Extreme Thirst

[heff101]

For about the past month Heff has been drinking like crazy. We did the vet visit urine/blood sample and everything came back normal. Only issue the vet found was Heff was slightly low in protein.
The problem is he is drinking like crazy and has started peeing in the house again. He used to be able to go 4-5 hours easy now he is peeing every 2 hours or so.
We tried a diet change that only made him start throwing up. We checked with Royal Canine for possible formula changes...none.
Last night he was up and outside 8 times! He looks perfectly healthy and normal other then he seems to have more phlegm then usual.
We are at a total loss as to what to do.
We have started taking his water away and when I gave it to him this morning he drank 2 bowl fulls.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Hmmm that is troubling. You did the right thing by getting blood testing, etc, not sure what else to suggest. As for the low protein maybe try one of the kibbles with higher protein levels like Nature's Variety Instinct or one of the Fromm grain free formulas. I hope someone else can give some better advice and I hope you figure it out soon!

 

[wheezer]

The only time I had a dog that did that she was a diabetic; however, this would have shown up in the blood tests or urinalysis. I would call the vet again and have him run other tests.

 

[Cooper11]

My first thought is something with his kidneys.....but I would think the blood test would show something if it was the kidneys.... I have googled this and got answers such as Cushings disease.

This is a quote from some info I found....
"My dog drank so much water I thought she would explode; she drank from her bowl, if we set a glass of soda pop down she would drink it or anything cold and wet (we don't do alcohol). I carried her to the vet and she was diagnosed with Cushing's disease which is a pituitary tumor and makes their body produce excessive amounts of salt and other chemicals. The excessive salt causes thirst; it also causes their liver to enlarge. The Cushing's disease made her a diabetic which causes more excessive thirst."

And also did they do a urine test????
And another quote:
"Not always. In fact, if it is noticeable or the increase in urination is greater in amount then there may very well be a problem. Increased water consumption or increased urination is call PU/PD or PolyUria/PolyDipsia in the medical realm. Remember what goes in must come out – so increased thirst and increased urination are linked. Occasionally some medical source will sublist the causes as those that cause primary increased thirst with secondary increased urination and those that cause primary increased urination with secondary increased thirst. Usually these are all lumped together since most are a primary increase in urination. Why does this occur? Simply, because the kidneys cannot concentrate the urine so the urine isothenuric, that is the same concentration as the blood. So if my pet has PU/PD then, it must have kidney disease? No. While it is from inability to concentrate, many other factors can influence normal kidneys into PU/PD.
So what causes PU/PD. Usually you will hear vets, and myself, talk about the twelve causes of PU/PD. While this is a wonderfully biblical number, it is an oversimplification. A list which appears below, complied by Dr. Kathy James, lists a more complete 15 causes. If we look at the most common causes, then twelve usually works well. Also dogs and cats have some causes which are the most common."

common causes: Diabetes Mellitus, Kidney disease, Kidney Infection, Liver Disease, Cushing’s disease

[MENTION=1935]heff101[/MENTION]

 

[Sherry]

I too would request another blood test, specific for diabetes

 

[Bizzymammabee]

They definitely need to rerun the test. I am wondering if it has to do with the food. When Raven was eating the Eukanuba that the breeder had her on she drank moderately, when I switched to the Merricks B4 Grain she was a bit thirstier. Now she is drinking normally and not excessively.

Good luck with everything. I will say a puppy prayer for you that it's nothing serious.

 

[heff101]

I spoke to the breeder this morning. Cushings Disease was mentioned.
The breeder also suggested a lower protein content food.
So we will go to the pet store today and look around.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Royal Canine is not one of the best foods out there. Take a look at the food list and see what else is there that you may be able to purchase locally.

 

[Cooper11]

Let us know updates on your little guy! Like that article I sent you said stuff like this is hard to diagnose and may take more extensive test... I would def ask them to do a urine test too....Seem like if it is Cushings or PU/PD we need to catch it now and get it under control! Maybe have a blood test sent to the labs they send them to when they need to look more in depth for a problem! I will be thinking of you and Heff!!! You should good it and see if you should take the water away after he drink quite a bit. I know that there has been deaths in humans from drinking an over excessive amount of water. Also don't want to have the chance of him getting bloat with all the light water in his tummy! You are know Heff the best and I am sure when he drank those 2 bowls this morning it worry and puzzled you. I would def try not to give him that much...it is hard especially when you see they are thirsty. Poor Guy!
[MENTION=1935]heff101[/MENTION]

 

[Biogirl71]

This happened briefly to Frank when we tried him on a type of Blue Buffalo. He was drinking like mad and peeing all the time. We were getting up with him 5-6 times a night as well. We stopped feeding him the food, and he almost immediately went back to normal. Well, it turns out that certain kinds of Blue Buffalo were recalled because of excess Vitamin D, which is toxic to the kidney and can lead to elevated calcium levels and kidney failure. We took Frank to the vet immediately and he had slightly elevated Vitamin D levels, so I am so glad we stopped when we did. Did they test for either Vitamin D or Calcium?

 

[Cooper11]

[MENTION=1462]Biogirl71[/MENTION] You know it is Crazy that what bullys eat affect them so much. With Cooper being sick and haveing a weird diet he wasn't drinking nearly as much as he use to....Now that I have him completely transitioned to Fromm I noticed the water bowl is needing filled as much as it use to be before he got sick. I kept telling my mom I never had to fill Coop Water up I would do it daily but only to give him fresh water. Before he got sit I would have to fill it 2-3 times a day. And we are back to that now!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I also think of Diabetes or Cushings Disease. And for sure a food change..it's not uncommon or dogs to develop issues with a food they've eaten without a problem for years. Please keepus up to date. Handsome Heff is one of my favorites..

 

[Twice]

For about the past month Heff has been drinking like crazy. We did the vet visit urine/blood sample and everything came back normal. Only issue the vet found was Heff was slightly low in protein.
The problem is he is drinking like crazy and has started peeing in the house again. He used to be able to go 4-5 hours easy now he is peeing every 2 hours or so.
We tried a diet change that only made him start throwing up. We checked with Royal Canine for possible formula changes...none.
Last night he was up and outside 8 times! He looks perfectly healthy and normal other then he seems to have more phlegm then usual.
We are at a total loss as to what to do.
We have started taking his water away and when I gave it to him this morning he drank 2 bowl fulls.

How low in protein? Did they give you numbers? Did they mention his glucose level? I take it he is coughing? Was there anything at all in the urinalysis that came back strange? - something that would indicate an infection or bacteria?

How is his total health? You said he is normal but I'm wondering how his appetite, activity level and poop are. Is he gaining, losing or maintaining weight?

Low protein values could be caused by many things including that he isn't getting enough from the food that he is eating or he isn't absorbing the protein that he is getting. So I wouldn't start freaking out just yet

 

[heff101]

Ok so went to the pet store and we decided to try a grain free food sourced from a new protein. Lamb is the protein source now.
I truly think this is a food related problem.
My vet is extremely good and he ran all the proper tests and the blood work was sent to the University for testing.
So will start Heff on his new food transition tonight.

 

[Davidh]

Let us know how it goes with the new food.