Sudden Urination Problems

[jshell]

At about 2:30 this morning, Betty Joan got up out of bed in the manner that indicated she needed to go out. I thought it was another digestive problem, so we went out and she crouched to pee a lot and went poo once, and the poo was fairly normal (just smaller than our usual, regularly scheduled morning poop). Still thinking it might be a poo problem, I gave her an Imodium wrapped in a pill pocket. She ate it, but ate it kind of dryly and continued to lick/smack her lips for a while.

 

About an hour later she needed to go out again. So, grudgingly, I took her back out. She threw up, but only that foamy bile and possibly the pill. Didn't throw up her dinner or anything. No indication of poop, but a fair amount of crouching to pee. The funny thing was, she was pulling ahead like she normally does when she is preparing to drop a deuce.

 

Another hour or so later, same thing (no throw-up). I try to take a flashlight along to see what she's peeing, but can't make it out.

 

She is drinking a little bit of water between these outings.

 

Hour or so later, again, same thing. Now the sun is freshly up so we have light, and I decide to try a longer walk. Betty sustains her pace pretty much the whole time, walking like she's got to drop a nice poop at the edge of the current patch of grass. I see that only little droplets are coming out of her. And at one point, I saw little red drops on the blades of grass she was just over.

 

But I only see that once. Oh, and during this fresh morning walk, I'm also throwing up (I think just an upset stomach made worse by fresh anxieties), so that's adding to the fun.

 

We see a stranger on this walk and Betty's tail is wagging as she meets him. Aside from the other behavior above, there doesn't seem to be any lethargy or other anxieties (although it is now normally past time for breakfast and she doesn't seem to notice).

 

We get in from that walk and back into beds at about 7:05 and this time Betty seems to go a full hour and a half until she starts pacing again. She drinks more water a couple of times and spends much of the rest just laying down.

 

We went out again at about 8:35, and I tried to pay attention to her first pee after going out, and that one seems to actually be a little (clear) stream. All of the other ones are primarily clear little drops. Haven't seen blood again, but its hard to tell.

 

This came up very suddenly. I haven't been paying attention to her pees the past few days, but all of our walks have seemed normal and things seemed mostly normal last night. We went out for our usual pre-bedtime piss at around midnight, but I didn't pay attention to whether it sounded like her normal strong stream or not (I know that most nights it is, since I use the sound to tell if she's gone pee or gotten distracted by the smells of neighborhood cats and such, I just don't remember noticing last nights).

 

Since it's Sunday, I'm wondering if I should try to get her to the e-vet or work with her until tomorrow and our normal vet is available. Betty is nearly 9 years old and we noticed some light damage to her kidneys last year when we started testing her blood pressure (which was obscenely high, but is now down to normal levels). Since I don't drive I have to pull a neighbor or someone into service to get her to the e-vet, so I want to be sure it's worthy of the emergency..

 

Thanks for putting up with my ramble.

[Batmom]

Likely a urinary tract infection. Not a true emergency but it would be best to get her seen today if at all possible. Hope pretty girl feels better soonest!

 

 

 

ETA: Since she has some kidney impairment, I wouldn't want to wait on seeing the vet as a simple UTI can ascend and do more damage if left too long.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Batmom

[Hubcitypam]

At about 2:30 this morning, Betty Joan got up out of bed in the manner that indicated she needed to go out. I thought it was another digestive problem, so we went out and she crouched to pee a lot and went poo once, and the poo was fairly normal (just smaller than our usual, regularly scheduled morning poop). Still thinking it might be a poo problem, I gave her an Imodium wrapped in a pill pocket.

Sort of an aside, but why would you give Immodium when she had a small but fairly normal poop?

 

Back to the bloody pee. I'm no longer one to run to the e-vet at the drop of a hat but if a dog is pacing panting and in distress it might be wise.

 

BUT... I'm just wondering if she is waking you up every hour or if maybe you are hovering and waking her. She may be feeding off your anxieties to a degree.

As far as the drops of blood you saw once, someting similar happened to me a few years ago and when I went back there were drops of something red in that grass, but they were also where my dog had never been.

 

Personally, I'd take a ativan, xanex, mimosa or deep breath (your choice) and see if you can just leave her be for a few hours. If she seeks you out and is panting and pacing then look into the e-vet.

[jshell]

Likely a urinary tract infection. Not a true emergency but it would be best to get her seen today if at all possible. Hope pretty girl feels better soonest!

 

ETA: Since she has some kidney impairment, I wouldn't want to wait on seeing the vet as a simple UTI can ascend and do more damage if left too long.

 

Thanks. I gave the emergency vet a call (since they're the ones I know are open today) and when I told them about her kidneys and blood pressure meds, they recommended the same.

 

Sort of an aside, but why would you give Immodium when she had a small but fairly normal poop?

 

Habit. We just went through her annual "spring runoff" where she has a week of soft stool/diarrhea every spring. I was almost expecting this tonight as she was a little more gassy earlier in the evening. Plus at one point I was eating a handful of trail mix that has chocolatey stuff in it and noticed Betty licking the roof of her mouth and worried I might have dropped a piece (even though I was pretty sure I didn't). So, yeah, I was kind of expecting stomach problems.

 

Back to the bloody pee. I'm no longer one to run to the e-vet at the drop of a hat but if a dog is pacing panting and in distress it might be wise. BUT... I'm just wondering if she is waking you up every hour or if maybe you are hovering and waking her. She may be feeding off your anxieties to a degree. As far as the drops of blood you saw once, someting similar happened to me a few years ago and when I went back there were drops of something red in that grass, but they were also where my dog had never been.Personally, I'd take a ativan, xanex, mimosa or deep breath (your choice) and see if you can just leave her be for a few hours. If she seeks you out and is panting and pacing then look into the e-vet.

 

That's a good reminder to take a deep breath. I've been trying to practice mindfulness and meditation but it's still very easy to let anxiety take control.

 

During the night, I totally let Betty set the schedule. Another trick learned long ago during big poopy times and also when on prednisone's heavy-urination schedule. I would look at her on occasion to see if she was standing or laying down, and how she was laying down, but since I was trying to sleep and deal with my own upset stomach, I don't think I was hovering (at least, not too much).

[jshell]

The time-span between outs is getting bigger - 2-2.5 hours this last one. Some of the pees on our last walk were just drips, others were small streams. Also, Betty ate her breakfast (well, half of it: she ate the wet food, and did not touch the G/D kibble, which is not terribly abnormal of her to do).

 

Improving situation? Would love to avoid the e-vet if I could and just call up our regular vet tomorrow.

[jshell]

Looks like it's Urinary Tract Infection. But they couldn't find any bacteria, just lots and lots of white blood cells! (and some other UTI indicators) So we don't know which strain we're fighting. Came home with Clavamox and hoping it works.

[DesiRayMom]

Betty Joan.

 

Hope you both get some rest tonight, & feel better in the morning!

[Guest Roadtripper]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Betty Joan! And a good night's sleep for you both!