Steroids, insatiable thirst and peeing indoors

[WeAllHaveWings]

ddog(lab, 7) is 1 week into being treated with steroids, these will continue for at least the next 3 months, the vet warned us he would drink/urinate more on these and we are filling his water bowl several times a day now.

This morning we came down to a puddle on the carpet by the patio doors. Poor soul was probably standing there for ages waiting to be let out, we didn't hear him and he gave in.

I guess the options are really - reduce water later at night (feels unkind if the steriods are making him really thirsty), get huge adult lab sized puppy pads for the backdoor (any recommendations?), or get up during the night 😴 to let him out to pee. There is no way to give him outdoor access at night. Any solutions I am missing?

Dont with hold the water.
Speak to the vet - they may be able to alter the dose slightly or timing of when you give the steriods.

A dog flap? My elderly, large staffie cross uses one and it's a god send during the night.

I’m guessing he’s on quite a high dose if he’s having those side effects. We went through this with our dog last year and it is difficult to manage, but unavoidable if they need an immune suppressing dose. You may find he overheats easily as well and might prefer lying on a cool floor to his bed.

Don’t restrict water. We took it in turns to sleep downstairs, so we could take him out in the night. The symptoms reduced very quickly once we started titrating down to a lower dose.

To be honest, there are worse side effects from steroids - our boy had horrendous tremors that stopped him being able to rest and kept him awake, so the drinking and peeing, whilst awkward and stressful is better than the alternative.

My boy started on a high dose in September and had a Couple of accidents. I’ve just resigned myself to going to bed later and getting up earlier.

And there are times he wakes during the night too so I get up and take him out. We have hard floors downstairs so I can hear him getting up and pacing when he needs out.

Someone going to bed a bit later and someone else getting up a bit earlier? Might not work, but if do-able you can shorten the overnight for the dog by a couple of hours or more.

He is on Prendnidale 25mgs

He had a MRI last week (£2,500 - thank you Pet Plan!) and he has "something" (0.8cm diameter) on his ocularmotor nerve. Because of the location they can't biopsy to find out if it is a tumour or a condition they have found research on where there is a signification enlargement of the nerve. We are hoping for the latter as available treatment for the tumour would be too invasive. So they are trying steroids for 3 months, then another MRI to see if it has improved, not sure if they could adjust/reduce the dose as he probably needs it.

Will try a late night/early morning rota for a bit and see how he goes. Will maybe stick something waterproof with a load of dog towels on top to soak it up the worst of it beside the door until we get into a new routine with him while he is on the steroids.

It is horrible when they are unwell and they can't ask for help/tell you what is wrong!

Ah, he’s on it for a very different reason than my dog was. (He had to have his immune system completely suppressed so, after the initial phase, there were other medications they could trial alongside the steroids to reduce the steroid dosage. He came out of the vet hospital on 50mg a day and that was a reduction on the dose he was on while he was an inpatient.)

We are with PetPlan too, his policy was worth every penny and they paid up every time without any problems.

I hope it turns out to be less scary of the two possibilities and that he’s feeling better soon.

Maybe washable human incontinence sheets would be better sized & able to cope with the volume.

@Scattyhattie great idea, seems obvious now but never thought of them. Two ordered to arrive tomorrow.

So late nights/early mornings and incontinence sheets for accidents in the middle.

Now.........the steroids are also making him insanely hungry, he is usually fed at 5pm, but is waiting for food much earlier.

What can I feed him that is bulky and will make him feel full up but not put on weight (not easy with a labrador!). Not looking forward to this bit as whenever he goes off his usual food the wind and poos are dreadful! Was thinking veg (carrots/broccoli) is probably the best option? He gets these occasionally, but I can start adding to his meals daily if it will help, maybe split meal over 3 meals.

We did snacks of fruit and veg for the hunger (carrots, broccoli, apple and banana were firm favourites) also split his meals into more, smaller meals, so he was able to eat more frequently.

If he’s on kibble, you could also distract him by feeding his usual meals via a puzzle bowl or toy, snuffle mat, scatter feeding or kong. If they just scarf it all down really quickly they tend to be hungry again more quickly than if they have to spend time working for it.

When my old dog was out on steroids for a spinal issue he started drinking and peeing loads. after a week or so we went back to the vets and has his blood sugars done. They were so high they didn't register on the test the vets did. Another set of bloods found him to have diabetes. Worth a check maybe? X

Sounds like you’re sorted, but you can get large washable puppy pads from amazon, very absorbent, wash brilliantly, and seem to reduce smell - a lifesaver when I had 2 elderly dogs who could no longer manage stairs. Hope he’s doing well OP

He's been ok last few days, He was back at the vets last week after an few episodes of vomiting over 24hrs. Full moult labrador, piles of vomit, peeing indoors and carpets doesn't make a pleasant mix 😫 but thankfully no visitors!!! They gave us some pills to stop him being sick and advised smaller more frequent feeds and to leave out regular smaller amounts of water instead of full bowls to stop him gulping it down so much then bringing back up, and he's been much better.

Managed to book a rug doctor carpet cleaner on Tuesday which made a huge difference to the carpet and the smell has gone. Hopefully he's settled down now.

We've to phone back to the small animal hospital for a checkup early Jan.