Why does my unneutered dog have recurrent UTIs and lose weight?

Hello, so sorry to hear about Owen. The interactions with your neighbor causing his current clinical signs would be a speculation unless there was obvious trauma to Owen leading to his bleeding. If he has been diagnosed with a UTI as a cause for his bleeding this would be unlikely to have been caused by his abuse. His large prostate is likely associated with his unaltered status. Further diagnostics to consider if his UTI is not responding include a urine culture and abdominal x-rays to check for stones. Once you have confirmed there are no stones within his bladder (this may include also having to check with an ultrasound), then pending his urine culture results, your veterinarian may recommend a different antibiotic for his UTI. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern. This sounds like urinary incontinence and that it is not secondary to a UTI. This could be caused by urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence (USMI), but is less likely to occur in males and more in females. JD could have a back problem or other neurological condition leading to decreased urethral closure pressure. I would recommend a trial of a medication called PPA or DES and see if the trial helps reduce the urinary incontinence. If there is no improvement after the trial, I would recommend more diagnostics such as abdominal ultrasound, x-rays or CT scan with contrast. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help you further.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. I agree that he requires a further work up. It is not common for male dogs to develop urinary tract infections given their anatomy. I would recommend that he has bloodwork and x-rays of his abdomen. You need to rule out any metabolic disorder and uroliths (bladder stones or kidney stones). Then I would proceed with the abdominal ultrasound. Occasionally prostate disease can cause recurrent urinary signs. This is uncommon in such a young dog though. It may be easiest to pursue a consult with an internal medicine specialist. I hope you are able to get an answer and his problems resolved. Good luck!

He needs a urine sample performed to check for an infection, crystals or cancer cells. An ultrasound can look inside the bladder to check the wall thickness and look for a mass and check his prostate . At his age any of these are possibilities and there is no way to know without testing

Intact dogs with prostate infections are usually treated with antibiotics. Ideally a culture of the urine will help guide the antibiotic choice but sometimes a culture isn’t available. If this becomes a repeating problem then neutering may be recommended. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

Infections in the testicles are not generally expected to result in weight loss unless it is some on-going, low grade, chronic issue that causes the appetite to be decreased for a long period of time. An acute infection will cause a pet to not eat for a few days but this is not expected to cause a significant weight loss. I have learned though, that pet's don't always follow the expected course every single time. A cancer in the testicles will cause swelling of the testicle and will cause weight loss as it progresses and metastasizes. If you are noticing swelling in the testicles and/or weight loss, I recommend to have Bear seen by his veterinarian right away. Weight loss can occur for many reasons - from parasites to cancer to kidney disease. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

That could be due to a urinary tract infection. Bladder inflammation is by far the most common reason for it (due to infections, sterile inflammation or crystals) but other part of the urinary tract may be affected as well. A check up is required to confirm this clinical suspicion and have urine analysis performed and discuss further investigations and treatment. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.