enoire

@Sniffy this was a really good thought! We hadn't considered this. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to make a difference. Yesterday Nugget had his hospital appointment. They were really thorough and checked for congenital abnormalities, tumours (including a neurological exam in case of a brain tumour), endocrine disorders (e.g. diabetes), infection, etc. Every test came back totally normal. They gave him another abdominal ultrasound and everything was fine. After his previous ultrasound the vet said his left kidney looked unhealthy and suggested infection, so I wonder if this WAS a kidney infection which was fixed by the course of antibiotics but the drinking behaviour remains. This all means that his bed wetting was just caused by a bladder that is SO FULL because of excessive water consumption that he loses control. Oddly enough, he was drinking excessively at the hospital, so it's not JUST our flat. The trigger remains a mystery. Also notable is that the vet's were not concerned with any of his other behaviours and so don't recommend anti-anxiety medications or anything like that. He doesn't present as a nervous dog. Just one that... likes water? So it seems that the answer is just water restriction. We have got a remote controlled water fountain and this is our plan: turn it off for 10 minutes after he re-enters the flat (this seems to be a very common time for him to binge), and turn it off if he ever starts binging (which has a different look to it than him just doing some normal dog sips... his eyes bulge and his ears pin back a little). So we're hoping that most of the time he does have free access to water, we will just try to prevent him going overboard. What a journey this boy has sent us on!! But I am glad that we have a healthy hound... he just knows the importance of hydration.

@Remolacha Not too long ago we went to a greyhound walk and saw a few hounds with lots of little white spots, and they did look like snowy skies! I'd never seen anything like it before. They were absolutely gorgeous. @Sniffy that sounds so pretty! I love the diversity of greyhounds. So many different colours and markings and even shapes to some extent! Like I met a hound around my area with a Roman nose! @BatterseaBrindl His registered colour is just black I believe, I suppose he is just a cool variant of black. Blue brindle sounds absolutely stunning.

@MP_the4pack He's from Ireland @HeyRunDog OMG!! I think you have solved it

Just wanted to share some pictures of Nugget for once, rather than a story about his manic water drinking! Nugget is a very pretty boy with a slightly unusual coat. I've received several comments about it, even from the rescue where we got him, saying they don't see greyhounds with his colour very often. I believe he might be seal: "Seal colouration makes black dogs appear brownish (with the nose remaining black), varying from a slight brown cast to a shade almost as light as liver. There is often a black stripe down the back, and the legs and tail generally remain darker than the main part of the coat." This is a pretty good description of Nugget. His head, legs, and back are black, but other parts like his sides, shoulder and neck are brown. It was more obvious when he had his kennel coat but still remains now that he's shed that out.

We recently had a breakthrough with our grey's car anxiety by giving him lick mats covered in banana and peanut butter in the car. Those are really high value foods to him, much higher value than the standard training treats. And it also occupies his mind, he is less focused on the fact he is in the car and more focused on getting all of the peanut butter off the mat. So maybe start with that around the car and build up to getting her in the car. Bonus of the lick mats too is that he lies down for the journey rather than getting bounced about and making himself feel queasy looking out the back window. So it should also be useful for later stages when you start to go places with her in the car.

Another phone call with the vet today. She is pretty sure it's psychogenic polydipsia. But because he is so young, they want to be 100% sure, so they've gotten us a consultation at a veterinary hospital and they will be able to confirm for certain it's not something medical. Then, we will be referred to a dog behaviourist at the hospital, as the vet said psychogenic polydispia is very uncommon and the causes are often very difficult to decipher. It is likely that the drinking is a self-soothing behaviour in response to some stressor that is present at our place but not my parents. It could be something like the increased amount of traffic in this area, something which we can't change. In which case we might be able to get some anti-anxiety medications for him that might stop him from drinking so much. Since we got Nugget, almost everyone we've met has said how confident he is for a greyhound. He is extremely sociable and curious. But perhaps it seems that way because he deals with his anxiety in a different way. Maybe instead of freezing or becoming destructive or whining, Nugget drinks? Other than his drinking problem, Nugget is the PERFECT dog for us. I'm finally feeling like I'm getting closer to some answers. Hopefully normality and a happier hound are on the horizon. @Sniffy and @Jerilyn The vet said we can begin to slowly restrict his water. Starting at like 5 litres, 4.5, 4 etc. So we'll get started with that. And hopefully that will make our lives a bit easier!

