Meade...a sure fire way to determine if it is kidney failure....get a can of salmon or mackeral cat food....if the hound eats at it....then you have another problem...probably intestinal.
If the hound does not eat at it....most likely kidney failure....reason they do not eat nor drink....the "uric acid" has gotten into their system and everything they taste,eat, or drink tastes of urine.
My vet did this to a couple of mine...saved me a lot of money....and an easy test.
Not too sure about the bloody drool...but had one that had a twisted intestine from running so hard, caused internal hemorrage, and bled out in a few hours. Nothing I could do to help and happend so quick, could not get him to the vet. But that was the diagnosis vet gave me at a later appointment with another hound.
Hope you have better luck than I did. And by the way....if you save them; they seem to never get over it 100% and never run the same.
Gosh...seems like I'm not the bearer of very good news after reading what I posted.....

Allan Bishop
(Jabber Jaw)

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