Need information ref blood in urine

[bpeck20]

My 7 year old hound/mutt suddenly stopped eating Friday, he ate fine on Thursday then Friday nothing. On Saturday morning when he was let out to go to the bathroom he was urinating blood, dark brown, and a large volume. We immediately contacted the vet and they put him on antibotics without seeing him, saying they thought it could be a bladder infection. They advised to call back on Sunday if nothing had improved, which we did, we brought him in and he was put on an IV. his red blood cells were way down, his gums were off colored. THey didn't really know anything else. We are at a loss and really want to know what we are looking at. Our vet while very compitent doesn't seem to relay much information to us. Thank you.

[Jaybay]

Don't wait for your vet to offer up an explanation.  You have to ask point blank.  Some people really don't want to know all the details, so any doctor or veterinarian will take his cue from his clients.  Sometimes they want to avoid speculating at all costs so you have to kind of drag out of them what they're thinking.  That is, if you do want to know.  I always want to know what my doctors are speculating about, and make it clear I'm not holding them responsible for an educated guess if it turns out to be wrong.  I just have an enquiring mind.

If it does turn out to be a terminal condition like cancer, please try not to feel badly about not being able to afford treating it.  In many cases, the treatment is far more cruel than the disease, and you actually do your dog a huge favor by not putting him through all that.  Let's hope it isn't that bad as you said.

Now get on that phone and get some answers!  :-)

[bpeck20]

They haven't really explained any of the tests that they are planning on doing. The did mention something about the possibility of tumors or cancer. They stated the felt it was something in the area of his kidneys because of some of the symptoms... I'm just worried, dealing with cancer won't be something I'll be able to afford and I can't imagine that.. I'm still holding out for something nice and simple... I know that's far fetched and not really likely... but I'm hoping...

[Jaybay]

I'm sure you vet really can't tell you much right now.  Your pup obviously is bleeding internally, but the source of the bleeding is unknown.  Did they mention any testing plans over the next day or so?  I kind of doubt it's a simple bladder infection with that much blood loss, so you may be looking at a severe case of kidney or bladder stones, or worse, cancer.  Of course, I'm not a vet, but those are a few things that come to mind in your situation.  Please let us know what happens.