Older dog - excessive drinking and advice on puppy pads

[LaLaFlottes]

Our lovely little terrier is 13 and drinks excessively. She’s done this for a while, but recently it’s resulted in lots of needing a wee in the night, and a couple of accidents.

I must stress, I don’t mind getting up with her, she goes right back to sleep and I’m happy to make sure she’s comfortable, but obviously it’s not ideal!

She’s had a lot of tests, ruled out diabetes, Cushings, had her calcium levels checked and also a liver scan as her liver enzymes are high.

The outcome of the scan was that she has some polyps on her gallbladder and sludge in her gallbladder. She has tablets for this and liver supplements plus some pain relief as apparently the gallbladder can cause discomfort.

I worry sometimes that I won’t hear her in the night as she doesn’t bark, she just kind of wriggles and whines a little bit. She sleeps upstairs so that we do hear her.

There’s been the occasional time she’s been sat at the back door, pretty desperate for a wee. She definitely tried not to have an accident. I was thinking of getting some puppy pads just in case, and I could put one at the back door in the night and also when we go out - if she has an accident she seems to go for the doormat or a rug! Are the pads that are scented better? Or a washable one? We’ve only had her since she was 6 so I don’t know if she’s ever used pads!

Also any ideas to help? I tried to take her for a walk at 9pm tonight so that she could do a few wees but she was just so tired she just kept turning for home! She did one wee though and she will go out in the garden just before bed.

I’m not sure if it’s become a habit or if she really does struggle to get through the night. She sometimes gets up and goes for a drink first, wee second!

Not really sure what I’m asking! Just any tips to help. She has another scan mid August to see if her gallbladder has improved.

Thanks!

I wouldn't say so. It was a particular blood test from memory and I wasn't allowed to feed him beforehand. He then had the same test every three months to check his vetoryl dose was right. I know a few other Border Terriers with it and they all have bloods for it.

He had a fasting test, then was fed and had another test and then I seem to remember I had to leave him for the day too, it was a low dose dexamethasone suppression test that he had. I've just had a look at the Dechra website for which it was (they make vetoryl) he also had ACTH tests. I only ever took one urine sample which they only dipped for diabetes.

Dechra have a site dedicated to vets and diagnosis/management of Cushings. I'd be speaking to your vet again as it's to do with the endocrine system and it's specific tests along with clinical signs to diagnose it.

This site explains it quite well for owners

www.chartervets.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CushingsDiseaseBookletSP.pdf

I just wanted to revive this thread to update as everyone was so helpful.

Yesterday, our dog had a follow up scan and I asked about cushings again. Her urine test hadn't had enough cortisol so cushings had been ruled out. I think that's how it was explained to me from what I remember.

Based on comments and info here, I asked the vet to please do another test, I can't remember the name of it but it was a blood test more specifically for cushings. They didn't suggest it but didn't seem against it either.

Well today it's been confirmed - she has cushings. I am so glad I asked for the test as we were not getting any further with the scans etc.

She is starting on vetoryl once they have it in stock and will be assessed after taking it for 10 days and then for 28 days and then monitored every 3 months.

Thank you so much and any other advice on cushings will of course be gratefully received!

aah bless the poor thing.

FWIW ours did well on vetoryl for a couple of years. We could tell when her dose needed to be looked at again when her weeing increased.

And I will again recommend dog nappies. For us it really helped because our house is all carpeted and she was at the point where she just leaked all the time.

@TheBloatedMiddle thank you. I'm glad we have a diagnosis and actually feel quite hopeful as it's treatable and just praying she gets on ok with the medication.

I'm a bit upset that cushings was ruled out after a urine test and we then have had two scans and been still trying to figure it out, when if the blood test had been done initially, we could have just got going on the meds right away. But never mind, it's just one of those things.

Thanks re the nappies - I will take a look as I think she would tolerate wearing them, she's so laid back!

I wonder what to expect as she first starts taking the medication. I'm sure the vet will let me know, but I've read they can take a while to settle on the medication.

