My dog has recently had some blood in his urine. My veterinarian told me to keep an eye on it and to bring him in if it didn't go away but I'm worried she may have missed something serious. Has anyone had this experience with their dog? Any advice or input?
Our senior dog had that same issue. We took him to the vet with a sample and found out he had a bad UTI, we also had lab work done to rule out kidney failure and other issues. I would definitely make sure you have some kind of lab work done if the problem doesn't clear up, especially if your dog was treated with antibiotics and the blood in the urine shows up again. When and if the symptoms come back after a round or two of antibiotics it can indicate kidney problems or even tumors sometimes in the bladder. Once you have the lab work done you can find the best treatment for you dog. I would be careful with cranberry juice, while it does help with less severe UTI's the sugar content is extremely high and this may cause other problems. Make sure you dog get's plenty of water, because that always helps. Your vet can advise you on the best course of action. I wish you the best and I hope some of this post helps you some. God bless
The most likely culprit is a UTI. Like humans, they can clear up on their own, but often require antibiotics to resolve. If the hematuria has continued, or if your dog is showing any other signs of illness (lethargy, incontinence, accidents, or dribbling urine, pain, nausea, irritability, fever, etc), I'd probably request a urinalysis. It's cheap and easy and will put your mind at ease. Depending on your vet, they may not even require a visit if you just bring in the sample for them. Even if you aren't still seeing any visible symptoms, it wouldn't hurt, since dogs can be very good at hiding illness.
Cranberry juice (not from concentrate, no sugar added) can be beneficial to dogs with a UTI, but since it is bitter you're unlikely to get your dog to drink it easily. The purpose is just to change the acidity of his urine so that the bacteria is more attracted to the liquid than to the bladder wall and thus can be flushed out more easily. Vitamin C supplementation is a more direct way to do the same and is considered safe for dogs (at least in the short term), but you'd want to check with your vet to get a safe dosage for your dog since you're dealing with a much higher concentration than you'd get from the juice.
Just to tye into Laura's response regarding Cranberry Juice - you can also buy Cranberry Pills that make administering to your dog a breeze.
See http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nbsbnoss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cranberry+pills