Dog with diabetes? UTI? cold weather?

[CathyA]

It seems my 12 year old doggie needs to go out alot more to pee. I'm thinking she's drinking more water too.
Anyone with a dog with diabetes? What are the symptoms with your dog? Anyone who's had an older dog with a UTI.......what are the symptoms?
I also don't want to ignore the possibility that its just from the cold weather.........but I don't want to miss any important signs of something more.
She is drinking a bit more water too, and is always hungry and is a bit overweight (haha.....sounds like me)........so I'm wondering about diabetes.
Maybe its just her age? (once again........sounds like me!) :~)
She does get daily med for hypothyroidism, but her recent numbers are in the "normal" range for that.
Thanks!

[Blackdog Lin]

I have no real answers.....but our baby also (1) drinks much more water; and (2) has to go out more because of it - in her elderly years. (She turned 13 this last July.) She seems basically healthy otherwise (we work on allergy issues), so I just consider it a normal part of her aging. Don't really know.....

[Teacher Terry]

There are lots of things that can cause these changes. You named 2 of them and she could also have Cushing's disease which causes a dog to drink & pee more. I would have blood work to see if anything is wrong. If it shows nothing you can chalk it up to old age. I had a dog with Cushing's and it is a horrible disease so hopefully it is not that.

[CathyA]

Thanks BlackdogLin and Teacher Terry.

[CathyA]

Well, it has gotten worse. She needs to go out about every 2 hours. I took a urine sample in to the vets and the test was normal. He said it had a few crystals in it, but that could have been because I had it in the fridge for 2 hours before bringing it.

He said to see how she does this weekend and if it continues, to bring her in for labs. But after I got her home, she had to go out constantly. So we have an appointment for tomorrow morning. I couldn't believe it wasn't a UTI. She acts normal in all other ways........but whines alot to go out. She went out 3 times during the night last night.....and she usually sleeps through. So something is up.

She is getting medication for hypothyroidism. I hope it isn't a Cushing's problem........ And I hope the vet's office can handle a complex disease. I'm not happy with the girl who took over her dad's vet office, but they've hired a new guy, and he seems pretty up on things. It does help for both DH and I to be medical professionals.........but I hate having to point things out to the vet that he/she should know.
Anyhow......finger's crossed its nothing major.

[Teacher Terry]

We adopted an old Maltese that had Cushing's and he had to wear a belly band with a pad in it and then we had to come home a lunch & right after work to change it and potty him. He was thirsty all the time & peed a lot. When we got him he had lost most his hair, had warts, breathed very loud & looked like a pot bellied pig. The regular vet could not do anything at that point but a homeopathic vet put him on meds that made his breathing better & his hair came back. Eventually he could no longer walk and we had to PTS. I sure hope it is not that.

[CathyA]

Sorry about your doggie, Teacher Terry. My dog doesn't seem to have those other symptoms (fur/skin/belly)......so hopefully its just something a little more benign. I tend to notice things before other people do, so I hope I'm not over-reacting. I'm sure the visit tomorrow won't be cheap. But to suddenly need to pee every 2 hours and at night, just isn't normal for her. She's about 10 or 11 years old (was a stray). I just hope they didn't screw up the UA, 'cause we're having lots more tests tomorrow.

I think its a good sign, though, that she doesn't seem to have any other symptoms. Maybe just a stone, with a normal UA.

[Teacher Terry]

Thanks Cathy. I think his outcome might have been different or he may have had a better quality of life if we had gotten him before he was in such bad shape. His so called Mom did not keep up vet, feed good food, etc. I get a call from her because someone told her that I adopt Maltese. Well on the phone she said she could not keep him because she was moving. I was horrified when I saw him & think she didn't want him any longer because of the shape he was in. However, we spoiled him and at least the end of his life was good. It really sounds like a UA since the dog has no other symptoms but I don't know what Cushing's looks like in the early stages.

