My 12 year border collie has not gone outside to pee in days. What's wrong with him?

[not a vet] I am a life long pet owner, though.

First of all, Tylenol is safe, but I prefer aspirin as it doesn’t cause/contribute to liver failure for older dogs.

I’d say this sounds like a urinary tract infection or a kidney issue.

I’m glad to hear you have a vet appt. scheduled. If you can, collect some of the urine before the visit, do so. If only keeps for an hour refrigerated, so keep that in mind. I’d go with any blood tests your vet recommends, too.

My elderly Jack Russel began doing this his last year/year and a half (he passed in autumn at 17) in occasional bouts, then it got more frequent toward the end. He had kidney issues due to his need for steroids for his allergies. We did not medicate him for the condition.

I forgot to ask:

Have his eating habits changed?

Is he drinking a lot more/less?

Is there a reason you didn’t neuter?

Tylenol can be deadly poisonous to dogs. It is NOT safe. Aspirin is NOT safe for dogs either.

I am glad he is going to the vet. Just like people, older dogs can have prostate problems and cancers- especially if he is not neutered. That could be the issue, but only your vet can tell.

Crisw, our vet is the one that gave us the Tylenol for his arthritis.

He is eating less. He is drinking less.

For the first time in three days, he finally hiked his leg and peed outside. He came in and began eating again. Hopefully, this is a good sign.

@john65pennington

It is a good sign. I would talk to the vet about a different plan for treating the arthritis. I can give you some tips. Again, I’d go with a baby aspirin plan—-And now that I know this is for arthritis, use it in conjunction with Glocosamine/Chondrotin.

It’s very cost effective. For my dog, it was like a miracle for him. The vet had given us Rimadyl for the arthritis in his shoulder. One, it made him sick and two, it was much more expensive than the OTC remedy.

Rimadyl usually worked (took effect) for his condition in about two days. The Glocosamine/Chondrotin worked in about 2–3 days, and didn’t cause any illness.

Would you or your wife be willing to make some dog stew? It may help bring him around.

Recipe for dog stew (From The Whole Pet Diet)
2–½ lbs Whole (with bones/skin/organs) Chicken or Turkey
¼ cup fresh chopped garlic
1C peas
1C chopped carrot
½C chopped sweet potato
½C zucchini
½C yellow squash
½ C Green beans
½C chopped celery
1tsp Kelp powder (or spirulina or chlorella…or omit for now if you don’t have this on hand)
1tsp Rosemary
11 to 16 cups spring water

You can either put this on top of their food, OR you can make this be the food source by adding a cup of rolled oats.

Combine all ingredients into a 10-quart stainless steel stockpot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for 2hrs. (all of the veggies should be soft when this is cooked properly).

Remove from heat & let cool. Debone the chicken. Now, you can choose if you want to blend this, use a hand mixer, or a food processor and blend small batches of this into a puree.

Refrigerate enough just for three days worth of feedings, and freeze the rest into three day batches.

Split these portion sizes into two servings per day:

Up to 10lb dog=1 to 1 & ½ Cups

11–20lb dog=2 to 3 Cups

21–40lbs=4Cups (add 2 cups per 20lbs of weight from here on).

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This became Mikey’s (my ol’ Jacks) main source of food whenever he was ill. We also switched all food to HALO

Now, the only food we give our cats & dogs is Blue Buffalo. We use the wilderness. But for your dog, I’d recommend MATURE

Just to put in a two-penny’orth, @john65pennington – your lovely dog may have found himself a mate and either a fight, or an infection. Sounds like he was scared…? Main thing is that he is peeing outside again and the vet can check him over. Good luck!

Hope that he will get well soon.