UTI? This is driving me crazy!

[mama23+pyrs2]

Okay so Yukon has been peeing constantly since the vet put him on Deramaxx for his shoulder. I took him off of it after 3 days cause of the constant crying to go outside to pee and the drinking. Well he is still needing to go out all of the time. The vet wanted me to bring in a urine sample..he had a day or so of acting better and not going out AS often but today he's still needing to. So, I got the sample and am gonna drop it off this afternoon. He has constant access to water so I know he's not dehydrated..bu t his urine is very dark, he didn't go very much considering the extent of his whining and it smells REALLY strong..like paint thinner or something.. is it normal for an unaltered male to have strong urine like that?

And his shoulder, oh his shoulder...it will NOT get any better. He is limping worse than he ever has- he looks just awful and all he does is sleep all day..it's now been a month since he injured it. He is eating better, he seems happier but it's just not healing.. SIGH.

[mama23+pyrs2]

He could still be dehydrated, even if he is drinking well, from medication, fever, etc.  Have you checked his skin?  Pull up on the skin on the back of his neck.  It should snap right back into place once you let go.  If it goes down slowly, it can indicate dehydration.

Some medications (I know steroids are one of them) can also make dogs pee more frequently.  I wouldn't think that would affect the color or smell though. 

I'm sorry he's still feeling crappy.  Hopefully the vet can figure out something for him soon.

Well on them it's hard to tell cause they have such loose skin on their necks, you can grab a handful of fur and skin and they don't even seem to notice. He's been off the medication for over a week though.  I don't know. I hope they find out the problem though so we can fix it.

[GoldenPyrs]

When Yukon's laying down, try pulling the skin up in various places on the back of his neck and upper back.  That way you'll get a better idea than if you just try his mane area where there's so much skin.  Like Jenn said, it *should* snap right back down.  If it "tents" then he is definately dehydrated and I'd ask to have the vet see him this afternoon before the holiday weekend.  You can test what is "normal" vs. "tenting" by checking this on Yiska, too so that you can compare.  

Pyrs drink a LOT and more than many of other breeds do.  We found this out when Halley was ill.  We watched her intake and if she only drank what the vet said was required, then she would get dehydrated.  We increased her intake by 30-50% (depending upon the air temp & her activity level) and she did much better than the minimum that the vet gave.  If you're not sure if Yukon's drinking enough, I'd try mixing his dry food with a little bit of canned food and enough water to make it into a soup (probably about 2 cups).  Around here the kids call this mixture "slump" and my dogs will drink the watery soup off of the kibble and meat first, then eat the food and they love it.  That way you can be sure that he's getting enough water per day.  My pyrs slow down or stop drinking whenever they feel crummy and this is a good way of making sure that they stay hydrated, particularly in the summer heat.  Poor puppy!    Please keep us posted!

[mama23+pyrs2]

okay thanks. i will check him. i know he drinks all day long and when he runs out of water, we give him more..except at night because where he used to be able to have water all night and drink on and off and be fine- now he will whine in the middle of the night to go out. lately yiska has been drinking more than him even, but she won't need to go out more than the usual number of times. i would have never guessed he could be dehydrated, i hope not.

[mama23+pyrs2]

okay well i checked him over and he appears to be fine. i checked yiska in the same places first to see what she felt like. they feel the same, though it was a lot harder to find yukons skin in ALLLLLLL that fur. but it does seem to snap back down..so that is good.

[London_Pyr_Lover]

Ohhh.   
I'm sorry for poor Yukon.   Don't know quite what to do.  The fact that he's still peeing makes me think that he's probably got a UTI or Bladder infection, the strong smelling odour, and dark colour lead me to lean towards bladder infection.  Is it cloudy?  Oh!  Poor Yukon! 

I hope the vet is abloe to figure out what is wrong and I Hope things get better soon!

[GoldenPyrs]

okay well i checked him over and he appears to be fine. i checked yiska in the same places first to see what she felt like. they feel the same, though it was a lot harder to find yukons skin in ALLLLLLL that fur. but it does seem to snap back down..so that is good.

Good!  When you said that you see him drinking often, it sounded better.  It's good though that you're having the urinalysis done today.  If it's a bladder or kidney infection then they can start him on an antibiotic before the weekend.  Ouch those darn things hurt (personal experience).    

Did the vet set a date to recheck Yukon's shoulder?  Maybe you can talk to the vet or a vet tech today about how it seems to be causing him more trouble and see if they have suggestions. Perhaps there is something else (besides the Deramaxx) that they can give him to make him more comfortable and to bring down the inflammation.   

[mama23+pyrs2]

Ohhh.   
I'm sorry for poor Yukon.   Don't know quite what to do.  The fact that he's still peeing makes me think that he's probably got a UTI or Bladder infection, the strong smelling odour, and dark colour lead me to lean towards bladder infection.  Is it cloudy?  Oh!  Poor Yukon! 

I hope the vet is abloe to figure out what is wrong and I Hope things get better soon!

Yeah well I hope it is! At least then I'll know what's wrong. It could be a tad cloudy, it's a very dark gold color. I'll update when I hear something.

[mama23+pyrs2]

Okay well we are back. More wasted money for nothing wrong. I just about wanted to cry. I was just HOPING they would find a reason for his behavior but, no. His urine came out beautifully for every single thing. Which of course is good, it's just like what the heck is his problem!! The nurse felt bad for me too, she was hoping they'd find something, haha.

I told her his shoulder is still awful- worse..and she said that would have nothing to do with the peeing, which of course I know, it's just like WHEN are we going to see some improvement? She said the med wouldn't cause that either.. and if we want to bring him in again for the Dr. to examine his shoulder again, of course we can. Which we won't be doing that.. unless he never gets better!

