So we have noticed recently that Bode has peed in his sleep a couple times. The first time was during the day, he was napping on the bed with me and when he got up there was a small wet spot. I wasn't sure if it was pee or not (when he chews a toy on the bed he gets super slobbery and leaves a wet mark) so I just washed the sheet and didn't think much about it. Then this morning we wake up to a huge wet spot on the couch where he was sleeping. He sleeps though the night.

He isn't having accidents in the house otherwise and lets us know when he needs to go out. He doesn't do the "dripping while walking" that other have talked about with incontinence issues" He has seemed to want to be outside more recently, but I don't know if that's because the weather has been nice. And when he's going out, I haven't noticed him peeing more often, he's just goofing off. He is almost 11 months old, was neutered at 6 months. The first incident on the bed was 2 or 3 weeks ago.

ADDED: I've never come home to his crate wet after an 8 hour day. Maybe it's just dried by then, but I doubt it...

I plan on making a vet appointment when Monday rolls around, but in the meantime, any ideas?

TL:DR: Bode's peed in his sleep a couple times, seems fairly normal other than that. What's up?

Just checked his dog bed. It's over in a corner, so we wouldn't notice right away if he peed on it. Sure enough, there were 3+ small stains.

I did the horrible Google search, and now I'm freaking out. It seems that anything it could be would be bad, especially since he's so young.

Bump for visibility...

How much liquids is he taking in? Do you think he is maybe drinking too much?

Super Nova wrote:

How much liquids is he taking in? Do you think he is maybe drinking too much?

It's definitely not that. We have always monitored his water intake because when he was a puppy he would scarf and barf water.

When Ilya was just a few months old she started peeing in her sleep. Usually it would happen when she was napping during the day, but it also happened a couple times at night. It only lasted a couple weeks for her and was very sporadic but it eventually just stopped.

Lola had this problem too. The causes and treatment might be different because of gender. Her bladder wasn't toned. The vet had use give her Proin for a month to see if that would fix it and it worked. Not sure what they would do for a male dog. Hope the vet figures it out for you.

bellecma wrote:

Lola had this problem too. The causes and treatment might be different because of gender. Her bladder wasn't toned. The vet had use give her Proin for a month to see if that would fix it and it worked. Not sure what they would do for a male dog. Hope the vet figures it out for you.

Thanks, I'm hoping it's nothing. But Google does horrible things to my head, especially when every option that comes up is a lifetime thing, like no simple explanations came up. The possibilities were like: Kidney problems, bladder problems, diabetes, even seizures! It even said that a dog with a UTI would require medication the rest of his life. That doesn't seem right to me?

MGoBlue wrote:

Thanks, I'm hoping it's nothing. But Google does horrible things to my head, especially when every option that comes up is a lifetime thing, like no simple explanations came up. The possibilities were like: Kidney problems, bladder problems, diabetes, even seizures! It even said that a dog with a UTI would require medication the rest of his life. That doesn't seem right to me?

Yea, I'm pretty sure a UTI is not a life sentence.

It could just be a UTI, and no, that doesn't mean he would need treatment forever. My oldest dog had a peeing problem in her sleep when she was 4 mos to 1 year old. But I had taken her from someone that would keep her crated way too long. She eventually grew out of it. Don't freak out, just let the vet take a look at him.

Well, vet appointment is today at 11:40. Should I take a urine sample to test for UTI? When I asked the receptionist on the phone she was kind of like "Well, if you want to..."

I wouldn't freak out It sounds like a UTI to me-- and you're talking to someone whose dog (Hailey) DOES have bladder problems and Kidney disease (we also tested for diabetes and discussed Addison's disease), so I've been there.

The increased urgency/desire to go out is a big sign that it's a UTI and that would be the most likely thing. Monitor his water intake. Are you filling the bowl a little more often than normal? Increased water, increased desire to go out, and peeing in his sleep are all signs of a UTI or bladder infection. It's a simple fix. Just one course of antibiotics and he'll be fine.

You CAN take a urine sample in. It certainly makes things go quicker, but they can take one there if you don't want to, as well. Good luck at the vet! One step at a time, but I'm leaning towards infection

So got back from the vet. Did a urine analysis which came back pretty clean. She said the pH was a little basic and there were very trace amounts of bacteria, not likely a UTI. She said kidney function looks fine. Also did a prostate exam (Bode was quite suprised!) and she said that felt normal. No crystals in the urine, but not ruling it out. We are going to wait a week and see how he does and she said the next step would be x-rays to see if he has any stones or crystals in his bladder. She said it could also be seizures that we just don't see. Unfortunately, she thinks there is definitely something causing it and it doesn't look like a UTI =(

One step at a time... again, take it from someone who's been through it... no sense worrying over the maybes in the future.

One thing, you say he's peeing while walking-- do you see it? Is he just walking along doing nothing or is it around excited times (someone comes to the door, he's getting a treat, etc)?

Koda wrote:

One step at a time... again, take it from someone who's been through it... no sense worrying over the maybes in the future.

One thing, you say he's peeing while walking-- do you see it? Is he just walking along doing nothing or is it around excited times (someone comes to the door, he's getting a treat, etc)?

I said he's not peeing while walking or any of the other typical incontinence signs. =D

MGoBlue wrote:

Koda wrote:

One step at a time... again, take it from someone who's been through it... no sense worrying over the maybes in the future.

One thing, you say he's peeing while walking-- do you see it? Is he just walking along doing nothing or is it around excited times (someone comes to the door, he's getting a treat, etc)?

I said he's not peeing while walking or any of the other typical incontinence signs. =D

Ah- I totally read that wrong-- I thought he was peeing in his sleep AND dripping while walking once in a while.

Now I'm even more inclined to think it's a small infection of some sort. They don't always show up positive on the cultures. Depending on the type of culture, they aren't always comprehensive either. I'm a little surprised your vet jumped to something more serious right away, especially at 10 months old.

I know it's not the same, but my recent experience at the vet with my cat has me wondering how accurate their tests are.

I ran blood, had x ray, cultures - well, everything short of exploratory surgery and they could find nothing wrong with my cat. He didn't eat for 3 days (very odd for my fat cat) wouldn't move, just slept and didn't want pets - very miserable. Finally, I went for a second opinion. This vet aspirated his stomach and still we found nothing. So, he gave him a second and much stronger antibiotic - 2 days later he was almost 100% normal...It was some kind of infection that they just couldn't find.

I'd be requesting a round of clavamox or something similar. Better to control it now, before they can definitely read bacteria in his urine.

Sara, did you ever find out why this was happening with Bode? When you mentioned the seizure thing you have me very alarmed because we have that and the peeing while sleeping. We did a urine sample three weeks ago when this started happening and everything came back clean but he is still doing it. I know Bode didn't have seizures but was curious if they ever found the problem?

I think we diagnosed the problem wrong. I'm pretty sure he just drools A LOT in his sleep. After that scare we paid a lot closer attention to the wet spots and almost positive that it's drool. I'm just such a hypochondriac I always assume the worst.

My concern now is that we took him in for that and they mentioned the possibility of it being a seizure (even though it wasn't) is that if he ever does have seizure problems in the future, the insurance won't cover it because they will argue that it was a pre existing condition.