Blood in Urine

[Swiftwind]

I noticed that my Jack Russell x Maltese Terrier (Harley) had blood in his pee when we took him for his daily walk, almost 2 months ago. We sent in a urine sample to the vet yesterday but they couldn't find anything obvious but they said he had a large amount of blood in his bladder, so today Harley was taken too the vet and has to stay there overnight. I am so worried that this could be something really serious. I have ruled out kidney stones as he doesn't seem to be in any pain, and I read that if dogs have kidney stones they are in a lot of discomfort whenever they pee. Anyway, the vet said it could be 1 of 3 things, something to do with his prostate, something else wich I forgot (starts with p I think), or it could be something to do with his bladder. If it's to do with his bladder there is nothing they can do, and I'm scared he'll have to be put down.

I've had Harley since he was 5 weeks old, and he's 9 years old now. He's my first dog, and I am really dreading the time when I'll have to say goodbye, but I really thought he'd have a few more years left before it comes to that..

I hope the results are 'good'. My eyes are filling up with tears as I think about the possibilities.

 

[Renee750il]

We'll all be sending you and Harley our thoughts and prayers in hopes that the two of you have many more happy, healthy years together.

Keep us posted on how he's doing and what the vet says. Remember, never be afraid to get a second opinion. You would if it were a human doc, after all!

Harley sure has that "Terrier" stare!

 

[Swiftwind]

Thank you very much for your lovely reply, I really appreciate it. I think the vet Harley is at now is pretty good, as they were able to figure out one of Harley's other problems (which left other vets very puzzled), and unfortunatley as much as I'd love to get a second opinion it's not really my choice as my mum is paying. I'll definately be sure to let you know how things go. As I mentioned before, Harley has gone into the vet today (to stay overnight) and he is having a number of x-rays done tomorrow.

I am feeling very sorry for Harley right now as I can see his 'condition' is progressively getting worse. This morning he had splashes of blood on his back paws! By the way, has anyone's dog had the same condition before? I'm just curious.

Thanks again!

P.S. I know what you mean, he does have that terrier stare!

 

[moe]

Awww sorry to hear this, my fingers are crossed it is nothing too serious, and you have many more years with your boy.

Mo

 

[Renee750il]

Is he standing and cocking his leg to urinate?

I'm glad you've got a good vet who is willing to be thorough. You'd be amazed at how many aren't . . .

 

[Swiftwind]

Is he standing and cocking his leg to urinate?

He is standing to urinate, but lately he hasn't always been cocking his leg (which is something we noticed). On his walks sometimes he'd just stop and stand on the grass, and we didn't know what he was doing until we realised he was peeing (even if he had hardly any pee), so it was just slowly dripping out. This started happening about a month or two before we noticed the blood in his pee.

 

[Rose's Gal]

Well, when Rose had eaten mousepoisen, she had blood in her urine. Actually, that was mostly what it was. We took her into our vet ASAP and he said that she had either gotten nicked by a car (not hit because she didn't have any injuries) or she had gotten into mouspoisen. But I'm wishing you the best of luck with your pupper! I know what you are going through.

 

[Renee750il]

That sounds like he's got something that's really irritating going on in there - maybe even a stone lodged or some small crystals that are getting stuck and partially blocking.

I'd want to have Harley's kidney functions checked.

 

[Amstaffer]

Hope he is ok....keep us posted. Could it be as simple as a bladder infection? My girl Athena has had that twice in her life and it clears up fast with treatment.

 

[Swiftwind]

Initially the vet thought Harley had a bladder or kidney infection, and he was given antibiotics to clear up a skin condition, and the vet said that the antibiotics should clear up the blood in his urine, but if not then send in a sample of his urine (which is what we had to do in the end).

