From the financial aspect if things are tight and you are in receipt of any benefit i.e Housing Benefit then you would be entitled to use the PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) and they would only expect you to contribute what you can afford even if it is only pennies. So look up to see where your nearest PDSA treatment centre is. Should your dog need a vet's attention you may need some of that £10 to get you to the dispensary. I hope it will not be necessary.

Think Penelope is a vegetarian (if I remember righty) so shouldn't be the case anyway.
Hope it was a one off, keep a very keen eye on her though x jenny g's 2 dogs just had a very bad illness that showed up with blood both ends (but they were also very lethargic and miserable too) So if she starts to seem out of sorts, money or no money she will need to visit the vet, good luck and I hope she is fine x

Almost. She has vegetarian kibble because any kind of meat based dry food makes her itch.
But she does get meat on top of her veggie kibble.
Interestingly, it is just the dry food she reacts to, she doesn't itch after getting fresh chicken, sausages etc.

I tried her out with some raw dog food because recently she doesn't like her dry food anymore and when my hubby was preparing some raw chicken she really really wanted it, i've never seen her react so intensely to a food infact.

She isn't listless at all, she's very much her usual self but I am watching her closely. She hasn't been to the bathroom again since this morning so have to wait and see what happens later.

I'm afraid I don't get any benefits except child benefit and working tax credit so I doubt we would be accepted.

My husband is usually on a good wage but recently the company went through trouble, he thought he was going to lose his job at one point and work was drying up. It's picking up now but he gets paid monthly, I spent the working tax and child benefit on groceries, he next gets paid on Friday. If work keeps picking up we'll be fine for money again very soon but not for a month or two.

Ah sorry, half right though, she may have ingested something a little sharp that scratched on it's way out and caused a little bleed so hopefully that will be that xx
It must be something in the way the food gets processed if she is fine with real meat? strange but glad that you found something that works

One of my dogs recently had a week of squitty blood spattered diarrhoea and needed anti-biotics from the vet to clear it up. At the time, it was thought that he was reacting to some anti-inflammatories that he had just started but he has since started taking them again with no reaction so I'm assuming he picked up a bug from somewhere. I gave him chicken and rice for a few days and he was back to normal in roughly a week.

Generally if it's bright red blood it's not a problem - just means he has an inflamed back passage from the diarrhoea. You would need to be more concerned if it was dark in colour.

It is bright red, I actually thought that was worse so I was really panicking.
But I guess if dogs are anything like people darker would be more concerning as that's internal bleeding for people I think.

Tax Credit may be counted as a benefit so I would check on the PDSA website to see just in case you do need a vet in a hurry. Also if your husbands wages are down you may be entitled to other benefit it is worth enquiring. Sorry if I am taking this thread a bit off track but it is still in the interest of the dogs health.

I am so sorry to read about Penelope My dogs do get upset tummies sometimes from scavenging debris off the ground while out walking. I don't want to scare you but I do want to bring your attention to what happened to both of my dogs at the beginning of last week. This is the link: 'Flash' is sick ....
and you'll find it half way down the page in this Health section.

If at any time Penelope starts to strain and more blood comes out you have to act fast as had I not done so I would have lost Flash within 24 hours

If you are really concerned about Penelope phone the vet and explain that you are strapped for cash but are desperate to get help for your dog and could you pay monthly.

The the most important thing is to keep her hydrated and if necessary if she won't drink syringe small amounts of water into her mouth.

The best of luck and hopefully it is just an upset tummy. (((hugs)))

Straining after a bout of diarrhoea can cause tiny blood vessels in the rectum to rupture and cause some bleeding. A bit like someone with minor haemorrhoids.

In most cases bright-red blood means the bleeding has come from somewhere near the anus and is normally nothing to worry about if it is a once-off occurrence and there is not much or frequent blood. If there is a lot of blood then it is Vet chickchack.

If the blood is darker in colour and sticky, the bleeding may have occurred higher up the digestive system and can produce black or plum-coloured poos. In those cases it is also Vet chickchack.

But just a small amount of bright red blood after straining following a single bout of diarrhorea would normally just be something to watch out for - always remembering that if it gets worse then somehow you must get the dog to the Vet chickchack.