Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

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Boogie and Linda
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Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

In the past few months Boogie has been drinking a lot of water and he has been having accidents in the house. It was happening mstly at night but seems to be appening more frequently. The first couple of times he urinated in the house I didn't know what it was because it didn't smell. i just thought someone spilled a big cup of water. I took him to the vet and he does not have anything wrong with his bladder or kidneys but his liver levels came back elevated. According to the vet, the liver issue wouldn't cause the over drinking and urinating. His urine is very diluted as well. It is almost clear and doesnt smell. We did a second urine test with his first morning urine and it was just as diluted as the other test which is bad. So now, tomorrow he has to go in for an ultrasound which should be really fun considering he has to lay on his back still. They said if he is too difficult we can try and sedate him so we will see. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be? Right now the vet is just doing different tests to try and get an idea.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Merlin »

Please have her checked for diabetes or thyroid - and have her bun/urea checked for possible early signs of kidney disease.
That's what we would do with a dog who would demonstrate the same symptoms
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

Ask the vet about Cushings as well, that was the first symptom that Baby exhibited and it took quite awhile to get a diagnosis for her.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by chowpups »

I second cocoa's input.I believe it can also cause a liver enzyme elevation ? I would definitely check in to it if there are no other answers!
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

I second cocoa's input.I believe it can also cause a liver enzyme elevation ?
Yes it does Nancy.

Unfortunately for me Baby did not respond at all to medication and at her age I was not willing to put her through the further testing to see if it was the operable version (I wasn't willing to put her through major surgery at her age anyway), but lots of dogs do very well on medication.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Merlin »

t Cushings as well,
Markers would show up in the thyroid test and in the simple blood test.
if the dog had Cushings there would be significant hair loss, tearing of skin, appearance of sores "out of nowhere"... there are generally other signs that accompany Cushings or Addisons. The test for Cushings is quite expensive, so I wouldn't test for Cushings unless markers showed up in the thyroid test - I would do the T test first -

Also the shedding of loads of urine ( all of a sudden) is a strong symptom of Leptospirosis. You may want to check that route first which definitely is accompanied by liver issues and the onset of the disease doesn't necessarily come on very fast.

fever
joint or muscle pain - this may manifest as a reluctance to move
decreased appetite
weakness
vomiting and diarrhea
discharge from nose and eyes
frequent urination - may be followed by lack of urination
yellowing of the gums, membranes around the eyes, and skin (jaundice)
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Boogie and Linda
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

The vet mentioned possibly Cushing's and Leptospirosis. He doesn't have any of the additional symptoms for either so she cant be sure. He did get vaccinated for Leptospirosis but I am not ruling it out as a possibility. He did have a thyroid test which came back slightly off but they said not enough to really mean anything. His appetite has always been big and it seems like now he is even hungrier. They are going to do the ultrasound this afternoon to get a view of his organs to see if that offers up any information.

I was searching on the Internet last night and cirrhosis of the liver also has these symptoms. I am hoping, whatever it is, that the fact that Boogie can be a baby when he is sick will play in his favor for catching this early. He is starting to get up in age (he is 8 )so some of these things are expected. Other than the excessive drinking and urinating he seems fine.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by chowpups »

Hope the ultra sound helps find out what's up, Good luck, will be thinking of you both!
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Thanks for your thoughts. The ultrasound showed everything is fine. I guess they fully expected to find a tumor. They just didn't tell me before hand. They decided they needed a chest X-ray to rule out cancer in his chest so we did that and that was fine too. They are testing his urine for Cushing's which can't definitively say he has it but it can rule it out. They also prescribed him antibiotics for Leptospirosis in case that is what it is. The test for that was pricey so we decided to go with the antibiotics and see if it clears this up. They took urine from him while he was knocked out and it is still like pure water. The last thing they mentioned but it is extremely rare that it could be is diabetes insipidus. She said that we should look at everything else first. It is weird because he is acting fine except for this issue.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

It is weird because he is acting fine except for this issue.
That's what made me think it could be Cushings, the excessive thirst and hunger were the only symptoms at first. I hope you and your vet can figure out what is going on with him. Will be thinking of you both.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Juniper »

Hi Linda, How's Boogie now? Sheena had elevated liver levels in 2009, drank water a lot and would need to go out quite frequently and wasn't holding her urine. She also showed me more attitude and became irritated with me (and Troy at that time). Doc gave her silymarin capsules and in one month her liver rejuvenated and liver is still normal now at 13 years. Depending how elevated levels are...Sheena was as high as 270...I'd make sure I would use the silymarin after a retest of liver function-if it still was elevated.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Boogie is still the same. I guess it is not leptospirosis since the antibiotics aren't helping. The test they did to try and exclude Cushing's came back inconclusive. We had an appointment to do an in depth Cushing's test on Saturday but the medicine they needed for the test had expired so we have to wait for them to get in a new one and then do the test.

I will ask the vet about Silymarin. They usually give me both holistic and traditional options for treatments.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

We finally have a diagnoses. He has Cushing's. The vet said his tumor is on his pituitary gland so we can't do surgery. He will have to take meds starting on Sunday to shrink the tumor. Hopefully all will go well.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by chowpups »

I've been thinking about you and Boogie, I hope the meds help soon.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

Sorry to hear Boogie has Cushings. It sounds like you caught it early and hopefully the meds will work well for him. Purple feel better kisses from Cocoa.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Thank you for the replies. I just went to pick up his meds Lysodren (Mitotane) and am having a hard time finding it in stock. And it is quite pricey. I misread the online prices as per bottle when they are per pill. :shock: He is going to have to take this medicine for the rest of his life too but hopefully only a few times a week instead of everyday like now. After about 20 calls I found a pharmacy that had them. Just an FYI Wal-mart seems to be the least expensive even compared to online pricing ($5.50 per pill) but it takes a few days for them to get them. Some pharmacies want as much as $10 per pill. That is crazy.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Juniper »

Thanks for the update Linda...hope Boogie does well on the meds.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by chowpups »

Linda I sent you a PM about info on med prices hope you got it
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by kingalls »

Sorry I don't get on cc.org as often as I should...hope Boogie will start feeling better soon!
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

I hope Boogie starts to feel better on the meds soon. You're right about the costs, I had forgotten how much they cost. Keep us updated.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Well, he started the meds last Sunday and all was well until last night. Last night he started drinking even more water and he peed in the house 3 times in the middle of the night. In the early morning he started throwing up and was shaking so I rushed him to the vet. They thought he was having an "Addisonian episode" and gave him an IV with fluids. Then they ran some tests and his results came back the opposite of what they should have been so now they are second guessing the diagnoses of Cushing's. They told me to stop the Mitotane and give him a liver supplement and wait until his regular vet is back tomorrow and all the vets at the practice meet together to see where we go from here. So now we are back to more questions than answers and an even sicker Boogie.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Cocoa »

Oh no, Linda, I'm so sorry to hear that Boogie is worse. :cry: Hopefully the vet will be able to figure out what is going on and you'll get Boogie feeling better soon.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by kingalls »

[-o| [-o| [-o| We are all praying for Boogie to get better.
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by chowpups »

Oh, Linda I hope Boogie gets a correct diagnoses soon! I sure hope he gets relief soon!
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Re: Boogie -- drinking and urinating way too much

Post by Boogie and Linda »

They did some more tests and consulted with some specialists and they are saying even though the test for Cushing's was positive they don't think that is what Boogie has. He went in today to be tested for liver failure. Out of all the possibilities this one is the worst so I am really hoping this is not it. Liver failure is fatal and not treatable. If this test comes back ok then he is going to start meds for diabetes insipidus.
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