CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Oldies (Over 9s) => Topic started by: Ben's mum on January 05, 2015, 09:30:35 PM
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Just a quick question.
over the last couple of months I have noticed that Ben asks to go out for a wee a lot more regularly, also when he wants to go he wants to go now! Is that usual in older dogs? He goes fine throughout the night at the moment, it is mainly throughout the day.
Thanks
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Some months ago William went through a phase of needing to pee a bit more frequently and needing to go urgently, so I took him and a pee sample to the vet. She did a dipstick test and it showed an infection so he was put on antibiotics, which resolved the problem.
She also said he had traces of crystals (can't remember which sort) and wanted to sell me a particular kibble. As William is raw fed I declined! He's never been one for drinking lots of water and he doesn't cock his leg and mark but tends to go for hours and hours in between pees. So his urine often looks quite yellow and smells a bit strong - like human urine does when someone is dehydrated.
So I started adding filtered water to his breakfast to make sure he has quite a lot of moisture (raw food + water) early on in the day and monitored his drinking habits. For my own satisfaction I then got the vet to do a full urine analysis, not just a dipstick test, a couple of months later, and it came back normal.
I've continued adding filtered water to his breakfast every day. I think it benefits him. I remember when I was a child my mother was always nagging me because I hardly drank anything. I used to get dreadful headaches and ended up with a nasty kidney infection when I was 10, triggered by dehydration, so I know it can cause problems.
I think if Ben was mine I'd take him and a pee sample to the vet and ask her to have a feel of his prostate as well - typical old man problems, but best checked I think.
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Thanks Elaine I will get him checked out. He is drinking more than he used to, I mentioned that to the vet on our Christmas visit and she didn't seem concerned. I was thinking of diabetes, but she wasn't too worried, but I didn't think to mention that he needs to wee more often.
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I think like older people they do suffer more from urinary infections so always worth checking out
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Definitely worth checking out. It could just be change of food (I once changed to a particular kibble and they started drinking loads more), but it could also be an infection, diabetes or kidney issues. My old lurcher started drinking more water than usual, no cause could be found so by elimination he was diagnosed with psychogenic diabetes insipidus caused by stress. He wasn't on any medication, and his water intake did drop again when things settled down again, so the diagnosis was correct.
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I think Elaine is thinking of struvite crystals (nasty little buggers) they irritate the bladder and make them want to wee more! If it is them he will be put on special food to dissolve them! And only that food no treats nothing but that food, you will have to be really strict. Like the others have said it could very well be an infection? Hope this helps? x x x
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I think Elaine is thinking of struvite crystals (nasty little buggers) they irritate the bladder and make them want to wee more! If it is them he will be put on special food to dissolve them! And only that food no treats nothing but that food, you will have to be really strict. Like the others have said it could very well be an infection? Hope this helps? x x x
William is still on his normal raw food + a few treats and no longer has crystals. I don't know if I was lucky and caught it in time when he had the infection, but I've not had to change his diet.