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My senior dog has bloody diarrhea and won't eat. What should I do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Siberian Husky | Female | spayed | 17 years and 7 months old | 75 lbs

Our 17 year old dog has uncontolable watery diarrhea with blood and mucas and she is not eating

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on February 25th, 2018

Poor Skittles! It sounds like she's quite sick. Bloody diarrhea and not eating are always symptoms that warrant a vet visit, so I would recommend taking her in for an exam as soon as possible. She may have a systemic illness like liver or kidney disease, a serious GI issue like pancreatitis or HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis), or may have ingested something toxic. Your veterinarian can do blood work or other testing if needed to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment.

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA
Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer
Published on May 31st, 2017
Poor Leo! He's a very handsome guy - I love Cavaliers. Very sweet dogs :)

I'm sorry to hear that he isn't feeling well today. Normally, with minor GI issues, I don't have a problem with withholding food and waiting 24 hours to see if the problem resolves on its own.

With Leo, though, I'm concerned that he has bloody diarrhea and is also not eating - these two things together often indicate a more serious problem than a simple upset stomach, such as HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis) or pancreatitis. Because of that, I would tend to err on the side of caution in this case and have him seen by a vet today, if possible - he/she can do blood work or other testing if needed to determine what is causing his symptoms, and get him started on medication to treat the problem right away.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA
Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer
Published on July 25th, 2017
Poor Snickers! I'm sorry to hear that he's having this problem. It's very concerning that he is not eating and has also had diarrhea for a week with blood in it, so I would be worried that something serious may be wrong.

These are somewhat vague symptoms that could be caused by a number of different things, so it's hard to say for sure what might be wrong with him without being able to do an exam and run some tests. He may have a severe intestinal parasite problem, a serious GI issue such as pancreatitis or HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis), a systemic illness like liver or kidney disease, or even some type of cancer.

This problem does not sound likely to resolve on its own, so I would definitely recommend taking Snickers to the vet for an exam today if possible. He/she can do a fecal exam as well as blood work and x-rays if needed to help diagnose the problem and see what can be done to treat him.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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