Leena Issue

[Kerplunk105]

I adopted Leena in January. She was around 11 weeks old when I got her. The place she came from was not very clean. Ever since I have had her, she's had urinary issues. At first, I just assumed it was b/c she was young. She is around 6 months old now and still having issues.

She wants to drink of water, all the time. When I take her for a walk, either on or off lead, she pee's a lot-way more then a healthy dog should. She will go pee outside, I will bring her in and sometimes 15 minutes later she will either pee on the carpet or need to go out again. However, she can hold it from 11pm-7am out of her crate and never have an accident. I limit her water after 8pm.

She is crated during the day when I'm not home. I have family that is home, and they let her out during the day. Even then, she sometimes has accidents, though this has cut down a lot in the past month.

She has been to two vets. She got a urine analysis done at the first one, and it came back totally normal. She was given a round of clavamox for 14 days. I decided to switch vets, the second vet noticed that her vulva was quite recessed and thinks this may be part of the issue. He wants me to take her for an ultrasound. She is not spayed yet

I guess I just want any suggestions or input before I pay for the $400 ultrasound.

Funny thing is, Bliss the Lab that I bought from a great breeder has never had a single issue in 9 years. Leena, the free dog, has many issues

[Barb Wright]

...She wants to drink of water, all the time.....However, she can hold it from 11pm-7am out of her crate and never have an accident. I limit her water after 8pm.

The fact that she can hold it for 8 hours sort of takes it out of the health catagory. First, I would not let her have unlimited access to water during the day....if she is constantly drinking water then she will have to constantly pee..it's a given. So much goes in, so much must come out. Second, are you positive this is not a submissive urination situation??? I say this because you stated this, "she sometimes has accidents, though this has cut down a lot in the past month". As a pup matures they get more confident and SU diminishes, usually.

She got a urine analysis done at the first one, and it came back totally normal.

Did they do a culture and sensitivity test, or just an in-house urinalysis? If it was just in-house these tests are generally not a really good diagnostic tool, the C&S test is far better at detecting urinary infections. NJMO Also, JMPO but if no infection was indicated than a "round" of antibiotics is pretty poor medical practice. Antibiotics should not be used except for a known infection I'd get Leena on a probiotic to help get her friendly bacteria back in balance.

.... the second vet noticed that her vulva was quite recessed and thinks this may be part of the issue.

If this is what it sounds like, the first heat often resolves the problem. I'd wait for that before spending that kind of money on an ultrsound....especially since she DOES have control, the nighttime time frame shows that.

That's all that I can think of at the moment...HTH

[Kerplunk105]

...She wants to drink of water, all the time.....However, she can hold it from 11pm-7am out of her crate and never have an accident. I limit her water after 8pm.

The fact that she can hold it for 8 hours sort of takes it out of the health catagory. First, I would not let her have unlimited access to water during the day....if she is constantly drinking water then she will have to contstantly pee..it's a given. So much goes in, so much must come out. Second, are you positive this is not a submissive urination situation??? I say this because you stated this, "she sometimes has accidents, though this has cut down a lot in the past month". As a pup matures they get more confident and SA diminishes, usually.

She got a urine analysis done at the first one, and it came back totally normal.

Did they do a culture and sensitivity test, or just an in-house urinalysis? If it was just in-house these tests are generally not a really good diagnostic tool, the C&S test is far better at detecting urinary infections. NJMO Also, JMPO but if no infection was indicated than a "round" of antibiotics is pretty poor medical practice. Antibiotics should not be used except for a known infection I'd get Leena on a probiotic to help get her friendly bacteria back in balance.

.... the second vet noticed that her vulva was quite recessed and thinks this may be part of the issue.

If this is what it sounds like, the first heat often resolves the problem. I'd wait for that before spending that kind of money on an ultrsound....especially since she DOES have control, the nighttime time frame shows that.

