13 week old puppy pees 6 times an hour..

[RoxerFoxer]

Hi all! I am new to Boxer World, so not sure if this should go in training or Behavioral, since I'm thinking it might be both. My 13 week old reverse brindle male boxer pees about 4-6 times an hour, no matter how much we are outside. We will be outside for an hour, he will pee non stop, then come in and continue to pee inside. I've taken him to the vet three times now. He was diagnosed with a UTI, did 2 weeks on an antibiotic. His urine culture post abx came back as abnormal with high levels of red blood cells. So of course we brought him in for a whole day of straight caths, xrays, urine cultures, and analysis. Everything came back clear. The vet has no idea what is going on. I love our little man, but it's getting really hard to clean up pee non stop. I take him out and keep him out as soon as he eats, after hard plays, after naps, everything. I take him out about every 20 minutes, and he can still have accidents. He is 23 pounds already, so he's not tiny. My confusion is that he can sleep for at least 5 hours at night without getting up and whining to go outside. When he is in our bedroom he wakes up and cries to go out, but when he is in the rest of our house he doesn't. Could he be marking? The vet says we have to wait to neuter him, but I wonder if that would help. Also he has constant loose stool. We feed our dogs Canidae all life stages, but maybe it's not for him? The vet hasnt been really helpful except for emptying my wallet. Anyone have any ideas? I appreciate it!!

 

[LILYLARUE]

I would try a food switch. Canidae isn't a high quality food and could be full of sodium, which will make him drink more and pee more. Just a thought.

Check dogfoodanalysis.com for a 5-6 star food. With a swith to a higher quality food, you will be feeding less so the cost per meal is more comparable. Plus, your pup will be getting more nutrients and less junk, which also lessen poop quantity.

 

[RoxerFoxer]

dog food research

When i chose canidae i did look on that site and it was ranked really well. My vet also recommended it highly. My older boxer is very picky and loves the canidae, so i think ill keep her on it. Thinking my little boy might do better with wet food? More moisture so hes more equally hydrated so he doesnt need to tank up on water... hmm...

 

[RoxerFoxer]

checked that site...

Hi! I just checked the site you recommended and the food i feed them is 5 star rated. Im wondering if its issues voiding completely or bladder control in general. Wish the vet had more answers, waiting for a call still!

 

[jacquim]

It's possible that he is having issues with residual urine still left behind after voiding so he isn't completely emptying his bladder (making him go small amounts frequently). I know next to nothing about veterinary medicine, but I am a nurse and have had numerous patients with this problem, most of the ones that I have had are from congenital issues (I work in pediatrics so the disease processes that cause this are less common in kids, which I would imagine would be similar in puppies as well as compared to older dogs). Some of the differences in anatomy that can cause urinary retention can also make people prone to UTIs and kidney infections. It is often diagnosed in people by doing an ultrasound right after urinating, or in babies when doing an ultrasound we often watch as they pee to see the bladder empty and see if anything is left behind. In older people, I've also seen bladder scanners used to tell you how much volume is left in the bladder after voiding and unfortunately, if there is too much being left behind after they pee on their own, we have to do an in and out catheter to empty the rest of the urine out. A lot of people end up self-catheterizing themselves for life to help deal with this issue if the cause is not something that is an easy fix (probably not something that you would want to do to a puppy, and I have never heard of any vet recommending that approach .. although I am also not overly experienced with animals).

On the contrary, he could be marking, he could be "used" to going that often from when he had a UTI and now is unable to hold it for very long, or he could just be a silly puppy that is still working on house breaking (although 6-8 times an hour is a lot!)

With the loose stool, I would try another food and see if it helps with the problem. I had to go through a couple brands before finding one that agreed with both of my dogs' stomachs. Not sure how much you are feeding too, but overfeeding can cause loose stool too.

 

[RoxerFoxer]

Thanks!!

I'm actually a nurse too on an Acute floor : ) I know exactly what you are talking about when mentioning urine retention and needing to scan and cath people. Live it everyday! Unfortunately. LOL. The vet, I think is getting frustrated with me, and now is saying that it's normal puppy stuff. It's just difficult to accept that when we are outside for 45 minutes, he pees and poops, then we come inside and within 10 minutes he's covered my MIL's kitchen floor with urine. Immediately take him out again and he's peeing more within 30 seconds. Everything has come back normal now, including sensitivities, so I don't know! It's really killing me. I was asking her if maybe he has abnormal Aldosterone levels, that are pushing him to drink more, and pee more. She did mention diabetes insipidus, which occured to me, but said she has been a vet for 20 years and has seen it once. Mentioned I should put down a gallow of water in a pot and messure how much he is drinking on a couple different days. Its difficult doing this with my larger boxer around though. I have started really soaking his food in water before feeding him, and it did seem like he drank a little less today. I do believe some house accidents are because he's a baby, but as much as he's going, I find that odd. He's such a sweet baby, I want to help him! I also asked her about the issue of maybe him marking. She stated that she doesn't neuter until at least 5 months. I have done some reading and it seems that many vets don't find it unethical to neuter early. I think that maybe it would help the situation. We have wood floors and I clean them daily when hot water and vinegar, and a shark steamer, so I'm not sure if he's remarking? I appreciate all the help and ideas!! I hope he gets it together, my husband is about to go insane!

 

[jacquim]

Hopefully you guys can figure it out and either diagnose and treat with something or if it is just a puppy thing, he works past it soon. I can see how it would drive you crazy! Raiden drank TONS as a puppy and peed a fair bit (to the point where I had people visiting mentioning diabetes to me) but it ended up being nothing. He didn't pee quite that often though.
I think that sometimes us medical people drive doctors/vets crazy! haha

Good luck though and keep us updated!

 

[RoxerFoxer]

Lol, I think that sometimes the vets are annoyed that we know more than we "should" . Like why do you know about Anti Diuretic Hormones!? haha.. I'm hoping we work past it too.. He's done a little bit better today. It's wierd some days are better than others. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for your help, and I'll keep you posted!

 

[Gilbert]

If he is able to hold it when locked up or alseep and only doing it when left to run loose, my opinion would be that he still doesn't understand that he can only potty outside. Maybe he takes frequent pee breaks inside cause you stop him mid pee. As for the loose stool, i remember when Achilles was that age i had to follow the recommended feeding amounts on the food bags because even just over feeding a quarter of a cup would cause achilles to get loose stool.

Hope all turns out well.

 

[Ileana]

Gracie used to pee a lot, mainly because she thought all water was fun and she would drink tons of it every chance she'd get. Empty her bowl immediately, drink from water puddles outside, from the sink when we would wash our hands... literally every bit of water would instantly be licked.

She grew out of it in some 6-8 weeks.

Good luck!