# Frequent urination? Causes?



## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

First I want to make it clear Jill will be seeing the vet tomorrow. This post is to seek information, not diagnose what is wrong with my dog. 

A little background on Jill: she’s a 4 yr old Sheltie, had one litter of puppies last spring. Litter was large for a Sheltie so breeder had her spayed and we “adopted” her this past October. Even though she technically wasn’t housebroken, but crate trained, she only had 2-3 accidents and caught on quick.

Friday night Jill had 2 small accidents in the house, nothing major, little 2-3” puddles by the front door. She’s never been great at letting me know she has to go out. Usually she’ll pace or hang out by the door and I take her out. I chalked it up to my not paying attention. Saturday she had 3 more accidents, and that’s when I started to get concerned. She’s holding it fine if she’s locked in the kitchen or her crate, but otherwise she can’t go longer than an hour. She didn’t have any accidents during the night(11pm-7 am), but this morning urinated at least 8 times(over the course of an hour) while we were in the barn. I do not know if anything actually came out each time, it’s hard to tell in the tall grass.

We went to church today for 2 hours and she was fine, no accidents. Since then she’s had 3. Again small puddles, all by the door.

I do know the breeder we got her from had a few problems with her not being able to hold it all night after Jill had puppies this past spring. That seemed to clear itself up, and the vet couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She was mainly an outside dog, so I would imagine urinating frequently wouldn’t have been an issue and therefore not noticed? She is not straining to go, no blood in urine(judging by accidents in the house), no darker than normal, and otherwise she is a very active and happy dog. I did switch food a couple months ago from Purina Pro Plan to Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato.


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## Darkmoon (Mar 12, 2007)

What are you using to clean up the messes? She might be smelling the enzymes in her urine and thinks its "ok" for her to go in that place. Use an enzyme killer on the spot and see if that may help. Nature's Miracle in one that everyone says is great. You can get it at most pet stores.

Otherwise I think you need to restart house breaking again. Teether her to your side and don't let her out of sight. Theres a topic that is at the top of the First time dog owner forum that will be of great help there.

Good luck!


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## westiegirl3 (Feb 25, 2008)

You cannot always tell if there is blood in the urine just by looking at it. It needs to be checked under a microscrope. Have you noticed if she is drinking more water than usual. It will be important to know that so that you can let the vet know when you visit tomorrow. It can be something as simple as a UTI or something more involved, such as bladder stones or kidney stones or even another disease process. It is important that you take her to the vet. Please let us know what the vet thinks.


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

Waiting on the vets office to open. She had 3 accidents during the night(11-6), one obviously had blood in it. Then another accident a few minutes ago that was very dark. 

The odd thing is that she seems fine otherwise. When my cat had a bladder infection he ran a fever and was very lethargic. Jill is downstairs locked in the kitchen and is not happy! She's barking, knocking over her bowls, and just letting me know she wants out. 

Hopefully it's nothing major!

Wanted to add she's not drinking more then normal, but she's not a big drinker to begin with. She'll drink when outside, but for some reason doesn't like to drink in the house, though she will. I think it's part of adjusting from outside dog to inside dog. I've tried every type of bowl available and have ordered the plug in type that keeps the water circulating.


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

**I posted this on the health board last night but that board doesn't seem to get alot of traffic so I'm posting here as well.**

First I want to make it clear Jill will be seeing the vet today. This post is to seek information, not diagnose what is wrong with my dog. 

A little background on Jill: she’s a 4 yr old Sheltie, had one litter of puppies last spring. Litter was large for a Sheltie so breeder had her spayed and we “adopted” her this past October. Even though she technically wasn’t housebroken, but crate trained, she only had 2-3 accidents and caught on quick.

Friday night Jill had 2 small accidents in the house, nothing major, little 2-3” puddles by the front door. She’s never been great at letting me know she has to go out. Usually she’ll pace or hang out by the door and I take her out. I chalked it up to my not paying attention. Saturday she had 3 more accidents, and that’s when I started to get concerned. She’s holding it fine if she’s locked in the kitchen or her crate, but otherwise she can’t go longer than an hour. She didn’t have any accidents during the night(11pm-7 am), but this morning urinated at least 8 times(over the course of an hour) while we were in the barn. I do not know if anything actually came out each time, it’s hard to tell in the tall grass.

We went to church today for 2 hours and she was fine, no accidents. Since then she’s had 3. Again small puddles, all by the door.

I do know the breeder we got her from had a few problems with her not being able to hold it all night after Jill had puppies this past spring. That seemed to clear itself up, and the vet couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She was mainly an outside dog, so I would imagine urinating frequently wouldn’t have been an issue and therefore not noticed? She is not straining to go, no blood in urine(judging by accidents in the house), no darker than normal, and otherwise she is a very active and happy dog. I did switch food a couple months ago from Purina Pro Plan to Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato.

**Wanted to add updates this morning. She had 3 accidents during the night, one obviously had blood in it. She also had 2 accidents this morning, both dark in color and when I wiped them up had a reddish tinge. She is drinking and eating, but the soonest vet appt I could get was for 3 pm today. She is very peeved that I have her locked in the kitchen and wants to run and play. Wouldn't she have a fever with a bladder infection? I know my cat did when he had one a couple years back.


