Over the last month my Koda has been drinking a lot of water and urinating in the house frequently. He has a vet appointment Thursday. In the meantime I guess I am just seeking information on other's experiences with this for peace of mind. He is six years old and neutered. He has been house-trained since pup-hood. When I wake up in the morning I usually find large puddles in the kitchen, bedroom, and living room. This is not like him. I always let him out before bed for as long as he wants. I cannot be sure about how much water he is drinking because he has a bistro which I seem to have to fill up more frequently. He has had a water bistro ever since he was house-trained. We live in the mountains of Virginia. It has been pretty warm during the days (around 70 degrees) and around 50 degrees at night. He does not seem ill. He is playful and is eating well. I do notice that he lays on top of the AC vent after playing outside during the day. We keep our house around 68 degrees, just for him. I freeze :-) He loves playing outside. He has a 2 acre yard and loves for me to chase him. Being a woolly haired husky I know he gets hot. I am hoping that he is drinking more therefore peeing more for that reason. His urine does not smell bad, is not cloudy, and his breath smells normal. There have been no drastic changes in his life that might account for behavioral issues. I am worried sick about him. I lost my rescued pit bull several years ago to renal failure. She was only 3. It was congenital however; one of her kidneys was underdeveloped. Nonetheless, I am just looking for some hope and comfort. Thanks in advance!

Shannon and Koda

Shannon, Welcome to the forum. Koda is gorgeous. I can not be much help. My only guess would be thyroid or diabetes, and I hope I am wrong. Just know that there are some fantastic people here, and you have lots of moral support here. Let us know how the vet appointment is, and hopefully someone else will chime in with something better to offer you than what I said. Although both of what I mentioned, can be helped. Good luck.

Shannon, also forgot UTI's I think has same symptoms......

Agreed that UTI is a possibility.

But if everything clears out at the vet, answer me this question. Do you leave the water out as sort of a bottomless bowl? I mean I see you have a Bistro, but do you put it away at all during the day so Koda can't have access to it? I'd either start putting it away or switch to a bowl.

In my opinion it's always best to portion water intake throughout the day. I know for a fact that Okami would drink an entire lake if I let her. From my observations, huskies don't normally have a stop button until it's all gone, most times food included with that. I give Okami maybe 1/3 of the bowl filled up, 4 times a day at time intervals or more if we were really active, in the summer. And because cold weather is our most active, I give her way more like 6 or 7 times a day at different intervals.
It's so then I can predict a bathroom break and keep her bladder regular. If a dog can just drink whenever they want, they are never going to have a predictable bladder. They will always piddle on the floor if they can't help it, especially if they are going up in age.
Hope any of this is helpful or food for though but it is my
Good Luck at the vets, let us know what's going on please
-Lucy

I am going to respectfully disagree on portioning out water. I believe it is imperative to give dogs unlimited full time access to fresh clean water.

With the sudden change in bladder control, I'm glad you are seeing the vet. UtI and diabetes come first to mind. Or hormonal issues in older dogs but I suspect that's less likely in a male... not sure about that. Hopefully, it is not the beginning of kidney issues but that needs to be ruled out.

Good luck.

I have to agree with Amy on unlimited access to fresh clean water. Accidents with adult dogs signifies a problem, not because the owner gave too much water and the dog didn't give the cues that they needed to go out and potty. At 6 years of age Koda would be a middle aged dog, not an older dog nor a pup, which means a trip to the vet is in order, and more importantly if this vets says everything is ok, then a trip to another, and so on, there is something going on that is not right. Can be as simple as a UTI, to something more problematic. I just read an article about water, and how as an owner should never ignore the dogs desire to drink, never rush your dog to drink and most importantly never stop your dog in a middle of getting a drink. A dog needs sufficient enough water to clean out their system, stay hydrated (low humidity days require more water, even if you are not hot), and gives us owners early signs that there is a problem.

It goes without saying that I, too, disagree with limiting water. Access to unlimited water is a requirement where I and Renee live - the heat and lack of humidity can be *real* killers without sufficient water so they can self regulate inner temperature.

Lack of water, btw, in any environment can be conducive to UTI's. My lab, in her older years, was a frequent visitor to the vets because of UTI's which were either red (bloody) or smelled really rank or both!

Do, please, let us know what comes of the vet visit.

To each his own I guess. It's always been fine for me. Because when I let her have access all around, she'd pee all the time outside or inside, even with regular outside breaks. Vet declared no issues. Just drinking too much. When I cut back her water and portioned it, the issue stopped, and I've had no problems since.

The difference here Lucy, is it seems Koda has always had unlimited access to water, so this is a new issue.

That's why I started my original post off with if the vet check is clear, consider trying this...

I didn't say that it is the issue, I suggested this for if all else fails... plan like... G or H

Lucy, if any good came from what happened with Gaia, it's that we all learned something. Gaia's "vet check was clear" too, from what I read in your thread. I think that is why Renee said if "the vet check is clear", go to another vet. This behavior is out of the norm according to the OP, something is wrong.

Has he changed food lately? Has the lid on the trash can been left open? Any counter surfing going on?

