Dear Dr Sausen: One day my dog started vomiting, something not uncommon for him, then later that evening he had some blood in his stool. I didn’t think much of it since he’s known for eating everything and anything. A few days later though I new something was wrong. The blood in his stool was worse, he had stopped eating, and wouldn’t get up and play. I I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with HGE. I nearly lost him. What I want to know is was there something I could have done to prevent this?
You just noticed that your dog has a small amount of vomiting and diarrhea. You think nothing of it at first and then you notice the blood in the stool. There are two important things to remember here.
1. You are not alone. This can be the beginning symptoms of many different medical issues, some more severe than others, and should be addressed by a veterinarian. You were unlucky enough to experience one of the more severe causes of blood in stool, HGE or Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis. Which brings me to my second and most important point.
2. The cause of this is unknown and there isn’t a specific diagnostic test for it either. But even though we may not know what causes HGE, we do know what happens. HGE occurs in the GI system. The lining of the intestinal tract becomes very leaky. Fluid, protein, and red blood cells, (all things your body needs) seep out of vessels that are in the intestinal wall. Smaller dogs may be more likely to get it, but any dog can be affected. Stress and hyperactivity may also play a factor. Some may vomit and there is commonly lethargy (laying around, not wanting to do anything).
So what can we do?
Bloodwork can be used to rule other disease processes out. A PCV or packed cell volume may be beneficial in determining dehydration. Because besides bloody diarrhea, which is the most common clinical sign, you can also very quickly get dehydration in these patients.
It is recommended to hospitalize these patients because of the severity and quickness of the dehydration. IV fluid therapy, anti-emetics (drugs that effect against vomting and nausea), antibiotics, and a bland diet (after the vomiting is stopped) is needed. HGE isn’t something that continues to reoccur, if similar clinical signs reoccur, there may be another underlying disease causing them.