Blood In Urine ~ Need Help Quick

It probably is a UTI.  I would watch her closely, & if she seems ok otherwise, I'd take her to the vet first thing in the morning.  For me, as long as she's not lethargic or obviously painful, it wouldn't warrant an e-vet visit. 

I wouldn't worry about how much blood is there unless she is constantly bleeding.  The blood that you are seeing is probably a lot less than what it appears.  For example, if you cut your finger, & a drop of blood falls on the kitchen counter, & another drop falls on a paper towel, the drop on the paper towel is going to look much larger because it has spread out.  The same thing is going to apply to a drop of blood on a wee wee pad.

I hope that Layla feels better soon!

Not an emergency vet visit (and in any event I'd usually want MY vet to treat such a thing).  However, have you ever had a urinalysis done on her before?  typically dog urine is more on the alkaline side (that's normal for them) but generally when they get an infection it's even *more* so and that's what burns.

But in asking if you've ever had a urinalysis done - do you know if she tends to have crystals in her urine?  Struvites are the more common and yes, typically grow in urine that's consistently more alkaline.  Oxalate crystals tend to be genetic in nature and grow in urine that's too acid.

Crystals generally indicate the appearance of infection that needs to be treated.  and I'm NOT saying she has crystals -- only trying to ascertain if you *know* she oxalates in which case the treatment is a bit different.

 But **generally** to make her more comfortable you want to acidify the urine AND make it more dilute.

My second question -- was the urine on the pad really dark and stinky?  OR was it really light and almost didn't smell like urine?  Is she drinking more or less than usual (both are signs of a UTI.)

You want her to drink more -- that *will* make her more comfortable (the more dilute the urine the less it burns on exit).  So add water to her food, and even give her syringes of water if you can.  Will she eat ice?  sometimes making a SUPER ***dilute*** broth (even of yogurt or something that is a favorite) and then freezing that, cracking it up and offering it will get them to consume more water.

You might want to also want to give her cranberry capsules 3-4 times during the day (do you have a Whole Foods near you?  Even Wal-Mart usually has those.)

Do you have any Vagisil?  Smearing just a small bit on the entrance to the urethra can make going the next time less painful.  (you'll have to repeat when she goes)

The only thing that truly helps is a vet visit and the right antibiotics.   

Dang -- I can NOT get this darned thing to let me edit it without crunching all the paragraphs up into one blob. 

I just called Whole Foods -- they DO have this so you can get it today if you've got a Whole Foods (or anywhere that carries homeopathics that's open on a Sunday -- Chamberlins is also open here in Orlando on Sunday).

There are a zillion little teeny tiny pellets inside there.  Use tweezers and pick out 3-4 and put that cap assembly back on.  I put them in a folded piece of paper (folded in quarters so it makes a point in the center to hold them).  Fold the paper back up so it traps these little tiny pellets inside and use a small hammer or even the flat of the blade of a big butcher knife to CRUSH them (they'll shatter into dust with pressure)

However, touching it like that is only to give her the idea it's yummy.  Generally **don't** touch those pellets -- the *only* reason I told you to touch it with a wet finger was to give her the idea it's sweet. 

Handling homeopathic pellets is a no no -- skin oil decreases their efficacy greatly -- so you never handle them (which is why they designed such an intricate contraption to allow you to twist that 'collar' and the pellets drop into your mouth -- but to give them to the dog means you have to get creative on how to get into the danged thing.)

This will begin to relieve the painful symptoms almost immediately. 

ARRRUGHHHH!!!!!  I tried FOUR TIMES and the board edit function won't let me break that long paragraph up. Sorry!! (and I'm not on a Mac - I've never seen it be this stubborn grrr)

The thing I've noticed with Layla is.... she doesn't drink for long periods and then will drink almost an entire bowl of water. They each get about 4 TBSP of high quality, non-fat yogurt every morning and always have water available. She seems fine otherwise, but I can imagine that UTI's are as uncomfortable for dogs as they are for us and that's *not* fun!!!

I'm also watching the frequency of her urination and trying to limit the times she goes outside so I can monitor her urine for blood on her wee wee pad.

Casey is sorta like that - so to insure he's getting a good amount of water, and not all at once, I mixed water in with his kibble.

Hope she feels better soon!

Besides a possible UTI, I was wondering if she is straining to urinate / having and difficulty urinating, or only urinating small amounts? The blood can be an indication of stones; it was the first signs we saw.

One thing you could do is go to a local pharmacy and pick up some urine dipsticks and dip her urine yourdelf. I have a dog that often gets UTIs and stones and we keep them on hand.

Sending Layla plenty of feel better vibes.  

erica1989

Casey is sorta like that - so to insure he's getting a good amount of water, and not all at once, I mixed water in with his kibble.

Hope she feels better soon!

I do this too, with Rascal. Often I will add about a half teaspoon of something extra tasty so he isn't so unhappy about the water - maybe a tiny bit of canned salmon, or some meat drippings, or something like that.

If I don't, in the summer, he often gets dehydrated and doesn't have anything to pee when I take him outside!

I also give him ice cubes as snacks sometimes. He likes licking at them and pushing them around on the floor.

Just now we came in from taking the trash out - maybe 5 minutes cuz it's so darn hot in Florida right now and I had to literally place Layla in front of the water bowl to drink. She is so picky about having cold fresh water from the fridge that I think I've spoiled her. We used to have a fridge w/water in the door at our house..... When I'm at work all day it's impossible for the water to be changed, but I do it when I feed them in the a.m. and as soon as I get home. I do freeze yogurt w/a little peanut butter or baby fruit in their kongs and give it to them in the morning right before I leave for work. I don't do it every day though, maybe a couple of times a week. I'll start doing it more often.

I've made arrangements w/work so I can take her to the vet in the a.m. I sure hope it's not crystals.

How do you do the dipstick test?

 All you need to do is collect a urine in a container. Then I use a syringe to put droplets of the urine on the test strips. Tip of any excess urine and wait the amount of time it tells you and read the results......this you could google to she normal and abnoral values and what they mean. We have well water that throws off Skylla's pH so I dip her urine weekly to check it. Once the pH starts going out of range I know it is time to intervene. If you are going to the vet tomorrow just wait until hen. I am sure they have urine sticks so just ask them to show you how.

If she's picky about having COLD water, why not freeze a big Glad container full of water and then when it's frozen upend it into a baking dish -- it takes a LONG time to thaw that way and can keep them in cool water a long time.

But it's definitely the time for UTIs -- keep the cantarthis to have on hand when YOU get one too -- definitely helps with that horrible pain.

 Are the meat sticks not too salty?

I generally soak kibble, AND offer baited water most days. I'll either do water with a spoonful of canned, or water with broth, or I'll buy water additives (K9 Quencher is my current fav, the dogs love the ice cream flavor). Almost daily, I offer some sort of wet "snack" like watermelon or cantaloupe. I'm a big water pusher, and have become that way because Emma gets UTIs very easily. As long as I push, push, push water, she doesn't. 

I love the idea of freezing a big cube of water for them. They do like ice cubes, but they melt so fast. I realized after moving that I cannot give them tap water as it causes tear and beard staining, so I'll use water from the jug.

The baby food meat sticks don't have the salt content like those adult canned little ones do. The baby ones as well as the jars of baby meat are actually pretty healthy. I use the meat and freeze in their Kongs for them sometimes. They absolutely love it!!

Thanks for the good vibes - I hope it's just a simple UTI and nothing more..........