Border Terrier - aged 12 nearly 13 - changed weeing behaviour

[BasiliskStare]

So as above , our eldest border had had a couple of incidents where he has just weed where he is, even just lying down ( so no barking to go out etc - this is unusual behaviour for him)

We do have a call line via our pet insurance which I will phone tomorrow , & will phone Vet on Monday - but just in case anyone has any experience , is this old age ? ( I think a healthy Border can get to about 15 & I've known one of 18) In other respects he seems healthy so eager to go out for walks , chasing a ball etc , but he is getting on a bit

I know the right answer is to phone the vet & I will do on Monday - because he is not in distress etc at the moment - but just in case anyone has had something similar.

Any advice welcome - Thank you. The little chap seems healthy otherwise.
Basilisk

Yes call the vet as he could have a UTI.

@SirVixofVixHall - Thank you for that. As I say , this is unusual for him , so twice in the last two days he has just weed where he is. But you've confirmed , I need to phone the vet. And a UTI sort of makes sense in that if it were just old age I don't think it would have come on so quickly.

Thank you - I knew the answer was to phone the vet but as he doesn't seem otherwise distressed or in discomfort we were going to wait until Monday - but he is one of our little chaps so I was a bit worried about him. I'll phone the vet line tomorrow & take it from there

Thank you - I appreciate you taking the time

It’s a good idea to consult the vet anyway but I wouod take some comfort that he doesn’t seem distressed. Hopefully it is just a uti and you can get it sorted.

Thank you @Kanaloa - if he were distressed or seemed in discomfort I would have phoned this evening - but he does not seem to be. But thank you for reply. We shall phone the vet line tomorrow .

Believe me if he were obviously in discomfort or pain - vet would have been called already. I just wondered whether age related , but sounds like it could be a UTI so will definitely get in touch with vets.

Thank you all

Basilisk

We had this with my lovely BT. She was 14/15 and started peeing loads at home. it was volumes of wee, literally we'd come home to huge pools of wee. We spent a few months doing blood tests at the vets investigating. She just wasn't the same, slept a lot. After many tests and no solution, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go. She had no quality of life, she just wasn't the same dog, she was so despondent. Hopefully you are able to treat your dog, we were just unlucky. I felt so blessed to be with her at the end, it was like all the pain and discomfort melted away. It was 3 years ago but feels like yesterday. We have her pictures up and she is talked about all the time.
Hope your boy gets sorted and you have a few more lovely years with him.

Oh @DustyLoafer I am so sorry to hear that - I am hoping this is a UTI or something we can do something about. But I feel for you - Border Terriers are the best dogs ever ( well in my opinion ) & I just hope this is something treatable - How sad about your girl . I never want to lose either of mine - but I know the day will come and if it were relief to them and their discomfort melted away - then it - goodness I would be sad but at least they won't suffer. At the moment this dog is generally perky , but this thing. We shall see how it turns out - I have my fingers crossed - oh and for you @Dustyloafer - you may have seen this before - but tribute to a BT ( sadly died now) but joyous I think to see the spirit of these dogs ( filmng a bit amateur but i think you get the spirit of Border Terriers

It does sound as though it may be a UTI. Has anything else changed, drinking habits etc? Fireworks going off?

Check for a UTI

At that age it could also be related to cognitive decline.
Does he wake in the night? Vocalise? Ever appear confused or restless? Stare vacantly at walls?

Thank you @BasiliskStare
They are amazing characters, that video made me smile
I think because borders are so resilient you never know if they are in pain, they never ever complain. We did a 'last week of fun' with my Tilly, tried to entice her with steak, we took her to the beach, bought her a big ice cream. We had to carry her back to the car bless her, she just stood still as if to say I've had enough mum. She was such a treasure

To all - thank you for your replies - just to report back because such lovely & helpful replies - I phoned the vet line we have with his insurance and ( I paraphrase and summarise ) so they asked , Is he breathing normally - yes Is he exhibiting any visual or audible signs of being in pain or discomfort - no - is there a possibility he has had a trauma to his abdomen - no - When he goes to sleep does he put his head lower than his bottom - no - when he wees does he show any sign it is hard to do so - no Is his urine clear ( i.e. no blood or cloudiness ) - no - Is he drinking more water than normally - yes

So the on line vet person ( and she was a veterinary nurse ) said - keep an eye on him , if he shows any of those signs call us back immediately ( and I had not read the small print but they have people 24 hours a day ) otherwise she said call the vet within normal hours and they will probably ask you the same questions but she said this sounds like a normal hours thing rather than an emergency thing.

Thank you all - I wish I had read the small print because it appears I could have telephoned the insurance help line last night - but my eyes are rubbish.

So the good news ( and thank you all - I do mean that ) it appears elder dog does not have something life threatening but needs checking.

If anyone interested - as our two are getting older the insurance gets more expensive but this one has a help line & has been really good. I don't work for them and don't want to advertise - but if anyone interested - send me a message and will give the company.

So basically it seems their help line has done triage. But I feel like if anything gets worse they will take a call any time. & I shall phone vet tomorrow

In later news , said dog has been out for a run & is himself. We shall see how the weeing goes.

Thank you all , I do mean that. @Veterinari @SparePantsAndLego @Kanaloa @SirVixofVixHall and @DustyLoafer

He's getting on a bit but I love him - thank you all for replying

Basilisk

Great news OP! It's peace of mind really that you needed.

@DustyLoafer - exactly - the other thing the vet nurse said was that the vet may ask for a sample and she said the fresher the better , so she said if you can't get one immediately before the appointment - just take one and pop it in the fridge - Well let me tell you we have a small house & a small fridge. I do have freezer / sandwich bags so we can do a sample in a container and wrap it up but I have looked at fridge & even though I am a woman whose dogs can sleep on our bed , or the sofa etc Even I am thinking where can we put dog wee in the fridge