Begging for water?

trumpetjock

Rocky continually begs for water all day long. He's figured out that the sink is where water comes from, and when he wants water he barks at it nonstop. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that every time he drinks water, he forgets his housetraining and pees all over. Like just in this last 30 minutes he peed 7 times... 2 of those were inside.

I've thought about the possibility of a UTI, but his urine is clear as water and doesn't smell. He doesn't have diarrhea, so he shouldn't be dehydrated. At the moment, he's drinking 2x as much water as recommended for him, and would probably drink 5x if I let him!

Any hypothesis on what's going on?

Annamarie

does the dog have access to water all day? if not he should. you then remove the water a few hours before bed time.

excessive thirst can be a sign of kidney issues or diabetes so you should have him checked out by a vet.

trumpetjock

I started with access to water all day, but that resulted in him peeing everywhere all the time. We're talking so much that I take him out, he'll pee 3 times, come back in and 5 minutes later he'll pee in the house, I'll take him out he'll pee a few more times etc etc etc. I'll be taking him into the vet this week sometime anyway as he'll be 12 weeks and needs his next round of shots, so I'll have him looked over.

Annamarie

yes definately have him checked. i had a small dog that was incredibly hard to potty train, although she tried so hard, she actually had a congenital kidney defect.

trumpetjock

So since my last post (1 hour ago), I put water down for him to drink at his own pace.

He's gone through about 30oz of water, and peed 8 times. 4 times in the house, and again when I brought him out after each one. Each time he went it was a really good amount, not just a little tinkle. Oh, and he hasn't pooped inside in 2 weeks, even when he had really bad diarrhea.

I'm assuming this is a bad sign?

How much would an average vet charge for me to bring him in for tests? If there's a possibility of something wrong, I want to get it done immediately.... but I'm pretty low on funds for another 9 days.

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Annamarie

that's definately not normal. you could ask your vet if he would give you a few days to pay, i'm sure that would be fine.

i can't say how much testing would cost. we only found out about the kidney defect after my dog went in for a $700 emergency surgery to have some chicken bones removed from her stomach (long story... raccoons brought them into the yard).

that's not to say it's definately a kidney defect or diabetes but something is certainly not right even if it's just a bladder infection.

trumpetjock

Make that 10 times. Just after I posted he just went on the carpet again. Brought him outside and he let a full tank out out there too.

So I should probably get ahold of the vet ASAP then? Is it something worth emergency vet care, or can I wait until tomorrow? The vet clinic isn't open today

edit -- also, what ended up happening with the kidney defect... is it treatable?

double edit -- oh god... Apparently elkhounds have a genetic issue with their kidney's sometimes.... I hope that isn't what's wrong with him

Annamarie

in our case the kidney defect wasn't treatable. the problem was that her kidneys hadn't grown since she was born which meant that her teeny kidneys were trying to support a nearly adult size body. eventually she would have gone into kidney failure and died, and since she was already having problems with holding her urine we opted to not have her woken up from her surgery.

i think if it's something that's been going on for a while it can probably wait until tomorrow. don't get yourself upset over what could be a minor thing though.

trumpetjock

I'm just having nightmares about it... I may find out very soon that I have to have him put down... I won't make him live with these issues. God I wish tomorrow would just come.

mastiffmama27

Good thoughts coming your way. Don't get too worked up yet. Like another poster said it could be something more minor like a bladder infection. Wait and see what the vet has to say.

Please keep us updated.

trumpetjock

Headed to the vet this afternoon... wish us luck.

Elude

My guess would also be diabetes. I'm glad you are heading to get some tests done. Its definitely not normal.

trumpetjock

Diabetes? I read about that and it says that it most often shows up in dogs 5 to 7 years old and is higher risk in females and overweight dogs. Rocky doesn't fit any of those categories being a male 11 week old very in shape puppy :P. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a UTI.

Annamarie

good luck!! keep us updated, sending good thoughts

LittleMoonRabbit

Good luck! I am looking forward to an update. I really hope everything turns out well and it's just a UTI

trumpetjock

I never thought I'd be happy to say this but... it's a UTI!!!

I had them send in his urine for a culture and sensitivity (they were just going to guess what antibiotic to use, and I don't really want to contribute to resistant bacteria), and in about 3 days or so we should have it back and get him on drugs to clear it up. The culture/sensitivity was more spendy then I expected at 75$, but it's totally worth it.

Thanks for the well wishes guys.

mastiffmama27

YAY!!! Oh I'm so glad for yoU!

Annamarie

such a releif!!! i'm happy you found a solution I was checking this thread every few hours hoping for an update that was good news

celestine

Oh my goodness! I'm so happy that it's just a UTI. I kept reading over and over the posts praying. These furry kids always have me worried. For mine and every one else's. I'm always finding stray dogs and end up walking them around the neighborhood, trying to find their owners.

I had a similar issue with water. But that's because he's greedy and doesn't want anyone else to drink it.

salask

I just read your post for the 1st time today and i was thinking to my self, diabetes! I'm so glad it was just a UTI... What a relief!!

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