@LaLaFlottes I'm so pleased we were able to help, Cushings is absolutely treatable and don't be scared to tell the vet if you don't think the dose is right - you'll know because you'll still be getting the drinking and weeing although less than before - they should go back to what they were like before the symptoms began. I used to occasionally monitor his water intake if I thought the dose was a bit off. I'd empty his bowl at 12 noon, fill it up with 500ml, leave it until empty and then another 500ml and so on until 12 noon the next day and then measure what was left to give me a volume for the 24 hour period. They say a 10kg dog should drink 500ml a day and he was over double at one point.

We were shocked when his meds were right, the change in him was remarkable because it was almost as if it had gradually snuck up and we'd not worked it out, just thought he was old! We got our boy back if that makes sense!

Good luck getting the tablets down DDog, I ended up spreading a slice of cheap ham (he didn't like the good stuff) thickly with Philadelphia (yes he could tell the difference between that and the own brand 🤣) and rolling it up like a cigar. Also found a big lump of Philly with the capsule in it worked as he'd lick it off the palm of my hand. I got quite inventive, DH would just ram it down his throat and hold his mouth shut, but I was the soft touch (and fortunately for DDog usually the first up in the morning!)

Oh yes! Getting the pills down. :) We found that two small pieces of cheddar cheese (she was always a cheese dog) sandwiched together with philly cheese and the pill in the middle. We also (like @PieonaBarm did ham smeared with philly cheese and the pill in the middle rolled up.

@PieonaBarm - yes I'm so glad I posted on here as the advice made me realised that cushings was definitely still a possibility, when I had thought it was ruled out. The link you gave was very useful too, and it's the ACTH test she's had now so it's all confirmed and makes so much sense along with all of her symptoms!
Thank you for the ideas about getting the capsules into her! She can be a nightmare with tablets. She's been taking gallbladder tablets and I've been able to hide them in her breakfast and her dinner - maybe I can try the same with the vetoryl? Otherwise ham and philly cheese sounds the way to go. I love that your dog wanted the cheaper ham but had to have philly cheese and not own brand - so funny!

@TheBloatedMiddle thank you - I will keep all of these tricks up my sleeve ready for getting the tablets into her. She also adores chicken, but I sometimes think it doesn't mask the smell of a tablet enough.

Thanks all - really appreciate the help and support and hopefully we will turn the corner soon.

Hey @LaLaFlottes how's DDog doing?

@PieonaBarm she’s doing ok thanks! So nice of you to ask.

So she’s on her 20mg of vetoryl once a day. It’s definitely helping. I’m not sure it’s helping for a full 24 hours so did speak to the vet about splitting the dose as I read that can be done, taking it morning and night instead of once, but she’s keen we stick with what we are doing for now until blood tests at 28 days (13.09).

We had our 10 day check up on Tuesday and I was expecting a blood test but they just looked over her and said bloods will be at the 28 day check. I have since questioned this as the leaflet in the box said they should have bloods done at 10 days, but they are adamant they should wait until 28 days.

I will see how it goes but I don’t feel completely at ease that they are experts in Cushings. The diagnosis was tricky and now this with the blood test doesn’t fill me with confidence but I will see how we go.

She had a bit of an upset tummy and went off her food a little last week but we seem to be back on track but I had to change brand of food!! I think she got wise to the tablets and it put her off so I’m now taking your advise and wrapping them in wafer thin ham!

I will update again after her blood test on 13th but the medication is helping for sure which is great!

Thanks again for checking in 😊

20mg wasn't enough for my terrier and we had to up it to 30mg as he was still having occasional accidents, once we did that he was sorted, don't let them tell you it's just about bloods, it's also about clinical signs and you know your dog better than they do.

I'm glad she's doing better, they get wise to the tablets so you find yourself getting more and more inventive! Mine knew the difference between supermarket cream cheese and Philadelphia and he wouldn't even entertain the supermarket one🤣