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Dog question

Iguanagirl8662

Iguanagirl8662

Katie
My dog is 14 years old and she has recently started having accidents in the house and peeing a lot more. When she pees in the house I notice a little spot of blood in the pee. We just went to the vet and he said since she is so old it's best to just leave her be then stress her out with test and she doesn't seem to be in pain. But it is worrying me, does any one know what it could be or had the same experience.

Thanks for any help.
 
What test is the vet talking about? If she just needs to see if there is a urinary infection, then all you need to do is collect some urine from her which you can do in your own backyard.
Can you be more specific about what the vet said?

Lots of older dogs have accidents - you can usually get some medicine for it from the vet, but if yours didn't suggest it then there must be a reason.
 
Eriathiel said:
What test is the vet talking about? If she just needs to see if there is a urinary infection, then all you need to do is collect some urine from her which you can do in your own backyard.
Can you be more specific about what the vet said?

Lots of older dogs have accidents - you can usually get some medicine for it from the vet, but if yours didn't suggest it then there must be a reason.
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He didn't mention what the tests were but he mentioned it could be from diabetes, bladder or kidney stones, or an infection.
 
It sounds like she has a urinary infection and that can be found out by a simple test of the urine. My GSD had one when she was young. It got to the point where she couldn't hold it anymore and there was HORRIBLE odor, plus I could see the blood in the snow.
I'd ask the vet to atleast do a simple test to omit the infection then go from there.

Heck, I'd just get a sample of her urine and bring it in. What are they gonna say? Sorry we're not gonna go to the expense of testing the urine for you?
 
snakemom1961 said:
It sounds like she has a urinary infection and that can be found out by a simple test of the urine. My GSD had one when she was young. It got to the point where she couldn't hold it anymore and there was HORRIBLE odor, plus I could see the blood in the snow.
I'd ask the vet to atleast do a simple test to omit the infection then go from there.

Heck, I'd just get a sample of her urine and bring it in. What are they gonna say? Sorry we're not gonna go to the expense of testing the urine for you?
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He did say we could do that if we wanted to. How exactly do you go about getting a sample because it doesn't seem easy.
 
It isn't the easiest. You have to be sure to be with her when she has to pee and have a clean gladware container. Hopefully she doesn't get freaked out by you placing something under her when she decides to pee. It doesn't take alot of pee to have then test it so don't worry about getting a full bladder full. Good luck in getting to the bottom of her problem!
 
Iguanagirl8662 said:
He didn't mention what the tests were but he mentioned it could be from diabetes, bladder or kidney stones, or an infection.
Click to expand...

snakemom1961 said:
It sounds like she has a urinary infection and that can be found out by a simple test of the urine. My GSD had one when she was young. It got to the point where she couldn't hold it anymore and there was HORRIBLE odor, plus I could see the blood in the snow.
I'd ask the vet to atleast do a simple test to omit the infection then go from there.

Heck, I'd just get a sample of her urine and bring it in. What are they gonna say? Sorry we're not gonna go to the expense of testing the urine for you?
Click to expand...

I agree - get a urine sample. Its actually not that hard - just follow her around and catch the pee in a clean container. You don't need a ton of pee.

As for the other possibilities - I honestly don't see why he wouldn't do some tests to rule them out. To test for diabetes he needs to draw blood, and he can take x-rays or do an ultra sound to see if there are kidney or bladder stones. None of those things would put an old dog through stress they can't handle unless there is another serious health problem. I've seen much older dogs go through worse to be diagnosed. The only concerns here would be cost.

Sounds like maybe he thought you (or whoever was at the vet with the dog) were not interested in really running any tests? Perhaps a miscommunication.
 
Older dogs can experience incontinence without there being other health issues. However, with the blood in the urine, it does sound like something else is going on.
I would suspect a urinary infection. At the least end, I would test for that (to either confirm or rule out).
If further testing is needed, I don't see why taking a blood sample would be overly stressful either.
If sedation/surgery is needed, that is when a little more concern comes in with an old dog (vs. a young one).
 
Getting a urine sample can be as simple as taking the dog out on a leash for her next bathroom break and sticking a clean cottage cheese tub under her butt when she starts to pee. Throw some plastic food wrap over the top (or, even better, if you still have the lid-- the lid AND some plastic food wrap!), and run it down to the vet. Even if the container startles your dog into stopping, you should be able to catch enough for a sample.. Unless you don't even reach the stream before she catches you. =)

Don't risk something simple turning into something major... And even if it does end up being something major, the sooner you catch it, the better off (and longer lived) your dog will be.

Good luck, and here's to it (hopefully) being JUST a bladder infection!
 
Floof said:
Getting a urine sample can be as simple as taking the dog out on a leash for her next bathroom break and sticking a clean cottage cheese tub under her butt when she starts to pee. Throw some plastic food wrap over the top (or, even better, if you still have the lid-- the lid AND some plastic food wrap!), and run it down to the vet. Even if the container startles your dog into stopping, you should be able to catch enough for a sample.. Unless you don't even reach the stream before she catches you. =)

Don't risk something simple turning into something major... And even if it does end up being something major, the sooner you catch it, the better off (and longer lived) your dog will be.

