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Suddenly Drinking More...


mbc1963
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So, my dog has always been a tank, more or less. Able to go from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. without needing to go out, and camel-like as far as water intake. Days could go by and the water level in his dish didn't seem to decrease. Mind you, a lot of that is because we walk near lakes and streams, and he would enjoy drinking the "raw" water more than our local, chlorine-smelling stuff.

 

In the last couple months, I've noticed the water level decreasing much more rapidly than I have before. Not drastic, but noticeably faster. (More like every other dog I've owned, who weren't camel-like.) And suddenly, I've gotta get up in the middle of the night to let the dog out - he seems to just run out, pee, then come back inside to settle in for the rest of the night. He actually comes to my bed and wakes me up, and won't settle until I let him out. (Previously, he seemed fine with letting me decide when he went outside - like it was no big deal if he had to wait six or eight or ten hours - it was up to me.)

 

Naturally, I don't like the midnight wake-up call. And it leads to another problem - he tends to bark when left out in the yard alone. (I'm asking questions about that in the training section.) The dog's got his annual vet check-up next week. Of course, I'm most concerned that this might indicate a medical condition. What questions should I be asking about the increased fluid intake/increased peeing?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Mary

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I third the suggestion to check for a UTI. Has he had UTIs before? I ask because my vets explained that it was unusual that Johnson, who had similar symptoms, would have recurring UTIs because they are less common in male dogs.

 

In addition to drinking more than usual, I noticed you also mention he's peeing more than usual (pu/pd in vet-speak :rolleyes: ). Therefore, I'd also ask your vet to check his urine specific gravity to see how well he's concentrating his urine. If his urine is very dilute, you will probably want to explore the possibility of diabetes insipidus (I'd be happy to recommend some resources if you'd like--I've found it's an unusual enough condition that vets may never have encountered a case).

 

But I hope, for your sake and his, he just has a simple UTI that a round of antibiotics will clear right up.

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Take in a urine sample when you go to the vet. I would also first suspect UTI, then other issues could be followed up if that isn't the case. Personally, I wouldn't wait until next week if there was any way to get in sooner. UTI's can get pretty bad. Nothing like your dog suddenly urinating blood in your house. :rolleyes: They're also not much fun for the dog, I wouldn't think.

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Take in a urine sample when you go to the vet. I would also first suspect UTI, then other issues could be followed up if that isn't the case.

 

OK! Now - how does one go about collecting a urine sample!?

 

Thanks for the advice, all. Buddy's pretty young and very healthy, so I'm hoping it's nothing more than a UTI.

 

Mary

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OK! Now - how does one go about collecting a urine sample!?

 

Thanks for the advice, all. Buddy's pretty young and very healthy, so I'm hoping it's nothing more than a UTI.

 

Mary

 

My vets do it with a long handled kitchen ladle! I used a large tupperware type container. Edited to add: make sure the container is really clean because I used a used but very clean container and the the tests came back that his sugar levels had spiked and they were really confused and worried (I am a pastry chef and bring treats home!)

 

On a serious note, when my dog went into chronic kidney failure the vets asked if he had been drinking lots of water because it was one of the first signs. But he was old so keeping my fingers it is just a UTI

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OK! Now - how does one go about collecting a urine sample!?

 

I like to use a wide but not real deep sort of container. An old fashioned ice cube tray without the dividers is perfect. With smaller dogs I've used a measuring cup but that wouldn't be my first choice with a Border Collie. On the other hand, it's only urine. :D Don't be surprised if your dog stops peeing to stare at you with a shocked look on his face. My dogs have always gone on to resume peeing and ignore my bizarre, rude behavior. :rolleyes:

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Good luck with your collection project, Mary! :D

 

I've also heard that you should refridgerate the sample if you cannot get it to the vet soon, but evidently my vet would rather do the collection herself than have me contaminating it with my recycled container collection at home. :rolleyes: She prefers to handle that process in the office. In fact, she says that cystocentesis (using a needle to collect the urine directly from the bladder) can give her a better sample for running a culture. Just something else to consider if your schedule allows you to get him to the vet--the process only takes about a minute.

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I had to laugh at Liz's comment about the dog stopping and staring regarding rude behavior. I had to collect samples from my very old male cat, however, he didn't stop the action. It was easier than I thought, but of course, he stands still in one spot in his box and I just slipped a dixie cup into the stream. For some reason, when I go into the bathroom to go, the old cat thinks it's time to go and will usually go in with me since his litter box is in my shower. (Hole in the bottom of the box drains the liquid down the drain...there's not enough cat litter in the world to keep up with this guy and keep his paws dry, and my bathroom smellin decent otherwise) Funny thing, I noticed this cat would step into the shower after my spouse whould shower and drink the water. (no conditioner left in the water on the floor?) But he eventually go the point across over time, that he preferred warm water to drink rather than room temperature. That's another reason he comes running when I go into that room, he wants me to put more warm water into his insulated mug I keep in there for him.

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So, I was reading up about dogs' water requirements. They had some average formulas to use based on weight and food consumed. I put 6 cups of water into Buddy's bowl at 6:30 yesterday morning, and as of 6:30 this morning, he hadn't quite drunk 3 cups (just under 700 ml if I convert). He's eating about 740 or 750 kcal/day of food, so this amount of water is right in the correct range - maybe even a bit on the low side. (An easy conversion is 1 ml for every kcal of food consumed in a day.)

 

So... I will go the vet with info about his actual intake, which shows that his drinking is well within normal parameters for a dog his weight and size.

 

I'm guessing and hoping that I'm just noticing him drinking more indoors because his normal outdoor sources (streams and reservoirs) have been unavailable for the last couple months due to ice and snow.

 

One less nagging concern - at least unless the vet finds something unusual. ::Sigh::

 

Mary

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