Yorkie Terrier Dog – Urinary Problems Or Prostate?

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.

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.

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!