@HeyRunDog Random thoughts are what we need right now! I have thought about the water thing... Perhaps our water is tastier somehow? Or has something in it that makes him thirsty, like you say. I think I will try filling his bowl with bottled water for a while and seeing if that changes things. I have already tried putting ice cubes in the water to cool it down, as where he drank at my parents was colder. But he just took the ice cubes out and took them to his bed. Other things we have tried are changing the bowl, the stand the bowl goes in, and the location of the bowl (e.g. putting it in a place he's never been fed). None of these worked. I must sound like an absolute nutter! But we know it's not the food, or the schedule. But it must be SOMETHING to do with this flat. Or the way we behave in this flat vs. my parents. Although I'm not sure what that would be. We work from home and he is never alone, not even in a room on his own. Like I say we give him enrichment activities, plenty of walks, and scritches. The times when he drinks the most are when he comes in from outside (from a walk or the garden), when someone comes into the flat, and at mealtimes. I think that mealtimes and when he comes in from a walk are sensible times to want a drink, but it's the quantity with which he drinks that is the problem. He starts drinking, his eyes bulge, and he will not move for treats or toys or anything until that bowl is drained dry. Then he'll continue to lick it, and look at us to refill it. If you do, he'll start drinking again. His sides literally bulge out once he's done. He's just so FULL of water! I really wish he could talk just for 5 minutes so he could tell me what's wrong!

So I had to go to my parents for a family emergency and I brought Nugget with me. He never drank more than 3 litres there. I kept him on the same feed and exercise schedule. He still needed out more often than before all of this started, and generally was more urgent, but it was much more manageable. He never wet his bed, not once. Told the vet this and gave a urine sample from immediately when we got back which was totally normal. Back home now for a couple of days and he's right back into the routine of downing any water he can get. He has wet his bed several times today already. Now it seems most likely that he has psychogenic polydipsia, and the blood tests, ultrasound etc were abnormal because he is tanking way more water than his body needs. We are awaiting further discussions with the vet about how it should be managed. Also about potential causes. I have no idea why he'd behave this way at our home but not my parents. It can't be food or exercise, those were the same. We've also been giving him snuffle and lick mats in case he is bored, but this doesn't seem to make a difference. My parents is busier - more people coming and going. In contrast our flat is very quiet generally (especially since all this started). Only guess I have is that he prefers more humans around. Any suggestions would be appreciated. @tbhounds definitely not diabetes inspidius because he concentrates his urine no problem. I double checked at the time and they were using greyhound specific values.

@cleptogrey oh thats interesting! I didn't know diabetes insipidus could be treated by just a few injections. So that was top of our vets list of suspects before the ultrasound. When he was in for that, they observed his urine closely and saw that he was able to concentrate his urine. Which they said rules out diabetes insipidus because that stops them being able to concentrate their urine. Although I will bring it up with them again because double checking can't hurt! @Remolacha he hasn't been tested for this and it seems like a possibility! I will ask the vet if we can test for it. It seems like a lot of the symptoms might be hard to spot in a greyhound. Like poor hair growth. He has poor hair growth but we thought that was because he was a greyhound and we knew they were prone to bald patches (e.g. he has the classic greyhound baldy butt!).

Half way through antibiotic treatment. Nugget has gotten worse not better. He now drinks up to 6 litres a day and seems to be able to hold his pee for less time - he needs out every 30 mins rather than 45. Still bed wetting. Calling the vet tomorrow. Remaining options would be resistant kidney infection, cancer, or psychogenic polydipsia (although this is the best case scenario for him, it wouldn't explain his abnormal bloods or ultrasound so I'm not convinced by it). Very concerned about this getting any worse. Don't know how I would juggle it with work.

Urine culture turned up nothing, but vet has decided to treat with antibiotics anyway to be sure. Fingers crossed!!!

Ultrasound results shows he has abnormal looking kidneys. Vet suspects kidney infection (pyelonephritis). They sent away urine for culture but will take 10 days to get results. Incontinence has gotten worse and his behaviour is beginning to change too. He often refuses to go outside. This could be because he's sleep deprived, lethargic because of the (potential) infection, or just hates us making him go out into the freezing cold once an hour. He doesn't really get walked properly anymore because he just won't go. Even if we get him out the door, eventually he'll just sit on the ground in protest until we turn around and go home. We've tried treats and toys to entice him but nothing interests him. Obviously this also contributes to more accidents in the house. Feeling really exhausted (and no doubt so is Nugget) and cannot wait for the results, hoping its something they can treat with antibiotics.

Thanks Notnat1! Yes being in a flat is certainly a bit tough for us right now! We actually did get him a new bed! More by coincidence though, haha, we got him one with a waterproof cover to make our lives easier. It doesn't seem that it is tied to the specific bed, since the initial post I wrote here he's also had accidents all over the place, and I genuinely think it's because he just gets to a point where he can't hold it any longer, and he's not very good at communicating that he needs out. We have gotten a lot better at managing him though. We write down when he drinks a lot (> 300 ml) and then 45 minutes after that take him outside and he always does a BIG pee. Seems to be working pretty well. Today for example, no accidents in the house at all! But because he drinks so much he has to go out a lot. Yesterday he drank upwards of 6 litres! Another thing we've started doing is teaching him to ring a bell. Hoping we can train him to ring it when he needs to go out so he's a bit more "vocal"! May not work but it has been fun for all of us

Nugget is still drinking a lot of water, but he hasn't developed any new problems that we can see. We got some updates from the vet today. She said that his blood tests show low protein and low white blood cell count. She has recommended an ultrasound to check his prostate, kidneys, and bladder, which we are getting done next week. She seems quite surprised by the combination of excessive drinking/urinating with the blood test results and said that we might need to refer him to a specialist for another opinion if the ultrasound doesn't show anything. He seems to be a bit of a medical mystery! I am not sure what I am thinking at this point. I am still hopeful it's nothing to serious because he is also still an upbeat, happy dog who goes on his long walkies, plays with his toys, and roaches around.

Thanks! We haven't had any culture done yet, but vet asked for a second urine sample and says it is very dilute. They have also requested a second blood test. Results on Monday hopefully. She suspects it may be diabetes insipidus.

Thanks for your responses. @DocsDoctor if you recall, how was the urine infection diagnosed in the end? We have been keeping a water diary, and yesterday he set a new record - 5 litres! Today the vet phoned and she confirmed that 5 litres is too much for him to be drinking. Thankfully the vet also ruled out any serious conditions like kidney disease, but she said the blood test results were somewhat ambiguous and wants another urine sample from him to double check. Knowing the vet is thinking that it's probably medical, but also not serious, is a big relief to me. Hopefully we can find out what it is and get him treated so he can go back to his busy schedule of sleeping most of the day. I'll keep this thread updated, maybe it can be informative to others in the future!

I posted a wee while back about our grey (3 yo male, with us for 3 months) who had started to pee in the flat after eating ( ). At that time we thought it was just behavioural, maybe our schedule wasn't good for him. So we adjusted so that in addition to all of our regular walks he also went out after meals. This is what our schedule looks like now: - 7am: 45 min walk - 8:30am: breakfast, then out to the garden right after - 12pm: 15 min walk - 5pm: 45 min walk - 6:30pm: dinner, then out to the garden right after - 8pm: trip to the garden - 11pm: trip to the garden then bed But he started to get worse, peeing inside at seemingly random times. They are always big pees, not little marks, and he just does them wherever he happens to be at the time. We thought it was a lapse in his house training, so we have gone back to treating him every time he pees outdoors. But he has just continued to get worse. He drinks between 3.5 and 4 litres of water a day. I've no idea if this is a lot or a little. We took him to the vets, who say they couldn't find anything wrong with him physically or in his urine, and we are awaiting blood test results. Yesterday he peed for the first time lying down in his bed. Not the first time he's peed on the bed, I've seen him pee on it when he stands up or goes to sit down, but the first time I'd seen him peeing lying down in a relaxed position. And he loves his bed too, that's where he takes his treats and toys, and where he settles down in the room. A part of me is convinced this is medical, but then the vet seems to think he is totally fine, and he is a 3 yo otherwise healthy male, so a medical issue seems unlikely. I am very conflicted. Has anyone else had similar issues with a young male grey? And if it is behavioural, any advice for training him not to go in the house? Currently we are just giving him praise for going outside, and we have started teaching him to ring a bell which hopefully he can eventually use to ask to go out. But preferably he'd be able to hold it so that we could have some kind of schedule.

Thanks! We'll try this. We have no other pets.

Thanks for the warm welcome and responses all! Our grey's name is Nugget. It's reassuring to hear that the stairs are unlikely to trigger bloat, because that means the simple solution is just to take him to the garden after dinner which we will do tonight. I should also mention that he absolutely wolfs down his meals, and we have a slow feeder bowl on the way to stop him doing that. It's definitely a "real pee" (same place each time), I suppose what is surprising is he has just suddenly started to need to pee after a meal. Although we did recently change his food because his wet food wasn't agreeing with him and maybe this is the cause? Our current schedule is: - 7am: 45 min walk - 8:30am: breakfast - 12pm: 15 min walk - 5pm: 45 min walk - 6:30pm: dinner - 8pm: trip to the garden And another trip to the garden right before bed.

We got our male 3 yo greyhound about 2 and a half months ago. Housetraining went great at first, got into a schedule and I was comfortable with him in the flat. But the last week or so he has started peeing in the house immediately after dinner. Problem is it's three floors down to the garden and we're scared that taking him there immediately after every meal may give him bloat. Is this an okay thing to do? Whatsmore tonight I took him out after dinner and he didn't pee. Came back into the flat and he peed. Quite frustrating that he's getting worse after being so good for so long.