Dog is Unable to Concentrate Urine
Your dog’s body regulates the amount of water it allows in its urine. For example, if your dog is poorly hydrated, its body will want to conserve water and allow less water into its urine. This regulatory action is called “concentrating.” If your vet suspects that your dog’s body is concentrating its urine incorrectly, your vet may run a urine specific gravity test to figure out how concentrated its urine is (how much water it contains).
Dogs that have unusually high specific gravity have hypersthenuria. This means signs of a chemical imbalance, often pointing to kidney issues. These are some signs if your dog is unable to concentrate its urine:
It’s best to consult a veterinarian if your dog cannot concentrate their urine. They likely have a urinary and/or bladder infection or kidney issues.
Causes for Dog’s Urine that has Strong Odors
Below are three common infections and diseases that cause dog urine to have (or appear to have) a strong odor: urinary tract infections, kidney disease, and anal gland buildup.
Dog urinary tract infections (UTIs) typically cause your dog’s urine to smell extremely sour or like rotting fish. Most bacterial infections will cause your dog’s urine to smell fishy. Other urine symptoms of a UTI include cloudy urine, darker than normal urine, and peeing more than usual. In addition, your dog may likely be straining, have difficulty urinating, or have some type of blood in its urine, creating a metallic dog urine smell. If your dog is very well potty trained, they also might be having accidents around the house since your dog may have difficulty holding their urine in.
To diagnose a UTI, your veterinarian will need to collect and analyze a sample of your dog’s urine. They will analyze the urine sample for the presence of white blood cells and let the urine cultivate for bacteria. They can then test if the bacteria is related to a UTI. It typically takes a few days to analyze the urine and diagnose a dog with a UTI. In the meantime, your dog will likely be prescribed an antibiotic to target the bacteria and make it more comfortable when urinating. The antibiotics should help if your dog’s urine has a strong odor. 10,819 Reviews
Typically, dogs with kidney disease will have a foul odor, and their urine will smell metallic if they urinate blood. In addition, you may notice that your dog’s breath smells like ammonia. Like humans, kidneys help balance the waste in a dog’s body, specifically in blood. This includes maintaining salt, water, blood pressure, calcium, and phosphorous levels.
When a dog’s kidneys don’t function properly, toxins build up in a dog, and it will become sick. Kidney disease is often associated with age, so if your dog is on the older side, it may exhibit signs of kidney disease. Dog kidney disease is treated with IV fluids, antibiotics, and diuretics. In extreme cases, your dog will have to get surgery. 2,006 Reviews
Owners often get confused when their dog smells like iron, metal, or other metallic materials when relieving itself. They think it is coming from their dog’s urine when the smell is actually coming from their dog’s anal glands. Dogs have two anal glands on the inside of their rectum that secrete a very distinct smell. If a dog cannot release their anal glands when pooping, then the anal glands build up and create a metallic smell in your dog.
Dogs are regularly supposed to release their anal glands when they poop, but if your dog has softer stools, they typically cannot release their anal glands. You can either clean your dog’s anal glands yourself or take them to a veterinarian to have them cleaned. This should get rid of your dog’s metallic smell.
A UTI is the most common cause if your dog’s urine smells fishy. In fact, UTIs will affect more than 14% of all dogs throughout their lifetime. In addition, female dogs are significantly more likely to get UTIs, but UTIs can also appear in male dogs. We recommend you immediately collect a sample of your dog’s urine and take it to a veterinarian to get tested. Even if you can’t get a sample, you should still take your dog in as soon as possible. UTIs will make your dog uncomfortable and can be potentially dangerous if left untreated. In addition, veterinarians can help rule out bladder cancer or kidney disease if your dog is urinating blood.
Cloudy urine can indicate an infection, bladder crystals, or stones. It could also indicate protein in the urine.
There are some litters that claim to change color in response to changes in your cat’s urine. While these are great in theory, they are not always reliable.
If you have more than one cat using the same litter box, it can be hard to determine which one is having an issue. If one cat shows other signs, such as more time at the water bowl or less interest in cat food, that can help narrow it down.
Yellow: This may indicate concentrated urine, in which case your dog or cat should be encouraged to drink more water. Cat or dog water fountains may increase water intake. Some pets prefer to drink out of cups rather than bowls and others prefer glass to metal.
*Note: Clear urine is not necessarily dilute nor is yellow urine necessarily concentrated. But it is a good first guideline.
5 Signs that your Dog has a Urinary Problem | How to Spot Urinary Problems in your Dog?
Do you smell a strong, chemical-like odor any time after your dog urinates? The chief culprit of this smell is likely to be the waste product in the dog’s urine. While urine that smells like ammonia isn’t always a major cause for concern, there may be some cases when it can be.