Any ideas on this health problem? - Page 1

I have an 8 yr old spayed female who has always been strong and healthy. But recently she has started drinking and urinating excessively and she has lost a lot of weight though she still eats well (she has always been lean but now her ribs are sticking out and she has lost muscle mass). She is desperate for water and quickly drenches all the woodshavings when she is in her kennel. She is not incontinent though, and has not had any accidents in the house. Otherwise her behaviour is normal, her coat is in quite good condition, no digestive problems, no other obvious symptoms. We have done tests for diabetes but they came out normal. The vet palpated her abdomen for possible tumors but found nothing detectable by that method. Its now a vacation here and so we are going to follow this up with more tests on wednesday, but in the meantime does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

OSO,

I would strongly urge you have her checked for parathyroid dysfunction. Her signs are consistent as well with diabetes insipidus, which is a different disease from diabetes mellitus. You may need to take her to a specialist. Based on what you describe, it is very, very important that you find this cause because if it is either I mention, it can be treated. If left untreated, both diseases could kill her.

I hope all else is well with you.

Regards.

Thanks for these ideas Hodie, I'll mention the parathyroid to my vet, he did say it was not dibates mellitus or insipidus, but I'll do some research to check up on this. There are not really any specialists here but I know my vet will do whatever tests possible. My other dogs are fine, thanks!

Hodie is always right on the money on these issues, so I would follow her advice. Get the dog to a specialist asap.

How about Cushings? Usually there is a pendulum belly with it but I don't think always....at any rate don't withhold water until you know what is going on. I had a girl with Cushings (she has passed) and the vets said it was very important to let her have all the water she wanted because they cannot concentrate their urine and need to hydrate alot. She was not incontinent but had to urinate frequently. If you bring in a urine sample they can tell some from that.....

sounds kind of weird but does her urine have a sweet smell to it?

We had a rescue rat terrier who started the symptoms you describe.  She had diabetes very bad and we didn't catch it soon enough,  she was already headed into renal failure and we had her put down.  She would drink constantly and her urine had a strong sweet type smell to it.

Based on what OSO wrote, the vet already checked for diabetes mellitus. The odor you mention is an acetone like odor, often described as a "fruity" like odor. But it is not present in these other conditions. Cushings is not out of the question, but the signs sound more like a parathyroid issue at this point. 

OSO, if you need more help on how to test for this etc., let me know and I can put you in contact with a veterinarian who just went through this with one of her own dogs.

As always, good luck down there!

At 8 she's in prime age for kidney problems, could also be UTI, but that's something your vet should have crossed off the list first. Agree about parathyroid - blood calcium levels should be checked . Cushing's usually manifests in coat problems and weight gain before thirst sets in and its not a very common ailment, but checking for cortisol levels is a simple test, so you might want to do that eventually. Also, any inflammatory process might cause excessive thirst.

Thanks for all the replies, I had read about cushings but she does not have most of the typical symptoms. It does not appear to be a UTI or kidney problem according to the vet. I had not come across parathyroid problems before so will get this checked out. In this case what is the treatment?? In the mean time I am giving her all the water she wants - the first time we noticed something was wrong was when she cried for ages at night, when I went down to see what was wrong she had finished all her water, I gave her another big bowl and she settled down, but it was all finished by morning and she was desperate for more. This happened two or three times, now I make sure she has loads of water last thing at night. Her urine does not have any unusual smell, in fact it hardly smells of urine as it is very dilute. Apart from this and looking quite thin she does not seem unwell at all, she is active and lively and has not lost any coat condition, no cataracts or bad breath... Anyway, I will let you know the results of more tests next week.

Did the vet check her BUN and Creatinine levels through a blood panel?