There are a number of reasons why any breed of dog can develop urinary problems. Urinary tract diseases are very broad based.
My Yorkie Terrier started straining and having a hard time trying to urinate on a Friday night. She seemed fine all week and all day Friday and then it seems like all of a sudden that night she started straining to urinate and obviously felt pressure that she had to go constantly. He was spinning around and trying to lift his leg around, but nothing came out.
There were no warning signs of any problems. Didn’t pass any blood in the urine. The next day, being Saturday, he went urgently to the on-call vet, who, of course, was not his usual vet. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and given some medication. The vet told me that by Saturday night I should be much better. Well that didn’t happen. There was no improvement over the weekend, so he went to his regular vet on Monday. He had him all day, running tests and blood tests. He found no trace of a urinary tract infection, but diagnosed an enlarged prostate.
Enlarged prostate! Yes, male dogs can have this problem just like men. His vet did a prostate exam, it’s the same for dogs as it is for men. She concluded that her prostate was enlarged and causing urinary problems. She had no idea why this seemed to happen so suddenly. Prostate problems occur in many dogs over the age of five, but most show no effect. Elderly dogs are usually the most affected.
This enlarged prostate gland normally expands into the rectum, which can cause straining of the stool and diarrhea. My Yorkie was never able to relieve herself normally again. He was such a small dog and his prostate was so big that it was affecting everything.
He was cauterized and that seemed to help. Because of his age, he couldn’t tolerate some of the tests the vet wanted to do. He had arthritis and a collapsed windpipe, which when he was stressed caused him to cough uncontrollably. His vet handled him very carefully and with great consideration for his condition.
Castration is sometimes the only treatment of choice, as it removes the stimulus for the prostate to enlarge. Preventing prostate enlargement in your dog is an excellent reason to neuter him as a puppy. My Yorkie wasn’t neutered when I got him and I didn’t realize the problems that could come from this at the time. He had several different vets during his life, but none of them suggested castration to prevent prostate problems. This is something that needs to be done BEFORE the dog develops problems. Not after the problem starts in an older dog. My Yorkie was 13 years old and, at the time, neutering would not have helped.
It is always advisable to pay attention to the daily routine of your dogs. You may be able to spot problems before they start and get out of control. If your dog is an older dog, just because he’s lifting his paw doesn’t mean something’s coming out!