Hi

We have a 4 month old black lab puppy (she is called Bailey).
Every so often, she will have a lbout of diarrhoea....although I am a bit more worried this time, as I have noticed mucus and traces of blood on her diarrhoea!
She is being fed the same as what she has always had since 8 weeks old (Royal Canin Labrador Retriever Junior)...however, I must add that she has also had a pig's ear each of the last 2 days...the first pig ear she had was chewy and lasted her a couple of days...the last two lasted about half hour each (these seemed more crunchy!). Do you think it could be the large amount of pig's ear in a short time that could be causing this?
Being a lab, she will also eat absolutely anything she can find lying on the ground (our garden is still to be topsoiled and turfed, it is covered in stones,leaves, twigs, old conker shells and little flowers from the conker tree etc)....I have noticed black bits in her stools, whether it is undigested pig's ear or tree bark, I'm not sure?
She looks well....she has plenty of energy and is still eating (other times she had the runs, she was more lethargic...although, she was a bit younger too!).
We are planning to take her to the vet tomorrow after I finish work if it doesn't get better...in the meantime, do you think we have any reason for concern?

By the way...she was wormed by tablet last week (from the vet).

Thanks

Patrick


p.s. We are not new to the forum (we registered in Feb 09 when our beloved cat Mia had CRF....sadly she passed away in March)

I have just called Vetfone (free helpline with Morethan pet insurance) and had it confirmed that pig's ears are notorious for causing stomach upsets in dogs....more worrying is the fact that tree bark (which she has been chewing on quite a bit) contains the same toxins as cocoa (we all know chocalate is bad fro them), so we are going to have to try and keep her clear of that....not easy when you have a huge 80 year old horsechestnut right in the centre of your garden!!!
I was already aware of the toxins in conkers....there is still a few of last years around, but we never see her bothering them....gonna be a nightmare when literally a few tons of fresh ones cover the garnen in autumn (even now, some tiny ones have started to drop off)....that may just renew her interest in them

Sorry to hear that. Pesky hounds eat everything don't they.

I put Oscar on Slippery Elm powder mixed with yoghurt and frozen in a kong when he had an upset tummy recently and i am sure that helped but good luck at the vets, best to check this one with them