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  Discussion on Posturing to urinate
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Member:
kriseyc

Posted on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 11:36 pm:

Hi Dr.O., Need to pick your great brain...I have a 14 yr old healthy paint gelding whom I have witnessed multiple times posturing to urinate a second time within minutes of seemingly normal urination.
I have witnessed this at least 1/2 dozen times on & off for at least 6 months. I board my horse, so am not always present. I will bring him in from turnout, put in stall to pee...he will take a nice square stance, DrOp, pee and stand up to nibble hay. The urine looks normal, yellow/white/milky...good amount ( I pick his stall often)I do not see any reddish/orange or brown color at all and he has never strained in the past. But I will witness him again, take a stance...DrOp partially , but nothing or very little comes out.
Just a few days ago, the same thing happened, where he pee'd normally, but then turned a couple of circles and postured again...this time grunting, and straining a bit with a couple of slight pelvic tilts. just a tiny bit of urine came out and then he stood up and started munching hay.
He has a great appetite, no signs of colic, normal bowels, turned out with hay about 6-8 hours/day, a small amt. of thin grass and eats 1 1/2 cups Triple crown Senior + 1 cup Purina Athlete 2 x /day. free choice hay, is sound and
in medium work 5-6 days/wk. up to date on teeth,shots...Vets all say he looks VERY healthy.
A couple of months ago I had my vet check his sheath ( after I did) all normal, no bean etc. We did a urine sample which was pretty normal, with some crystals and slightly elevated calcium.
Vet also did a rectal exam after watching horse urinate and said bladder was empty and felt normal. Vet then did an ultrasound of bladder which was also normal. Later, we did full blood work and Lyme titer. Blood work was normal, Lyme titer was 10/2400 and we treated him for Lyme with Doxy for 8 wks (50 tabs 2x/day)
We will do another Urine test this week to see if any change.
I had decided not to lose sleep over this...but the recent straining has me a bit concerned, even if it seems relatively minor only for a couple of seconds.
Any thoughts?????

Many Thanks
IKE
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, May 18, 2009 - 7:13 am:

With a normal physical exam, urinalysis, and ultrasound, I think I would not be loosing any sleep also. If the problem was cranial to the bladder I think colic rather than unusual urination would be typical and blood may be found in the urine. If you choose to pursue this unlikely cause of the symptoms you are seeing the next step would be to have the kidneys and ureters examined. This may require a specialist with good ultrasound skills and very long arms.

All I can do is conjecture on why the horse feels the need to continue to urinate and possibly the high calcium crystal content is mildly irritating to the urethra.
DrO
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