Symptoms of kidney or bladder stones in male dogs

You may have read my thread about Snifter's probable back problem.

However he was reluctant to pee before he had the pain meds. I suspect due to not wanting to lift his leg. Also the pain meds have him comfortable now but he still struggles with coming up stairs. (Obviously I am keeping this to a minimum but we do have to monitor such things to try to find out the cause of the problem.)

That said, the pain meds are obviously going to mask pain from a stone as well as back pain.

So what other signals are there that something could be wrong?

Could the flow of pee be obstructed (it isn't)?

Could there be blood (there isn't any visible)?

Could he pee more frequently (bearing in mind entire males always pee little and often to mark as much as possible)?

Might he pay more attention to his penis area (he isn't doing that)?

I'm just racking my brains to think of things I might look out for just in case.

Winston was in obvious distress . Tail down, straining to pee with blood and throwing up bile and totally off his food . Hope Snifter feels better soon.

Depends what the pain meds are. Anti-immflammatories, for instance, are often given as pain relief for muscle/ligament problems, but they would not mask the severe abdominal pain of a stone in the urethra.

Contact your vet and ask.

No advice, just hope all is well soon.

Peeing more often, small amounts at a time, having accidents, straining. There does not have to be blood present. There could also just be sludge in the bladder and not stones which can still cause the same symptoms. However, in males, the smallest particles could completely block urine. Just make sure when he is peeing that a decent amount is coming out. If you are really concerned, an xray could show possible sludge/stones.