Anyway, the news is GOOD!!!! I am really happy to announce that Harley is going to be fine! It turns out that he had a number of small, but sharp stones in his bladder (we did think it may be crystals), so he's having them removed today, and he is coming home tomorrow. When I got told this news I couldn't stop crying, I'm just SO glad he doesn't have to be put down!! I can't wait to see him again, I'm missing him so much.

Thank you for all your support!

 

[Renee750il]

That IS good news! Thanks for letting us know so soon. Find out everything you can from the vet about what may have caused them to form and then you can check with Mordy and find out what kind of nutritional program you can use to help avoid the same thing happening in the future.

 

[Swiftwind]

Thank you for the great advice, Renee! Harley has a hyper-thyroid condition and I'm just wondering if this could have contributed to his bladder problem. I'll definately be checking up on it.

 

[Renee750il]

Mordy will steer you right!

 

[Barb04]

So glad to hear Harley is going to be okay!

 

[GSDFan05]

I'm so glad that you got the mystery solved and had the surgery done right away, Harley is going to feel SO much better after those stones are gone!

It's great that your vet did the surgery over a holiday weekend, keep us updated on how Harley is doing, it will definitely be a 'memorabe Memorial Day" for him.

 

[Amstaffer]

So glad to hear Harley is going to be okay!

Ditto!

 

[Swiftwind]

Thanks very much, everyone! I can't believe how supportive you've all been, and I definately didn't expect to get so many replies, so it's really lovely!

Well, Harley is coming home tonight, and I can't wait! He's been away for 3 days (2 nights). Abby (my other dog) is missing him, but it's so funny, without Harley around, who is the 'boss', she's roaming around the house like she owns it all!

GSDFan, I live in Australia and we didn't celebrate Memorial Day, but that would have been a nice thought!

I'm glad my vet took quick action and found out what was wrong quite fast. I'm pretty sure sharp stones in the bladder would be quite painful, but the strange thing is Harley didn't show he was in pain at all..

 

[Swiftwind]

Harley Update

We got Harley from the vet about an hour ago. He was SO pleased to see us, and wouldn't stop whining and carrying on like a crazy dog - unfortunately he wasn't on his doggy-valium (he seriously needs it as he hyperventilates etc. pretty badly when at the vet), so he was extremely hyper, bouncing around all over the place (even though he has thyoriod tablets, which are supposed to slow down his activity). The vet showed us the stones ('crystals') that he took out of Harley and my they were big!! I would say they were the size of big peas! They looked really lumpy and sharp. The vet said that they were attached to Harley's bladder wall, so that's why they didn't pass through, and they didn't break down either (so there was no way they were going to get out on their own). The vet said the crystals were most likely formed from a build up of calcium and probably due to his hyper-thyroid condition. So, Harley will now be on a special Royal Canin wet-food diet (we usually just give him dry food). The vet also said we could check out what caused the stones, but that would involve sending the stones to America, where they slice them up carefully.. and apprently this is VERY expensive (and isn't very practical.. Harley's operation cost a lot as it is!), so we are hoping the diet works, and his urine will be tested every couple of weeks.

While Harley was under anasthetic we also got the vet to remove his dewclaws (he has them on both the front and hind legs), so Harley is now sporting two lovely blue bandages on both hind legs (it looks like he's wearing socks! It's really cute). The vet actually said he didn't want to remove the front dewclaws because they have a bone attachement and it's more complicated and kind of un-neccessary to remove them. The back ones were just dangly so it was easy to get rid of them.

When we were walking Harley back home he was looking very sorry for himself, and even though he just had surgery on his bladder he insisted to stop every two minutes to pee!! You could tell it was painful for him! He wasn't even cocking his leg, he was just standing there and half-squatting. Poor boy! When we got home he ran straight for the garden and continued to pee in every possible place, and he kept walking around the house as I'm sure he didn't know what to do or where to go because of his pain. Anyway, I've set him up with a nice warm bed, and hopefully he'll be able to get some sleep tonight. At least tomorrow he should be feeling a bit better.