat/skin is too much for her it seems.

I don't want to give up, sorry I'm just really freaked out by this! She's my little girl and I don't want her to feel sick.  I really appreciate all your guy's help!


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I think she'll be just fine. I believe Natalie is correct, Turkey is a very dense bone and doesn't get fed in this house, only turkey necks get fed and my dogs have been raw fed since 2008. Leo had a similar experience when I gave him a turkey drumstick, he reguritated it and threw up blood for several hrs. I took him into the vet as I was unexperienced with raw feeding at the time and they checked for everything but in the long run they just said the bone probably irritated his throat when he reguritated and that is why all the blood. They gave him some famoditine for his tummy and he was fine in a couple days. Good Luck!


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Northwoods10 said:


> Do you have any local butchers?
> 
> I bet they would be able to get you some turkey necks. Most grocery stores wont sell them. Although it might be worth it to ask if they have availability to them and its just not something they put out on their shelves. Try that.



I have tried a couple of the local butchers who say they can see if they'll get me some turkey necks in but I never hear back from them. I've gone in person multiple times, talked to the owners on the phone and left a few messages over 2 months and still I hear nothing back. I'm going to see if an out of town butcher can help me more. A couple grocery stores sell chicken necks and backs occasionally but I've never seen turkey.



> how old is she and how much does she weigh?


She is 1 year 8 months old, 19lbs.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

when we first started and it was time to introduce turkey, i couldn't find turkey necks so i gave them turkey breasts. 

that is such a dense bone. then i tried a turkey wing. no go...

even turkey necks for my dogs proved to be a problem....they did eventually get turkey necks, but once they got used to turkey and we moved on to pork, they stopped getting turkey necks...

even today, over a year later, they don't get turkey or turkey necks........there are enough boney meals for them without giving them turkey....

if she only weighs 19 lbs....a turkey wing is alot to give her. it's okay. she'll be all right....just keep in mind that a whole turkey wing is too much for a nineteen pound dog...


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I think she'll be just fine. I believe Natalie is correct, Turkey is a very dense bone and doesn't get fed in this house, only turkey necks get fed and my dogs have been raw fed since 2008. Leo had a similar experience when I gave him a turkey drumstick, he reguritated it and threw up blood for several hrs. I took him into the vet as I was unexperienced with raw feeding at the time and they checked for everything but in the long run they just said the bone probably irritated his throat when he reguritated and that is why all the blood. They gave him some famoditine for his tummy and he was fine in a couple days. Good Luck!


I hope she will be fine but I'm still wondering if I should take her to the vet. If she has more blood in her stool I probably will. I will give her some more kaopectate later and make sure she drinks lots of water. So no more turkey bones except for necks. The turkey bone may have irritated her colon, although could she have an impaction? Thanks!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> I hope she will be fine but I'm still wondering if I should take her to the vet. If she has more blood in her stool I probably will. I will give her some more kaopectate later and make sure she drinks lots of water. So no more turkey bones except for necks. The turkey bone may have irritated her colon, although could she have an impaction? Thanks!


She'll be fine. But if you feel the need, take her in. Unless your vet is a raw supporter, I'm sure they will just try to talk you out of it and that it was the bones that did this to her. Sorry, I just don't have much faith in most vets and raw diets. 

Have you fed her anything since this all happened?


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## bernadettelevis (Feb 2, 2011)

I'm sorry i don't want to hijack your thread, but do you all really don't give turkey wings and drmsticks??
I didn't know this. Levis gets them all the timesince i can'T finde turkey necks easily! He does fine on them....Should i stop giving them to him?

@angelwing: i hope everything works out for you and your pup!!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

bernadettelevis said:


> I'm sorry i don't want to hijack your thread, but do you all really don't give turkey wings and drmsticks??
> I didn't know this. Levis gets them all the timesince i can'T finde turkey necks easily! He does fine on them....Should i stop giving them to him?
> 
> @angelwing: i hope everything works out for you and your pup!!


I would think for a bigger dog wings & drumsticks are just fine. My dogs just have a tougher time with drumsticks and they kind of turn their nose up at them. If Levis enjoys them and does well with them, no need to worry.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Northwoods10 said:


> She'll be fine. But if you feel the need, take her in. Unless your vet is a raw supporter, I'm sure they will just try to talk you out of it and that it was the bones that did this to her. Sorry, I just don't have much faith in most vets and raw diets.
> 
> Have you fed her anything since this all happened?


I'm not sure if he supports raw, but when I mention I started feeding it to the dogs he didn't really say much, acted like he was fine with it.

Nope, she hasn't eaten anything. I think I will wait until tomorrow morning to feed her some chicken necks to start. I just took her outside again and she had some more blood, no poop, just the blood...freaking out again!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> I'm not sure if he supports raw, but when I mention I started feeding it to the dogs he didn't really say much, acted like he was fine with it.
> 
> Nope, she hasn't eaten anything. I think I will wait until tomorrow morning to feed her some chicken necks to start. I just took her outside again and she had some more blood, no poop, just the blood...freaking out again!


Is she acting normal otherwise???

