Bladder expressing

[SchnauzerMom]

My little guy Gino had a fce on Feb 10,2017, 8 days ago. I finally got to bring him home on Wednesday. He has no deep pain sensation in his two back legs. I have been expressing his bladder since he has come home. Yesterday it seemed to be every easy and he was needing it about every 2-3 hours. He is still on steroids so he is drinking a lot of water. Last night at about 1 in the morning I got up to express him and it was very difficult. I got a little out and thought maybe he just didn't need it at that time. So we went back to bed and we got up at 6 did poop poop and tried to express again. It was difficult again. Just wanting to know if this is normal to go from very easy, thinking I finally figured it out, to all the sudden difficult. I tried going outside also.

[ChaoticCat]

I don't think you've got an emergency on your hands or anything, but you'll probably want to call your vet tomorrow and let them know whats up. There's a whole mess of neurologic stuff that could be going on. If that's the case, your vet will know what to do and should have meds to help relax his urethral sphincter and make things easier on both of you. But if it was always super easy to express him and you're suddenly having a hard time, I might be concerned about a blockage (like a bladder stone or urethral plug). I'm not sure how you were taught to express him (there's a few ways), but its very important to palpate his bladder before you do any squeezing. You should be able to feel if its full or not (you don't want to be trying to express an empty bladder). If you can feel a full bladder and can't express anything at all - you've got an emergency. Take him straight to closest place open on a Sunday. Bladder walls are thin and with the steroids increasing his water intake it wouldn't take long for his bladder to fill to the point of tearing or rupturing. But don't let that freak you out! As long as you are producing urine from him and don't feel a huge, turgid bladder, you're ok to wait to talk to your vet. Hope this helps!

[SchnauzerMom]

Thank you for the reply.

I finally got a good amount out this afternoon--I think he finally stopped fighting me. When it all the sudden got hard to do I was always getting a little out just not the same amount as the day before. I was afraid if I didn't totally empty his bladder I would cause problems but the Vet called today and said I was okay he might just be resisting a little.

[CarolC]

You may want to use the express-rest-express technique. You express out whatever you can, then let him rest a few minutes, then express again. During that little rest period, the bladder kind of shrinks and firms up, and if there is any urine left you may be able to get it better the second time. Repeat until empty. I know you said he is drinking a lot of water with the steroids, and you are the one who knows how full his bladder is getting because you are right there, but every 2 hours sounds like a lot of expressing and very tiring for you. Could you do it every 4 hours maybe? Or even 6? He isn't going to get an infection if you do it every 4 hours instead of every 2 hours. Really as long as you get him properly empty about every 8 hours, he should be fine.