Thanks Steve! I am seriously considering having him neutered in the near future for his health and potential issues. The vet I take him to does do laser surgery so hopefully his recovery will be shorter.

Apollo has been off the antibiotics for two weeks now. His urine is normal and he doesn't have any straining problems. I called the vet to see if I needed to do a follow up urinalysis now or just monitor him (and his urine) carefully. They said to just monitor him very closely and bring him back up if I notice any changes.

I think I am going to have him neutered next month. They have the laser surgery available there.

Hi Lee,

My 5 year old GSD developed blood in his urine and my vet neutered him immediately...problem solved. He lived to 12 years of age with no further prostate problems.

I hope the neutering solves the problem for your dog and precludes a lot of expensive tests. I would do the recommended pre-surgery blood test though, due to his age.

Good luck.

Mary Lynne

Thanks Mary! The vet did mention a blood test would be done before the surgery. I am just worried about him freaking out there once I drop him off. He hates the vet office enough when I am there with him... he's really going to go nuts when he's there without me.

I thought I would update my boy's situation here in case anyone else uses this thread for reference, as I do for so many other threads on this board.

The vet initially said as long as things were normal to just watch him and no further urinalysis was necessary. He was doing great for several months with no symptoms and I was watching him very carefully. Just recently he started showing signs of trouble urinating again so I scheduled him for neutering.

He had the neuter done last Thursday. The staff said he did great in the office without me so I was very proud. =)

They did find a tumor on one testicle which terrified me. I had them send it out for analysis and just this morning they came back with the results. I don't remember the exact name (I will find out) since I was so out of my mind with concern... but it is a cancerous kind that spreads very rarely. They said that if it had spread it would show by increased levels of estrogen and enlarged lymph nodes in his rear legs. They also said 100% of the tumor was removed with the testicle.

They said to keep an eye on him for any symptoms and to check the lymph nodes often. I am also going to schedule an ultrasound of the lymph nodes in a couple of weeks after he recovers from his neuter.

Within a day or two after his neuter, he was urinating completely normal again. Just once when outside with a steady stream... not going three or four times with a weak stream most of the time. His energy level is normal and he doesn't understand why I won't let him run or play until his surgery recovery is complete.

Thank you for posting an update, I wondered what happened to your dog.

I have a question regarding the ultrasound procedure. I went ahead and scheduled him for one and they came back with an estimated cost of $350-$500. That really made my jaw drop. I called the specialist office where he gets his ophthalmology exams and they said it would be around $430.

My question is, is this the best course of action for my boy? Are there any other tests that might be just as informative but not as expensive? I will definitely pay the price of the ultrasound if that's what it takes, I just never thought to ask the vet if there were any alternate tests that could be done that would be just as conclusive.

Lee, you will probably get better answers, because this one is just general, but I would probably call back and ask for a appointment for a phone conference, during which I'd go over what could be learned from it (any diagnostic procedure), how the knowledge could affect the treatment and recovery, and what the alternatives might be.

Good luck. Please keep us posted.

Thanks Connie! I did call them and ask that the doctor call me about the procedure. I will definitely bring those questions up!

The doctor said they could do an x-ray instead, but it wouldn't pick up much unless the lymph nodes were quite enlarged. The ultrasound can look for the possible spread of cancer not only in the lymph nodes but in the abdomen as well. She sounded pretty sure that this was the best course of action.

She said the cancer they found on his testicle only spreads in about 10% of the cases, but I need to know in case he needs treatment, so I went ahead and confirmed the date of the procedure. It will be $400.