Occasional blood at prepuce of 10 mo old puppy

[Where_sMyWhite]

I have a 10 month old puppy, intact. He’s always had a bit of “discharge” at his prepuce (white, “creamy”) which vet did not think was infection and said some dogs have more than others.

In the last few months, we have a few incidents of fresh appearing blood at his prepuce. Red definitely (i.e., not pale pink). Not bleeding (I can clean it up and no new blood appears). Sometimes a reasonable amount and sometimes a few drops.

Does not happen all the time. I’ll see this and then notice nothing for a few weeks.

Vet x-rayed him, no crystals or stones. Urine showed Ph slightly basic. A few red cells and a few white cells but nothing drastic.

My breeder said that sometimes she’s seen other younger dogs do this but didn’t know what causes it. Vet isn’t sure what it is but she also doesn’t see many intact dogs.

Anyone else seen this? Ideas? Thoughts?

Oh, “good” quality food - Fromm and Honest Kitchen. Not grain-free (both mine are doing ok and I’d rather not go grain-free if I don’t have to).

Only the intact puppy is doing this. 3 year old neutered male has never done this that I’ve seen.

[csaper58]

Does puppy lick himself a lot? Could be he is horny and abusing himself and doing damage. Un-bred stallions will sometimes bite their flanks bloody out of frustration.

Can the vet sedate him and examine his penis for abrasions or such?

Or if he is hairy, some times urine collects on the hair and gives bacteria a place to grow.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I don’t think he’s overly licking himself. I don’t think he’s abusing himself either.

Not sure where abrasions would be coming from. It happens maybe once every 2-3 weeks so not frequent and when it happens, no apparent residual bleeding…

Not particularly hairy either

[S1969]

Well, I don’t think it’s because he’s intact; I’ve never had this situation with either of my two intact males.

I also wondered if he was licking or “enjoying his manhood” a little too much? I might track it and see if you can come up with anything else that the episodes have in common - after running through fields; after being in crate, ?

[jetsmom]

Is he humping any cacti??? (Jk)

[Calamber]

Either bladder infection/UTI or (and I had this with a puppy who had been hit by a car), something has scraped the urinary tract causing bleeding (crystals)? Creamy substance from prepuce in a 10 month intact puppy is perfectly normal as it is semen and almost all will have the cup runneth over moments.

[Where_sMyWhite]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;8429634]
Is he humping any cacti??? (Jk)[/QUOTE]

Ok, this made me laugh :lol:

I suppose it’s possible but I haven’t seen him try that with any other objects…

[Where_sMyWhite]

[QUOTE=Calamber;8429714]
Either bladder infection/UTI or (and I had this with a puppy who had been hit by a car), something has scraped the urinary tract causing bleeding (crystals)? Creamy substance from prepuce in a 10 month intact puppy is perfectly normal as it is semen and almost all will have the cup runneth over moments.[/QUOTE]

No crystals or stones visible on x-ray, no high white or red blood cell counts to indicate UTI. Only “out of the ordinary” was slightly basic Ph in the urine…

He’s had that creamy “stuff” since I’ve had him at 6 months of age… he went through about 4-6 weeks where exposing himself was quite popular but that has pretty much stopped. The only part of this that I think is weird is he almost always has it… would that cup run over that much?

He certainly appears to be happy and healthy with good appetite. No running in fields, just in the smallish back yard… Usually only in the crate to eat…

I’ll keep an eye on it but thought with a few breeders here that maybe someone else had seen something like this…

[Beethoven]

A little story from my theriogenologist professor in vet school:

He had a client who had an intact male that had penile bleeding from unknown origin. No one could figure it out which is how he ended up at a theriogenologist who also could not discover the source of the “bleeding”. Turns out the dog was sliding across the owners hardwood floors with his penis out and getting tiny abrasions on his penis which was why they saw the occasional bleeding/blood.

So just a thought to look out for some behavioural cause as it seems that medical cause has been ruled out thus far.

[Calamber]

Yes, the cup can run over that much. You did not say what breed is the puppy? Some do mature pretty fast. My JRT ran over pretty much all of the time until he was neutered. Did the vet examine the sheath pretty thoroughly?

[Beckham03]

Smegma on the prepuce happens on neutered dogs too. Some just have more then others.

[Where_sMyWhite]

[QUOTE=Calamber;8430072]
Yes, the cup can run over that much. You did not say what breed is the puppy? Some do mature pretty fast. My JRT ran over pretty much all of the time until he was neutered. Did the vet examine the sheath pretty thoroughly?[/QUOTE]

Border Terrier

His breeder prefers to wait until 18 months for them to physically mature before neutering. He’s not breeding material so saving any swimmers isn’t an issue

I would say not a thorough exam of the sheath but he’s also very timid around strangers so even listening to his heart is a challenge. He was not impressed with his prostate check

[Where_sMyWhite]

One of the more significant bleeding events happened in the middle of the night. He woke me up licking (I think to clean himself up) and blood spots (looked like blood and serum 3-4" in diameter) on the bedspread…

Could be rubbing but I don’t see him exhibiting any of that behavior when I’m watching him (unless he’s out making friendly with that cactus in the back yard ).

[Beethoven]

Was his prostate painful on palpation? Sounds like it maybe time to try and collect prostatic fluid or do a prostatic wash as that could be another source. I would think prostatitis is not common in a puppy but never say never when it comes to medicine.

[Where_sMyWhite]

I don’t know if the prostate was painful as he was totally not impressed by the rectal in the first place.

How do you collect prostatic fluid for analysis? Glad I’m not a dog