[alpacamom]

Our Bernese Mtn Dog pup is about 12 weeks old and has had occasional blood-tinged stools. It doesn't happen with every BM, nor does it happen every day.

He had found a bone in the yard that I have no idea where it came from and didn't see that he was chewing on it right away, so I don't know how long he was chewing on it. When I did see him chewing it, I tossed it, but he found it again a few days later and he was having more frequent BMs...softer than usual, but not runny, after he was chewing on that bone.

Could the bone have something to do with the blood in his stools? We took him for a new puppy check about 3 weeks ago and had a fecal done, which turned out fine. He has DE on his food and had heartguard to help keep him parasite free.

Any ideas? He has to go in soon for a distemper booster, so I can ask them about it when we go in unless y'all think we should call them sooner.

 

[GoldenMom]

Our Bernese Mtn Dog pup is about 12 weeks old and has had occasional blood-tinged stools. It doesn't happen with every BM, nor does it happen every day.

He had found a bone in the yard that I have no idea where it came from and didn't see that he was chewing on it right away, so I don't know how long he was chewing on it. When I did see him chewing it, I tossed it, but he found it again a few days later and he was having more frequent BMs...softer than usual, but not runny, after he was chewing on that bone.

Could the bone have something to do with the blood in his stools? We took him for a new puppy check about 3 weeks ago and had a fecal done, which turned out fine. He has DE on his food and had heartguard to help keep him parasite free.

Any ideas? He has to go in soon for a distemper booster, so I can ask them about it when we go in unless y'all think we should call them sooner.

It could be the bone or something else he found in the yard. Is he acting OK-eating, drinking, being a puppy? You say the stools were softer when he had the bone, are they back to normal now? If he's acting good and the stools are fairly firm now, it's probably OK to wait until his appointment. You might want to have another stool sample checked to pick up any parasites he wasn't shedding at that stage (it does happen). Sounds like you're taking really good care of the little (big) guy!

 

[Willowynd]

DE is not an effective wormer.

 

[Sunraven]

What Willowynd said. Your pup has hookworms. Stop down at your local farm supply and get some liquid wormer that's formulated for roundworms/hookworms. It's given to them according to their weight, it's easy to give and they like the taste.

 

[GoldenMom]

What Willowynd said. Your pup has hookworms. Stop down at your local farm supply and get some liquid wormer that's formulated for roundworms/hookworms. It's given to them according to their weight, it's easy to give and they like the taste.

The Heartguard Plus is labeled to treat and control hooks.

 

[Willowynd]

She said he was on Heartguard not Heartguard Plus- so I assume it is not the plus being given.

 

[GoldenMom]

She said he was on Heartguard not Heartguard Plus- so I assume it is not the plus being given.

I'll be honest, I doubt it, but it's possible (most vets sell Heartguard Plus, not plain Heartguard). Most people shorten the name of Heartguard Plus to just Heartguard.

 

[alpacamom]

Sorry for the delay in responding and thanks for your help!

He is acting normally...playing like a puppy, eating fine, peeing/pooping fine, playing with the cats and the sheltie and trying hard to learn how to listen. His poop is generally solid when he isn't chewing that bone. I think the bone is gone for good now...I don't know where it is.

The heartgard he took was heartgard plus...sorry I didn't clarify that in the original post.

 

[GrannyCarol]

One thing that Heartguard Plus might miss is whip worm. The symptoms of that are soft stools that might have either mucous or blood in them when the dog is stressed and, as there gets to be more of them, poor appetite, dry coat with a characteristic "hook" on the ends of the hairs (makes the dog look "fuzzy"), a sucked up gut and roached topline. Whip worms are hard to find in fecal samples (one of our friend's show dogs was tested every couple of months for a year before they found ONE egg and her vet would treat him, but by then his show career was pretty well ruined. She'd been showing him in poor condition and by the time they found that one egg, she had lost interest because he hadn't done well).

I'm not saying your puppy has whips, but you should keep an eye on it for the possibility and definitely have stool samples done. It's much more effective to treat for the parasites a dog actually has and whips (for example) need a different medicine than most dog worms. Enjoy your puppy!

 

[alpacamom]

Thanks, Carol! I'll keep an eye out for that, too! What meds do would clear up whip worm? Would it be harmful to treat him even if we don't know for sure that he has them? Would the stools be consistently "off" or would they be normal at times and not so much at other times? His stools have been real good the past couple days. Thanks again for your info!