Guest LittleGreys Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 My 10 year old Beagle girl has been drinking excessively. She gets me up several times at night to drink. It is driving me nuts! She is crated at night, not crating her is not an option, so I put a bowl of water in her crate. Doesn't matter, she still gets me up to drink and pee. Took her yesterday for an exam and tests. Bloodwork is all pretty much normal. Urinalysis is normal, except for specific gravity 1.005. Possibly a few bacteria on microscopic exam, so have a culture pending. Will get those results Monday. I am going to get a first morning urine on Monday to recheck SG, and also am going to do a LDDS test to check for Cushings, as that is my guess at this point. She does have a pot belly, which I think is getting bigger, she has a pot belly since she was spayed years ago. She does not have the thinning hair that usually accompanies Cushings. Any other guesses? I am going crazy, I can't keep getting up several times a night and then going to work for 10-12 hours a day. I am exhausted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I am not used to crates but I would imagine there is only so much water you can put in there. Any chance you can baby gate her somewhere that you can leave a larger bowl/pale of water? My first thought wouldn't be Cushings, unless you've noticed a huge change in her appetite, but if you're having the ACTH done, you'll know.My little girl never had the belly nor any thinning of hair but she battled Cushings for a year. Hopefully you'll have an answer and I hope you can come up with a solution for the water so you can get some sleep, and she can get the water she needs right now Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 gracegirl's young boy had normal bloodwork but ultrasound showed some kidney damage, so that is worth doing. Diabetes insipidus is also a possibility although those dogs usually drink a LOT. LindsaySF can tell you more about that. Have you checked blood pressure? High bp can cause some extra drinking/peeing as well. Best luck! And let us know what you find out. Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudzu Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 ... and also am going to do a LDDS test to check for Cushings, as that is my guess at this point. She does have a pot belly, which I think is getting bigger, she has a pot belly since she was spayed years ago. She does not have the thinning hair that usually accompanies Cushings. Not all Cushing's dogs show all the symptoms. Some don't drink excessively. Some are not ravenous. Some aren't balding. Some don't get a pot belly. Some don't get skin infections. Some of them don't even show elevated liver enzymes. I say definitely do the LDDS. You've nothing to lose & a lot to gain by doing so. It will help with confirming or ruling out Cushing's. Hope you get some answers soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest d0ggiem0mma Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My first thought for an overweight beagle that is pu/pd is diabetes. Second place would be kidney disease based on her age and symptoms. Was there ANY protein or albumin in the urine? I would also do a cbc & profile to see what her kidney values are. I had a kidney failure dog last year who's urinalysis didn't look bad but they kidney values were high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnF Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I'd have thought Diabetes; is the dog a lot sleepier? And then full Thyroid tests. But Cushings and Kidneys does sound more logical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaidd49 Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My first guesses would be diabetes or cushings and I would test for those regardless of presence or absence of classic symptoms Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Any news? Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I'd test for Diabetes Mellitus, Cushings, and kidney disease. If those come back negative, it could be Diabetes Insipidus. DI presents with normal bloodwork and urinalysis, aside from the urine being VERY dilute. We did an ultrasound of Cody's kidneys before my vet would consider DI, as they wanted to rule out an abnormality or tumor in the kidney. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LittleGreys Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 So the urine culture was negative and also got the results back on the LDDS test, its not Cushings. I guess that's good, but the bad part is that there is still no diagnosis. Not surprising with one of my dogs, nothing seems to be easy for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greymomnc Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Streak was recently diagnosed with atypical cushing's. She was drinking excessively and had no neck hair and no stomach hair. Our vet sent her bloodwork to the University of Tenn--I was told they are the leaders in this testing. I believe the test you referred to would come back normal for a dog with atypical cushing's. So, if all other tests have been run, you might talk to your vet about atypical cushing's. Streak has been on melatonin for a few months and has already begun to grow hair and her water consumption is getting under control. Hope this helps. It can be so frustrating trying to get to the bottom of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest d0ggiem0mma Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Did you do just a basic