What causes blood in urine in dogs?

Does your dog show symptoms such as lethargy, coughing, exercise intolerance, swollen abdomen, and difficulty breathing?

Does your dog show symptoms like trouble emptying the bladder, loss of bladder control, pain while urinating, etc.?

Does your dog show symptoms like labored urination, decreased urine stream, and difficulty passing bowel movements?

Was your dog injured recently?

Do you have an unspayed female dog, and only a few drops of blood are found in her urine?

Blood in your dog’s urine may be a sign that he has ingested a toxic substance like a rodenticide. The core symptom will usually be accompanied by other symptoms like lethargy, coughing, exercise intolerance, swollen abdomen, and difficulty breathing. If your dog is showing these symptoms take him to the veterinarian as soon as possible.

A key symptom of urinary tract infection (UTI) is blood in the urine. This will usually be accompanied by some of the following symptoms: trouble emptying the bladder, loss of bladder control, pain while urinating, a strong odor to the urine, and constant licking of the urinary opening. If your dog is showing these symptoms take him to the veterinarian as soon as possible.

Blood in your male dog’s urine may be caused by a prostatic disease. There are seven prostatic diseases: benign prostatic hyperplasia, squamous metaplasia, cystic hyperplasia, paraprostatic cysts, bacterial infection, prostatic abscess, and prostatic cancer. If your dog has a prostatic disease, he will likely exhibit one or more of the additional symptoms of labored urination, decreased urine stream, and difficulty passing bowel movements.

Physical trauma can be the cause of blood appearing in your dog’s urine. If your dog has experienced a recent injury, be sure to report it to the veterinarian.

Female dogs in heat do bleed. While the blood is not in the urine since it is coming from the same area, dog owners can sometimes confuse estrus blood with blood in the urine. Other signs that point that your dog is in heat include the swollen vulva and drops of blood that are left behind when she sits down.

Blood in your dog’s urine may be caused by a bladder infection or kidney infection, or infection of the prostate or urethra. Also, hematuria may be caused by kidney or bladder stones, as the presence of stones strains these organs. Cancerous and non-cancerous tumors also cause blood in the urine of dogs. Blood in the urine is always a sign that you need to take your dog to the veterinarian as soon as possible.