Suddenly Relieving Herself In Crate

[Guest Celestrina]

Lately Angie has started relieving herself in her crate, something she hasn't done before. Yesterday I took her on a long walk (45 min), she urinated and defecated on the walk, yet she urinated in the crate. She was only in it for two hours. Today she did both in her crate, however I couldn't take her on a long walk beforehand due to an emergency. She had urinated on the walk, but not defecated.

[kolarik1]

Has there been any changes? In the house or family? Anything stressful going on?

[GreyTzu]

Sounds like a UTI and a Vet visit on the horizon.

[Guest Celestrina]

Things have been stressful lately, but nothing she hasn't seen before.

 

Sounds like a UTI and a Vet visit on the horizon.

 

She hasn't been going more frequently otherwise, or had an increased urgency.

[gracegirl]

When this started happening with Fenway we went through all the steps...vet visit, urinalysis, complete blood work, treated for an unconfirmed UTI, etc. Nothing helped, so eventually we did an ultrasound because the vet felt it was medical and not behavioral. Low and behold....kidney damage.

 

So he just has to drink more water and pee more often. For now I have pee pads in his favorite spots, but will hopefully be transitioning to diapers soon. I want and need him to be able to go when he feels the urge so as not to make his condition worse.

 

My theory, always run tests to rule out medical first, the explore behavioral problems. I could be that she is anxious with changes in pressure due to storms. Could be a UTI. Could be stress. But always best to rule out medical first. I'd start with a urinalysis and make sure they culture it. Then go from there.

[Guest Celestrina]

Even though the only time she is having any accidents is when she's in her crate? She's not even waking us up during the night (she's only in the crate when we aren't home.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Yes, even if it's only in the crate.

[Guest sheila]

It's so easy to get a simple test done that is the first place I would start. With my vet all I have to do is take a pee sample in and one of the techs can come out and do the test right there in the waiting room. They don't even charge for an office visit this way, just the $8 for the test.

The best way (that I have found) to catch a pee sample for a female is to use a foil pie tin and slide it under her as she begins to pee. You don't have to catch the whole thing, just enough that it can be tested using a paper strip. Transfer the pee to a clean container with a lid. If you can't get it to the vet right away then you can refrigerate it. The best sample is the 'first of the morning' sample when the urine is most concentrated.

[gracegirl]

Even though the only time she is having any accidents is when she's in her crate? She's not even waking us up during the night (she's only in the crate when we aren't home.

 

Fenway only has accidents durring the day when I am gone. He has a dog walker come mid-day. Nothing at all changed in his schedule, yet the accident led to the discovery of the kidney damage.

 

So yes, my advice would be to get a first of the day sample into your vet for a urinalyis and cluture. That's where I started, then moved to bloodwork before getting an ultrasounds to diagnos the problem.

 

I, too, suspected it was behavioral at the start. With the urinalysis results, we discovered it was medical.

 

It's so easy to get a simple test done that is the first place I would start. With my vet all I have to do is take a pee sample in and one of the techs can come out and do the test right there in the waiting room. They don't even charge for an office visit this way, just the $8 for the test.

The best way (that I have found) to catch a pee sample for a female is to use a foil pie tin and slide it under her as she begins to pee. You don't have to catch the whole thing, just enough that it can be tested using a paper strip. Transfer the pee to a clean container with a lid. If you can't get it to the vet right away then you can refrigerate it. The best sample is the 'first of the morning' sample when the urine is most concentrated.

 

Yep. The test is simple and cheap. Always rule out medical first!

 

If you don't have a pie pan on hand, I've also had success with a soup ladel. Or buy the disposable ziplock tupperware at the grocery store/Walmart that will fit a sandwich (the shallow kind). I have some on hand for pee collecting purposes.