Dogs owners are often heard complaining about the pet’s habit of urinating in inappropriate places. The smell of dog urine inside the house would be a no joking matter. Dogs are intelligent animals. Most would adapt to housebreaking admirably. However, the inherent habits of these animals often times cause them to forget their housebreaking training. Dogs’ habit of marking territories is one of the concerns of pet owners especially if the pet has taken to marking places inside the house. When it comes to the dog’s urinating issue, other dog owners have a different concern. Are you one of the dog owners concerned about the pet’s inability to urinate?
Similar to humans, animals too have to excrete waste material from the body. Urine is formed when the kidneys filters the waste materials from the blood. Inability to urinate would cause the dog pain. Urine that is not excreted for 2 to 3 days can result to the death of the pet. Remember, the bladder is full of toxins that can be absorbed by the body if not excreted. This of course would result to various complications. Moreover, the accumulation of urine can cause the bladder to rupture. Inability to urinate is a life threatening situation. If you noticed your pet straining to urinate and only producing trickles of urine or not excreting urine at all, head to a veterinary facility at once. This is an emergency situation!
Dogs are known to squirt urine every now and then because of their natural habit of marking the territory. The inability to pass urine is therefore not a behavioral concern but caused by a health concern. One of the common reasons why a dog would not be able to urinate is a blockage in the urethra. Gravel-like stones that are formed when the urine has high alkaline content will block the tube where urine empties from the bladder. These stones will make urinating painful and difficult. Laser treatment and medications that will dissolve the stones are the common treatment options. Large stones though are surgically removed. Tumors on the urinary tract can make the urethra narrower making urinating difficult for the pet.
In male dogs, urinating difficulties can be due to prostate problems. As the dog ages, the prostate gland that is wrapped around the urethra enlarges making the tube where urine passes narrower. Swelling of the prostate gland due to infection would also slow the flow of urine. The dog’s urinating difficulty can be due to urinary tract infection. UTI is more common in female dogs because the wider and shorter urethra makes it easier for infectious agents to access the bladder. A dog with urinary tract infection would have a foul smelling and cloudy urine. Urinating difficulty is a typical symptom of the infection.
As mentioned, a dog with urinating difficulty would need immediate veterinary attention. An antibiotic course is the common treatment procedure for UTI. Surgery may be necessary to remove the tumor and the bladder stones. With the advancement in veterinary medicine, treating the dog’s urinating concern would not be a difficult task. The dog’s urinating problem tends to recur. A pet owner has to take measures that will prevent the recurrence of the dog’s urinary problems. A dog owner would need to provide the pet with the right diet. Too much magnesium in the diet can result to the formation of stones thus magnesium-rich foods must be avoided. Enough water consumption is very important as it flushes out bacteria and dilutes urine thus formation of bladder stones are prevented. Dogs kept in crates all day are more prone to urinating difficulties as these pets would not poop or pee while inside the crate. It is necessary for the pet to be taken out of the crate several times a day to give it a chance to do its business.