Vets stumped, need suggestions!!! - Page 5

ok- could he have na enlarged prostate which could be pressing up against the eurethra making it hard for him to urinate? Did the vet check his prostate?

Poor guy- hope they can find out what is causing the problem . He sounds like such a sweet boy... To think he was going to be euthanized...... unbelievable!

He was not able to have BMs either. The vet did check his prostate and said it was normal.

He is a VERY sweet boy. The cats beat him up and he hides. lol. He doesn't fight to be catheterized... just lets it
be done. He is so tolerant. Everyone who meets him falls in love with him.

He may be coming over here for a day or 2 over the weekend while she's at work so I we can continue to empty his
bladder and keep an eye on him.

The anti inflammatory is a good idea. If the vet doesn't already have him on one, I'll suggest it to her.

Melissa

and remember what his shelter description said! Pffffffffffffffffffff! He would have been dead if not for you!

UPDATE:

Chance is peeing, but not normal. He is dribbling urine a lot. The vet does not know if his bladder will shrink back to normal and regain normal function.
They are giving time for the meds to work and pray. He was in for more xrays that showed an old disk injury, last 2 at the base of the spine before the
tail.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are much appreciated for this sweet gentle boy.

Melissa

any changes with meds?....how is he doing? 

Vicki and I talked last night. His attitude is excellent, peeing normal but still dribbling urine. She has an ace bandage with a pad in it wrapped around him like
a belly band LOL. He had his vet checkup and the vet is happy with his progress but feels he is still not out of the woods. He is on anti inflammatories for the
disk injuries and other meds for his bladder.

Melissa

Poor Sarge...... Prayers for him to get better and fully recover!!

Thanks for update...good to hear there is improvement.

Melba, I am a former nurse. One of the things I sometimes had to do was to monitor patients recovering from bladder problems. After the patient had recovered enough for the indwelling foley catheter to come out, we'd visit them, ask them to pee, then do an in-and--out catheterization. If the urine left in the bladder was below a certain amount they would need no further treatment. Above a certain amout, and we'd have to come back and catheterize them a couple of times a day. (Some were able to learn to do it themselves.) If this wasn't done, it would prevent the bladder from shrinking back to its normal size, and getting back its tone and elasticity.

Sooo, I am just wondering if the owner should be continuing to catheterize this dog, in spite of it being able to pee on its own now.

Well, I went and visited with Chance last night. He slept for about an hour with his head and half of his upper body in my lap lol. He was
not dribbling urine any longer, but now he is having trouble peeing and having a BM again. Vicki said she was going to take him back up to the vets today...
waiting to hear what they said.

On a side note, when they took the additional xrays of his spine, they did not sedate him and he was happy to lay still, on his back for the duration. LOL
The vet said that his hips are the most perfect set of GSD xrays that have ever walked into his office. You can deffinately see the problematic areas in
the disks.

Do you think lifelong anti inflammatories are an option, provided we can get Chance past this hump? I hate rimadyl (and one of her patrol dogs had to be
pts at 7 yrs old because of liver problems associated with its use). Are there other meds that will keep the disk inflammation under control so that he
can live a semi normal life?

Melissa