Do dogs get sciatica?

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Jason. I'm sorry to hear that Zeus is having these problems. This is a hard one to comment on without actually seeing Zeus, but maybe I can give you a few ideas.

It sounds like your vet is concerned about prostate problems. If the prostate is enlarged it can cause urinary issues. Castrating a dog will cause the prostate to shrink down.

However, a prostate that is simply enlarged should not cause blood in the urine. It is possible that there is an infection in the prostate or possibly even a tumor.

Has your vet done tests on Zeus's urine? This should tell us if there is an infection present. A tumor is a little harder to diagnose. Sometimes we can see evidence on an xray or ultrasound. Hopefully it is not a tumor because we don't have great success in treating prostate tumors.

While a prostate problem doesn't directly cause difficulties with walking, I have seen dogs have extreme hind end weakness if their bladder is really full or if they have pain in the prostate area.

Do you know if your vet did neurological tests on the back legs? An example of this would be trying to get the legs to knuckle over on the toes. If there is a neurological problem then we may have a spinal problem. However, most spinal injuries in dogs should not cause blood in the urine.

Again, it's hard to comment without seeing Zeus and his test results but if this were my case I would probably be advising an ultrasound of his bladder and prostate, mostly to look for cancer in either of these areas. Also, if he has not had a complete set of bloodwork and urine tests these would be advisable as well.

I wish I could give you a more pointed answer but this is a tough one. It does sound like your vet is doing the right things, but if you are not certain it never hurts to take Zeus for a second opinion.

I hope he does ok!
Dr. Marie.


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