There are a number of reasons that any breed of dog can
develop urinary problems.
Urinary tract diseases are very broad based.
My Yorkie Terrier
began straining and having difficulty trying to urinate one Friday
evening. He appeared fine all week and all day Friday and then it seems
that suddenly that evening he began straining to urinate and obviously
feeling pressure that he had to constantly go. He paced
around and was trying to raise his leg on everything, but there was
nothing coming out.
There were no warning
signs of any problems. He did not pass any blood in his urine.
The next day being Saturday, he went in as an emergency to
the on call vet, which, of course, was not his regular vet.
He was diagnosed with a
urinary tract infection and given some medication. The vet
told me that by Saturday evening he should be much better.
Well, that did not happen. There was no
improvement over the weekend, so on Monday he went to his regular
vet. She had him all day, taking tests and doing blood work. She
found no trace of urinary tract
infection, but she did diagnose him as having
an enlarged prostate.
Dogs and Prostate
Enlarged prostate!
Yes, male dogs can have this problem the same as
men. His vet did a prostate exam--it is the same for dogs as
it is for men.
She concluded that his prostate was enlarged and causing his urinary
problems. She had no clue as to why this seemed to occur so
suddenly.
Prostate problems do occur in many dogs over the age of five, but most
do not show any effects of it.
Elderly dogs usually are the ones that are effected the most.
This enlarged
prostate gland normally expands back into the rectum, which
can cause straining at stool and diarrhea.
My Yorkie was never able to relieve himself normally again. He
was such a small dog and the prostate was so large, that it was
effecting everything.
He was cauterized and that seemed to help. Because
of his age, he was not able to tolerate some of the tests that the
vet wanted to do. He was arthritic and had a collapsed trachea, which
when he became stressed, would cause him to cough uncontrollably. His
vet handled him very carefully and with much consideration of his
condition.
Neuter Your Male Dog
Sometimes castration is the only treatment
of choice, as it eliminates the stimulus for the prostate to
enlarge.
Preventing prostate enlargement in your dog is an excellent reason
to have him neutered as a
puppy. My Yorkie was not neutered when I got him and I did not
realize the problems that might develop from this at the time.
He had several different vets during his life, but none of them
suggested neutering to prevent prostate problems.
This is something that needs to be done BEFORE the dog develops
problems. Not after the problem begins on an older dog. My Yorkie was
13 and by this time, neutering would not have helped.
It is always wise to pay attention to your dogs
daily routine. You may be able to detect problems before they begin and
get out of control.
If your dog is an older dog, just because he
is raising his leg, does not mean there is anything coming out!
