can't concentrate urine

[Shawna]

Last year Devin started having urinary problems where he would have to go pee fairly often, he also had a great deal of pain in his back, a few inches in front of his hip bones. We changed food and everything cleared up. The only thing that seemed wierd to me was that if we were out walking he would sometimes start peeing while we were walking, without letting me know he had to go.

 

Off and on he would have days where he would have to go more but we attributed it to drinking cold water or eating snow since there wasn't trouble when we warmed the drinking water. Then about six weeks ago he was suddenly having to go out every 20 minutes or so. He was/is not dribbling, this is a steady stream that goes on for a long time. For a little while about three weeks ago he was only going every two to three hours during the day (still peeing a small flood though), and now he's back to rushing outside constantly and getting me up to let him out in the night.

 

The vet has looked at him and said that he's not concentrating his urine, also the PH was very acidic. They did blood tests and they all came back normal. My vet is baffled and said he'd check with a specialist but that was over two weeks ago and so far I've heard nothing. They asked about his food and don't think that's the problem.

 

I don't know if this is related to his urinary problem or not - one night about a week ago, when I let Devin out he ran out the door in his usual flurry and started to pee, then he just collapsed in the snow. In the few moments it took me to get all the other dogs in the house, he had managed to get to his feet and was staggering toward me. I caught him as he started to collapse again. Once I got him in the house he crumpled onto the floor, peed all over, and his head started to roll back over his shoulder, but he always seemed to be conscious of me being there. It almost looked like a stroke. By this time I had the vet on the phone and he said it sounded like... sorry, for the life of me I can't remember the name, but he said it had stroke like symptoms, they didn't know what caused it, there was no treatment for it, and he would likely fully recover in up to three days (he was fine by the next morning), and that it might never happen again. This wasn't the vet who looked at Devin for the urinary stuff but he said that if the blood tests had come back normal it probably wasn't kidney related.

 

Any ideas, what this is, what to check for, what to do? I had to be gone for four and a half hours today and came home to a small lake in my dining room. This is a dog that would almost rather die than wet in the house. Other than these things he looks and acts like a very healthy dog.

[juliepoudrier]

Hi Shawna,

I don't have any good advice unfortunately and just wanted to offer some support, but I also think if my regular vet was supposed to be checking with a specialist and that was two weeks ago, I'd be calling the vet to either prod him/her to make that contact, or I'd be getting a second opinion. Something is obviously going on, and it may just take a bit of detective work to figure it out. You are Devin's best advocate, and if your vet has dropped the ball (or even if not), you need to get in touch and do some reminding. Of course this means that you will have to do a lot of legwork and follow up, etc., but it may be the only way to figure out what's going on. Good luck, and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

J.

[Shawna]

Thanks Julie, support is definately what I need right now!

 

My vet had to be away for the first week, a seminar in Alberta. He said that another vet in the office would potentially be looking into things while he was gone, but she's not uh.. well, I'm not surprised that I didn't hear from her.

 

Rod, my vet, was trying to get a hold of the specialist last I heard, but he's also the large animal vet in the clinic and they've been running their legs off down there. I've called in several times and since Rod isn't one to let things slide, I'm sure there is a reason he hasn't gotten back to me. The tech told me she'd have him call me tomorrow morning with any news. He just had no idea why Dev would be having such a symptom all on it's own. I know he's already made a few other calls and was going to investigate suggestions made by the lab techs. But, in this case I fear that no news means nothing came of anything.

 

I don't know if it's pertinant, but Devin will be six in April so he's not an old dog.

[stockdogranch]

Diabetes??? Cushing's????

 

Anna

[Shawna]

He said it's not diabetes, but I'll ask about Cushings. Thanks.

 

Devin is in good shape, not the least bit lethargic or showing any signs of age, he has a gorgeous coat, and hasn't had any changes in his eating habits. He looks and acts like a healthy dog, except he pees incecently and of course drinks large amounts of water.

