Do You Check Your Senior Dog’s “Peemail”?

Editor’s Note: This is a post from our archives.

Two of my favorite dog health blogs have recently focused on the visible clues urine provides to health issues that may be brewing inside your dog’s body. Jana Rade at Dawg Business: It’s Your Dog’s Health! starts the conversation by noting dogs’ deep interest in reading each other’s “peemail”:

“You might think that dogs can’t read but they can!” writes Rade. “Only their required reading isn’t written in words.

‘If reading scents is, for dogs, the equivalent of reading a written message, then the canine equivalent of ink is urine.’—Stanley Coren, How to Speak Dog

Leaving urine markings, to dogs, is like sending out a resume. If dogs get so much information from each other’s urine, could we? Indeed, we can! Examination of a dog’s urine can provide a great deal of information about their physical condition and health.“

In her article, “What’s In The Urine? (Part 1: What You Can Notice On Your Own),” Rade goes on to explain three types of symptoms of urinary problems and then provides potentially lifesaving details on what different colors of urine can tell you about your senior dog’s health. I urge you to read Rade’s “What’s In The Urine? (Part 1: What You Can Notice On Your Own) here.

I also recommend Dr. Nancy Kay’s post, “Urinary Accidents,” on her Speaking for Spot’s Blog, in which she says that if a house-trained dog is having episodes of inappropriate urination the cause is most likely “an underlying medical issue.” Several comments on Dr. Kay’s post include personal stories from caregivers who are managing their senior dog’s incontinence issues. Read “Urinary Accidents” here.