Hello. Apollo is my almost eight year old GSD intact male. Recently when I take him outside first thing in the morning he seems to struggle to urinate. He'll go, but not much. Then he'll go down the yard a ways and try again. After I do my morning routine to get ready for work I take him out again just before I leave. He seems to be able to urinate much better at that time (steady stream, etc.). Same thing when I come home from work... struggles at first then a bit later on it seems better.

Two days ago he urinated in the house for the first time since he was a puppy. I thought it might have been just too cold for him to fully empty his bladder that morning and he was overly excited because I was shoveling snow (his favorite) while he was inside. Then he did it again in the same spot yesterday evening. I did some reading and it seemed like he needed to go to the vet for a possible UTI or bladder infection. His urine was dark and smelled bad, which I thought might just be because of the "Only Natural" Super Daily + Joint Support vitamin powder I give him.

He is on a raw diet per Lew Olsen's book and has been for several years. He also gets vitamin E and salmon oil per all the recommendations on this board.

I took him to the vet today with a urine sample. They ran the urinalysis and did not find any bacteria. They did find some red blood cells though. They gave me a "broad spectrum" antibiotic, Amoxicillin I believe, to give him for a week. They said if his urinating habits do not go back to normal after that it would be a good idea to get an ultrasound ($300-$500). They also did the old prostate exam on him. She said she could feel the tip and gave me the impression there was nothing way out normal there.

Their reasoning was that since there was no bacteria found in the urine, that something was aggravating his bladder or urethra, most likely his prostate. The antibiotics were given in case it is an infection they couldn't see.

Then they dropped the big "C" on me, that it could be prostate cancer. Needless to say, that made me very worried. He's my boy... it's just him and I, and he means quite a lot to me. They gave me a printout of some prostate issues, including the definition of "Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia" which does fit his symptoms.

I wanted to post this to see if the experts here agree with their diagnoses and plan of action since there is such a giant pool of knowledge here. Thank you in advance!

-Lee

Did they test for sediment or crystals in his urine I know in some older dogs with high protein diets can develop crystals in there urine first can cause an infection and or blockage. I dont know if this is your problem but if it was not ruled out its something to look into, esspically because protien crystals can be controled mostly by diet. Good luck

Another thought did they do blood work to rule out any kidney problems, if not base line bloodwork on a 8YO dog is not a bad idea by anymeans.

I'd get a blood work-up ASAP. When my Dobie, Odin, developed prostatitis, his symptoms were very much like you are describing. I actually ended up having to pass a catheter to enable him to urinate before we could get his infection down to the point he could have surgery. A high white blood cell count can indicate infection. Prostate infection is far more common in dogs than prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is much, much more rare in dogs than it is in men.
I hope that the antibiotics take care of this!

They didn't do any blood work. I'll ask them about that. I also asked about doing a urinary culture per an article I read on Lew Olens's site. They told me that since they didn't find any bacteria in his urine sample, they didn't think they could get a "culture to grow" and it would probably just be an extra expense.

There are lots of tests that could be run to nail down a diagnosis of your dog's problem. Blood tests to check for levels of white cells that might signal infection, or chemical tests of the blood to check kidney function. An ultrasound could help determine if he had bladder stones, or swelling of his prostate. An xray could check for tumors, or could be used to examine his spine,to see if a disc could be pushing on nerves that effect his voluntary control of peeing.
Giving a simple course of antibiotics, hoping that he has a prostate infection and that the medicine might clear it up, is a reasonable beginning IMO.
I hope it turns out well for you.

1) Get a clean catch urine sample. They'll have to catheterize the dog to do it.

2) They can ultrasound his prostate to see if it is enlarged.

3) Is he neutered?

Thanks for the great advice and info! He is not neutered, he is an intact almost 8 year old male. They did say that neutering him would be a potentially beneficial course of action.

After being on the antibiotics for 5 days now, he is back to urinating pretty normally. He waits until he gets to his favorite tree and goes with a steady stream. Then he'll lead me down to the woods where is other couple spots are and does the same. He's not struggling anymore and there is no weak streams. He's got 9 more days to go of the meds, then another urinalysis ten days after that to see if he's better.

Hey Lee, my Rott was neutered at 5 because of his prostate. The "old" test wasnt much good because the different vets hands werent big enough. All the same problems as your guy, but he formed bladder stones. Neutering makes the prostrate shrink.

It takes about two weeks if I remember right, and he's had no more problems in the last 2 1/2 years.