I have a nearly 15yr old Shepard mix female. I have taken her to the vet twice with no resolve (3rd tomorrow). Her perineal area is painful to the touch, she cries out while pooping or peeing, and she now walks with her tail down. Her poop varies from medium hard to soft, I noticed a little mucusy blood within it tonight. She acts as if she is training while defecating and farts during urination, I've felt around the abdomen,no pain, appears normal to me. One Vet thought she might have a UTI and prescribed Clavamox 250, 1/12hrs. Its been a week and there's been no change in my little girl.

hi my dog is 8 year old rottweiler . recently he was not able to pass urine and vet doc near my place asked us to take dog for surgery due to perineal hernia obstructing the bladder. They did two procedures on both sides in two different days. the first suture healed. the second surgery suture is giving away. the dog is on complete bed rest with just liquids and rice. the doc has already done twice suturing but it has given away again. i am concerned. is this normal. why is the suture giving away again and again? we are giving laxatives with milk as his diet with everyday dressing to suture area, still why is the suture giving away? he is tied down and always sleeping. i feel my dog is in pain and not i feel sad looking at him like this. i am not happy with my vet doc who are taking care of him. what to do.. please help me to take care of him vijetha India

Our 9 year old maltese was diagnosed with a perineal hernia last night at the emergency vet. We had previously been told that he had cancerous pollups but after last night we found out that this is not the case. When we took him in his anus was swollen to the size of a baseball. He has been having problems defecating for the past few months and has been taking stool softeners regularly. After further examination they found out that it was his bladder that was being pushed outwards. They were able to push the bladder back to where it is supposed to be for now. They also discovered that his urethra is abnormally small which causes him to strain even harder to urinate. The emergency vet is recommending that we have the surgery or put him to sleep in the next day or two. Aside from the surgery being very expensive we have some concerns about the procedure itself and the life expectancy and quality of life afterwards. The emergency vet keeps telling us that there is only a 40% survival rate with this surgery as it is very invasive. We have not been told a whole lot about how his life would be if the procedure went well. How his recovery time would be and the possibility of going back to the spunky, energetic dog he was before. Any answers are greatly appreciated.

My 11 y/o female Yorkshire terrier had a bilateral perineal hernia repair almost 3 weeks ago by a Board certified surgeon. Today, I notice a bulge again on her left anal area when he barked but went inside right after. Is this a normal occurrence during healing process or a failed surgery? Please advised.

Our 16 year old Australian Shepherd, Kenai has a perineal hernia. For about two years he's been on a stool softener (Lactulose) and daily walks (which seemed to keep his system moving) These steps helped reducing the problem to the occasional blockage / straining period. This is typically resolved with a 24 hour milk and lactulose diet. Over the last 6 months, the results of a pinched nerve in his back, he's gradually lost the use of his rear hind left leg and the muscle has atrophied considerably. Now the hernia has enlarged and protrudes out about the size of a baseball (at times). Two vet's believe the hernia surgery will be difficult because of his age and the lost muscle mass, another vet, who charged me $1600 to do her own exams, suggested euthanasia (which I won't discuss my opinion in this note). Next week he's off to see a forth specialist for an MRI and neuro exam, to understand the back pain problems, muscle mass, and survivor-ability of one or both surgeries. But, there is some good news. Over the past few weeks I'm been putting gentle pressure on the hernia lump and able to gradually get it to go back inside (his PT vet showed me this). He's become comfortable with me doing this. He's also switched to a 50% mixture of Purina HA (prescription) and his standard frozen whitefish & salmon food (Northwest Natural), The new fiber with the lactose has his stool a bit more solid, and I've found when he goes to poop, I can steady him (with the bad leg) and apply the same pressure and he has better poops then he's had in years. He's also able to go on his own because he's not blocked so I only have to do this every couple of days. My question... Is this normal? Should I abandoned the surgery idea, or maybe focus only on seeing what can be done to help him with the pinched nerve in his back? He's an amazing dog, still loving and good spirited, and doesn't seem to be in pain (though he likes to sleep more then he use to).