My 13 1/2 yr old westie has started to bleed fresh blood when he goes to the toilet. It was quite a lot this morning so I spoke with the vet who thought it might just be him straining to go. He is on a raw diet and does seem to have to put effort into going, this morning he came in from outside and went in the house which isn't like him.

The vet has suggested putting oil on his dinner to try and soften his stools and see what happens, would olive oil be good or is there anything else I could try?

She said if it doesn't resolve then they will check him internally for polyps, he is well in every other way.

Does he have bone in his raw diet, could be some damage done to the large intestine and it is being reopened every time he goes. Could be that his unable to void as well as he once could and perhaps he has lost some of the sensation in the area, as your vet suggests it would be better if his stools were softer and could be passed with less effort.

I feed natural instinct so it's all mixed in & don't tend to give bones that often. Would olive  oil be suitable to soften him up?
I think he does have less power in his back legs and so he does struggle to poop and has started to walk round whilst going.

> he does struggle to poop and has started to walk round whilst going.

Sometimes entire older male dogs can suffer from a benign enlargement of the prostate. This can cause them to struggle to poop and can result in constipation and discomfort. If your dog is not neutered, has your vet checked his prostate?

And yes, I think oil can soften the stools up, or there is always something like Lactulose that would work like that too.

>Sometimes entire older male dogs can suffer from a benign enlargement of the prostate.

So can castrated males.

I'd be tempted to try him on abit of lactulose rather than olive oil.  We look after a few elderly cats that can suffer from constipation caused by conditions such as degeneration of spine or hip problems and a tiny bit of this normally helps things to move along without any trouble.

As he is raw fed I would cut all bone from his diet for a few days and give him just meat before adding things. You could haowever include sardines in oil as well

> Sometimes entire older male dogs can suffer from a benign enlargement of the prostate.

>So can castrated males.

I think it's less common though?