mbc1963 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I feel like I've been using the group consciousness a lot lately. Thanks again, in advance, for any information you might have in your memory banks that might help me tease these weird symptoms apart. I've posted twice about my dog's change in drinking and urination habits. Big increase in both, at least to my eyes. Blood tests came back normal, but urine was more dilute than expected. Could be a load of things. Then, Tuesday night, Buddy seemed sick - unable to eat. Well, turns out that he's not at all unable to eat; he's just having a hard time chewing. (He's happily eating canned food and normal kibble soaked in water.) Shows all the signs of pain in the mouth: picking up mouthfuls of kibble, spitting them out, tilting his head funny while he's chewing. Beyond these two odd things, the dog seems perfectly happy and normal. He's playful, alert, energetic on his walks, and ecstatic to roll in deer poop. He doesn't seem lethargic to me. But mind you, this is a notably stoic dog: he doesn't show pain. I've never seen him "act" sick, though he's had a couple really ugly stomach bugs as well as Lyme disease. Can anyone think of anything they've seen in their own dogs that could link these two seemingly separate symptoms: difficulty chewing, and excessive drinking and urination? Would a cracked tooth or abcess or (insert random mouth problem here) cause a dog to increase his intake of water? I do have an ultrasound scheduled with my vet; he wanted to check for bladder stones, etc.. But I really can't afford to run an endless stream of tests - spent $364 last week on Buddy, and my muffler went last night. If this is all somehow connected to a lingering toothache the dog has had, I'd love to tease that out and save the $340 on the abdominal ultrasound! Thanks in advance! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I think it's entirely possible for an abscessed tooth to cause the dog to drink more water (and therefore urinate more). I saw it with one of my old cats who had an abscessed tooth. It's certainly worth checking out, and I might even do that before I did the ultrasound--that is, have a dentistry done, take care of any tooth problems that are found and see if that makes a difference before going ahead with the ultrasound (or do both, but don't skip a dental exam/cleaning/extraction in favor of the ultrasound). Trust me--I'm the Borg queen! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I agree w/ Julie P. If the root of the problem seems that it could be lying in his mouth I would start there. Have you smelled his breath. Abcesses have a horrible smell and it his breath has a pussy, rotten, rank smell that might be a good indicator. However, that wouldn't help w/ a cracked tooth, but just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 My Nellie had strange, arthritic type sympoms about a year and a half ago, she started doing behavior that you describe and it turned out her throat and mouth had broke out in septic ulcers. I do think that may warrant having him go to the vet at least to look for a physical reason he is spitting his food up. When Nellie was sick, she was still trying to eat, would get the food down her throat but then gag it up because she couldn't get it past the ulcers. She was a sick, sick girl and had to be hospitalized on IV antibiotics. I hope your Buddy is just an abscessed tooth, but if it is something like a septic infection, that could be an emergency. ETA: An infection could cause the excessive drinking too, and I don't mean to minimize or imply "just" an abscessed tooth, because that can also turn into a deadly, systematic infection. I know the blood tests came back normal, but if I remember correctly with my Nellie, when I had her initial symptoms checked out, there were only some minor issues with the bloodwork. But once the septic infection broke out, her bloodwork was signifcantly worse. May want to re-run a CBC at least and have you taken his temp lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Do you have any rimadyl or other dog pain pills? You could try giving him one and then once it kicks in seeing if he will eat the hard kibble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerfulgazelle Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Perhaps Buddy has been trying to work out a sore mouth/throat himself by ^ his water intake... Will he let you have a good look in his mouth? I guess I'd definitely spend the $ on a dental exam before u/s his water works.... (((Buddy))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Dogs can have abscesses and not have particularly bad breath. Fly just had two teeth extracted and both had old abscesses, so old they had formed granulomas (which is basically the body trying to wall off the infection). Her behavior did not change at all, she was perfectly willing to chew and otherwise in excellent health, and did not appear to be in any pain at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted February 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 So weird. I took Buddy to the vet today, to have his teeth checked. He let the vet open his mouth and poke and prod. (Hooray for my reactive dog! Major victory!) The vet didn't see anything abnormal (as I had not, either), and seemed unconvinced a mouth problem would result in drinking more, though I have read online that it could. However, he did write me a prescription for antibiotics, figuring that an invisible abscess could be causing this, and that if the antibiotics helped Buddy feel better, it would be a step toward the diagnosis. My ultrasound isn't scheduled until March 10. I'm hoping this dental thing will play out and prove to be the problem. If I'm going to pay for something, I'd like it to be the appropriate thing. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Hey Mary, What antibiotic did he prescribe? I understand from my vet that Clindamycin is really the best one for tooth/gum infections. In fact when I was at the vet earlier this week and needed Clindamycin for my elderly cat who is on pulsative abx therapy they were out (it was due in that day). I asked if there was anything I could substitute and he said no. So if it's not Clindamycin, you may want to ask for it (unless my vet is somehow way off base...). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 Fly went home with a two week supply of Clindamycin after her extractions. If the vet still suspects an abscess, did he recommend an x-ray? That's the only way you'll actually know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 I'd second the dental x-rays. It's not something that a lot of "local" vets can do - find a specialist. I've told and retold my dental work dog stories many times - it can cause all sorts of "other" issues. Just do it! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerfulgazelle Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 So weird. I took Buddy to the vet today, to have his teeth checked. He let the vet open his mouth and poke and prod. (Hooray for my reactive dog! Major victory!) The vet didn't see anything abnormal (as I had not, either), and seemed unconvinced a mouth problem would result in drinking more, though I have read online that it could. However, he did write me a prescription for antibiotics, figuring that an invisible abscess could be causing this, and that if the antibiotics helped Buddy feel better, it would be a step toward the diagnosis. My ultrasound isn't scheduled until March 10. I'm hoping this dental thing will play out and prove to be the problem. If I'm going to pay for something, I'd like it to be the appropriate thing. Mary Hey---just wondering---how is Buddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted March 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Thanks for asking! The antibiotics were finished Monday night I think. By the end, Buddy's chewing had returned to normal, at least to my eyes, and I'm not noticing the same drinking/peeing excess I was noticing. I called and cancelled the ultrasound, and now I'm waiting to see if the dental problem resurfaces - in case it's an abscess that the antibiotics just tamped down a bit. Fringe benefit? Buddy's breath smells much better than it's smelled in months. Hmm... Meanwhile, my coworker's dog got very sick with similar symptoms: refused to eat, very lethargic, urine so dilute as to be almost water. She was on antibiotics, too, and has rallied. Same vet. If her dog shows more symptoms, she's going to pay for an ultrasound, but at this point, we're both looking at dogs who seem healthy, sassy, and happy. My plan is to watch Buddy closely and pursue this if things regress again. Crossing my fingers... Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Thanks for the update Mary. I hope the one round of antibiotics does the trick, but if not, I suppose you at least have an idea of the source of the problem and can go further from there! I hope both dogs stay well. (As an aside, I had dentistry done on my 14 y.o. a few weeks ago and they discovered an abscessed canine. The vet said it was almost ready to burst through into his nasal passage and in fact he did bleed out of his nose after the procedure. He was on clindamycin for 10 days after that, and his breath really improved too. He also had a couple other teeth pulled. So if Blaze's symptoms reappear, you may want to just schedule a dentistry.) J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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