CBC & Chemistry Profile yet? I think that would have been one of the first things they would suggest. Also- can you post the urinalysis results for us? (Not the culture) Everyone interprets them a little differently so a second set of eyes might be a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LittleGreys Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Did you do just a basic CBC & Chemistry Profile yet? I think that would have been one of the first things they would suggest. Also- can you post the urinalysis results for us? (Not the culture) Everyone interprets them a little differently so a second set of eyes might be a good idea! Yup, I said in my original post that bloodwork was normal. Urinalysis was normal, too, not much to interpret. No blood, no bacteria, SG 1.005. No ketones, no glucose, no bilirubin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trackerbee Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 My 12 year old male beagle Kelly developed diabetes insipidus when he was 12 years old. All of a sudden he started drinking and urinating a lot. His urine was very dilute. My vet was able to pinpoint the problem almost immediateley although he had only seen one other case in his 20 years in practice. He did a water deprivation test to confirm his diaganoses. We started Kelly on desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) and it worked like a charm. As long has he got his meds on time he was fine, but miss or be a few hours late with a dose and the symptons came rushing back. This was back in 2005 and Kelly is no longer with us, but at the time I did some research on DDAVP because I was told it was only available in nasal spray or liquid that went into the eye. I found it in tablet form, but I had to get it from Canada. I am looking at an old receipt for it and it was 186.00 for a 3 month supply. I know the other two forms were much more expensive than that, but it worked completely. Kelly passed in late 2006 but it was his heart and not at all related to the medication. Hope this helps. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckylpa Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 My 6 year old grey Sam was diagnosed with diabetes insipidus in early 2009. He has been on desmopressin (DDAVP) since then and it does work for him. The best dose for him is .1 mg in the morning and .1 mg at night. I purchase it at Walmart in pill form (.2) and cut it in half. It is $115 for a 30 day supply. I prefer the pill form as the eye drop form I initially gave him have to be kept in the fridge. Sam's symptoms included a lot of drinking and a lot of peeing. His urine was very diluted. Bloodwork was fine. We did a lot of testing to get a diagnosis including xrays, ultrasound, bloodwork, urine testing and water deprivation tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 A specific gravity of 1.005 is on the low end of normal. Usually they say anything below 1.005 would indicate Diabetes Insipidus, Pyelonephritis, kidney failure, Cushings, etc. It could be a fluke, so I'd get a repeat sample and see if that is dilute too. Was it a first morning catch after limited access to water at night? If so, it being dilute is more concerning. If she always has unlimited access to water, then it's harder to tell, but I would have the vet test several samples (at different times of day) to see if the urine is always dilute. If bloodwork and urinalysis are otherwise normal, I would suspect Diabetes Insipidus (DI). Your vet might want to do an ultrasound of the kidneys though, to rule that out before pursuing DI. My beagle mix Cody has DI. I opted against a water deprivation trial because: 1) It can be dangerous, and 2) He hate hate hates being at the vet, where the test should be done. Instead we did an ADH trial, which is essentially giving him the synthetic ADH hormone (desmopressin) and seeing if it helps. And it did. We can tell if we forget to give a pill because he starts tanking up on water again. For several years Cody got desmopressin in the form of a human nasal spray applied to the eyes with an eye dropper. He finally had enough of that, and would bite me and not allow me to put the drops in. My vet found it in tablet form, thank god. We get it at Costco. The liquid used to be about $150 a month at Costco. The tablets used to be around $90 a month, but since they switched manufacturers the cost has gone down to around $75 a month. We're on Costco's prescription plan, so that takes like $4 off. He gets 1/2 tablet (0.1 mg tablets) 3 times per day. He is around 50 lbs. ~Lindsay~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Any news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LittleGreys Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Any news? Thanks for checking up on us! I did a first morning urine with no water during the night and it was 1.005 again. Her symptoms seemed to have slacked off, at least they had. I have been out of state for 5 days, and when I picked her up at the kennel this evening, her bed was soaked with urine. I don't have any idea if it was because she was drinking/urinating more or if she had not been let out to potty enough (no doggie door access so she had to wait until walk time). I have only been home a few hours and have been so busy getting the animals all settled back in, I haven't been able to watch her and see what she has been doing. I think I'll find out over the next few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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