Dog drinking lots of water and incontinent problems
We have a yellow male lab who will be two in February. About six months ago we noticed that he would drink an unusual amount of water and urinate volumes. He is very active, loves to fetch and initially I chalked-up his large intake and output volumes to hot weather and activity. We then became aware that he would, at times, dribble urine and eventually had episodes of incontinence, both when awake and asleep. The first thing our vet did was test for a urine infection, which was negative. In spite of the test results, he thought it was worth treating him with a course of antibiotics to see if it made a difference. It didn't. We have had blood work done all of which came back within normal limits. (I can't remember exactly what tests but know it included blood sugar and think it included kidney function and thyroid. I would be happy to get that info if it would be helpful.) We have done several specific gravities, comparing samples from his last pee at night with the first one in the morning. There was little difference between them and the vet said his urine was like "distilled water". We had an ultrasound done to rule out any abnormalities. It was normal. We have tried a diet change from IAMS to Pedigree. (He is not given anything thing else to eat.) Approximately two or three weeks after the diet change and lasting for approximately four to six weeks, we noticed a significant decrease in intake and incontinence needless to say we were excited! I was supposed to take urine samples for a repeat of specific gravity, but for various reasons didn't get the samples to the vet. In the meantime his water intake and incontinence have increased dramatically, to the point where I would say it is worse than ever. We have limited his activity, especially in the afternoon and evening, but have not noticed a significant, if any, difference. Other than this he seems in good health - his coat is good, good weight. I am wondering lately, however, if he seems less energetic, but if he is, it's not pronounced enough that I could say with certainty. Our vet is puzzled and not sure where to go with this. He has mentioned various tests, but says that the results aren't always clear cut and definitive. We couldn't ask for a better dog and we love him to pieces, but the sad reality is that we can't afford to pursue every avenue and I thought it worth pursuing some other opinions to see if "fresh eyes" see something that we're missing. I appreciate your time and any suggestions you may have. |
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Dog with hypothyroidism and back problems
Our 9 year old beagle had been in good health, but had been getting fat and lazy in her older years. We took her to the vet for routine checkup and mentioned that she slept most of the day so the vet did some blood work and determined that her thyroid level was way low (0.1%). The vet started her on a medication of thyroxine, 0.4mg a day.
At first the dog was much more alert and seemed to have much more energy than she had before. She also lost a fair amount of weight very fast, from 37.5 pounds down to 31.5 pounds. Then, on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, she got really sick....
all of the sudden she could hardly stand. She couldn't hold her bladder, her stomach seemed bloated and she was panting hard. We took her to an emergency hospital and they basically said she had a stomach ache, that she was OK and sent us home.
She appeared to get better, and the next day we were out of town (the dog was with us) and she got a lot worse. We found a new emergency vet and he took xrays and said that she had back problems, basically a compressed disk. He gave us something for her pain, Rimadyl - 25mg.
We started off giving her one pill a day, and it seemed to help. But a few days later she was bad again. Our regular vet recommended increasing the dosage to twice a day, for both the Thyroxine and Rimadyl.
She has been on the twice a day rate for a little over a week now, and she has her good days and bad days. My concern is that overall she seems to be getting worse, and I don't understand how the symptoms match the diagnosis.
Even when she is feeling bad I can pet/scratch her back, including the area of this compressed disk and she doesn't indicate any signs of tenderness. Her stomach, however, gets very tender.
I have noticed that she will usually get worse right after she eats, like within 1/2 an hour of eating. Before she eats, she is bouncing around a little begging for food, 1/2 hour later she is walking like a drunken sailor.
She has been sensitive to being picked up for a number of years, which we have attributed to arthritus. She has always been the most sensitive to being picked up from under her rib cage. Conversely, she loves a good vigourous back scratch.
So, my questions is: should I accept what the vets have told me, or should I continue to investigate?
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