DOES MY DOG HAVE A URINARY TRACT INFECTION (UTI)?  A CARMEL VETERINARIAN’S PERSONAL STORY

After a great weekend with visiting with family in Indianapolis and Carmel, I woke up to a shocking surprise with one of my own dogs Vincent.  I was rubbing his belly (which he loves) when I noticed red-stained fur near his prepuce/penis. I used a small bowl to catch a small urine sample and sure enough he had several clots of blood in his urine.  As a Carmel veterinarian, I can tell you he had exhibited no clinical signs of urinary discomfort such as urinating frequently, straining, or having accidents in the house.  Although many dogs can develop urinary tract infections, it is much less common in male dogs.  So I decided to take an x-ray.

X-rays of his abdomen revealed this: 

Those little white dots the arrow points to are BLADDER STONES!  There are few different types of urinary stones that dogs can develop, but the majority of them fall into 2 categories.  One type of stone must be removed with surgery while the other type of stone can be dissolved without surgery by feeding a prescription diet exclusively.  Dissolving the stones can take months and is not guaranteed to work, but avoids surgery if it’s successful.  The only way to definitively determine what type of stone your dog has is to send the stone itself into the lab.  A urinalysis, however, can provide supportive evidence as to the main type of stone present.

The most common reason a dog will develop bladder stones is genetics.  But water intake, diet, medications, and supplements are major contributing factors as well.  Dogs that have a history of any type of bladder stone should be kept on a special diet to help prevent the stones from recurring in the future.

Antibiotics alone often improve dogs that are symptomatic because bladder stones often have urinary tract infections as well.  Dogs can also develop bladder cancer which will present the exact same way with blood in the urine.  Trauma, clotting disorders, and kidney problems can also cause bloody urine in dogs.  The moral of the story is don’t try to let the internet diagnose your pet!  Google is not a vet, so call your Carmel veterinarian if your dog has blood in the urine.

For more information on our Caring Hands Compassionate Hearts, click on the link Carmel Veterinarian.