ssesler
New member
Hello!
I have posted on this board prior about my Trumanās health issues. I thought I would post Trumanās story as we finally have some answers ā well for the most partā¦ (Sorry... this is a long one!)
Truman is my 4 yr old rescue bully that adopted me about 2 years ago. Truman was in pretty bad shape when we first got him. He had been left outside in over 100 degree heat. His penis stuck out 1 ā 2 inches, he had wicked infections throughout his body, and was fed high protein food for active dogs. (sigh). But slowly and after some corrective procedures, we got him healthy ā for a bulldog that is.
About 6 months after we got him he started dribble some urine for about 2 weeks or so - it would stop for several months and then all of a sudden start up again. While the dripping of urine I could deal with, even more concerning was him not being able to urinate. During a couple of his āepisodesā, he would strain and little would come out. Iād have to take him to get cathed daily, but then all of a sudden, as quickly as it came on, he would be able to urinate again and the dripping stopped. My vet was stumped. We tried various things but nothing worked. We took him to MU who, after scoping him diagnosed him with a urethral stricture and told me that cutting off his penis and reroute the urethra would fix the issue. I wanted to explore other options as his issue was intermittent and the surgery seemed rather drastic. Not to mention I donāt believe they were 100% certain they saw a stricture. In fact, they thought their scope was broken and had to call in techs during the cystoscopy who assured them it wasnāt. Also, they couldnāt guarantee this would help Truman. While they were very kind and I think exhausted all of their resources, I think Trumanās issues were just outside of their scope. That was a year ago. After a couple more āepisodesā and visits to other vets who were stumped, we decided weād had to find a school with a broader network of resources ā which led us to the University of Tennessee.
First of all, I want to say the group at UT is AMAZING. I was not treated as if I was some crazy nut when I sent them videos of the episodes, a timeline of his treatments and diagnostics, or told them of all his āquirksā that I questionedā¦ in fact, they welcomed it! We went through everything in detail and they welcomed the challenged. Ultimately everything I saw and knew wasnāt right was explainedā¦ after a repeat of the cystoscopy it was found that Truman does NOT have a urethral stricture. However due to some other deficits the neurologist noted (he was seen by a neurologist prior who did not pick up on the deficits), they did an MRI. The MRI showed that Truman has hydrocephalus (a 5 on a scale from 1 ā 10), spina bifida, some brain atrophy (from the hydrocephalus), some narrowing of the spinal cord around the neck area, and a number of other issues. Fortunately for Truman, none of the nerves are compressed ā which is why he doesnāt have typical spina bifida issues. The specialists were amazed by how well Truman is doing in spite of all his issues. Apparently, he was so difficult to diagnose because of how well he compensates as well as the work weāve done with him so far. They encouraged me to start him on some fish oil to help with inflammation and brain function. The intermittent dripping is thought to be due to a combination of the rise in spinal fluid on the brain (which waxes and wanes) and his urethra is not relaxing enough to allow him a good stream so he can empty his bladder. We are treating the hydrocephalus with Prilosec and acupressure and another med to relax the urethra.
Weāve only been home a few days and havenāt seen much change. Of course itās over 100 degrees so it is difficult for him to go out and really have enough time to empty his bladder. (He typically likes to take his time to make sure he gets all the good āspotsā lol) I am hopeful, however, now that we know the conditions weāre dealing with, we can face them head on and even more important, Truman wonāt be going through any more āletās try thisā procedures. Truman is one of my three bully loves. Anyone that saw him would be shocked to know the issues he has. He is an inspiration.
So really, Iām curious, has anyone faced any similar issues? Hydrocephalus? Spina bifida where the nerves arenāt compressed? Anything you found worked for you/didnāt work? Iāve scoured the internet, but I havenāt found much that I already didnāt know. Any info is appreciated!
I have posted on this board prior about my Trumanās health issues. I thought I would post Trumanās story as we finally have some answers ā well for the most partā¦ (Sorry... this is a long one!)