I would for sure continue to wait on feeding her anything for a good 24 hours since her last meal.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Northwoods10 said:


> Is she acting normal otherwise???
> 
> I would for sure continue to wait on feeding her anything for a good 24 hours since her last meal.


Yep, acting perfectly normal, happy, doesn't seem to be in any pain...if she continues to poop out blood in the next few hours I think I'll just take her in.

By tomorrow morning it will be more than 24 hours, hope she doesn't get hunger pukes. I'll give her some more kaopectate in a couple hours.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

Angelwing said:


> Yep, acting perfectly normal, happy, doesn't seem to be in any pain...if she continues to poop out blood in the next few hours I think I'll just take her in.
> 
> By tomorrow morning it will be more than 24 hours, hope she doesn't get hunger pukes. I'll give her some more kaopectate in a couple hours.


Just keep an eye on her. I would think that soon she will be getting most of it our of her system.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

maybe your dog is allergic to turkey or something
that it's injected with.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

A turkey wing is a whole meal for each of my Great Danes. WAY too big for a 19lb dog. I think you just overwhelmed her GI tract with way too much food at once. Like Nat & Linsey I wouldn't be too worried as long as the dog is behaving normally. Behavior is the big indicator of needing to go to the vet or not.


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## TuckersMom (Apr 27, 2011)

Angelwing said:


> I don't want to give up, sorry I'm just really freaked out by this! She's my little girl and I don't want her to feel sick.  I really appreciate all your guy's help!


I can totally understand how you feel - I would be freaking out too. I am so sorry your sweet girl isn't doing real well right now. I trust things will get better real soon :smile:


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

This happened to me when I fed Turkey bones to my dogs other than necks. Link to thread. Preston ate an entire turkey back, which was a huge amount of food for him at 80 lbs and Paris who is about 48 lbs had a turkey quarter - a very large boney meal for her. Preston had been throwing up a bit of blood and Paris was pooping blood. They got over it, and guess what? I've fed turkey drumsticks and wings since my incident to the dogs. They've done fine, I think I just gave them way too much too soon. That's what I think you did too, and I think it's a very similar situation to what happened with me. 

Sending your pup get well vibes. Don't give up, I promise it will get better!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

First off, take a deep breath. Your pup will be fine :wink:

Ten drops of blood really isn't a whole lot at all. It just means her bowels are irritated by the addition of so much of a new thing all at once. The best thing you can do is just let her system settle down a bit and then feed her a bland diet of just chicken backs.

I would suggest not feeding bone in turkey if you dont have access to Turkey necks. Just feed a small amount of boneless turkey meat with a chicken back and see how it goes. And by small I mean the size of an almond or walnut. Slowly add in more turkey until she can handle mostly a meal of boneless turkey. I would also add your other proteins in this way as well since she's a small dog that has a sensitive system. 

Just take things slow. It takes a really, really long time for nutritional deficiencies to show up and even a diet of just chicken isn't deficient in much (fatty acids). While dogs thrive on a wide variety of proteins just chicken is sufficient.


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for the help, everyone! Much appreciated and I feel slightly better now. 

By nutritional deficiencies I just meant that now having to start all over again it will be longer before I can introduce organs, and that worries me.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

You won't have to go quite as long this time. Give it a week or so and then try adding in turkey like I suggested above. This is just a minor set back and above all else a learning experience for you. There's only one reason why I'm as knowledgeable and experienced as I am...been there and done that! One day you'll be in my shoes if you stick it out and have patience :thumb:


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks, I will do as you suggested. No more blood in the stools, she had just a very small amount of diarrhea last time I took her out. Hopefully she will have some more solid stool tomorrow. Thanks again, everyone, for helping me get through my freaking out!


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Angelwing said:


> Thanks, I will do as you suggested. No more blood in the stools, she had just a very small amount of diarrhea last time I took her out. Hopefully she will have some more solid stool tomorrow. Thanks again, everyone, for helping me get through my freaking out!


We are always happy to help! Keep us posted on her progress!


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

How's she doing this morning?


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

She is much better today, no blood and no puking! Poop isn't liquid anymore. She had a couple chicken necks (skin/fat removed) this morning and a very small chicken back (organs/fat/skin removed) this evening. Thanks again


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

Glad she;s doing better. I fed turkey wings as Wallaby's first few turkey meals and I believe I got incredibly lucky. Once I saw how dense those bones were... even though he powered through them and never vomited or anything, I don't think I'll be feeding them again any time soon. 
My dog seems to have a cast-iron stomach, he has been able to handle whole or almost whole meals of a brand-new protein [turkey, pork, venison] just fine right off the bat. But I wouldn't have even tried that if he was showing any difficulty with the transition. 
You may just have to go reeeeallly slow with her at first. Slow and steady wins the race!


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## Angelwing (Feb 20, 2011)

Yeah, we're going slow. But not slow enough I guess. She still has diarrhea today but no blood or vomit and she's acting completely normal otherwise. The other dog and both cats are doing great and didn't really have any problems with the switch. It's just frustrating!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i am the poster child for having to go slowly. i think it took almost six months before they were finally introd's to everything...


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Some dogs just have a sensitive system compared to others. Just be patient and it will work itself out. It may just take her a bit longer to get her microflora in her gut to normalize.


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