11 Year Old Neutered Male (poodle) Peeing a lot.

[DawnCt1]

Jude is an 11 year old poodle whose bathroom habits over the last 3 years have been pretty predictable. Over the last week or two, I have noted at starting around 4 pm, he asks to go out to do his business about every 30 to 45 minutes until around 8pm. I haven't noticed that he drinks a lot. When he pees, he seems to pee a lot and then waters the borders of the yard. I have gone back and forth with, 1. could it be diabetes? 2. could it be Cushings? (do they pee a lot with that?) or 3. The rabbits in the yard have been active so has he been marking his territory more. I have an appt. with the vet today to get his canine influenza vaccine. I don't have anything to dip his urine with so I think I will ask him to do a chem panel with a glucose. Does anyone have any other ideas. I noticed a red spot on the floor yesterday. I couldn't tell if it was a food substance that someone dropped or blood. I guess he could have a UTI. Is that common?

 

[Feralpeg]

It could be a UTI. It could also be the start of kidney failure. My sister recently lost her cat due to kidney failure. She noticed that she was peeing a lot and drinking a lot. She knew she had her regular yearly in a couple of months and thought it could wait. That was a mistake.

It's a good thing you are having him seen. Hopefully, it will be something easy to remedy.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would definitely have him checked out.

It could be any number of things.

My cat never was diagnosed with UTI's--but he had frequent crystals in his urine (which would require antibiotics). His urinating habits would change (to my recliner) but we never noticed any blood. Turns out eliminating fish from his diet resolved the issue. He did just pass earlier this year of kidney failure. In his case, all we noticed was weight loss. With 3 other cats, it wasn't possible to notice if his litter habits had changed.

I know he's a cat and it is not the same--but I was just bringing it up since he didn't have blood in his urine.

 

[luvwinnie]

I would definitely suggest a full work up. May I suggest you wait on all vaccines until you get his test results? Vaccines should only be given to healthy pets...and people, of course. Do you live in an area where canine influenza is doing around? We've opted not to get it, but Hooch has very little contact with other dogs and we vaccinate as little as possible (we get titers done). Hope he is feeling better and you get an answer!

 

[The Mayor]

Nice catchy title for this thread Dawn...I thought it was about a little boy and I was thinking, holy crap what did that little boy do to deserve that...maybe "dog" should be in the title

 

[Disney Doll]

UTI
Kidney failure
Diabetes
Cushings

come to mind immediately.

 

[DawnCt1]

Nice catchy title for this thread Dawn...I thought it was about a little boy and I was thinking, holy crap what did that little boy do to deserve that...maybe "dog" should be in the title

It got your attention!

 

[DawnCt1]

UTI
Kidney failure
Diabetes
Cushings

come to mind immediately.

Me too. I hope its not kidney failure. I can deal with the other things.

 

[buzzlady]

I have a diabetic dog. She was diagnosed after bringing her in because she was peeing alot. She would go out and go, walk a bit, go again, walk around more, go again. When she had to go out, one day she couldn't hold it and was going as she walked.

Took a urine sample and you could see red in it. Took her to the vet. She did have a UTI and was diagnosed diabetic.

 

[Scurvy]

Me too. I hope its not kidney failure. I can deal with the other things.

Kidney failure doesn't have to be the end of the world if you catch it early enough. Even if that's what it is, it's possible you could put him on a special diet and he could be okay for several years. There's also a powder that you can sprinkle on pet food that is supposed to help - my mother's cat is on that and seems mostly healthy again. And even if the diet change isn't enough, if you can learn to give subcutaneous fluids he could have an almost normal life (other than the diet and fluids).

Hopefully it's just a kidney infection, but don't panic and assume the worst even if it is something more serious. Even the really bad sounding things can be treated in many cases. Good luck!

 

[kirbydog48]

Hope he's okay!!

 

[glitterkittyy]

I just wanted to note that when my border collie got up in age (around 15), he started to drink a lot and we thought it might be diabetes, kidney problems, etc. The vet did the full work up and told us that it was all fine. He said that oftentimes when animals are older, they will increase their fluid intake (and output!) as it is just their natural way of keeping everything working and flushed out.

