Hi. Am hoping someone in the world is awake! Snowie has drops of blood coming out of his penis. It's very diluted. I noticed cos I saw it on the floor and then made him lie down and I inspected his penis as much as I could and dabbed the opening part with a paper towel and there's diluted red/pink on the paper towel. I couldn't get his penis to pop out (I once saw the vet do this so easily!). His nose is lovely and wet and he's very happy so I'm wondering if it could be that he licked too hard and damaged the skin and that's where the blood is coming from. He does lick a lot on the side of his penis and on his stomach (we've always thought it was allergies, been like this for years, although perhaps something more sinister?). I called the 24-hr animal hospital and spoke to the guy on reception. He recommended bringing Snowie in now in case it is a bladder infection, in which case he said it could get worse over night -- lots of pain, much more expensive to treat, he could die even (well, that was the worst that could happen he said, but he didn't want to say, no, don't bring him in and then the worst could happen). I'm about to take Snowie's temperature to see if he's running a temp (ie infection) and then will take him for a walk so that he marks and then try to catch some urine -- to see if in fact it is a bloody urine. The animal hospital is quite far away and it's now almost 9pm. I'd prefer he'd be seen by our local vet close to home, and if he has to stay there at least he's so close to home that I can stay there with him. Has anyone had this experience? Any advice, please!
Poor chap. Blood in the urine could certainly be infection, but equally it could be a sign of something else - some sinister, some not so sinister, like a little trauma from licking/irritation. Tough call. I think I might go to the vet with a sample myself, even though its not ideal. as an infection could get worse overnight and cause pain/distress/ Has he been wee-ing more than usual? No idea if that temp is up or normal.....
Thanks so much for your answer. That temp is normal. Dogs temps are 1 C more than humans. I've not noticed he's been weeing more than normal. We're now about to go out and take a sample!
We are back from taking the sample. All clear. Thank goodness! It was really difficult at first -- he would not mark!! He was only interested in the plastic container I had in my hand and wanted to take it in his mouth, absolutely NO interest weeing!!! So of course I was worried, worried that it was too painful for him to wee. When he eventually weed, I raced to get the container under him and completely missed! We actually had two catchment containers: a very big plastic lid that was lined with white paper towel to see if any blood was in the urine. And a bigger plastic container to get the liquid sample. Not getting him to wee in our road, we decided on a longer walk to sure places to get him to mark -- he always marks particular trees on our walks. Again... missed the mark completely! So I dabbed the tree trunk and only got yellow wee, no blood at all. Next catch was much better -- got a nice lot on the paper towel. My husband got out his phone torch -- he was a very excellent assistant, carrying the stack of paper towels all nicely folded to fit in the plastic lid -- anyway, his torch showed nice yellow wee, no blood. We took a few more samples this way, all clear. Much relief. I think it was probably a small trauma from too much licking. Will take him to the vet tomorrow morning anyway -- have been wanting to take him for a general check up and chat.
To be fair, you probably wouldn't be keen to pee either, if someone were chasing you with a plastic container, a torch, and a stack of paper towels...
Sounds like the origin wasn't internal then? And all is ok? Oban has had this a few times, thank heavens for snow and light coloured floors. The first time it was bright red, hardly diluted at all. Very scary. The last three times (much more dilute) we had made a change in his meds, reduced one, and we had to put it right back up again. Just in case anyone needs to know,my Vet wants a first thing in the morning pee sample and to get it to her within an hour and a half of taking it and NOT to refrigerate it. Refrigeration will cause crystals to precipitate out and it will look like there are more than there really are and thus more serious than it really is. I imagine this is standard for Vet care, the first thing in the morning sample and it's good to know ahead of time so you can get it without having to wait for your Vet office to open, to ask, and then maybe have to wait till next morning to get it. LOL, yes, you might get a different sample if you scare the you know what right out of your dog.
Do keep a very close eye on him as dripping blood can sometimes be a symptom of an enlarged prostate. My now departed Pointer had this around the age of 3, it wasn't constant just every now and again. Hope he's ok.
Teller is my first male dog but it's easy to believe that the blood could have been from chewing/licking. T is neutered but at least once a day he will go to town on himself, chewing and whatnot. He gets pretty rough with it and has left abrasions around the sheath and area where his fuzzy 'dice' used to be. After observing him doing this and popping his entire winky into his mouth, I called the vet and after a round of questions about his health the laughing receptionist told me it was probably him playing with himself. Still, if he has increased urination and some blood it's best to take him to the vet and see what's going on.
Thanks everyone for your concern and answers. I have a vet appointment for later today (first available). So far no more sign of blood and Snowie is behaving completely normally. The vet reception said if I see any blood to bring him in immediately.
