Urine Color

16.1 Urine Color In general, the amount of urine an animal makes depends upon how much water it drinks.

59 If an animal drinks a lot of water, then it makes more urine and the urine is more dilute. Conversely, an animal that does not drink much water has less urine, which is more concentrated (i.e. bright yellow in color). Therefore, the appearance of an animal’s urine, can provide an indication of how much water it is drinking. If the urine is bright yellow, then the animal has not drunk enough water. If the urine is pale yellow, then it has had enough to drink.

There are also some diseases that make the color of the urine change. For instance, if an animal has hepatitis, then the urine can be a muddy, brown color (although hepatitis is very rare in livestock and horses). An animal that has eaten certain poisonous plants, or that has an infection in the urinary system may have red urine (i.e. due to blood in it).