[B]I recently adopted an 8 year old dog from a shelter. He constantly licks his penis and I have seen a little discharge. I REALLY do not have the $$ for a vet bill right now. I have read that you can give dogs cranberry pills to ward off/help with urnary tract infections, etc. He is a med-lg dog about 75 lbs and a lab/terrier mix (don't know if this makes a difference or not). I take craberry pills myself as I was cursed with bad kidneys. I just want to get some more advice before I give him something that could hurt him. Any advice for me?

Any advice for me?Hello S:

Yeah.. BORROW the money so your dog can get PROPER treatment..

excon

I do have to ask why you adopted a geriatric dog without the funds to deal for health issues that dogs 8+ often have.

I am sorry to say that the best thing for this dog is to ensure that you know what is going on. I don't think cranberry would hurt him, but depending on what it is, it probably won't be beneficial. You need to get a urine sample to see a) if it even IS an infection and b) if so, what it is? Are there crystals? Etc?

If you recently adopted this dog, I would think the shelter would be able to help you with a vet bill. They adopted to you a sick dog... You might want to contact them to see if they will help you or if they have low cost veterinary care available.

The idea of giving cranberries for a UTI, is the acid from the cranberries is supposibly strong enough to kill off the bacteria in the urinary tract. But, if he does not have a UTI (which is not very common in boys) than he is going to continue being miserable while eating cranberry pills...

What color is the discharge? Is it mucous looking? Green? Clear? Male dogs can produce a discharge that is perfectly normal for male dogs, even neutered males. Smegma is a yellowish discharge and is considered normal. Any other color needs veterinary help immediately before the infection gets worse.

Unfortunately, owning dogs means you need to find a vet for their boo boos. Contact the shelter.. They might be able to help you, especially if this adoption is fairly recent.