[Akari_32]

On my walk with Haley today, we had to stop like four times so she could pee. And she only peed for a few seconds. She’s not one to mark, and she didn’t have a marking posture, so it wasn’t that. It was more like she really did have to pee, and settled in for a good long pee brake, but only got out a little bit (probably about a cup each time).

She also knows I’m not one for potty breaks on walks, and knows that pottying is only allowed in “her” yard, unless she really has to go while we’re out (because walking is for exercise, not for potty breaks!). She’s good about going before we start, but she does occasionally have to stop one time for a pee break, and it’s a full ladder sort of deal when she does. Certainly never four stops.

She is an outside dog, along with my other dog (not by my choice), but she’s always been in good health, is on flea and heart worm prevention (Trifexis– bugs me every time I give it to her. I’ll be getting her off it when this box runs out), and sees the vet every year, or as needed. She just turned 11 this January. The only thing different is that I have them on EVO right now, and they’re about 5lb away from finishing their second 28.6lb bag (so they’ve been on it a while, longer than I would have liked, but I bought them on short sale with upcoming expiration dates so I couldn’t rotate another brand in between bags). This is their first time on EVO, and probably their last, once I get rid of whatever is in the freezer at a later date, since Mars now owns them. They also get a can of wet food split between them a few times a week.

She’s fine otherwise right now, so I won’t be rushing off to the vet just yet. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, or anything, either. We walked a good mile plus, and she kept up with me the whole way. I walk fast, and keep her at a solid trot. Should I be watching for anything specific, given her age or anything? They both love the food, but could the high protein be bothering her? The highest protein food they’ve been on is Wellness CORE, since I can get it very cheap with coupons here. So this is something very new to my old guys. Any insight would be great 🙂

[Melissaandcrew]

Keep a close eye on her which may be hard if she us outside. Increased urination in a dog can be something “simple” such as urinary tract infection or d one thing more sinister such as kidney issues or diabetes. Personally I would take her to the vet to be sure. What is the temp outdoors?

[Akari_32]

I live in Florida, so it’s about a billion degrees outside this time of year. They have a whole insulated garage they can get into, and a large kiddie pool kept in the shade and cleaned out almost every day. Haley spends most of the day in the garage. The other dog has a nice hole dug out in the mud where he spends most of his time (naughty brat). A good portion of the yard is shaded in the afternoon from the house and fence, but mid-day sun does beat down pretty harshly. They tend to stay holed up until the evening, and who can blame them?

I will watch her for a few days. My card number was stolen, so I currently have a whole entire $5 to my name until it’s straitened out, though I do have money stashed away in case something medically urgent pops up (but I’d rather use my pay check and not my stash). My first thought was a UTI as well. Hopefully it’s something as simple as that, and nothing age related. I’m not ready for that, yet– she’s still my little baby we brought home 11 years ago!

[Lilmonster]

Hope it is just a UTI Akari! I am having a similar problem with my little one.

Melissa – your response worries me a little. My dog has also been peeing a lot more than usual lately, sometimes in small amounts sometimes in large amounts. We’re not 100% sure it’s not behavioral since we just adopted her two months ago, but prior to last week she wasn’t having accidents in the house at all (with the exception of the first two nights she was home when I was a softie and didn’t crate her despite her being used to sleeping in the crate at night and going out to pee immediately after being let out of the crate, as the rescue told me). Another reason we don’t think it’s behavioral is because she has soiled two of her beds now, and dogs generally don’t potty where they rest, no? She also doesn’t hide from us when it happens, twice we were playing tug indoors and all of a sudden she just stopped playing and squatted.

The vet did a urinalysis but said there was no sign of UTI bacteria in her urine, although the pH was slightly high. She didn’t say anything about the possibility of diabetes or kidney issues – is that because they would have seen it in the urinalysis if it was present? Are there separate tests I should ask for? She hasn’t shown any other signs of illness – no vomiting, no blood in the urine, no lethargy. She’s only around a year old so it’s not an age related thing. She has been drinking a good amount of water lately but I wouldn’t characterize it as excessive since it’s been pretty hot out and she usually does most of her drinking after playing or eating. Additionally, she used to get all of her pee out at once as soon as we went out, but now she will pee immediately, then once or twice more before we go in.

The vet put her on a one week course of antibiotics in case it’s the beginning of a UTI. I was reluctant to give her medication she might not even need, but I’m a little desperate to figure out what’s going on since we live on the 46th floor of a high rise and it’s to the point that we take her down, she potties, we come back up and 30 mins later she has an accident. Anyone have any thoughts?

[M A]

Increased urination could be a number of things;however, with an older dog you need to be concerned about the early signs of renal disease/renal failure. The on,y symptom my almost 14yo beagle had was increased urination. Not large amounts; just additional voiding then frequent little voids. Just FYI.

[Melissaandcrew]

Lilmonster-

the problem with dogs is that they can be pros at hiding symptoms of sickness and its often the little ones that we miss until a small problem is a major one. Typical signs of an impending Urinary tract infection is increased urination, and frequently its small amounts, multiple times-or urinating and not seeming to be aware of it until its too late. Course, playing hard and suddenly peeing is also often a “puppy thing”. Given that your dog is 1 yr old and has proven to be housebroken in the past and this is sudden, I would give the meds. UA’s show crystals, red blood cells, bacteria,sugar etc. Organ function is checked through a blood chemistry. Since many of my dogs are geriatric I automatically run chems once or twice a year depending on the dogs-I want to catch things in early stages rather than later.

If it were my dog, I would give the meds, and if it doesn’t resolve, have a recheck done and a chemistry.

[Melissaandcrew]

Akari-if its that hot out, I would not be making a 11 yr old dog walk a mile “at a solid trot”. A casual meandering pace maybe, but not fast paced, and not in the heat of the day.

[Akari_32]

Nah, we walk in the evenings between 5 and 8:30, when it’s cooler (mid to low 80’s when the sun is going down. I try to go after the heat, but before the mosquitoes). I hate the heat. She loves the pace though, and has a great time. She could go all night if I let her, actually, though she’s quite happy to get home and relax whenever we find our way back. She loves walking and sleeping in equal amounts lol

[Lilmonster]

Melissa – Thank you so much for the info, I was getting myself into an irrational panic reading about renal failure. I also wasn’t aware that playing hard then peeing was a puppy thing, that pushes my opinion on her issue over to behavioral a little more since her age is estimated. She may very well be a few months under a year and still prone to puppy tendencies. Regardless, I did already start giving her the antibiotics and will finish the course then go from there.

[Akari_32]

So I’m wondering if this all isn’t stemming off of a sight issue? We were walking yesterday, and walked past a few signs that stand up like those plastic wet floor signs, and she got real serious and started hunting them (stalking, head down and ears forward). She’s not a stupid dog. She’s knows when something’s alive, or not, and she’s always stalked birds, squirrels, etc, but never random *things*. Then she did the same thing to a lamp post. That got me thinking, maybe her peeing actually is marking, because she can’t see as well as she’s used to? You know, leaving a scent trail? Trail markers? Lol She only peed once on our walk last night, but we walked where we usually walk with the exception of where she peed, which we don’t get that way very often (the other night we walked a completely different area than usual, and she peed a bunch of times). If it is a sight thing, then she wouldn’t have marked where we normally go because she already smells us there. I’ll keep watching her on our walks and go from there. Do a few test runs by going where we normally go, and by going somewhere new, and see what she does. I just barely have the money for a vet visit, but I don’t want to subject her to a car ride and poking and prodding, and spend the money if I don’t have to.

[Author]

Posts