leaky dog, dilute urine, normal bloodwork?

[Arbitrary]

My 8 1/2 yo neutered corgi leaked urine overnight several weeks ago. He never woke us up to let him out, or seemed to notice. I’m sure it happened in his sleep.

I took him in the next day to our holistic vet. His bloodwork was completely normal, but his urine was dilute (it was a morning sample).

He has had three more episodes of leaking urine overnight since then, averaging once/week. He is completely normal/healthy otherwise - still eating and drinking the same amounts and with the same gusto.

Vet was somewhat mystified but posited that it could be the beginning of kidney problems. She put him on kidney support herbs. (We both agreed that it is not time for proprianol - sp? - yet)

Has anyone had any experience with this with their own dog? Did it worsen? Did you do further testing/diagnostics?

Many thanks.

[marta]

my bully did that when she was younger. it seemed to happen when she would exhaust herself playing. almost like she was too tired to wake up. she also used to do it when she would fall asleep after playing in water (ex. when we hike along stream bed or lake). to this day she has to be taken out to pee immediately after getting a bath.

since she’s a bull terrier we had concerns about kidney failure as well but all her blood work was normal.

just sharing my experience in case any of it applies.

good luck!

[KTRider]

I’ve had it with two dogs, male JRT and female Chesapeake. For my JRT it is pretty much polydipsia (excessive thirst and drinking) due to anxiety. Basically anytime he got overly anxious or excited - which was every day that ended in y - he would lose control in his sleep. I just started monitoring his drinking and pulling him away when he seemed just fixated on it. At some point, he just stopped being so anxious.

Now the Chesapeake - she had very dilute urine and lots of incontinence issues. She was tested for Cushings first (I think it was Cushings) and when that didn’t pan out, she went through a supervised overnight water deprivation test. With no water for 12+ hours she was still unable to concentrate urine and was diagnosed with diabetes insipidus. We tried the rx medicine for that, but it’s expensive, difficult to administer, and loses efficacy quickly according to our specialist. Ultimately he recommended just not medicating. You just have to be aware that the dog always feels thirsty, so need access to water and can dehydrate quickly. She still had some leaking issues, so they also put her on estrogen (DES). She also only has one kidney, so the thought is that her renal system and ability to control urine are just fairly weak because of this combo. I’m told insipidus is fairly rare; my regular vet has had only like two other cases in his twenty plus years of practice.

Anyway, hope that helps. Might give you some thinks to look for and ask about anyway.

[SquishTheBunny]

One of my dogs went through this too - PPA resolved her leakyness (thank god), and she does go through phases of urinating a LOT of dilute urine, and then phases where she is completely normal.

Main ruleouts were stones, infection, renal disease, cushings and diabetes m or i. Bloodwork all normal, ultrasound normal and diagnosis was diabetes insipidus. Because she is for the most part asymptomatic we do not treat, but ensure water is always available for her. the PPA helps sphyncter control so she doesnt have a nighttime accident. So far 3 years and this has worked great for her.

If your dog is otherwise eating, drinking and acting normally just keep a close eye on her. You will know when something is not right

[MeghanDACVA]

PPA is the drug of choice for leaky GIRLS but the problem is rare in males. Different anatomy and physics.

How dilute was his urine? What were the rest of his urine values and what was in the sediment.

The first thing to change in kidney disease is urine concentration, well before blood levels change. However, it pretty unually for this early of renal disease to result in urine leakage.

What other signs is he having? Eating, Drinkig, activity, etc?

Were other things done with the blood work or just renal stuff? If other stuff, what were they and their values.

[Arbitrary]

Thanks all.

He has no other signs - mystifying! Normal activity levels, normal sleeping, normal eating, normal voiding/urination/no straining, normal drinking (he’s a drinking “grazer” - he doesn’t tank up - just multiple trips for a few laps at a time - water consumption has not increased). Nothing at all out of the ordinary, knock on wood.

MeghanDACVA - shame on me, I didn’t ask for specific results, but I will.

Vet drew a senior panel (I assume: CBC with differential and short chemistry panel, thyroid -SNAP T4) on him and just said his bloodwork was “completely normal.”

Re: Urinalysis: she simply described his urine as “very dilute” and said no evidence of infection (white blood cells/bacteria, I assume?) or crystals but the urine was really dilute; she did suggest culturing it, which I’m tempted to do. OTOH, everything about him is normal.

I really appreciate that you guys are sharing your experiences. I’m kind of at a loss at what to do next - wait and see? MRI? ?

ETA: he is 32.4 pounds, and has a great waist, covering on his ribs (but you can feel them of course) and has never been a porky corgi, ever. Diet: used to be Solid Gold kibble, now a mix of raw/TOTW kibble, with no issues…

[Simkie]

Couple thoughts:

I had an intact bitch who got a closed pyometria. The first thing that happened was she peed all over the bedroom floor one night and could not concentrate her urine. I knew something was off about her, suspected pyo because of the timing, and took her to the emergency vet–who could not find ANYTHING on radiograph or ultrasound. Bloodwork was 100% normal. She had some very, very minor bacteria in her urine. It was a week later when she finally progressed to the point where she was diagnosable and we spayed her. So perhaps he’s got something brewing that will pop in the next few days? My vet said that the bacteria responsible for the pyo made it impossible for the kidneys to concentrate urine appropriately.

I also have a CAT that has some calcification in one kidney, that often causes kidney infections–she spends a lot of time on antibiotics and is well managed–but I imagine if we caught her at just the right time we could see really dilute urine as a result of the (potentially looming infection), but no blood or bacteria in her urine. Her issues were diagnosed via radiograph. Considering how cheap and easy that is, perhaps it might be worth exploring for your dog?

Good luck!

[SonnysMom]

I had a male lab that would come into the bathroom with me and drink out of the bottom of the shower. He was starting to leak and had dilute urine. Near as we can figure he was drinking some of the soap/shampoo as I was rinsing. Once I started to lock him out of the bathroom while I showered he was fine.