Our male GSD intact, just over 2 years old (B-day 11/26/04) was diagnosed about a month ago with a bladder infection, and an enlarged prostate. (this was his second bladder infection - the first was somewhere between 12 months and 18 months of age)

I am grateful that our trainer suggested having his prostate checked on this second (recent) bladder infection. The bladder infection and enlarged prostate were confirmed by the vet, and he was on a course of heavy anti-biotics (Batril? something like that) for 3 weeks.

He went today for his follow up. The bladder infection has subsided, but the prostate is still enlarged. The vet recommended neutering. We have no problem neutering as we have never had designs on breeding him anyway. But the follow up questions were disturbing to me:

1) Q: What do you believe causes an enlarged prostate? A: Excess testosterone production, or other causes.

2) Q: What are the risks associated with enlarged protate? A: Cancer, or other problems.

3) Q: What do you recommend? A: Neuter.

4) Q: If we neuter, will we eliminate or at least minimize the risk of cancer or other prostate problems? A: No, not necessarily. Probably you will, but that's all we can say.

I plan to take him for a consult with the holistic vet. I'm not opposed to neutering - as I said before he's not planned "breeding stock" anyway. But I don't want to take the surgical (and subsequent anesthesia) risk if removing his nuts won't postively affect the problem.

While I will give great credence to the opinion of the holistic vet, I am also very respectful of the wealth of experience here. Whether he keeps his nutters or not, we want to avoid cancer by any means we can. Any comments?

Many Thanks,
Beth

Beth,
My retired male that lives at my parents had the same diagnosis.
We had him neutered and he still at times has a problem urinating, go figure.He's been on meds for a long time, we recently took him off due to the fact that he was gaining so much weight and loosing hair from thyroid problems after his surgery.He is doing good today, he used to look better but his health is as good as it's going to get, all besides his extreme allergies.But no cancer in sight.We were told the same things as you , I can say that the surgery was kind of a success, i don't know it did not stop the problem IMO, like I say my father tells me tha the still at times (not all the time) tries to urinate and 2 drops come out.. I wish you luck and hope the surgery is a success for your dog.

Hi Angelique - thanks for your reply. Can I ask you some questions?

How old was your male when he was originally diagnosed? How old is he now? What meds is he on, and what additional info can you provide that the vet gave you about his condition, meds, etc.?

I sincerely hope that a neutering (or some other magic solution) will solve this problem for Ferguson. He is the most awesome dog I have ever lived with. He's a "bastard" on the SchH field in PR, but also a wonderful "first" dog for my hubby in OB and on the track. I just don't want to lose him - period.

Thanks Angelique for your early response, and thanks in advance if you can help with my questions above. And thanks in advance to anyone else who might be in a position to help.

Beth

Beth, I don't know whether this is true or not, but I have heard that males can get an enlarged prostate from prolonged wxposure to bitches in season.

Beth,
He was 3 years old he is now 6.His med (sorry) I would have to ask my father what they were and are now.Mostly antibiotics(that I remember) I'll find out for you and PM you the list.
He also was on heavy Meds for his allergies, so I retired him, I felt as if he did not need the stress .Not that bringing him to the field wasn't fun for him but I felt he would be best relaxing and recovering at my parents.I don't think it will affect your dogs ability to go out and perform any exercise, he might be taking "medical leave" but other than that Beth , don't worry too much , if the neutering is all you can do , do it, for us we had no choice ,he was doing pretty bad, had infections in his bladder could not urinate, ect..Your dog will be back on track .. remember mine had other issues beside the prostate, he was on steroids for his skin infections so he was worse off to start.But he is doing well now I am sure I could bring him back out for a bite now and then but my parents don't want him to do any bite work ,he's become a lap dog and a spoiled one I might add.But don't worry , your dog will be fine and I don't think he'll change much.He'll still be a "bastard on the field !
I wish you the best..

The sequelae to an enlarged prostate is not usually cancer but bladder issues, unability to urinate and septicemia (total body infection).

If he can't pee- the urine backs up in the bladder. The bladder itself after a period of time totally distended becomes unable to contract or can rupture. Since no urine is leaving the body, kidneys are no longer able to filter out the junk going through the system and toxins build up.

The infection in the prostate can also travel throughout the body. Bad enough and it's a medical emergency with low survival rates.

Here's an article on prostate issues in dogs. ACVC article on dignosis and treatment of prostate disease

Kidney damage...renal failure...is no joke. A dog can, in many instances, bounce back from cancer but if his kidneys are damaged and failing then it becomes only a matter of time. I've seen it happen in young dogs and it is terribly sad.

have you had any x-rays done on him? I had a rott that had an enlarged prostate and in his case it was cancer. The only symthoms he ever showed was a bout of what the vet thought were gas pains every once in a while. It didn't happen enough for us to suspect that he had any serious problems until it was too late to do anything about it.

Yours is a younger dog, most likely that's not the case with him but I would have further testing to make sure.

good luck,

Beth, you can only take one issue at a time and deal with what is really going on, not with what "might" happen. All bridges crossed when you come to them. An enlarged prostate doesn't automatically mean future cancer probability in a dog (nor in a man). That being said, dogs get neutered all the time and if that helps his present condition, it might be the best thing to do. I have concerns with anesthesia too (and have been under it myself as well as many of my loved ones), but we can only control what WE can control. As far as anesthesia is concerned, we can control who administers it, at least with our pets, like having the best we can find, along with the vet who does the surgery.

I found this article, might be good for you to read: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1629&articleid=914
I'm sure there are many more out there that will help you decide what to do and be comfortable with your decision.

Sandy and Beth,

This may ease your mind somewhat about anesthesia. There was a point in veterinary medicine...some time ago...when the anesthesia that was commonly available WAS risky. So many people remember this, or have heard the horror stories about it, that anesthesia fears are probably the thing we hear most from clients.

Most...many...all vets now use Isofluorane (sp?) which is a very safe anesthetic.

If/when you're concerned you can always have your vet run a pre-op blood panel. A health condition that might make anesthesia risky would more than likely show up there. Every senior dog (7+ years) should have a 12 chemistry blood panel done before anesthesia.

Neutering is a quick, easy procedure...so quick, in fact, that you would probably throttle your vet for what he charges if you knew how little time and effort it actually takes