Snowie now has a Suprelorin implant for an enlarged prostate

M

M.F.

Yesterday Snowie had the Suprelorin implant. We’re hoping it will shrink his prostate. He’ll go back in 2 months for a scan to see if it has shrunk.

We considered all the options available to us.

There’s a drug called Ypazone. 1 tablet daily for 7 days. Effect lasts 6 months. But not available here. Apparently popular in Europe, where surgical castration is not common.

We decided against surgical castration due to the risk of a general anaesthetic at 12 years old. Also, of more concern to us, was weight gain and weakness. Hopefully the Suprelorin won’t have these side effects, but I know someone whose 10 year old Rottweiler put on 4 kg. When it wore off, the weight dropped off. He was only on it while their puppy was in heat.

Our vet was very happy with this decision. He doesn’t have experience with hormone treatment for prostate issues since most people opt to surgically castrate their dogs when they’re young. But he thought through this with us and is very supportive.

Here’s Snowie (left) with his best friend Sunshine playing tug with seaweed a few days ago.

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M

M.F.

Thanks for linking @Jacqui-S. Just had a quick scan. More sniffy behaviour?!! I can’t see how Snowie can sniff more!! Our walks are soooo slow due to sniffing already. I’ll be sure to pay attention to any changes. Last night at dinner he begged a lot. But any different to usual? Also, he seemed more alert. But that might be because we’ve stopped the Rimadyl. He was on it for the prostatis pain. But the vet said now we must stop to see if he is still in pain. And also, not good for his kidneys to be on it for too long. He was only on 1/2 tablet every morning. 1/3 of the max dose. Our vet said though more important that he can exercise and continue to get up easily. If we see any difficulties with getting up, then back to meds. He does want us to explore alternatives. He’s already on turmeric. We need to get him back on the joint powder. But his paws are the real issue. Bare skin chafes when he walks.

A side effect of Finasteride in humans is hair growth. I wonder whether Suprelorin does similar? He needs to grow back fur between his paw pads.
 
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MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Good luck Snowie! As I have told you, the Suprelorin worked really well for Bones, and we did not have to renew it after the initial six months.
 
M

M.F.

That’s so good to know @MellowYellow. Our vet has his own scanning machine, so I’ll suggest he first scans before offering further treatment.

Having read up a lot in the last few weeks, the recommendation appears to be to treat an enlarged prostate asap. And apparently dogs from 5 years old will most likely start to develop an enlarged prostate. There’s very little experience of this in my parts where most dogs are castrated at a young age. Snowie was scanned at 6 years old and was found to have an enlarged prostate (he had some blood in his urine), but the only solution given at the time was surgical castration. Or just keep an eye on it, which was what we opted for. But from my research, it appears he should’ve been offered the option of hormone treatment immediately.
 
M

M.F.

Another update. Today Snowie had his first scan to see if his prostate has shrunk. Yes! Half its size. The vet is overjoyed. He wasn’t expecting such a dramatic reduction in 2 months. It was 6x10. Now it’s 3cm. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, what exactly did the vet say?! He said it was 50% of its size. And he measured 3cm on his scanning machine. So maybe 3x5? Oh dear!! I need to ask more specific questions. We were just so overjoyed, the vet more than anyone!

Snowie has also stopped the antibiotics. He was on them for 70 days. Stopped a few weeks ago. No pockets of infection were indicated in the scan today, and the vet is sure it won’t return given the smaller prostate.

Snowie’s balls haven’t shrunk. I’ve heard they can. They are slightly smaller, but only to the extent that they’re not like taut blown up balloons. They’re now “relaxed”!

His weight is the same. Although we think he’s scavenging more on walks and begging more for food, so we aren’t sure if the implant has affected his appetite. We decided we ourselves need to go on diet! So when Snowie begs, it’s only healthy food that’s available. Lots of steamed low-calorie veg and salad!

He’s also not as mounty. Previously, if a dog’s scent was enticing (male or female), he’d be right in there giving a good lick followed by wanting to mount. Now, he still gives a good lick, and then moves on to sniffing something else. This is a relief for me because I’ve always had to be on guard cos, while he is the friendliest and most chilled of dogs, many people get very upset if another dog tries to mount their dog and can sometimes interpret it as aggressive or trying to be dominant. Admittedly I can’t always tell what motivates Snowie to mount another dog (a pestering young puppy that he’s had enough of, a friendly playful dog that excites him, etc), but an enticing scent usually ended with wanting to mount. Now it hardly ever happens, which is remarkable for me, because I’d assumed it would be a learned behaviour by this age (12 1/2 years old).
 
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MellowYellow

MellowYellow

This is really good news!! Much like Merlin after his castration, who is now a little greedier, just as sweet and goofy and friendly, but no longer tries to lick visitors' ears out! (Some visitors found that rather cute, until I explained to them that ahem actually for Merlin that counts as foreplay... :wasntme: )
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
I missed your first post in the thread so catching up now - so glad to read the update and how successful the drug has been in shrinking the prostate. Sounds like that was really a good call!

Also that first photo of him playing with his friend is so adorable. What sweethearts! 😍
 
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