dog urine infection

Question
Hi, I would like your opinion please. I re - homed a 6 year old jack russell from a family 2 weeks ago. The previous owner seemed very honest, she told me he had, had a urine infection which had been treated with antibiotics and oral medicine, however she was unable to get a urine sample for her vet to check. She also told me that they never felt any reason to get him castrated, and that he hadn't had any vaccinations since a puppy. I registered him with a vet straight away and took him a week ago to get his first set of vaccinations I told the vet everything and he said the dog seemed in very good health. He has had quite a few accidents - urination in the house which I asked the previous owner about, she said she hadn't had that problem and I quickly put it down to separation anxiety. However today I noticed him being sick in the garden and it looked like blood, but not sure, he's been eating grass, also noticed quite a bit of green discharge from his penis. I' very worried but don't want to waste the vets time.

Answer

Hi Louise,

Anytime you see blood in a dog's urine or vomit you should consult a veterinarian. If you are concerned or worried over a real or possible medical problem you should at least call your vet's office, tell them what's going on, and let them advise you if an office visit is called for. They are the true experts! If your dog is acting lethargic, not wanting to eat or drink, continued to vomit, or is reluctant to move you should not put off having your vet examine him.

It's impossible to guess at what the problem might be, as there are many things that could cause blood in vomit, ranging from breaking a small blood vessel when he was retching, to eating something he shouldn't have, to something systemically wrong such as with the digestive tract, liver or kidneys. Treatments will vary depending on what the problem is.
If your dog's penis discharge is really greenish in color, and you've never noticed discharge of that color before, it's likely the discharge is caused by bacteria, and dog has an infection which can be easily cleared up with an antibiotic.

By itself, eating grass is not a symptom of illness. Many dogs enjoy the taste of grass, some eat it on purpose when they have an upset stomach, it is thought it stimulates the urge to vomit.

As an un-neutered adult male dog, the urination in the house might be "marking, not a house training issue. At this point, castration may or may not help this, as it's an ingrained habit. The dog should not have the unsupervised run of your home. If you don't crate the dog when you can't supervise him, or when you leave the house, he should be contained to one room (or part of a room). Child gates work well for this. Clean the areas where he marks with an enzymatic cleaner such as Simple Solution, or Nature's Miracle. Read more about how to stop marking here:

http://www.doodycalls.com/resources_dog_stop_marking.asp

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti