Lots Of Drinking And Peeing!

[Guest OwnedByAGrey]

Within the past month I have noticed an increase in Blazes water intake and therefore more peeing. He also seems to have lost some weight. Additionally he has had 2 early am throw ups, no food just liquidey. All activities, eating, pooping are no change. He has not had any accidents in the house and also when I go to work and leave him for 5 hours no problem. When I come home he starts his drinking and peeing routine.

 

We were at the Vets in Feb. for our annual, and all was good. He is on Interceptor monthly and Advantage as needed.

 

Only thing different within the last 2 months is that I changed his food&/treats to Blue Buffalo and I started him on Brewer's Yeast Garlic tabs with Omega Fatty Acids. Could this change be related?

 

Looking for some thoughts..........

Thanks Jo Ann

[2hounds]

I would say a vet visit is in order. It could be something simple or it could be something that needs to be treated (Iceman started doing this last month and it turned out he was in early stage kidney failure, but because we caught it early, we are able to treat him and hopefully we caught it before a lot of damage was done).

[Guest sheila]

is it warm where you are? That would be another thing to consider if he is drinking more because he is hot.

[Guest OwnedByAGrey]

is it warm where you are? That would be another thing to consider if he is drinking more because he is hot.

 

In south Florida and yes it has been extemely hot.

 

Just curious as to how much Greys normally drink in a day? Cups?

[Guest sheila]

I don't know if there is a 'normal'. I just keep my dogs water bowls full all the time. I guess if it is hot and the dog isn't in A/C that 3 full bowls or more a day would be normal.

If you can't control the temps where he is you could try things to cool him down. A kiddie pool is a good tool. If not that then you could splash some water on his belly and legs and that would help. Also use fans in the rooms where he is haging out. Some ppl use the cooling neck wraps that you soak in water and put on the dogs.

[GreyPoopon]

Only thing different within the last 2 months is that I changed his food&/treats to Blue Buffalo and I started him on Brewer's Yeast Garlic tabs with Omega Fatty Acids. Could this change be related?

 

Food can do it.

 

I'm having a similar problem with Cora. We have a tentative diagnosis of kidney problems (based on the specific gravity of her morning urine), but she can't eat the kidney support diets that my vet carries. However, since the excessive drinking started roughly when I changed her food, I'm hoping that's the issue. The change back did not start well (soft poop), so I don't know yet if I'm right.

 

I agree: a vet visit is a good idea to rule out infection, kidney issues, and so on.

 

You might also PM Batmom, since her Zema has been showing similar symptoms, and she's done a lot of experimenting with food.

 

[greyhead]

I would say a vet visit is in order. It could be something simple or it could be something that needs to be treated (Iceman started doing this last month and it turned out he was in early stage kidney failure, but because we caught it early, we are able to treat him and hopefully we caught it before a lot of damage was done).

How are you treating him? I have the impression that diet management alone may be all that's needed if the condition is caught early.

 

We have the same issue with one of our greys, age 5. For months he consumed lots more water than the other dog, was peeing a lot, and sometimes had leakage. He also doesn't have much stamina for walking and overheats easily. It has taken a year for his lab tests to show all the abnormalities of kidney disease, though. (His creatinine has always been a little high, but the vet said that's not necessarily abnormal for greyhounds. Now the BUN and specific gravity are beginning to be wonky too.)

 

We'll do a complete blood chemistry tomorrow, paying special attention to his phosphorus level. He's not going to do well with a veterinary kidney diet because he doesn't digest grains well. So I'd rather keep him on the food he does well on, found through lengthy trial and error, and just use a phosphorus binder if appropriate.

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I thought your reply might be of interest to others, while we're on the subject.

 

Mary

[Batmom]

When I come home he starts his drinking and peeing routine.

...

Only thing different within the last 2 months is that I changed his food&/treats to Blue Buffalo and I started him on Brewer's Yeast Garlic tabs with Omega Fatty Acids. Could this change be related?

 

It's worth taking a first-of-the-morning (when dog has not had water during the night) urine sample to your vet and asking them to check specific gravity. That gives some indication of whether the kidneys are working properly or not. Could also check for a UTI while they're at it, just in case.

 

For a @ 75 lb. dog of moderate activity in moderate temperatures, up to 13 cups a day is considered normal.

 

Since he starts when you get home, could be he's "anticipating." Excited because you're home, anticipating Special Events, etc. My angel Batman used to do that from time to time.

 

And then we have Zema. When Zema was having her problem, the only time she overdrank (and had to go out several times) was during a @ 3-hour period in late afternoon/early evening. Starting a bit before I got home. At least twice she *did* have a urinary tract infection. The rest of the time, she didn't. Urinalysis perfect. Cultured the urine anyways -- nothing. Ultrasounded the bladder and surrounding area -- nothing. Bloodwork perfect. But she was drinking and having to go out and obviously feeling uncomfortable. I tried filtered water, low-sodium prescription food, pepcid in case her tummy hurt, half a dozen other things. Then I changed her food to a homecooked, limited-ingredient, NO-sodium diet, and she got better -- as in, completely better, within a day or so.

 

6 weeks ago I started her back on commercial food. Last week she turned up with another UTI. We're treating this one and changing nothing else, but if she has one more problem I'll put her back on the home diet for good. Nothing special about the home diet -- just very limited in ingredients, and no added salt.

[Guest BigPercyInMa]

Those were some signs in my son before he was diagnosed with Diabetes last year.

 

[Guest OwnedByAGrey]

Thanks all for your advice...............making a vet appt. tomorrow to check things out. Also as I mentioned before all seemed to start when I changed food, hummm I think I need to look into that as well. Thanks again.