Why is my dog becoming un-housebroken?

[blessedwithboys]

I have an 8yo toy poodle.  She came to us 3 years ago, totally housebroken and obedient.  She's an absolute love.  But lately she's been pooping and peeing in the house whenever we're gone more than just a few hours.  I dont know if it's connected, but when I groom her myself, she gets really squirrely for a few days after the haircut, avoiding me by laying under the couch and refusing to come out when I call her.  The last haircut seems to coincide with the potty issues, but maybe that's not it at all. 

What can make an adult dog start peeing on the carpet when she's never done that before?  I was thinking a bladder issue?

[pokeyAC]

It could definitely be a health issue.  Hiding under the furniture is also a sign that she might not be feeling well.  I would take her to the vet.  I hope everything is fine with her!

[blessedwithboys]

Thanks, I think I will take her in.  I realized today I haven't had to trim length off of her tail and ear hair in a very long time and just now I got home and let her out and she pooped and then when I came in to take a shower she peed on my bedroom floor.  :(

[pokeyAC]

I'm sorry she's not herself.  It's so hard when your pet is sick and they can't tell you what's wrong.  I hope she's feeling better soon.

[EarthRootsStarSoul]

I'd take her to the vet, she might have a bladder infection or something like that.

[blessedwithboys]

I wanted to come back and post a follow-up in case anyone is searching later...

I kept going back and forth about calling the vet for a couple of reasons.  One is that I felt like I was overreacting, and an other is that I have never really settled on one particular place.  But I haven't had time lately to cut her hair (poodle) so when I called to make an appointment they saw she was overdue on her rabies vaccine and wouldn't give me an appointment.  I called a brand new vet clinic near my house and made an appt.

I had planned on having an exam and heartworm test, plus a 3yr rabies, but when the vet heard her symptoms she suggested a "senior panel" series of blood tests as well as urine screen.  The poor baby has a "very bad" UTI, her sodium is elevated, and white blood cells are down (which seems weird to me if she has an infection...shouldn't white cells be up?)

Anyway, this is what I think caused it...6mos ago I moved pretty far outside of town.  Buying raw food was going to be tricky bc of being so far away from the only store around that sells it, plus keeping it cold til I got home.  So I ordered a couple cases of canned food and when that was gone I went back to kibble.  I had her on Nature's Variety Instinct canned food and the kibble was their Raw Boost.  Top of the line stuff, right?  Guess it doesn't matter bc it's not species-appropriate.

She's on an antibiotic for the UTI and since getting her back on raw last week she's not chugging water like before.  Later this week I will take her back to see if her sodium came down any.

All told, it will cost me well over $300 to get her back to good health.  So for anyone searching on these boards for a brand of dog food, if you see this, take note:  Even he best kibble or canned food is not nearly as good as raw, and if you think you are saving money, you're not bc you will end up spending it at the vet anyway!

On the bright side, I love the new vet and will stick with her from here on out.  She didn't even blink when I said I was going back to raw food!

[starrlamia]

glad you took her in! i doubt that switching to kibble would cause a UTI. Hope she feels better soon!

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by blessedwithboys 

I wanted to come back and post a follow-up in case anyone is searching later...

I kept going back and forth about calling the vet for a couple of reasons.  One is that I felt like I was overreacting, and an other is that I have never really settled on one particular place.  But I haven't had time lately to cut her hair (poodle) so when I called to make an appointment they saw she was overdue on her rabies vaccine and wouldn't give me an appointment.  I called a brand new vet clinic near my house and made an appt.

I had planned on having an exam and heartworm test, plus a 3yr rabies, but when the vet heard her symptoms she suggested a "senior panel" series of blood tests as well as urine screen.  The poor baby has a "very bad" UTI, her sodium is elevated, and white blood cells are down (which seems weird to me if she has an infection...shouldn't white cells be up?)

Anyway, this is what I think caused it...6mos ago I moved pretty far outside of town.  Buying raw food was going to be tricky bc of being so far away from the only store around that sells it, plus keeping it cold til I got home.  So I ordered a couple cases of canned food and when that was gone I went back to kibble.  I had her on Nature's Variety Instinct canned food and the kibble was their Raw Boost.  Top of the line stuff, right?  Guess it doesn't matter bc it's not species-appropriate.

She's on an antibiotic for the UTI and since getting her back on raw last week she's not chugging water like before.  Later this week I will take her back to see if her sodium came down any.

All told, it will cost me well over $300 to get her back to good health.  So for anyone searching on these boards for a brand of dog food, if you see this, take note:  Even he best kibble or canned food is not nearly as good as raw, and if you think you are saving money, you're not bc you will end up spending it at the vet anyway!

On the bright side, I love the new vet and will stick with her from here on out.  She didn't even blink when I said I was going back to raw food!

