My dog has dark red urine, clots, and pees frequently. What's wrong?

Hi, and thanks for your question. This sign might be most likely compatible with a urinary tract infection/inflammation. Stress related (idiopathic type of inflammation) infections and presence of crystals are the most common causes of it. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

It's normal for there to be some blood in the urine with a UTI, however passing clots is not very common. If the vet didn't take x-rays or do an ultrasound of he bladder, I'd recommend going back for another appointment to check and make sure he doesn't have a stone - that's not something we always do in the first go around, but blood clots would make me concerned.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Gracie has been urinating frequently and that it is red-tinged. It is possible that she has a UTI that is not responding to the particular antibiotics that your veterinarian initially prescribed, which can be a problem especially in older pets. Your veterinarian should perform a urinalysis and a urine culture and susceptibility (if they haven't already) to see if there is an infection present and to what particular antibiotics it is susceptible. Another possible cause of Gracie's signs could be urinary bladder stones, which can cause irritation of the bladder, leading to frequent urinations that are often red-tinged. Most bladder stones are visible on abdominal x-rays, which may be recommended by your veterinarian. Other stones require an abdominal ultrasound to see. An abdominal ultrasound would also be able to detect any other abnormalities in the bladder, for example, a tumor. I recommend ensuring she has plenty of access to water, and having her seen by your veterinarian at their next available appointment. I hope this is helpful!

I'm so sorry to hear that. Bloody urine can have a number of different causes. It can be due to a problem in the urinary tract-- such as a severe urinary tract infection, bladder stones, or a bladder tumor. Those things may also cause her to urinate frequently in small amounts and/or strain to urinate (but not necessarily). It could also be a problem higher up in her urinary tract--in her ureters (tube from kidney to bladder) or in her kidneys-- again an infection, stone or tumor. The other potential cause of seeing blood in the urine is if she isn't able to form a blood clot properly. If her blood platelets or clotting factors are low or are not working correctly, bleeding can occur within the bladder (or anywhere in the body--bruising under the skin, bleeding around the gums, blood in the stool, bloody nose, blood in the eyes). We can also sometimes see the urine look bloody when its actually a different thing causing the pigment (color). For instance, if she's destroying her red blood cells and the pigment (color) from the red blood cells which is the hemoglobin is ending up in her urine. Also myoglobin (which occurs with massive muscle damage) can result in dark reddish brown urine. Some types of toxic ingestions can also result in reddish brown urine. The seizure on Sunday makes me more concerned that something very serious is going on with her. If she's unable to clot her blood properly she could have a bleed in her brain. Or the seizures may be completely unrelated to the urine. I wish I could offer you a suggestion to treat her at home, but it sounds like you need to have her seen by a veterinarian as soon as you can.

Hello. This could be a result of a serious bladder infection, prostatitis, urinary bladder stones, a bleeding polyp/mass or trauma. This definitely warrants a trip to your veterinarian ASAP. If he has stones, he could become obstructed which is a life threatening emergency, so getting to the root of the problem is urgent. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. With the symptoms you are describing, I would suspect a urinary tract infection or something causing irritation in the urinary tract such as bladder stones or crystals. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Anya so that the most appropriate Diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would test her urine to see if there is evidence of an infection or crystals. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns that you may have

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It becomes concerning when an older dog develops blood urine that is non-responsive to antibiotics. Having blood in the urine with out bacteria can mean a bladder stone or a bladder tumor. Tests I would consider next would be a urine culture, one belly X-ray to look for a bladder stone and full blood work. If the culture is negative and the X-ray doesn't show a stone then I would worry about a bladder tumor. An ultrasound of her bladder would help diagnose if she has a bladder tumor. Another option before doing more testing is to try a more powerful antibiotic for 3 weeks. But if the blood is still present with out the presence of bacteria then I would go forward. I hope this helps!