[Shawna]

Talked to the vet. He said the possibility of it being Cushings could still be there, but the enzymes and other signs they usually find weren't there. The woman vet was supposed to be looking things up and getting back to me while he was away at the seminar, he was very diplomatic in how he said it, he knows already that I really don't care for her. I'm so unimpressed. Anyway, she mentioned hyposthenuria and they are going to look into it further. Rod said he'd meet with the other vets this afternoon and see what all they can come up with together. Apperantly, the specialist hadn't been called either so Rod is going to do that himself later today.

 

You know, there is a reason why, when you sit in the waiting room, you hear person after person say they don't want her to look at their animals.

[doubleofarm]

Hi Shawna,

 

Just read your post from yesterday right now. How old is Devin? The stroke like thing your vet was referring to is probably Geriatric Vestibular Disorder. It mimics a stroke and does resolve itself eventually but it is usually in older dogs. The urinary part isn't typical of it though except maybe they would lose control while having an episode of it.

 

My Joe dog seems to be drinking and peeing more and it is worrying the heck out of me. I need to take him in soon for a urinalysis.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Tina

[sharkie]

eh ignore what i posted before. misread that labs were ok. hope everything turns out ok!

[Shawna]

Vestibular Disorder - that does sound familiar. I was kicking myself for not writing it down when he told me, but I was a little preoccupied with what was going on. Devin is 6, it hardly rates him as geriatric, but the vet never included geriatric in the name when I spoke to him.

 

Sharkie, yes they have pretty much ruled diabetes out, but thank you for taking the time to post the information anyway.

[Shawna]

Okay, they know what Devin has, it's called Central Diabetes Insipidus or Anti diaretic hormone disorder. There is a hormone produced in the central nervous system that regulates the kidney function, if the hormone levels are too low, the kidneys can't work properly. The specialist may run some more tests to confirm but they are certain this is what it is. It can be managed, but Rod's understanding was that if at times when things aren't too bad we just make sure he has tons of water, he'll be okay.

 

As for the collapsing, Rod said he's seen dogs do that after ingesting marajuana. This could be the case since we have several neighbours who have, ah.. shall we say 'extensive gardens', and Devin has wandered out of the yard a few times in the last bit. I'll be glad when the last of the snow is gone and the fences can be pulled up.

[sharkie]

L@L its funny that marij was the first thing that came to your vets mind. he must have seen this before i want a tour of their "botanical preserve"

 

on the other hand im glad they found out the cause! MJ can cause incontinence sometimes and maybe this entire thing is due to eating it as opposed to a ADH imbalance or DI.

[Shawna]

lol, The very biggest gardens are protected by pitbulls and rotties so a tour would have to be conducted at high speed, but for a price the smaller growers might give you a look around. I used to have a husky that my ex would take along when he went biking. One day the dog chased some small animal into a backyard. When the dog didn't come right away he jumped off his bike and ran in after him only to find himself standing right in one of these well kept gardens, he made a hasty retreat before an unhappy owner could spot him.

 

I have to say that the incontinence thing is interesting, the symptoms do get worse and better, worse and better. Kind of wierd thinking of Devin as a user.

[sharkie]

would home drug tests work for dogs?

[Shawna]

I'll let someone else look into that, I've caught enough urine samples already thanks.

 

We've known for a long time that Dev had a problem when he would play in the snow or go swimming; swimming is the worst. Depending on the day, he can suddenly need to pee so bad that by the time he thinks to ask, if you aren't running to open the door, he leaks all over the floor. The scary thing is Darcy, his littermate and the dog I need to be able to take everywhere for business, has also done this, but thankfully that's the only time she does and it's usually not nearly as bad. When I called the vets about those times, they said that he must have just drank extreme amounts of water while swimming and that cold water and snow might make him have to go a little more - there's an understatement. But they didn't know of such a disease because it's so rare. Rod told me that he's never seen a dog with symptoms like Devin's in all the time he's been a vet, and he's in his late 50's I'm sure.