[CathyA]

I'm glad you were there for him. Its sort of like Molly......... a couple years ago she showed up at our house (in the country). I tried to find her owner, but no one claimed her. She nipped at my husband's arm when he went to pet her. We kept her for several weeks, to make sure she didn't have rabies. We made her a straw house on our covered porch and kept her on a leash. I didn't realize at that time how "wounded" she was.

We decided to keep her and got immunizations for her and brought her into our house.......which was a bit traumatic for Suzi, our other dog. We soon realized that Molly was close to blind and probably deaf. All she did was walk in circles. I think something was wrong with her brain. She would hardly ever sleep and we would have to hold her down to get her to relax long enough to fall asleep. She didn't seem to know joy. We did our best to make her comfortable. She was with us for about 4 months, and deteriorated rapidly and died. I felt about her like you did about your little dog.........that at least she had a good life at the end, around people who cared for her.

[CathyA]

Well.....this is interesting. We took her to the vet's again today. He did an excellent physical exam (including a rectal), took an xray to see any stone, ran labs (CBC, chem profile, B.S.).........nothing!
We're glad everything shows normal, but dang.......why does she have to pee so often? For now, I think we have to consider its a neurotic thing.........?? Maybe we need to just tolerate all the whining and see if she gets used to going out less. Last night, she went out at 7p.m, 10:30p.m. and 12:30 p.m. Its pretty disruptive to our sleep. We just don't have a clue what's going on. We'll have to just wait and see............but dang......its a real pain to listen to her whine and want out so much. I do feed her good stuff.........Taste of the Wild, and Blue Buffalo.
Any suggestions?

[Teacher Terry]

That is awesome that you were there for Molly! We crate trained our dogs for night time so don't know if that would work or not or if you have ever done that. It might prevent her from crying to go out. Other then that I have no idea.

[CathyA]

Thanks Teacher Terry.
I'm afraid our dog's resolve is always stronger than ours! If we crated her at night, she'd howl all night long! haha
Hopefully this too shall pass!

[AnneM]

CathyA, your dog sounds just like me! I have to go every two to three hours when I'm not on medication for over active bladder. It happened all of a sudden with me, too. The vet can prescribe the medication for your dog. You may as well try, if you value your sleep.

[Tussiemussies]

Hi Cathy A, our dog just passed away and a month and a half beforehand she had an incident where we thought she was having a heart attack, breathing heavily with groaning and not fully consciousness and had fallen over. We took her to the vet the next day because she did have Alzheimer's and they ran every test possible that came back normal. The vet said she must have just hit her head when she fell down and that was his answer. A month and a half later she had the same exact incident but passed away. I knew something was much more wrong than what the vet was saying. Stick to your hunches and possibly see a holistic vet. It just doesn't sound normal to me, and the whining when she goes sounds like she is in really in pain. Of all the dogs we have ever had they hardly ever whined unless they were in extreme pain. My brother's dog had a herniated disk and never cried or stopped walking, although he dragged his one leg, that was the only indicator. I say keep searching until you find the answer...just my thought on this...chris

[Teacher Terry]

I agree that a homeopathic vet can sometimes help when a regular one can't. Although we love our regular vet there have been times we have consulted a homeopathic one. In the wild showing pain is a sign of weakness & the pack may turn on you which is why dogs instinctively try to hide their pain & can be very good at it. Let us know what happens.

[Susan]

Is she on any medications? Were her kidney function numbers okay? Some meds cause frequent urination. Could be the very early stages of a bladder infection.

[larknm]

Our 10 year-old large dog, Paloma, has had UTI for about 2 years now. We control her diet carefully, having noted that she get it when she eats almost anything besides kibble (Taste of the Wild). I give her one capsule of U-Tract in the morning in yogurt or milk in a teaspoon. I that doesn't clear it up, give her one the next morning, and that always has. I order U-Tract on Amazon. I go I about 10 years ago for myself, advised by a holistic doctor for environmental sensitivity.

Paloma's symptoms: leaking in the house and peeing many small pees outside the house. Homeopathic remedies didn't help. No vet I asked had ever heard of using U-Tact, but said it couldn't hurt her. This has been a big improvement in her life, as it has in mu own case.