UGH.

[GoldenPyrs]

Well yeah, it's good that he doesn't have a UTI, but what the heck's going on?    I feel for you, you must be at your wit's end, tired & worried.  If you like this vet, you might try taking Yukon back in case he/she can tell more now that it's been going on awhile.  If you don't really like this vet, maybe when you are able you could take him to a vet that specializes in orthopedics.  Also, does Y&Y's (hey, that's kinda cute  ) breeder have any ideas?   

One other thought, could Yukon is waking up a lot at night b/c he's not comfy for long in his crate with his sore shoulder?  I remember that you tried giving him a blankey (tee hee).  If he's pretty trustworthy, can you try leaving him out of his crate one night (maybe the bathroom?) to see if he sleeps longer?  That might allow you to get some sleep and it'll give you an idea if it's his shoulder pain or really needing to pee that are turning him into your night owl. 

[mama23+pyrs2]

Well yeah, it's good that he doesn't have a UTI, but what the heck's going on?    I feel for you, you must be at your wit's end, tired & worried.  If you like this vet, you might try taking Yukon back in case he/she can tell more now that it's been going on awhile.  If you don't really like this vet, maybe when you are able you could take him to a vet that specializes in orthopedics.  Also, does Y&Y's (hey, that's kinda cute  ) breeder have any ideas?   

One other thought, could Yukon is waking up a lot at night b/c he's not comfy for long in his crate with his sore shoulder?  I remember that you tried giving him a blankey (tee hee).  If he's pretty trustworthy, can you try leaving him out of his crate one night (maybe the bathroom?) to see if he sleeps longer?  That might allow you to get some sleep and it'll give you an idea if it's his shoulder pain or really needing to pee that are turning him into your night owl. 

Well, he hasn't been getting up at night..well he does but we are up too late usually so we let him out until we go to bed and generally he is okay- doesn't get water. There is a vet at this practice that specializes in Orthopedics, I as intially pretty bummed that is not who they scheduled us with when we went in. Instead we got the one that specialized in small animal internal medicine or something. If it goes on too much longer, he's gonna have to be seen again because this is getting a bit ridiculous. They haven't been able to be together or anything. I did catch Yukon digging the other day which he hasn't done in a long time, so I don't know if that aggrivated him or what. I would think if he was in pain, he wouldn't have done it but who knows. He may not be comfy anyway. He completely destroyed his blanket so I had to throw it out so now he's back to sleeping on a hard surface. I can try him overnight in our laundry room again and see if that's better for him..since he can stretch out more and maybe rest more comfortably. Last time I left them overnight in there, Yiska tore open my laundry bag, left a hole in that and tore up some of little Elsha's clothes. But Yukon didn't seem to get into trouble at least. The only problem with him in there is, our cats litterbox is in there and of course they won't be going over the gate with Yukon waiting on the other side lol. We only have one tiny bathroom, otherwise I'd try that. I wonder how well he'd hold it, if he were out of his crate since he goes so often.. no idea.

This might be really gross but something else I've noticed lately is that his penis doesn't retract completely anymore..it's always partly out ..I don't know what that means and I'm sure it's not related lol..maybe it just means he needs to be fixed already.

Oh, and their breeder doesn't seem to have a clue..she just figured he injured himself playing and it would take time to heal. I haven't heard back from her since we got the results about it from the vet. She's pretty busy these days and isn't good about returning email on am regular basis.

[GoldenPyrs]

The ortho vet sounds like a great idea.  When you make the appt, you may need to specify that you want to see only him or you may get whomever has the most time that day. 

The penis thing made me laugh, sorry.  I'm no help there, Sam's the first male dog that I've had since I was a little kid and he was neutered by rescue before he came to us.  I think that neutering Yukon would "fix" that problem and I do sympatize, even though I laughed.    When Sammy first came home he was shaved down and recently neutered and his testicles were dark purple, bare and pretty gross (IMHO) looking.  Don't tell him that I said that, though...poor guy!         LOL!

[RMSChloe]

actually that may not have anything to do with neutoring him. it could be because he has something stuck in there thats causing him to not be able to retract. ive read about it before, and also our horses get that. we have to lubricate (yes i know this sounds gross but i do wear gloves when i do it!) the penis and everthing, and then you stick your hand up there and feel around and clean out any dirt and stuff, then you actually put your fingers into the hole of the penis. in there you often find deposits of dirt and other crud that we call "beans". now i have gone and forgotten to tell you that when we do this they are tranquilized because they would kill us if we didnt...its not very pleasant. anyway, this stuff they get can cause smelly, dark urine, and can also make it difficult for them to unrinate and cause them to have to go more often. i would ask your vet about it. (and i know this sounds gross as well) you can also put a glove (latex or plastic obviously) on and feel the penis, see if its hot or if it feels inflamed at all. alright i have to stop now, my pup decided shes having spaghetti for dinnner!!!

[GoldenPyrs]

Oh MY gosh!       Your dedication is truly commendable!  Horses are such beautiful, majestic, smart creatures, but I can see now that I'm just not cut out for that kind of responsibility .  I'll have to leave it to others.      

[RMSChloe]

eh, you get used to what comes with them... thats probaby about the "grossest" thing i have to do with them. but im usually the first one to lend the vet a hand when shes doing things... like last month when my mare tore he bottom eyelid open in 4 places, we still dont know how she did it, but we think her baby bit her in the face and cought her eye... anyway, she needed to have someone hold her head while she sewed up her eye, i readily volunteered! i think thats why i want to be a vet, or atleast a vet tech. im just trying to find the right school!