 On the bolded.

https://www.aahanet.org/Library/Raw_Food_Diet.aspx

[starrlamia]

that position statement is really just a disclaimer. If you are a healthy person and take precautions your chances of getting salmonella or any other illness is very slim.

[sassyfirechick]

Originally Posted by starrlamia 

glad you took her in! i doubt that switching to kibble would cause a UTI. Hope she feels better soon!

Actually for an animal that has been on raw and thriving, switching to dry CAN cause UTI's bc dry food dehydrates them.  It takes far more water than they can drink to balance out what the food is lacking and the changes in how the body processes the food cuase UTI's and sodium issues.  Small breeds are especially prone to issues like this as their digestive tracts are far more sensitive to small changes.

[blessedwithboys]

Interesting link about the "dangers" of raw food, but I just don't buy it, anymore than I believe human children NEED cross-species milk consumption to be adequately nourished.  And her health failed at exactly the moment her diet changed, so there you have it.  Proof enough for me.  :)

[sassyfirechick]

That link seems to follow in line with a recently proposed bill to ban vets from supporting raw diets, mostly because if you don't buy it pre-packaged it means lesss money for pet food companies.  reality is, the pest themselves are not at risk - their digestive tract is about 1/10th the length of ours making it nearly impossible for bacteria to settle in, not to mention the incredibly high acidity that it takes to degest raw meat or meat period.  And the feeces - what feces? My raw fed dogs barely produce any because it's so highly digestable there is very little that goes to waste!  Humans are at a greater risk for salmoella eating at a fast food restaurant than they are handling raw meat for dogs, especially pre-packaged since most of these companies have better quality meat and cleaner facilities than those that process meat for 'human consumption'.

[blessedwithboys]

More doggie health drama  :(

So all the previous issues seemed to be resolved after putting my dog back on raw food.  I decided to get her teeth cleaned this month, thinking since she'd be on raw from here on out, this dental would be her last, and good thing, too because she is getting old.  Well, the vet called me at midday and said they did a pre-op liver panel and her levels were way off (high) and they couldn't risk anesthesia.

And she's lost two full pounds in three months.  That's a lot when she was just barely 7lbs to start with!  I actually mentioned to the tech that I thought she was way too skinny, but I had no idea she'd lost 30-something% of her body weight!

So now she's taking Denamarin and will have the liver checked again in a month.  The vet doesn't know if her liver went out of whack because of rapid extreme weight loss or if the weight loss is due to her liver going out of whack.  If that's the case, why would it have done this now?

And the freakin peeing on the carpet is back.  Grrr.  What's wrong with my dog?

[sassyfirechick]

Do you use a holistic vet or have any nearby who can take a look at her?  I'd want to know if there were any specific liver panels that could be done to point out a specific dietary defiency or cause.  Then you can either play around with the diet or add in appropriate supplements/homeopathic remedies that could help.  And speaking of diet, what kind of raw do you do - prepackaged? And is it BARF (with fruits and veggies) or Prey model (nothing but meat bones and organs)?

[blessedwithboys]

I can't afford a holistic vet.

I user Nature's Variety raw food and give her a different protein source every day of the week. There is some veggie matter in it. I know its not necessary, but do you think it could be harmful?

[sassyfirechick]

Not harmful, I used to use that for my dogs and cats and they didn't have issues, I got sick of seeing them poop out veggies all the time lol!  You curent vet may or mat not be helpful in recommending a proper supplement but I'm a huge fan of onlynaturalpet.com anytime I need a specific supplement and used a combo of six tea pills, detox drops, and a kidney support formula to keep my kidney failure cat alive and thriving for 5 years beyond what the vet expected from him. 

Here is the liver page: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/search.aspx?Pet+Type=Dogs&avs|Health+Condition=Liver+Conditions

It really depends which levels are elevated how you would go about treating it with supplements since different enzymes cause different reactions in the body.  If your vet is nice and values you as a patron, he will be willing to work with you on finding a proper treatment that can involve supplements to lessen the need for pharmaceuticals.  I've had some bad vets who flat out refused to believe I could know anything about the health of my animals and I moved on from them, while others were more than willing to learn something new themselves and read up on a supplement I thought would help and offer some insight.  I've been lucky to have heatlhy animals and a holistic vet who doesn't break the bank and also doesn't insist on more frequent visits than necessary.  Hope you are able to find some answers!  At the very least the detox formula can't hurt as its homeopathic.

Most vets will prescribe a lower protein, lower fat diet for liver issues to lessen the load, but since dogs do require these things for life it can be hard to find that combo. 

[blessedwithboys]

Thanks for the info and link!  We'll be going for a F/U soon and I'll get more info on specific levels and go from there, but so far, she put a fair amount of mass back on in just about 2 wks which I think is a good sign!