Question:
Good morning,

We have a Border Collie who has just turned 11. Few weeks (two or three)ago he became lethargic and stopped eating. After taking him to the vet they diagnosed him with an anal gland infection and put him on a course of antibiotics (combo pill of amoxicillin and another drug - sorry name escapes me). He seemed to respond until last week when we saw him exhibiting the same signs. Last Friday I took him back and while the anal gland seemed to be improving he had then developed an anal fissure. They prescribed another round of antibiotics (this time a different one - sorry name again escapes me yet again but orange in colour) and Rimadyl for pain and topical silver sulpha cream to apply externally.
The weekend was better but yesterday we noticed him straining to urinate, he couldn't. Took him back into the vet where they checked and saw that his bladder was full and in the end they drained it. It was dark and a bit cloudy and they did a smear on it but nothing seemed out of the ordinary (no crystals, pH was OK, some ephilleals) to the vet. Anyhow he's doing the same thing this morning, straing to urinate. There was some blood on his penis the morning but I attribute that to the catheter last evening. He also hasn't deficated in awhile but that could be because of his loss of appetite although he did manage to eat about a cup of boiled chicken and brown rice this morning and he is staying hydrated.
Just wanted to know if anybody has had any similar experiences? Our vet thinks the problems with urnination stems from the anal fissure and it being extremely painful (I can only imagine) but I worry. I can see asking for a urine culture but seeing he's been on antibiotics since Friday I'm wondering of that might prevent a culture from developing.
It's not that I don't trust our vet(s), they are excellent having helped us with our other dog who suffered through a internal bleeding related to a grade 3 Hemagiosarcoma, a spleenectomy, and the subsequent chemo but I do worry and I am just looking for other's input as to what could be affecting my Boomer. Oh, he is neutured by the way too.
Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
EB

Answer:
Sorry, I don't have any advice but wanted to offer some good vibes and positive thoughts for your poor boy. Are they sure there is no blockages? Perhaps he got a urinary tract infection from the first round of antibiotics?

Answer:
Thanks for the words of encouragement. We took him in again this afternoon and had his bladder drained again. Tomorrow morning he is being taken in for a more thorough ultrasound and a set of x-rays. I'm up at the moment 1:20 am letting him out yet again to try and go but nothing. As for a prior blockage I'm uncertain. The one thing I noticed today with the catheter insertion is some blood but the vet said that was natural. The vet has changed the antibiotic to Clavamox and also put him on gabapentinin.

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