Dog Pooped out Rock- some blood

[ag714]

Hi everyone, this is my first time here! I need some advice. This morning, 6:15am, EST, my 8 month old male rough coat collie, Sam,  pooped out a rock the size of a quarter, but not a round rock, it had edges. There was diarrhea in the cage, pastey, and I found a little blood had dripped from his rectum down his fur. I cleaned him up, no complaints from Sam, and when I pressed in on the rectum I found a little more blood, a little redder than on the fur blood. He has not bled since this  He is acting normal. He is playing with his litter mate, Max, and all seems fine. But I am worried about the blood. Do you think he tore something in his rectum or intestine passing this rock? Please let me know what you think would be the best thing to do for Sam. He is up on all his shots. Thank you! Alene

[tonyb286]

Hi. It's great that the stone hasn't caused any serious damage and that your dog is returning to his normal self. One quick word about dry food in general ... I am a firm believer that dry food is not really ideal for dogs, as it's largely designed for human convenience rather than a dog's digestive system. If at all possible, it would be better switching to a moist tinned or even better a natural food (these can be bought in frozen blocks and stored in the freezer). I have just this evening been speaking with someone (very experienced and knowledgable) on this site who reported their vet had said there are two main reasons for kidney disease in dogs - over-vaccinating with annual boosters and feeding dry food (hence dogs become dehydrated for most of their lives). I intend researching these much more, but thought this information might be useful to you as part of your consideration about whether to stay with dry food or not. Best wishes, Tony

[ag714]

Hi Ghilly,
                    Thank you for your reply to my question about Sam and the rock! He is doing great now, all back to normal, food wise and poo wise!

                    We are trying to canvas the yard and remove any stones we find, but it is a big job. I just hope he doesn't try this again!

                    We originally had the boys on Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy, dry food. It is what the breeder had weaned them to. We got them at 3 months old, so we just kept them on that. However, the last bag we got was different, when the boys were 5 1/2 months old. The ingredients were different and the size of the food had changed also. So I went on the Internet to the Blue Buffalo site and compared RC with them. I was suprised to find out how much more BB offered in nutrition and the type of ingredients. We then slowly switched the boys from the RC to the BB Large Puppy dry food and they really love it. And we don't have to feed them 6 cups....only 4-5 cups per meal, per the manf suggested feeding chart. I will admit at first the boys were a little gassy, but that passed within a few days and all is fine now. We will probably stick with BB for their adult food too....I hope this will be helpful to you.  Have a great day!

[Ghilly]

Chances are very good that the rock that he passed gave him a good scratch on the way out and this was the source of the blood.  As long as he is acting normally I would just keep a close eye on him for a couple of days to make sure everything stays good.  If you notice him acting in any way that is uncharacteristic for him, let your vet know right away.

You also might want to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't do this type of thing any more.  I have a friend who has a collie who LOVES to eat rocks and she has actually had to have two surgeries to remove them from her stomach!  Her front teeth are actually ground down because she likes to carry rocks around the yard with her.  For some reason, rocks are attractive to some dogs so be careful and see if you can figure out if this was a one-shot deal or if he's going to continue to be a "rock hound".

On a side note, how do you like the Blue Buffalo food?  I have a collie puppy coming to me this weekend and I was considering feeding the BB but don't know anyone personally who does feed it so I haven't been able to get any first hand info about the stuff.  Do you like it?

Ghilly

[tonyb286]

Hi Alene. Yes I would try him on small portions of his usual diet, maybe instead of one or two larger meals, split them into three or four smaller portions a little more frequently. Then it's a question of wait and see ... hopefully, all will be well. But do keep your eyes open and check both his stools and his hind quarters, particularly after he has pooped. If there is any remaining injury, and therefore more blood, you should then take him to a vet to be reassessed. Hopefully, it was just a slight trauma, which has now mostly repaired itself. Tony

[ag714]

Hi Tony,
                Thanks for answering my question! I feel much better knowing it may not be tragedy impending if you know what I mean. My husband is home all day with him and says he is doing fine...no more episodes of poo, or blood and acting himself. He is hungry though since we elected to only give him some scrambled eggs this morning instead of his regular dry dog food (Blue Buffalo- Large puppy) with water on it...My only question now is can we resume feeding him the regular food this evening? thanks again for all your help!  Alene

[tonyb286]

Hi Alene and welcome to the forum. It is not uncommon for some dogs to eat pebbles and stones. I have no idea why some do this, though there are lots of theories, everything from they are being attracted by the taste of calcium and minerals to filling a period of boredom and, it seems, some dogs develop this as an obsessional trait.

It would be wise to try to teach your dog not to eat at pebbles and stones, usinga firm NO if and when you see him doing this. Hopefully, he will grow out of it and it won't become a problem for the future.

I would say he probably did cause some trauma to his rectum in passing the stone, but hopefully the trauma was only slight and will repair itself over a few days. Just keep an eye on him and look for signs of any more blood, particularly when he goes to poo - if there is blood evident in his stools or on his behind or if you find drips here and there in your home after a couple of days, take him to a vet to be checked out. Tony