Pee Problem

[Guest Lygracilux]

So for the past week or two, Fusion has been having a pee accident here and there in the house.

Since we got him 4 months ago, he had NEVER had an accident in the house, so this is why it concerns me a little bit.

It happened once randomly on my mothers rug in her bedroom. He never really ventured in there up until that point, but all the other pets have. There wasn't a lot, so I thought it was a marking thing. Once scolded he hasn't done it in there again.

A week or so later the second accident happened. That time he was left alone for about 5 hrs during the evening, which doesn't usually happen. There wasn't much when we came home, but when I let him out there was SO much pee. I noticed he drank his whole dish of water while we were gone, so maybe he just reallllly had to go.

The next time, he just randomly got up off the couch and peed near the Christmas tree, but stopped when scolded. My fiance let him out, and he finished, again a lot of pee.

The last time was last night. I let him out, he did his business. I fed him, gave him fresh water, then the fiance and I went to the gym/ran errands for about an hour or so. We got home and were putting away groceries while my mom was cooking dinner. We kept Fusion closed in the living room while we did this because he gets into all the food. After about 15 minutes we opened the door, and there was what seemed like a gallon of pee near the door, which wasn't there when we got home. He didn't whine or anything to be let out, so we figured he was just laying on the couch. And it had only been an hour and a half-two hours since his last time out. So as my fiance cleaned it up, I let him out and he peed more/did poos.

When I came back in I noticed his water bowl was bone dry. I had just filled it before I left.

 

A couple factors:

He has never had a poo accident, and when he has to go out he always goes to the door, so I know its not a house breaking thing.

My mom works from home, so after I let him out before I leave to go to work at 8:00, she lets him out around 10:30-11 if needed, then again at 3:30 if needed. But most of the time he goes about 6 hours, no issues. He doesn't drink much when we aren't home, but once are, he guzzles water.

I also wet his food a little bit so he doesn't choke on it as he eats fast. So there is a little more water in there.

Im wondering if a vet visit is in order?

It doesn't sound UTI-ish to me, because its not sporadic, and its usually after he drinks a ton of water. So maybe some sort of over active bladder?

Other than that hes great. Besides having an ocd with licking. But were managing that.

Any advice is welcome!

 

 

[Guest DogNewbie]

No advice just wanted to wish you good luck!

[tbhounds]

Sounds like your dog is pu/pd ( p/u-polyuria=excessive urination &p/d=polydipsia -excessive drinking which is most certainly going to lead to accidents in the house. There is quite of list of conditions/diseases that need to be ruled out. Two types of diabetes, cushings disease, urinary tract infection...... You should bring your hound in for an exam-I would bring a first morning urine sample (after an overnight fast).

[Guest Lygracilux]

Sounds like your dog is pu/pd ( p/u-polyuria=excessive urination &p/d=polydipsia -excessive drinking which is most certainly going to lead to accidents in the house. There is quite of list of conditions/diseases that need to be ruled out. Two types of diabetes, cushings disease, urinary tract infection...... You should bring your hound in for an exam-I would bring a first morning urine sample (after an overnight fast).

 

Oh jeeze, haha. Okay I will give them a call to set up an appointment and go from there.

He seems otherwise very healthy (shiny coat, active when supposed to be, good out put) So I hope its nothing too serious.

Would you recommend limiting his water intake to what it should be a day, instead of free watering him (filling it up when empty)?

Maybe by giving him exactly the amount he needs, not wants, would help? I think he should be having about 11 cups a day for his weight. I could split that up 3 times a day.

[Batmom]

Don't limit his water. Some conditions, he NEEDS it.

[4My2Greys]

Sounds like your dog is pu/pd ( p/u-polyuria=excessive urination &p/d=polydipsia -excessive drinking which is most certainly going to lead to accidents in the house. There is quite of list of conditions/diseases that need to be ruled out. Two types of diabetes, cushings disease, urinary tract infection...... You should bring your hound in for an exam-I would bring a first morning urine sample (after an overnight fast).

If the urinalysis shows any signs of protein I would request a urine protein/creatanine ratio run to check for kidney damage.

[Guest Lygracilux]

If the urinalysis shows any signs of protein I would request a urine protein/creatanine ratio run to check for kidney damage.

 

Okay will do.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks guys! Atlease I know what to bring up/look for now.

Also, he JUST turned 2 years old. I know a lot of the medical issues that it could be are way more common in older dogs. Is that right?

Oof I just hope its simple. I dont want my baby uncomfortable all the time.

[Guest Lygracilux]

Sent in the pee sample.

No bacteria/infection or signs of proteins.

However his Bilirubin in his urine was slightly elevated. The vet said its not an emergency as it was very slight, and I took the sample from morning pee but he wants him to go in for some blood tests.

 

We go in Monday. Will update.

 

 

P.S. If anyone has an input on this:

 

This all started (excessive peeing, some dry skin, excessive licking) around the same time I started giving Fusion a new plant/animal enzyme Probiotic, as FortiFlora was out of stock.

Could that have anything to do with it? Maybe an allergy or bad reaction to an ingredient in it? Just like people, al animals are different and have different sensitivities.

I know sometimes probiotics can have an adverse effect.

Sometimes when I take probiotics I use the bathroom a little more than normal.

 

I stopped giving him this two days ago to see if he will improve. He did NOT have an accident in the house yesterday, even though he did go out a little more than normal. This is the first time in 4 days he hasn't had at least one accident in the house.

