Prostatic Hypertrophy or, in simple terms, enlarged prostate glands is a condition caused by the male or female hormones in the dog's body and even though it is not as painful for the dog as prostatitis it is still something which should be looked into with care as it may be a cause for concern. Read on through this article to find out more about this condition.



The symptoms for dog Prostatic Hypertrophy include the following:

1. The dog may walk differently. Look out for an arched back and stiff legs and the dog taking shorter strides.

2. The dog may have difficulty urinating

3. The dog may not have any fever and unlike prostatitis it will have normal temperature.

A dog's prostate glands swelling up without a reason is what causes Prostatitis hypertrophy. The swelling is due to sex hormones which affect the prostate glands.

Two different types of sex hormones are responsible for the swelling and disturbance. The first is testosterone. Testosterone is a male sex hormone which is produced within the testicles. When this hormone over stimulates the prostate gland and causes it to swell it can cause a lot of pain and discomfort.

The second is oestrogen, a female hormone which is also found in male dogs but in very small amounts. Too much of this will cause the prostate to swell and the structure of the prostate gland cells will possibly change as well through a process called squamous metaplasia.

If the cause of this condition is traced back to a female hormone then this may be as a result of a sertoli cell tumour and thus should be checked appropriately.

Initally, the vet may look for possible symptoms such as arched back and stuff back legs in order to make sure that the dog has this condition. This will be followed by the vet taking the temperature of the dog in order to make sure that it has no fever. A normal temperature will rule out prostatitis and thus leave us with Prostatic Hypertrophy.

The vet may want to feel for the swollen prostate gland through the anus using his fingers in order to make sure that the dog feels no pain in the area and rule out prostatitis even further.

If your dog is showing signs of too much male testosterone the vet may suggest using injections to lower this and to bring it down to the appropriate level. If this fails then the only option left is to get the dog castrated which will remove the area where the hormone is produced.

Castration is also the solution if the problem results from the female hormone. This will help remove the tumor in the affected testicle. There are cases here the hormone causing the problem may be hard to find and thus further tests such as blood tests, ultrasound and even biopsy may be needed to confirm.