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## westiegirl3 (Feb 25, 2008)

Just wondering what the vet had to say and how is she doing today? I hope better.


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## dleggs15 (Mar 4, 2008)

Flygirl said:


> **I posted this on the health board last night but that board doesn't seem to get alot of traffic so I'm posting here as well.**
> 
> First I want to make it clear Jill will be seeing the vet today. This post is to seek information, not diagnose what is wrong with my dog.
> 
> ...


It's good you are taking her to the vet! It sounds like it could possibly be a bladder infection or issues with her kidneys! Hopefully the doctor will have more answers for you and it's good she's still eating and drinking. Maybe some antibiotics will help if its her bladder if it's her kidney's they will more than likely run blood work to figure that out! Our dog has kidney problems but she has never went to the bathroom in the house and she goes to the bathroom like a normal dog so I guess it all depends. I'm sorry I didn't have more answers for you but I wish you luck!


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Have your vet check for crystals as well as the infection. It could also be spay incontinence, which is treatable with an estrogen supplement. 

Keep us updated on the diagnosis so we can help further.

I just merged your threads.


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

Back from the vets and it's a run of the mill bladder infection. No crystals, stones, etc. We didn't run bloodwork, he didn't see a need to. But I will have them run blood work when she goes back in two weeks for a recheck. I want to check her cholesterol levels since switching to the new food. 

Thanks everyone for the advice!


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## westiegirl3 (Feb 25, 2008)

I am glad that it was something that is fairly easy to take care of. I know you are happy at the diagnosis. We can worry about our furbabies.


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

UGH!  Had to take Jill to the emergency vets last night. She had been straining to potty for over an hour with nothing coming out. The final straw was when she started vomiting. They were able to "express" her bladder but she is very swollen making it difficult to urinate. He also gave her a steriod shot to help with the swelling. Home about midnight, she drank a bit and I put her up. She had one small sccident during the night, very dark and slightly bloody, not as bloody as it had been. This morning she's still straining but nothings coming out and she vomited again.  ER vet felt the vomiting was either from straining or the antibiotic she was on so he switched her to something else. Now I'm just waiting for the vets to open at 8. Please keep my little girl in your thoughts today.


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## Patches' Pet (Feb 25, 2008)

Awww, any news yet??


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## westiegirl3 (Feb 25, 2008)

Just got home and saw that your little girl is not doing too well. What did the vet have to say. I am so sorry to hear that she is not doing well!


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

You can also tell if there is blood in the urine by putting a white paper towel down when she goes or try wiping it up with a paper towel and see if the urine is discolored (a brown urine can mean blood or dehydration). Good luck and keep us posted


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

Looks like the steriod shot is working. She's started urinating on her own, so no need for anymore steriods or meds. The urine is still a dark brown color, but no longer thick and red like it was yesterday. The new antibiotics are making her thirsty, which is a good thing.  Hopefully she'll keep improving, my emergency credit card is close to being maxed out.



Ginny01OT said:


> You can also tell if there is blood in the urine by putting a white paper towel down when she goes or try wiping it up with a paper towel and see if the urine is discolored (a brown urine can mean blood or dehydration). Good luck and keep us posted


You could tell there was blood in the urine just by looking at it.  Yesterday it was thick and dark red. Todays more of a brown color. When they expressed her bladder last night she passed a few clots, the vet was a little concerned with the amount of blood in her urine.


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## Patt (Feb 12, 2008)

I'm glad to hear she is doing better. The UTI has probably been on-going for sometime and than hit a peak with a downhill from there. Sending many positive thoughts that she's on her way to complete recovery.


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## westiegirl3 (Feb 25, 2008)

I am hoping that you will see a rapid recovery. My girls have their paws crossed.


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

Aww I am glad your baby is feeling better--I had a Westie (dearly departed after 12 years) and she had a bladder infection once--she urinated on the snow and it wasn't yellow but red) how disconcerting


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## 5 s corral (Dec 31, 2007)

Glad she is feeling better my gsd has trouble with clamox so when she gets uti we go with amoxi for 2 weeks 
jamie


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## shbrehob (Mar 13, 2008)

FLYGIRL,

have the vet check her anal glands. I recently had the same situation in which my 7 year old bassett seems to be going the bathroom a lot more frequently than normal. I noticed one night when i ot up with her at 3AM her straining to go poop. I took her to the vet and they checked her anal glands and sure enough one of the glands was infected so they put her on anitibiotics.


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## Flygirl (Oct 26, 2007)

Patt said:


> The UTI has probably been on-going for sometime and than hit a peak with a downhill from there.


That's what I've been thinking and it makes me feel like such a bad Mom!  She had been sniffing and cleaning herself alot on and off. 

Thanks for everyones well wishes for Jill.  She's doing much better today, urine is a very normal light yellow, and her accidents are fewer. She's also not straining as hard/long when she goes. 

The only down side is now she doesn't trust me to feed her treats.  I tried slipping the pill in different treats and she spit it out every time. I've had to resort to prying open her mouth and popping it on the back of her tongue. It hasn't even been a week yet, she really won't trust me by the end of the 3 week course!


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## Patt (Feb 12, 2008)

Have you tried Pill Pockets? Feed one without the pill and then feed another with the pill. Some people use peanut butter, cheese or hot dogs. 

Good luck!


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