That's all that I can think of at the moment...HTH

I was actually kind of surprised that the vet wanted to do an ultrasound right away. The clavamox was given the day we went and the results came back the following week. They didnt help at all though. They just did a in-house urinalysis. Should I request the culture and sensitivity test to be done?

Its def not submissive urination. I am going to let her come into heat once to see if that helps at all. Its not the normal puppy recessed vulva though. I'll have to take pictures I've had puppies in the past and its very different looking from that. I honestly wasnt sure if it was normal or not as I've only ever had Labs and Goldens. Its more like she has a lot of extra skin around the area.

She is currently getting a digestive supplement by Aunt Jeni's (http://www.auntjeni.com/FAQ_for_Digestive_Aid.pdf). She also gets 2000mg of fish oil and 500mg of vitamin e a day. I got this last night and was thinking about trying it. http://www.petnaturals.com/vitamins_sup ... t-dogs.php

I am not sure if the only reason she can hold it all night is because she doesnt get anything to drink after 8ish pm.

[LauraV]

First, I would not let her have unlimited access to water during the day....if she is constantly drinking water then she will have to contstantly pee..it's a given. So much goes in, so much must come out.

I second this!

Our boy will drink until he explodes, well not really, but he does drink until he starts to leak because he is so full. And he has had many 2 - 3 minute pee's. (Seriously think about how long that is! And we've timed them)
We no longer allow him unlimited access to water. I'm sure he was deprived of it for a long time so now that he has it, he wants to make sure he takes advantage of it. He doesn't need that much, that's for sure!

[Barb Wright]

...
Should I request the culture and sensitivity test to be done?

If it was my dog I would. It's the best way to rule out UTI's.

I am going to let her come into heat once to see if that helps at all. Its not the normal puppy recessed vulva though.

I would do this as well....she will probably come into heat in the next couple months and that will be definitive. Here is a good article on "recessed vulva": http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ins-outs.html

The digestive supplement (Aunt Jeni) sounds fine. Also, the herbal supplement (Petnaturals) sounds good as well...won't hurt, may help

Thinking you will want to try not giving her free access to water during the day. If you are feeding dry kibble you might want to soak that, making sure the food has absorbed as much water as it can before feeding. Then an hour later offer her a cup of water. Offer a small amount of water...something less than a cup.....every 3-4 hours and be sure she has the opportunity to pee within the hour after she has the water. Rather than putting the water down I would just hold the bowl, let her drink but don't offer her more that just the small amount. Drinking water excessively can be sort of obsessive for some dogs, rather like a "comfort activity". If you can curtail it now you may get her past this compulsion, if that is what is the problem

[Dave]

She might just have nervous drinking problem . My Molly who is about 9 now will drink all the water you put down for her . Her problem was due to a huge weight loss I put her through and now a strict diet .

Most foster dogs I get drink excessive water till they calm down . It can go from days to weeks especially if they were in a shelter or out fending for themselves . It's a nervous condition many times , doggy OCD . As Barb said limit her water . Dave

[Cindy]

Kayla has always had a "drinking problem!" We had some weird test done where she had to drink a specified amount of water, then you halve it the next day, and keep reducing - sorry don't remember the specifics. Anyway - turned out that she just likes to drink a lot! If you do a search you might find the specifics I posted about this several years ago. Sorry, I couldn't find them.

[Kerplunk105]

Thanks for all the input guys! It def seems like Leena has a drinking issue. She drinks sometimes so much she pukes it back up I will def start limiting her water.

[Dave]

Another couple of things . I might check her for diabetes , and worm her . Sometimes when parasites are present a dog will drink more also . I ran across this in a foster that had a huge infestation of tapes and whipworms . Everthing the dog was eating was going to the worms and she drank a lot of water cause she was hungry Dave

[Kerplunk105]

She's gotten wormed 2x a few months ago. The first time was gross..she pooped out so many worms. The second time, nothing.

[janet909]

I was wondering about blood sugar too. It wouldn't hurt to make sure she's not drinking so much because she's diabetic.