What Is Urinary Retention in Dogs?
Urinary retention, or difficulty urinating, happens when your dog is unable to pass urine normally. This can be exceptionally uncomfortable for your dog and is a medical emergency.
Dr. Jerry Klein, Chief Veterinary Officer, urges owners to contact their veterinarian anytime they suspect that their dogs might be having difficulty urinating.
Once you have contacted your veterinarian and have set up an tie to come in, understanding the possible causes can help prepare you for your visit.
As you research urinary retention, you may come across a few different terms that can be confusing, especially functional urinary retention versus mechanical.
Functional urinary retention is caused by a problem with the organ itself. This is different from a mechanical obstruction, which occurs when something is blocking the passage of urine. Both can lead to urinary retention, but the causes can differ, making this distinction important to your veterinarian.
What are the symptoms?
Technically, in animals they’re called clinical signs, not symptoms, but it means the same thing. In the case of your dog, she’s able to urinate, but it’s taking her two or more goes to empty her bladder. This is technically called “pollakiuria.”
The other problem you’ve noticed is that there was a drop of blood in the urine last time she went-this is called “haematuria.”
What medical problems could cause my dog to house soil?
There are numerous medical problems that could cause or contribute to house soiling, and these become increasingly more common as the dog ages. In fact, if you have an adult dog that begins to urinate in the home, or a puppy with a refractory house soiling problem, then a medical evaluation is indicated. This is of particular concern when there is an increase in drinking, an increase in frequency of elimination, an increase in volume of elimination, or a decrease in urine or stool control or incontinence. Any other concurrent medical signs and any medications that your pet may be taking may also be important to consider. Therefore the history that you provide is critical in reaching an accurate diagnosis.
For dogs that are urinating in the home, monitor how much your pet drinks, how often your pet urinates and where your pet is soiling. Any change in your dog’s normal routine should be reported. Dogs that drink more will have to urinate more often and may have poorer control. Diabetes, kidney disease, and Cushing’s disease (overproduction of steroids) are some of the problems that will need to be ruled out. Dogs that urinate more frequently or have discomfort when urinating might have a bladder infection or bladder stones. A puddle of urine where your dog has been napping or sleeping may indicate incontinence, while urine leaking when the dog is excited or frightened might indicate conflict induced urination. Dogs with brain diseases including cognitive dysfunction may eliminate with no particular pattern, as they may be unable to remember their house training rules. Eliminating on upright surfaces might be indicative of marking behavior.
For dogs that are passing stools in the home, monitor your dogs eating and elimination habits to determine if stool frequency has changed (less often, more often, less regular); whether stool consistency has changed (hard, soft, diarrhea, mucus or blood in the stool), whether your dog appears to have less control (sudden urge to eliminate), whether the stool passing appears to be painful, whether stool volume has changed (constipation versus large amounts) or lacks awareness of its elimination (fecal incontinence, with stool dropping out while walking or lying down).