Confused and looking for answers

[Chico_B]

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Louie is 5 1/2 yrs old, and recently satred having urination problems.

In April he had a full set of wellness tests which showed all of his organs are in perfect working order. His issues started in May.

The first instance, he was asleep and I went to pet him to wake him to go up to bed, and as i pet him, he began to pee slightly.... I chalked it up to exhaustion from a weekend of palying with his boxer buddy.

The same type of situatrion happened 2 more times (urinating in his sleep) spaced out over several weeks, but each time happened around days of excitment or exertion.

In recent weeks, he has began "dripping" pee at random, while lying down, or just walking around the house. He also REALLY increased his peeing and marking while on our walks around the neighbourhood.

The vet checked his urine and found crystals (both struvite and oxylate) in small amounts, but x-rays didnt show stones anywhere. They also showed normal size, shape and positioning of the bladder and kidneys. HE was given anti-biotics to combat any possible UTI's.

The problem has not gotten better (in fact its slightly worse). After the anitbiotics were finished we went for a follow-up. further urine tests showed no signs of blood, white blood cells, protein etc in the urine. The vet said we'd treat him for inflamation of the bladder, but the pills were not in stock, but in the meantime (even though he doesn't believe its the answer) we'd treat him for incontinence to see if it solves the issue.

This is ongoing, but I'm guessing that if it's not simple incontinence or the inflammed/irritated bladder that ultrasound is the next course of action to determine if there are any masses (whish he also doesn't think is the case).

His appetite is decreased right now, and his thirst is constant.

Has anyone experienced this?

 

[whiskers]

That's kinda weird that both types of crystals would be there, since struvites tend to be in alkaline urine and calcium oxalates tend to be in acidic urine.

Has the urine been sent out for a culture and sensitivity? Then if you're dealing with an infection you'll know what bacteria is growing, and what antibiotics will work best to treat it.

 

[Chico_B]

The struvite levels were much lower than the oxylate which worried the vet slightly as (from what I understood) once oxylates form a stone, they are difficult to remove whereas struvite can be more easily dissolved and passed.

He wanted to take a urine sample directly from the bladder to ensure a sterile sample and that there was no contamination during collection to get a truer reading of the existing bacteria, but as soon as Louie got on the table, he emptied his bladder... hey were able to get enough of a sample to do a basic urinalysis, but not a sterile one to send out to the lab for further culture tests.... It is on the "to do" list as it were.

Just to update, he has gone off his food the last couple of days and won't eat. He is just drinking. He has also started been vomitting the water occassionally.

He has always had sensitvities and GI issues, so it's hard to know for sure if this is related to an underlying condition, a reaction to meds, or just his tummy being funky!

 

[Gatorblu]

Has his liver functions been checked? How about being checked for diabetes? Have they done a complete blood work up? The increased urination can be a sign of those a liver problem.

 

[Chico_B]

A full scale set of "wellness" tests were run just a couple of weeks before the incidents started. They ran a full set of of blood tests.

According to the results, there were no problems with any organ function.

I have to double-check to see if diabetes was checked. I thought he had ruled it out through the initial urinalysis, but Im going to second-guess myself. I'm pretty certain I asked already, but with everything that's been going on, I may have just imagined that.

 

[boxermom5]

Given what I just went throiugh, and Tenaia started with the same incontinence issues as well as going on and off food (after a short while she started eating like she was being starved & started stealing from the others if they walked away from their dishes), I would definitely have the liver checked thoroughly. We skipped the middle step, which is a fasting bile test, because her enzymes were extremely elevated, but sometimes that is a more accurate way to determine whether there is a liver problem.

I had unfortunately chalked the incontinence up to her being nearly 13 and sleeping too soundly to bother getting up to pee. She had thyroid disease, and that was why I ultimately took her in for testing, as I thought her meds needed adjusting, only to find out she had idopathic hepatits (auto-immune) and we sadly lost her 4 days into treatment after diagnosis.

Best wishes for you and your baby. I hope it is nothing serious and you find answers.

 

[Chico_B]

Thanks for the well wishes, Boxermom, and sorry to hear about your loss.

Went to the vet today. Did more blood work. We were able to rule out Cushing's as the enzyme or protein that is a flag were well within normal ranges. Diabetes is also out as glucose levels were normal too.

What we found is that there IS something going on as Louie's white blood cell counts were all down meaning his immune system is fighting something. Seeing as how he was just on a broad range antibiotic, if it IS an infection, it may be fungal.

However, instead of toying around with meds, we have sent out for an ultrasound appointment to check for any tumors or masses.

One one hand, I'm glad that we are eliminating things from the list of possibilites... On the other hand, I'm not feeling to confident about the options that are left.

 

[auntthelm]

I have no experience with the issues that Louie has been dealing with. Hope that the mystery of her illness is solved soon..

 

[boxermom5]

Keeping you in my prayers....please keep us posted

 

[Chico_B]

Update

I just spent 2 days with Louie at a Vet hospital staffed with some of the most repected oncology and internal medicine specialists in the city (Toronto).

Thoracic x-rays, ultrasounds and physical exams found enlarged lymph nodes and thickened intestinal loops. Blood tests showed he has Hypercalcemia which is worsening and affecting his kidneys.

The increase in calcium in his blood is keeping his kidneys from concentrating his urine which explains the dripping.

They performed "fine needle aspirations" on the lymph nodes and have sent them off for biopsy.... We're 99% sure it's lymphoma. We did a first dose of chemo therapy yesterday.

Final diagnosis is expected Wednesday when we have a consultation with the oncologist.

Thanks again for all the prayers and well-wishes.