1yr old ME Doberman with intermittent issues urinating

RE: 1yr old ME Doberman with intermittent issues urinating

Beats — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 07:19:43 GMT

i would try an alpha-1 antagonist first, e.g.:

tamsulosin

prazosin

phenoxybenzamine

(ACP - not very specific and more likely to make wobbly and sedated)

[doses all in BSAVA 10th edition formulary]

I'd probably try that solely first personally, but could combine with skeletal muscle relaxant if wanted (diazepam/dantrolene) I guess.

I think ideally a video first is good idea, but probably little to lose (other than cost of tablets) with urethral relaxant trial if no other good options as alternatives.

RE: 1yr old ME Doberman with intermittent issues urinating

Freya . — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 20:57:59 GMT

Thanks for the reply, given another couple of things to think about was dithering over whether drug trial would you use diazepam or something more specific - hypervase? Or something else? have a vague feeling that Dantrium isn't very effective in dogs but may made this up.

RE: 1yr old ME Doberman with intermittent issues urinating

Beats — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 18:53:18 GMT

I can't think of anything else to add really.

I guess under urethral spasm, could generalise to any neurological dysfunction such as reflex dysnergia (lack of co-ordination between detrusor and urethral muscles).

A trial or two of urethral relaxants could be fairly easily done to see if they appear to help irrespective of cause, but the intermittent nature of the problem may make interpretation of response little more difficult than if continuous problem. Still, cheap to do and won't harm if doesn't help.

An anatomical abnormality probably should still be on the list, although clearly haven't found anything as yet.

If uroliths, then consider urate [don't always get crystals, not radiodense, smooth and small enough to pass often especially in dog of this size, but could be causing intermittient problems] and I guess could check bile acids or such if is possibly could be portosystemic shunt (not sure this is very likely though assuminng a normal sized doberman...)

It's possible that castration may be a solution, but I'd want to see a video first before making any assumptions (especially given could be detrimental e.g. to anxiety issues if nothing else). If in doubt then a suprelorin implant is always an option to try and see?