Extreme thirst, wanting to eat more, missing hair

[Bizzymammabee]

Ok so now it's Raven's turn to scare the beejebus out of me. She had been battling a yeasty ear for a while and I decided to take her off of the Acana Grain Free Pork and put her on the limited ingredient Lamb version. Well the ear seemed to be doing much better but I have noticed for a while now she has been drinking a lot more water. It's gotten to the point that I find her trying to get into the shower stall after someone takes a bath to drink water and she gets up multiple times a night to go get water and look to see if her bowl has any more food. I also noticed that she has two spots on her back that are missing hair and she cries if I don't turn on the lights for her to go down the steps at night when she wants to get her water. I know she has slipped a time or two so she is always a bit wary of the stairs but that crying until I turn on the light scares me. I also noticed that she looks a lot heavier when she is still eating the same amount of food. Her normal is about a cup of dry, two heaping table spoons of wet or maybe some veggies as a topper. So she definitely shouldn't look so heavy and have a pot belly.

I made an appt with the vet for her saturday and will take a urine sample and have them run blood work and check her from top to bottom. I am really worried about what is going on. My girl is turning 5 in October and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her if something were seriously wrong.

Any ideas what could be going on?

 

[2BullyMama]

Be sure they check her thyroid levels

sending hugs and prayers it is nothing serious

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Be sure they check her thyroid levels

sending hugs and prayers it is nothing serious

From your lips/fingers to God's ears. Thanks.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi Beth, I agree with Christine, it's a good idea to,check her thyroid levels, but I was thinking it sounds more like it could be Diabetes, since she is so thirsty, and seems to be more hungry. I would ask the vet to give her a good checkup, and test her for both thyroid and Diabetes, both are easy to test for with blood tests. I hope it's nothing serious and Raven is okay. Please keep us posted.

 

[Bizzymammabee]

I am going to do my best to get a urine sample to take along with me so we have it and I don't have to wait to try and collect it and bring it back. I want answers ASAP to see what I can do to help her.

 

[Manydogs]

Definitely signs diabetes would present. Use a low microwave dinner tray to catch the urine.Try and get it closest to your vet visit. We will be praying for your baby.

 

[Biscuitsmom]

These are the signs my diabetic cat had before getting diagnosed except he lost weight instead of gained. It can go either way though. I agree, have them check blood sugar levels and thyroid. Diabetes can also mess with vision so that could be why she is crying when it is dark. If it IS that don't stress yet, it can be manageable with insulin. Hope it's not that though, keep us updated!

 

[helsonwheels]

For sure diabetes and thyroid needs to be checked. Go buy a spoon spatula and its much easier to collect the urine. That's what I use when I collect Nyala's urine. Wait till she starts to pee and slide it under. Voilà! Buy it like at them dollar store so you can throw it out. Oh and make sure you do not store urine in the fridge. I did that dumb mistake once...

 

[lcliff87]

My rescue has Cushing's disease. He had it when we adopted him so I'm not sure how the symptoms originally started for him but I know they are extreme thirst, extreme hunger, urinating a lot, and it can lead to hair loss. He already had a lot of bald patches by the time we got to him and would always wake up in the middle of the night to get water before it was controlled. Maybe that's another thing to look out for?

 

[Bizzymammabee]

We saw the vet on Sat morning and he is checking her thyroid levels, for diabetes as well as cushings. He said he is thinking and leaning more towards hypothyroidism vs cushings. He said the missing spots of hair seem to be allergy related and a skin infection. Blood and urine results should be available tomorrow. I actually collected her urine by running behind her and placing a wee wee pad with the plastic side up, only got a little bit of pee on my hand. She was rather disturbed by my interrupting her potty break [emoji849]. I tell ya...the things we do to make these stinkers ok.


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[helsonwheels]

My rescue has Cushing's disease. He had it when we adopted him so I'm not sure how the symptoms originally started for him but I know they are extreme thirst, extreme hunger, urinating a lot, and it can lead to hair loss. He already had a lot of bald patches by the time we got to him and would always wake up in the middle of the night to get water before it was controlled. Maybe that's another thing to look out for?

Never cease to amaze me how dogs are so like humans when it comes to diseases.

 

[2BullyMama]

We saw the vet on Sat morning and he is checking her thyroid levels, for diabetes as well as cushings. He said he is thinking and leaning more towards hypothyroidism vs cushings. He said the missing spots of hair seem to be allergy related and a skin infection. Blood and urine results should be available tomorrow. I actually collected her urine by running behind her and placing a wee wee pad with the plastic side up, only got a little bit of pee on my hand. She was rather disturbed by my interrupting her potty break [emoji849]. I tell ya...the things we do to make these stinkers ok.


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Oh to have been there to see the urine collection

 

[RiiSi]

Unfortunately Cushing's comes to my mind, so be sure they check for that. Sending positive and healing vibes your way....

 

[Bizzymammabee]

Thank you all for the love and support. Raven has been diagnosed with a UTI. Thankfully it was caught just in time. She will be taking antibiotics for 10 days and the vet suggested that she get a lot more wet food for the duration. Funny thing is she likes wet but seems to love her kibbles more. So yesterday I gave a lot more wet, her veggies and her kibbles I put a bit of hot water on it to up her water consumption even more. She kind of looked at it at first but then finally settled in and chowed down. I was so scared when I saw the vet calling on my cell yesterday. I really don't know what I would have done had it been something really bad.

 

[helsonwheels]

Thank you all for the love and support. Raven has been diagnosed with a UTI. Thankfully it was caught just in time. She will be taking antibiotics for 10 days and the vet suggested that she get a lot more wet food for the duration. Funny thing is she likes wet but seems to love her kibbles more. So yesterday I gave a lot more wet, her veggies and her kibbles I put a bit of hot water on it to up her water consumption even more. She kind of looked at it at first but then finally settled in and chowed down. I was so scared when I saw the vet calling on my cell yesterday. I really don't know what I would have done had it been something really bad.

Well that's great news yes just top with boiled water and add one 250gr cranberry extract cap throughout the day. Open the cap and add half to each meals had same issue with Nyala and now she's on home cooking only which she don't drink at all cause it's moist meals so I top it with the broth n boiled water. She has no choice to drink to get to her meat got to be a step ahead of these brats.