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This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only. You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet. Urine is usually clear, colourless or straw coloured. Pink or red discolouration of urine is the sign of a problem. The most common cause of a pink or red discolouration of the urine is the presence of blood. This is called haematuria. Blood can occur in the urine if there is bleeding anywhere along the urinary or genital tracts including the following structures:
Bleeding can occur with any inflammation due to infection (urinary tract infection eg cystitis, urethritis) or trauma - such as when stones (calculi or uroliths) form in the urine. Occasionally bleeding is associated with more serious problems such as cancer . Bleeding can also occur if the animal has a blood clotting defect such as Haemophilia, or such as occurs with warfarin poisoning. Occasionally pink discolouration of urine is due to haemoglobin (called haemoglobinuria) and not whole blood in the urine. If this occurs the red blood cells have been destroyed releasing haemoglobin which then appears in the urine. Another pigment (myoglobin) is released from muscle when it gets damages and it can also discolour urine but usually it is red-browm to black or even green, and not pink to red. Because pink/red urine can be caused by a variety of different disorders your veterinarian will need to examine your pet and conduct some laboratory tests to confirm the diagnosis. Make sure you collect a fresh urine sample into a clean pot as your veterinarian will probably want a fresh urine sample to test.
Updated October 2013 | |||