DOG URINARY PROBLEMS

If your dogs normal urinary functions change you should investigate the cause. If your dog strains to pass water, bladder stones, mineral sediment or infections are the cause, and can be serious problems. Increased amounts of urine passed can mean a urinary infection or serious illness, diabetes or hormonal changes. Incontinence mostly affects older dogs but can occur in younger dogs.

Excess drinking can be serious so check with your vet.

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Straining to urinate

Bladder and urethra infections can cause inflammations and the dog may need to pass water even though the bladder is empty. The same thing happens to male dogs if the prostate gland is swollen or the penis is inflamed. Urine can sometimes contain blood and pus. Bitches have a straining problem if they have vaginal infections. If mineral stones develop in the bladder causing straining, the dog will suffer pain.

Treatment

You dog could die if he can't pass water for more than a few days so urgent veterinary treatment is essential. Take your dog's urine sample to the vet and he will test it and be able to prescribe suitable medication. For urinary problems he will prescribe the usual antibiotics but may give the dog urinary acidifiers as well if he suspects there is alkaline in the infection. A urinary catheter can clear a severe blockage and bladder stones are diagnosed with X ray. 

 
  Incontinence

Dogs are not usually aware that they are incontinent. It usually happens when they are lying down and get up or when they are excited. It is most frequent in females, particularly if they have been spayed and is associated with a hormonal imbalance or a displacement of the bladder. Spinal injuries that affect the nerve supply to the bladder or a urinary tract infection also cause incontinence. There can be a natural deterioration of bladder control in elderly dogs.

Treatment

Hormone treatment can be given by the vet to spayed females and male dogs with urinary infections. X rays can be taken of the bladder and if the bladder is displaced then there is surgery to correct it. Vets are able to give the dog antibiotics for infections while anabolic hormones can help control sphincter muscle tone in older dogs.

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Increased urination

Dogs urinate more often if they have kidney or bladder problems.  Some liver disease, sugar diabetes and diabetes insipidus, (where the body is unable to concentrate urine properly) all mean there will be increased thirst and larger amounts of urine. Lack of proper kidney filtration, most common in older and very young dogs results in increased thirst and dilute urine being passed. Similar symptoms occur when the adrenal gland produces too much cortisone (Cushing's disease) or if the dog is being treated with cortisone.

Treatment

Take a urine sample to the vet to be tested for sugar, liver waste products and protein. Infections are treated with antibiotics. When filtration is weakened, treatment means reducing the kidney's workload by eliminating protein from the diet and replacing it with carbohydrates, sugars and fats. Sugar diabetes is treated with diet changes and insulin and sugar insipidus is treated with hormone drops to the eye, and that improves the ability for urine concentration. Cushing's disease is treated with tablets or by removal of the overactive thyroid gland.

Decreased urination

Dogs conserve fluid if they are ill or dehydrated. Any urine passed is dark gold and sticky and no straining occurs. During the last stages of kidney failure the urine passed is much less and very watery. The dog will have lost all the body's fat deposits and most muscle and will be very listless.

Give plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. If kidney failure is suspected, immediate veterinary attention is needed to enable the kidneys to start working again. The vet can give the dog large amounts of fluid by intravenous means. Because of the build up of waste products, peritoneal dialysis is used, a method by which litres of fluids are washed through the abdominal cavity.

 
 
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