Dog Loose Stool with Mucus and Bloody Urine

by Rebecca G
(Tulsa)

Our family's English Bulldog, a 12 year old female, went to the bathroom inside today which she normally doesn't do... the stool was loose and mucusy, (a 'gel like' consistency) and smelled VERY foul.

Later in the day she urinated on the floor without indicating she needed to go outside, which is unusual, and there was blood in her urine. When we then let her outside, she tried to defecate for a few minutes but seemed unable to do so.

She drinks a lot of water, and often likes to eat the Bermuda grass that grows around our tomato plant. Though she is quite elderly for a bulldog she is in good physical condition and not overweight.

Throughout the summer however she has been snorting almost constantly and will sometimes spit up large amounts of mucus. We feed her special Senior dog food and she is strictly not allowed anything but, except the occasional milk bone. I wonder if she could have eaten a rotten tomato that may have been on the ground while she was eating grass, or maybe she ate a different poisonous plant? Or some kind of infection or kidney stone?

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? Up until today she was her usual self. All day today she has been acting strangely, standing and staring at us and seeming confused, and not immediately responding to her name.

Editor Suggestion

Dear Rebecca,

Sorry to hear about your dog's loose stool and other symptoms.

Your Bulldog has several different symptoms that may or may not be related. I am most concerned about the fact that you have seen blood in both her urine and her stool. It is possible she has two unrelated problems (e.g., a urinary tract infection and she ate something she shouldn’t have), but finding blood coming from two different organ systems makes me worry that she could have a systemic disease. Could she have eaten mouse/rat poison? Some cause bleeding throughout the body.

I think it is in your Bulldog’s best interest to see a veterinarian immediately. Some of the causes of your dog’s symptoms are potentially life-threatening and the sooner treatment begins the better her chances of a full recovery.

Best wishes to you and your dog.

Jennifer Coates, DVM