Truman is my 4 yr old rescue bully that adopted me about 2 years ago. Truman was in pretty bad shape when we first got him. He had been left outside in over 100 degree heat. His penis stuck out 1 ā 2 inches, he had wicked infections throughout his body, and was fed high protein food for active dogs. (sigh). But slowly and after some corrective procedures, we got him healthy ā for a bulldog that is.
About 6 months after we got him he started dribble some urine for about 2 weeks or so - it would stop for several months and then all of a sudden start up again. While the dripping of urine I could deal with, even more concerning was him not being able to urinate. During a couple of his āepisodesā, he would strain and little would come out. Iād have to take him to get cathed daily, but then all of a sudden, as quickly as it came on, he would be able to urinate again and the dripping stopped. My vet was stumped. We tried various things but nothing worked. We took him to MU who, after scoping him diagnosed him with a urethral stricture and told me that cutting off his penis and reroute the urethra would fix the issue. I wanted to explore other options as his issue was intermittent and the surgery seemed rather drastic. Not to mention I donāt believe they were 100% certain they saw a stricture. In fact, they thought their scope was broken and had to call in techs during the cystoscopy who assured them it wasnāt. Also, they couldnāt guarantee this would help Truman. While they were very kind and I think exhausted all of their resources, I think Trumanās issues were just outside of their scope. That was a year ago. After a couple more āepisodesā and visits to other vets who were stumped, we decided weād had to find a school with a broader network of resources ā which led us to the University of Tennessee. First of all, I want to say the group at UT is AMAZING. I was not treated as if I was some crazy nut when I sent them videos of the episodes, a timeline of his treatments and diagnostics, or told them of all his āquirksā that I questionedā¦ in fact, they welcomed it! We went through everything in detail and they welcomed the challenged. Ultimately everything I saw and knew wasnāt right was explainedā¦ after a repeat of the cystoscopy it was found that Truman does NOT have a urethral stricture. However due to some other deficits the neurologist noted (he was seen by a neurologist prior who did not pick up on the deficits), they did an MRI. The MRI showed that Truman has hydrocephalus (a 5 on a scale from 1 ā 10), spina bifida, some brain atrophy (from the hydrocephalus), some narrowing of the spinal cord around the neck area, and a number of other issues. Fortunately for Truman, none of the nerves are compressed ā which is why he doesnāt have typical spina bifida issues. The specialists were amazed by how well Truman is doing in spite of all his issues. Apparently, he was so difficult to diagnose because of how well he compensates as well as the work weāve done with him so far. They encouraged me to start him on some fish oil to help with inflammation and brain function. The intermittent dripping is thought to be due to a combination of the rise in spinal fluid on the brain (which waxes and wanes) and his urethra is not relaxing enough to allow him a good stream so he can empty his bladder. We are treating the hydrocephalus with Prilosec and acupressure and another med to relax the urethra.
Weāve only been home a few days and havenāt seen much change. Of course itās over 100 degrees so it is difficult for him to go out and really have enough time to empty his bladder. (He typically likes to take his time to make sure he gets all the good āspotsā lol) I am hopeful, however, now that we know the conditions weāre dealing with, we can face them head on and even more important, Truman wonāt be going through any more āletās try thisā procedures. Truman is one of my three bully loves. Anyone that saw him would be shocked to know the issues he has. He is an inspiration.
So really, Iām curious, has anyone faced any similar issues? Hydrocephalus? Spina bifida where the nerves arenāt compressed? Anything you found worked for you/didnāt work? Iāve scoured the internet, but I havenāt found much that I already didnāt know. Any info is appreciated!
It looks a like a red ball on the tip of the penis. He hasnt had problems urinating which is a good thing as 1 week after surgery he prolapsed again 
The surgery isnt 100% They did say we could run into issues as you mentioned. Thank you for posting this for everyone....Its very good info to have
To you for taking such good care of your bullies....They are lucky to have a good mom like you!
