Dribbling Urine

[Meandmy]

I'm looking to see if anyone has any ideas on this.

 

Shadow had surgery 2 weeks ago to remove a hemangiopericytoma from his hind right knee (you can read that saga here) He's doing great and healing up nicely.

 

Since his surgery he has been dribbling a bit of urine. It's not all the time, only for a short while after he urinates, or when we mess with his wound (which we have to do fairly often). It's not usually a lot, just a few drips, or occasionally up to maybe a tablespoon or so (not that I've measured!). I've also noticed that when he pees, he'll sometime still go a bit after he drops his leg and starts walking away.

 

He's been on amoxicillin since the surgery, but the vet took a urine sample anyway, just in case. He doesn't have a UTI.

 

The vet is going to call me tomorrow, but seemed perplexed when I spoke with him about it today.

 

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this something that might be related to the surgery and will go away with time? Or do I need to start looking at belly bands?

 

Thanks for your thoughts

[silverfish]

I haven't had it happen after surgery, but Jim used to get the occasional bout of balanitis - infection in the sheath. It meant he got a build up of gunk in there but it didn't show up on urine testing. We had to just flush it out with barely warm saline, and you wouldn't believe the stuff that came out!

 

You could try it. It can't hurt and might make him feel better if it's that. Odd that it happened after surgery though .. I wonder if it's anything to do with the antibiotics he was given. You could perhaps add some natural (live) yogurt to his food to help him repopulate with good bacteria?

[Burpdog]

Do a urine culture although not sure if that works while he is on antibiotics. Same with a urinalysis.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much yet.

[turbotaina]

Do a urine culture although not sure if that works while he is on antibiotics. Same with a urinalysis.

 

I wouldn't worry about it too much yet.

 

Ideally the dog would be off antibiotics for 7 - 10 days in order to get a good reading.

[Guest greyvettech]

A urine culture would be a good idea-yes, he does need to be off ab for atleast 10 days though-How old is he? I was thinking incontinence but not if he's a young guy, that wouldn't be the case...

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

My Alex showed signs of a UTI after his amputation (3 days in a row of peeing in the house which he had never done before). I suspected he got it from the catheter. A round of antibiotics and it cleared right up.

[Meandmy]

I haven't had it happen after surgery, but Jim used to get the occasional bout of balanitis - infection in the sheath. It meant he got a build up of gunk in there but it didn't show up on urine testing. We had to just flush it out with barely warm saline, and you wouldn't believe the stuff that came out!

 

I'm wondering if this may be the case. Shadow has always been very, ummmm, meticulous about keeping his hoo-hah clean but with him wearing sweats to keep his knee covered, he hasn't been able to get to his parts very easily.

 

So, uh, how exactly do I go about this?

 

[silverfish]

Make up a saline solution with about a teaspoon of salt to a pint of water. You'll need to use a small amount of hot water to dissolve the salt, but make sure that you add enough cold water to give you a solution which is only just barely warm. Use a large syringe, or anything which will squirt water and which has a completely smooth nozzle - I used a plastic sauce bottle, and no it didn't go back into service afterwards. Insert the end just inside the sheath. If you pull the sheath forward and down a little you'll create a little gap which will help you avoid the tip of the penis. Squirt three or four syringe-fulls up into the sheath to flush out any gunk, being extremely careful not to jab him inside the sheath as you do so - the lining is delicate. Take as much care as you do cleaning eyes or ears.

 

It's best to do this outside, and have something on the ground underneat him to catch the results in. If you think he'd be happier, you could do it with him lying on a bed, but gravity helps, and if you do it with him lying down you'll need something like a couple of puppy pee pads plus towels under him because you need to use a lot of saline. Be prepared for nasty stuff - Jim used to get produce stuff which looked almost like limescale or plaque.

 

You'll probably also need someone to hold him, unless he's VERY tolerant. Jim used to just stand there and let me do it, without even a collar on - actually I think he rather liked it. Jack would probably break my nose the moment I touched him, unless someone was holding him very firmly indeed. Luckily I haven't had to do this for him. Yet.