Good luck, and here's to it (hopefully) being JUST a bladder infection!
Click to expand...

I haven't been able to get a sample yet but after this week I'll have more time without my classes to deal with. Hopefully it is just a bladder infection because I do not want to test her for anything else becasue during the summer she almost died and is in bad shape as it is and is terrified of EVERYTHING. And both the doctor and my mother and I agree that it was be way to stressful for her to under go any other tests that he would do. He did say for her age she looked very good but lately it seems her vertigo is coming back. Her head is tilting more and she is becoming more wobbily then usaul, so when I take them a urine sample I am going to ask him about that too.
 
Typically, a dog with a bladder infection will be squatting to urinate frequently and only a small amount of urine is voided each time. If your dog is urinating normal amounts of urine, it may not be a bladder infection. If your dog is urinating larger than normal amounts of urine, diabetes and kidney failure move to the top of the list of possible diagnoses. I am very surprised that your vet did not just go ahead and put your dog on antibiotics for a bladder infection since that is so easy to do and if the problem goes away, then there is no need for further tests.

Is your dog that psychotic at the vets that a simple blood draw would be too stressful? A geriatric dog should have periodic bloodwork done in hopes of catching problems early, but since your dog is showing disease symptoms, bloodwork is almost mandatory. The head tilt/vertigo, is not a good sign and should be looked into. It may simply be an inner ear infection, or a symptom of something more serious.

You need to examine the quality of your dog's life at this point. Is she still finding some enjoyment in living or are her days filled with misery and suffering? You know your dog and it is up to you to know when it is time and to then do the decent thing.
 
an untreated UTI will very possibly turn into a kidney infection. This is like ... ignoring your brake pad issues until you have to replace the whole rotor - and it could mean your dog's life - not to mention that UTIs that cause blood in the urine are especially painful. Please consider it a top priority to get her treated for this issue, whatever that takes.
 
FWIW...I heard of using a aluminum pie pan to gather a urine sample. It's wide, can be flexed if needed and can be slid under after the dog squats.

Let's us know what happens.
 
My dog has actually done the same thing. Shes 9 years old and peed in the house a lot. We actually figured out she just got a bad habit because we closed off the section of the house she was peeing on and she hasn't peed in the house since. The blood in the urine probably means a urinary tract infection which the vet can cure. I would know because my dog has gotten that and it is cured with simply some medication.
 
Good thought, bloody urine is common during a certain part of estrous. However, if the dog is 14 she probably isn't be cycling anymore. A uterine infection is possible though, if she's not spayed.

A UTI doesn't have to be a big deal, but can become a horrific kidney infection if it's left alone. Count me in the camp that says to get a urine specimen and have it tested.

My daughter's ancient dog (RIP, Jackie) went through something similar. She was abused before we got her, and vet visits were always an ordeal. It was a UTI and once the infection cleared up she acted like a different dog. Perhaps not a whole new dog, but certainly an old dog who felt a lot better!

My son's cat (Nicky, you RIP too) on the other hand, was producing LOTS of urine with a few minor traces of blood. The vet said UTI and gave us antibiotics. Nope. After a weekend trip to the emergency vet clinic, we found out it was diabetes. Yes, we did the insulin thing 2x daily until he crashed again months later and eventually died. My son just wasn't ready to put him down when he was diagnosed. To to be honest, Nicky had several more good months with us; he was back to his old self when he was on insulin.

To make a long story shorter, a urine and/or blood test is in order. I wish you and your dog well. Let us know how things go in any case.
 
Susan said:
Typically, a dog with a bladder infection will be squatting to urinate frequently and only a small amount of urine is voided each time. If your dog is urinating normal amounts of urine, it may not be a bladder infection. If your dog is urinating larger than normal amounts of urine, diabetes and kidney failure move to the top of the list of possible diagnoses. I am very surprised that your vet did not just go ahead and put your dog on antibiotics for a bladder infection since that is so easy to do and if the problem goes away, then there is no need for further tests.

Is your dog that psychotic at the vets that a simple blood draw would be too stressful? A geriatric dog should have periodic bloodwork done in hopes of catching problems early, but since your dog is showing disease symptoms, bloodwork is almost mandatory. The head tilt/vertigo, is not a good sign and should be looked into. It may simply be an inner ear infection, or a symptom of something more serious.

You need to examine the quality of your dog's life at this point. Is she still finding some enjoyment in living or are her days filled with misery and suffering? You know your dog and it is up to you to know when it is time and to then do the decent thing.
Click to expand...



She is very bad with the vet we have to hold her for him to even examine her. She will even bite me she gets so freaked. She had vertigo this summer and was on antibiotics, and her head is permently tilted which the vet said may never go away but it seems to be a little worse lately.

Her urination is normally frequent and small amounts. It seems like she goes out every 30 minutes to an hour if not more frequent.

I wouldn't consider putting her to sleep yet she still wags her tail, chases the cats, eats well and plays and only seems to be having problems getting up sometimes and walking down stairs which seems normal since she is old.

It really isn't my choice it's up to my mom but if I get a urine sample she agreed to that. So we are going to try the urine test and see what that turns up then we will go from there and talk about other options if nothing shows up.
 
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