Last Week’s Scare: Excessive Drinking
In the midst of Ginko’s post-op infection worries from last week, he also began drinking and peeing excessively. And, I mean off … the … charts. Excessive drinking in dogs is never a good sign. He would literally stand next to the empty water bowl and cry. He also began waking us up early because he had to go so badly and because he desperately needed to drink more water.
Excessive Drinking in Dogs
Typically, neither of those things bode well about the health of a dog. It can be signs of kidney issues and that perhaps a dog has become diabetic.
I know this from having had a dog with kidney failure and because I just interviewed Edie Jarolim from Will My Dog Hate Me? last week about her dog, Frankie, who is diabetic.
I’m working on a veterinary trade magazine article , so Edie sent me an article she wrote for a big-name dog health newsletter, and I learned that both pancreatitis and the use of certain pain meds/anti-inflammatory meds can be associated with older dogs developing diabetes. (Regular readers know that we had a pancreas scare with Ginko a while back and that he had been taking some strong pain meds just before and just after his recent knee surgery.)
So, when Ginko began peeing like a racehorse, I flipped out with worry.
Tests All Normal
Ginko already had his rescheduled staple-pulling appointment set for Thursday afternoon, so I called in the morning to alert the doctors and staff that we had an additional concern.
I even sent along a urine sample for them to test. (Ginko was VERY confused when I followed him around with a plastic container.)
They checked his urine. They ran more blood tests (even though he had a bunch done just prior to the surgery). And, everything looks perfectly normal.
Possible Food Intolerance
I was booked solid last week (and this week … OK, all the time), so Tom had to take Ginko to the appointment without me. So, he answered all the veterinarian’s questions the best he could, and her verdict is this … it’s probably the new food we’re feeding.
You can read all about why we switched dog foods over on my other blog Dog Food Dish, but essentially, I learned that our old food had some less-than-ideal ingredients in it. So, even though, both dogs seem to be doing great on that food … I switched to a new super-premium line from the same manufacturer.
My pick? A salmon and sweet potato formula. Ginko LOVES sweet potatoes, as we learned in this video product review.
Oddly enough, our veterinarian ALSO just switched her German Shepherds to this same food, and she told Tom her dogs have become Water Mongers too.
I asked the guy at the feed store, but he says no one else is reporting increased water consumption.
Still … it makes me wonder/worry. While this did start just before we began the new antibiotics, I’m still thinking it’s food related.
Perhaps not food “allergy” per se, but something isn’t right.
SO, I quickly transitioned Ginko to another food in this same super-premium line that’s made from turkey and sweet potatoes. I’m hoping the protein switch fixes things.
I’ll let Lilly finish the bag of salmon-based food because she seems to be doing fine on it, then I’ll switch her over to the turkey one as well.
It has only been a few days, but things seem somewhat better. He is still drinking more than normal, but not all day … just after meals. He is still peeing more than usual.
Behavior Switch
And, just to be sure that the early-morning wake-up whines aren’t just because he learned that it got him lots of attention, we’re taking Ginko out for a quick potty break and a dog treat to tide him over until real breakfast … after at least another hour or two of sleep (for us!).
I’m hoping that he bounces back after finishing his antibiotics on Wednesday. We’ll see.