I hope this is what is happening with your dog. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[DawnCt1]

Kidney failure doesn't have to be the end of the world if you catch it early enough. Even if that's what it is, it's possible you could put him on a special diet and he could be okay for several years. There's also a powder that you can sprinkle on pet food that is supposed to help - my mother's cat is on that and seems mostly healthy again. And even if the diet change isn't enough, if you can learn to give subcutaneous fluids he could have an almost normal life (other than the diet and fluids).

Hopefully it's just a kidney infection, but don't panic and assume the worst even if it is something more serious. Even the really bad sounding things can be treated in many cases. Good luck!

I am imagining the worst. I am leaving for the vet in 30 minutes. Counting down the time.

 

[luvwinnie]

Please let us know what vet says! Praying for him.

 

[DawnCt1]

Well, I am a little annoyed, but its my own fault. I had an appointment at a local vet for the canine influenza because it was close, convenient, and I didn't anticipate a problem and my SIL likes this guy. Rather than cancel that appointment and make an appointment at the vet that we ALWAYS go to, except in a blizzard, I kept the local appointment. Once there, I told them about the frequent urination and so we took Jude outside and got a spec. It looked slightly brown (blood?) He got weighed and hadn't lost any weight. He feels good. He gets the shot and the vet draws the "senior profile". All good so far. I asked about the urine. He said that the specific gravity was low so he's drinking a lot. I asked about anything else and he said he was sending it out. I made an appointment for two weeks for the second flu shot and was told to call tomorrow for the lab results after ten. I will. Then I got home and wondered if they dipped the urine for blood. I had specifically asked if anything else was in the urine, not sure why he didn't mention blood at the time. I called the office and asked if they dipped it for blood and glucose. No glucose present. It was a moderate for blood. I told them that tomorrow I would like a copy of his blood work and they said that they will give it to me.I called my groomer because she hears a lot. She told me that this guy is not only expensive; he was about 50% more than my vet would have been, but likes to have patients coming back. Now I have two issues. The blood in the urine could be a UTI. And the second issue is, I don't know how confident I will be with this guy's recommendations since he told me that he is building a 24 hour animal hospital across the street. If there is anything in the blood work to be concerned with or if he doesn't address the UTI and rule out an infection, I am taking the blood work to my vet where I do have confidence. It wasn't a good idea to not go there in the first place. I spent twice as much money as I would have and feel no confidence at all.

 

[JessicaR]

If it were me I would get a copy of his labs and make an apointment with his regular vet.

I hope Jude is OK.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

My 13 year old toy poodle was just diagnosed with cushings and that is one of the symptoms because of the increased drinking.

 

[yoopermom]

My dear beagle, at about that same age, showed similar symptoms and ended up with kidney stones (shown through bloodwork followed up by ultrasound). He ate special prescription dog food specifically for dogs with this issue for the rest of his life. I felt bad, because he had been on "hi pro" with the rest of our dogs for years, and my vet said that hi pro foods can cause this issue with older dogs. Once on the scrip food, he could NEVER have any people food or other dog food/treats, but he did live for another three years.

Good luck!

Terri

 

[Scurvy]

Ugh. I'm sorry this vet didn't work out. When the results come in make sure you ask for a printout of all the numbers. You can tell a lot just by seeing which numbers are elevated or low. That might not help with the UTI but it can tell you if the kidneys are functioning properly. Plus, you'll know if the vet is just stringing you along because you'll actually be able to see the results for yourself. I can see why you don't have much confidence in this vet, but at least you shouldn't have to pay for another senior blood panel if you take these results to your real vet.

Whatever the cause, I hope you can get it figured out and Jude starts feeling better soon.

 

[DawnCt1]

If it were me I would get a copy of his labs and make an apointment with his regular vet.

I hope Jude is OK.

That's what I am going to do. I didn't even like the way he handled him. Not that he was rough but he didn't even talk to him. I know that sounds silly but, even though there are two or three vets at the other vet that I take him to, they all relate really well to their patients. On the "plus" side, I just called my groomer back and she said the her vet likes this guy...but she doesn't.