My dog has been having bloody mucus diarrhea for a couple weeks now. I originally took her in because she was throwing up for about a week straight every meal I fed her. have now seen 4 different doctors. The first one told me she had pancreatitis, the second one said she had a protein allergy and she needed hydrolyzed protein the rest of her life. The 3rd one told me she had a bacteria build up in her stomach that was causing the bloody stools. The last one said she had no idea. Please help

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach to address your concern. As per the previous doctors you saw, these are all possibilities but need to be ruled out first. The hydrolyzed protein diet theory should be given at least 4 weeks of putting Aspen on a strict hydrolyzed protein diet ONLY such as Hills Z/D or Royal Canin Ultamino. I would also make sure to have her stool tested before the diet trial as well to make sure it is not something as simple as an intestinal parasite. Once intestinal parasites have been ruled out and the diet trial has finished but there is no improvement with the diarrhea, more testing should be done such as blood testing and abdominal ultrasound. Aspen could also be dealing with an intestinal inflammatory condition such as IBD or a systemic illness. Sometimes adding a probiotic to the current food helps such as Purina Fortiflora, which can be found online or at your local pet store. Before doing a hydrolyzed protein diet, you can initiate a bland diet as outlined below and add in a probiotic as mentioned above to see if this helps first. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment.

PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death.

BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through.

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source.

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding.

PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt.

PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice.

PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE.

FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm.

TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days.