Bulldogs World

This is now the second time Reuben has had this, it's called "urethral prolapse", reason I'm sharing this is because it took me forever to find out what it was, even my vet was puzzled, and just wanted to share this information with other bulldog owners, and hope to god you never have to go through this (especially if you have carpeted house, lol)

What happens is... after waking up from a sleep, blood will constantly flow from the penis area (not peeing blood), it is quite scary and somewhat gross to say the least, first time this happened (was 5 years ago, he was 7 yrs old) I was in shock, blood was everywhere, yet dog was fine and was acting like "whats going on? im fine" lol......would just keep spraying blood, heavy flow, lasts about a minute or so then eventually stops..... once it stops it is fine til he would again take a nap, when he wakes and stands up, boom, blood flows out all over again..... immediatley took him to the vet that morning when vet office opened, and while waiting in the room to be called in (yes of course was a full room of other owners and dogs) well sure enough once Reuben was called and he stood up another "flow" of blood came streaming out onto the floor (embarrasing for me or what, you should have seen the look on other dogs owners faces)..... worried to death I had no idea what this was, I spent hours looking this up on internet that night before, and found nothing, lots of blood in urine symptoms but this is different, as he is not peeing blood, his urine is normal, he pee's normal, just a seperate flow of blood coming from who knows as vet couldnt even tell why this was happening, no stones or anything, prostate is fine, everything that he checked seemed normal. He thought could have been an injury to his penis or something?

What wasn't normal is the tip of his penis was very cherry red, looked almost like a tumor or a growth.... first time this happened the vet said wow this would be very risky and ugly to have it surgically removed, so he tried by giving antibiotics (orbax) and cross our fingers...... well sure enough, about 2 days later, the bleeding stopped, it worked out and what a relief.

So.. that was 2007, 5 years ago..... if this was a tumor like could be, well you would think would just enlarge and keep growing or something, get bigger over the years... after 5 years nothing, everything was normal and fine, he never bled again, so I doubt this was a tumor or cancer related.

Well all of a sudden last week, I came home from work, found spots of blood on the carpet... sure enough what I dreaded happened again. This time, not as worried as I thought ok been through this before, this is not good, but dont panic, lets goto vet and have it checked again. Well took him and Vet checked him out, again everything was fine like last time... he didn't think the tip of penis (that was again swollen and cherry red) was the cause, he thinks it could be infection again, so gave the same antibiotic (orbax) and after 3 days he has again stopped bleeding. Whew!!!!!!

This is the scariest thing I have been through, this was not a drop or two or blood, this is a flow of blood and sprays when dog is excited, not very pretty and this week had to clean/shampoo my carpet.

Last 3 days, while on meds and still bleeing I had him confined to my kitchen area and crate as its tile floor and easier to clean, now it has stopped and he is back to normal (cross my fingers) with 6 more days left of the antibiotics.

Anyways, I wanted to share this because it took me so long to figure out why this happened or what it is, better yet just finding an answer was a task, even my Vet couldn't find the exact cause other than possible tumor, infection.

What I did find was this...... and want to share in case this ever happens to your bully as according to what I researched it MOSTLY happens to just English Bulldogs....

"Based on age and breed - as well as history - what you are likely describing is a urethral prolapse (MUCH less likely to be a cancer or tumor)

Urethral prolapse and neoplasia are most common in dogs, especially English bulldogs and Boston terriers, and most often affects young to middle aged male dogs. The prolapsed urethra is a red or purple, swollen, doughnut-shaped mass protruding from the distal end of the penis. Urethral cancer most often affects middle aged to older female dogs"

More info found here

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/urethral-prolapse-and-neoplasia/page1.aspx

Infections sometimes cause it and can be cured with antibiotics (as in Reubens case, so thankful it just took some meds in his case) but as you will read this can be very serious and could need surgey as in Amputation of the prolapsed urethral.....

Just wanted to share this with you other bulldog owners, as was very difficult to find info on this, and glad I did, as even most vets dont give you the exact information you want when you go for a visit, can be frustrating after paying a large vet bill and walk out of the office with not an exact answer... hate that feeling.....