ASK THE VET

I have a one-year-old female cocker spaniel and noticed some blood in her stool. I have put her on a white fish/chicken rice food for now and haven’t noticed any more. What could it have been? Steven Cherry, Cramlington

A small amount of fresh blood in the faeces is usually an indication of colitis. This is basically an inflammation of the large intestine. Often there will be more straining to defecate and sometimes some mucous too.

The most common cause is dietary related. This may be due to mild tummy upset due to scavenging, an inappropriate treat or an adverse food reaction to the diet. It may also be due to parasite problems such as roundworms or tapeworms so I would ensure the dog is up to date with routine parasite control.

Starving a dog with colitis or diarrhoea is often suggested but this has not been shown to have any beneficial effect on the dog as the intestinal cells get all of their energy for repair from the food that is being consumed, they cannot mobilise energy sources from elsewhere. For this reason feeding a good quality, easily digestible food is preferred.

With dietary indiscretion, the signs are often self limiting and settle within 3-5 days. As long as your dog is clinically well otherwise and the problem resolves without recurrence within 3-5 days it is nothing to worry about. Ideally a prescription intestinal diet such as Hills I/D or Purina EN will speed up this recovery but a homecooked bland diet of chicken/fish and rice or scrambled egg (avoid any milk or butter in your recipe) will often do the trick.

These homecooked diets are not complete and balanced so are unsuitable for long-term feeding but may help you get over the acute dietary indiscretion.