Artic_Wind wrote:

Lucy, if any good came from what happened with Gaia, it's that we all learned something. Gaia's "vet check was clear" too, from what I read in your thread.  

Really?

Whatever. I'm done. Nice to know all of you. Bye.

I will chime in on the restricting/us restricting water thing. Restricting water without exploring the underlying cause is probably a bad idea, especially in a hot and/or dry climate. It's sort of a case by case basis. Since he's 6 and this is a new development, I'd go in for a VERY thorough vet exam to include blood work and urinalysis. Not everything will show on just a urinalysis. I would also strongly suggest talking to your vet about diabetes incipidous. I know we have at least one member whose dog has that, and that's how it started with him as well. He was a bit older though when he started having issues. She does have to restrict his water intake as well, but it's being done under the guidance of her vet.

On another note, if the labs and whatnot do come back clear, there may be some sort of behavioral/psychological issue going on. Has anything changed? Any reason for him to be having anxiety issues? When we first got Denali, he would obsessively drink water and couldn't control his bladder at all, and I too restricted his water. My parents' elderly lab mix will chug water when he's stressed too. Again, without a full work up from the vet I don't know that any one thing is the right or wrong answer, but I will emphasize the diabetes incipidous thing again because it's hard to diagnose and not all vets go in that direction when dogs start having issues like this.

Good luck though, and I do hope it's nothing serious. I understand the paranoia though, I've been there with two pets now passing at young ages.

blueeyedghost wrote:

but I will emphasize the diabetes incipidous thing again because it's hard to diagnose and not all vets go in that direction when dogs start having issues like this.

Good luck though, and I do hope it's nothing serious. I understand the paranoia though, I've been there with two pets now passing at young ages.

Smart woman!!! First thing Wayne said when I ran this by him.

I hate sick animals... makes me lose all reason and become a major worry wart.

Koda's water has never been restricted and I still managed to house-train him pretty easily. The doctor didn't take issue with him having water available all of the time. I do, however, keep him on a feeding schedule; no free feeding. Good news - nothing is physically wrong with him. Bad news - he is ornery :-) His veterinarian posited that because summer and fall has been especially warm and Koda likes to play hard he may be drinking more thus peeing more. The temperatures recently dropped significantly and he has not had an accident in the house since (about 5 days in a row). His veterinarian did mention his AST levels being very slightly high but he felt it was nothing to worry about since this was not accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. Koda was indifferent to me on the day we went to the vet but he is back to his happy, playful, and loving self. Thank you all so much for the support and advice. Having a group of fellow husky parents here to lean on really helped relieve some of my stress. I promise to return the favor.

Shannon and Koda

amymeme wrote:

blueeyedghost wrote:

but I will emphasize the diabetes incipidous thing again because it's hard to diagnose and not all vets go in that direction when dogs start having issues like this.

Good luck though, and I do hope it's nothing serious. I understand the paranoia though, I've been there with two pets now passing at young ages.

Smart woman!!!  First thing Wayne said when I ran this by him.

I hate sick animals... makes me lose all reason and become a major worry wart.

I did talk to the vet about the possibilities mentioned here. He checked into everything. I wouldn't leave if he didn't :-)

blueeyedghost wrote:

I will chime in on the restricting/us restricting water thing. Restricting water without exploring the underlying cause is probably a bad idea, especially in a hot and/or dry climate. It's sort of a case by case basis. Since he's 6 and this is a new development, I'd go in for a VERY thorough vet exam to include blood work and urinalysis. Not everything will show on just a urinalysis. I would also strongly suggest talking to your vet about diabetes incipidous. I know we have at least one member whose dog has that, and that's how it started with him as well. He was a bit older though when he started having issues. She does have to restrict his water intake as well, but it's being done under the guidance of her vet.

On another note, if the labs and whatnot do come back clear, there may be some sort of behavioral/psychological issue going on. Has anything changed? Any reason for him to be having anxiety issues? When we first got Denali, he would obsessively drink water and couldn't control his bladder at all, and I too restricted his water. My parents' elderly lab mix will chug water when he's stressed too. Again, without a full work up from the vet I don't know that any one thing is the right or wrong answer, but I will emphasize the diabetes incipidous thing again because it's hard to diagnose and not all vets go in that direction when dogs start having issues like this.

Good luck though, and I do hope it's nothing serious. I understand the paranoia though, I've been there with two pets now passing at young ages.

That is certain a possibility. Nothing too pervasive has gone on in his life, however; we have had people here rebuilding our deck and pool fence. That could have stressed him out a little bit.

usnpups wrote:

 His veterinarian posited that because summer and fall has been especially warm and Koda likes to play hard he may be drinking more thus peeing more.  The temperatures recently dropped significantly and he has not had an accident in the house since (about 5 days in a row).  

Shannon and Koda

In the winter, Ami's water intake plummets dramatically and I tear my hear out thinking of ways to encourage him to drink - flavor the water, add water to his kibble...then comes summer and he drinks like a fish - I can't keep the water bowls full. He's outside most of the day so accidents aren't a problem.

Koda is a pretty dog.