 

Hmmm.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Lygracilux

[Brandiandwe]

Brandi pees more if she's eaten anything odd. She's now on a very restricted, but healthy, diet and is much better. The vet described the food as inflaming her system including her bladder, combining with SA.... So the change might contribute. But talk to your vet. Good luck.

[Guest normaandburrell]

I think you did a good thing stopping the probiotic. Some of those compounds have multiple ingredients, any one of which could have caused the problem.

[GeorgeofNE]

There is no medical reason to feed a dog probiotics unless they are actively taking antibiotics.

 

Just because something is "natural" does not mean it's harmless.

 

I was told to try my old dog on Valerian Root for anxiety, and it sent his liver enzymes through the roof. The vet was horribly embarassed as she had suggested it without researching it. She no longer suggests it, as his enzymes normalized after I stopped giving it to him.

[FiveRoooooers]

This all started (excessive peeing, some dry skin, excessive licking) around the same time I started giving Fusion a new plant/animal enzyme Probiotic, as FortiFlora was out of stock.

 

I stopped giving him this two days ago to see if he will improve. He did NOT have an accident in the house yesterday, even though he did go out a little more than normal. This is the first time in 4 days he hasn't had at least one accident in the house.

Did Fusion exhibit any of his current symptoms while he was receiving FortiFlora, or did they all begin when he started the new probiotic?

[Guest Lygracilux]

Did Fusion exhibit any of his current symptoms while he was receiving FortiFlora, or did they all begin when he started the new probiotic?

 

 

Nope he was great on the FortiFlora, we originally got it to firm up his poop. But I know FortiFlora has different ingredients than the one I just took him off, it juust had good reviews which is why I opted to try it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Last night was night 2 without an accident in the house since stopping the probiotic. He just seem over all better/happier. Not licking as much, skin seems to be a little less dry already.

I will still be bringing him to the vet on Monday to get blood taken, and see what the vet thinks about all of this.

Thank you guys! Im such an anxious mom.

[FiveRoooooers]

 

Nope he was great on the FortiFlora, we originally got it to firm up his poop. But I know FortiFlora has different ingredients than the one I just took him off, it juust had good reviews which is why I opted to try it out.

 

Last night was night 2 without an accident in the house since stopping the probiotic. He just seem over all better/happier. Not licking as much, skin seems to be a little less dry already.

I will still be bringing him to the vet on Monday to get blood taken, and see what the vet thinks about all of this.

Thank you guys! Im such an anxious mom.

Right. Since he did well on it, the next experiment that I'd be doing is to add back the FortiFlora and see what the results are.

[Guest Lygracilux]

Right. Since he did well on it, the next experiment that I'd be doing is to add back the FortiFlora and see what the results are.

 

Okay yeah, Ill give his system a little break. Just keep it bland for a couple weeks with his dry food, and some coconut oil at night (he loveeees it)

Ask the vet about all that, and then slowly introduce the FortiFlora again.

 

Thank you!!

[Guest Lygracilux]

Update:

 

Fusion went to the vet yesterday and was a nervous reck as usual.

He got a full blood panel taken, and everything was perfect. Nothing to be concerned about. So the vet thinks even though it is strange, he must have had a reaction to something in the probiotic as I thought.

However when Fusion was on the probiotic he had itchy/flaky skin (finally going away) and he gave himself sores between his legs from licking. They are now infected, so the vet prescribed a week of antibiotics to help those heal.

We have been using a towel as a cone to keep him from licking it. It's working so far even though it's very funny looking.

But I'm happy this turned out to be not too serious.

Thanks everyone who chimed in.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Lygracilux

[ramonaghan]

Hooray for an easy fix! I know you are relieved.

[Guest BlueCatch]

Happy you got it figured out. Catch has had two accidents recently and trying to figure out why.

[Guest jbbuzby]

For what it's worth, my male hound has had ongoing similar issues with urination for the past few years. It's driven me nuts, but once we figured out what he needed, it's just been another part of our routine.

 

In short, Ferguson is a nervous drinker. He drinks waaaay too much when nervous or anxious, and he simply tends to be just a worrisome dog. We keep him on a strict routine and exercise him for at least an hour every day. It's not consistent, but he will have flare ups of not being able to completely empty his bladder and pees for what seems like several minutes. We'll then walk him, and he'll have several more similar pee episodes (he is not a marker and only does this when he over-drinks and puts too much stress on his bladder). We've repeatedly taken him to the vet for bi-annual bloodwork and urinalysis, neither of which has ever indicated a problem (except once, when he did in fact have a UTI, but that was a little different being obviously painful to him and having a weird smell to match).

 

The way we have dealt with it, approved by our vet, is by controlling how much water we put down at a time to always be monitoring his water intake. We put down 3 cups at a time, and keep tabs on it. If he drinks it all at once, we wait an hour and take him out to pee again before giving him more, and by then he usually doesn't want anymore or just drinks a little. If we know he'll be alone for more than 6 hours, we'll just leave 1.5 cups down instead and resume our monitoring once we return to him. We also pick up the water bowl at 8pm each night, and give him 10 or so laps of water just before bed.

 

I will say it's a HUGE pain, and I am counting down the days until we have a yard with a dog door to where this might no longer be necessary (we live in an apartment right now with no yard or balcony). It sounds like you've handled it and solved the mystery, but to others, if you get your hound checked out and find no problems while he sports a similar issue as my Ferguson's drinking problem, this is what has worked for us. Good luck to you!