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My dog has bladder cancer. Is her frequent urination painful? How can I tell?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Cairn Terrier | Female | spayed | 16 years and 5 months old | 17 lbs

two months ago our 16yr old cairin terrier was diagnosed with bladder cancer. she is on piroxicam , still eating and drinking. however she attempts to urinate many times a day with either very little or no urine. Is this urination painful for her? how can i tell? vet says as long as she acts like she still wants to be here its ok but i don't want her to be in pain. she wears dog diaper at night. please help

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on February 9th, 2018

Hello, sorry to hear about Tiki. It depends on why she is having these frequent small urinations. Masses in the bladder can indeed cause an increase in urgency and dogs may want to urinate more frequently without having much pee to expel.

Unfortunately, depending on where the tumor is, if it is blocking the urine outflow tract, then the frequency of her attempts may be associated with being unable to urinate completely and thus needing to go more often. This process can indeed be be painful. If painful, Tiki may vocalize (whine, cry, yelp) when urinating. If she ever is unable to urinate, then she will need to be seen on emergency basis for this.

Monitor for any vocalization while urinating, bloody urine, or straining to urinate and not producing any urine for over a 6 hour period. You may also see vomiting and a decreased appetite with complications associated with this mass. If you note any of these then have Tiki evaluated promptly.

Dogs with bladder tumors typically do show improvement of their symptoms when on the piroxicam, so if she is not getting any better, your veterinarian may need to reassess her medication protocol and options.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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