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What could be the reason that my 7 year old min pin healthy is drinking huge quantities of water and urinating every few hours around the clock. cries to go out .
Optional Information: Type of Animal: miniatre pinscher Gender: Female Age: 7 Name of Dog: Penny the Pinscher Already Tried: Giving her as much water as she wants.
Hello,Welcome to Just Answer! I would be happy to help you with your pet today.There are many reasons why a dog would be drinking a lot of water and urinating more frequently and in larger quantities than usual. The most common causes are diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, Cushing's disease, Addison's disease and hypercalcemia (usually secondary to cancer). Other, more rare causes, include diabetes insipidus and psychogenic polyuria and polydipisia. The first step is to take your dog into the veterinarian for a physical examination. Some blood and urine tests should be done to evaluate for kidney disease, diabetes and signs of the other problems. To diagnose Cushing's or Addison's further, more specific, blood tests would need to be done. Cancer is usually diagnosed with abdominal ultrasound and chest X-rays. If all of these tests yield no findings, then the dog should be evaluated for diabetes insipidus. This is a disease that is caused by a decrease in the synthesis or secretion of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone). This can happen secondary to a brain tumor, or it can be idiopathic (of unknown cause). There is also nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, in which the kidneys do not respond to ADH. The central diabetes insipidus can be tested for with a trial therapy with ADH. This is a treatable disease. Psychogenic polyuria and polydipsia is exactly what it sounds like-the dog just drinks excessive amounts of water because it likes to, and therefore urinates excessively. This is not really a disease, but just an annoyance to the owner. I hope that this information is of help to you. If you have further questions regarding this matter, please just let me know as I would be happy to address them for you. If not, then please click on the "accept" to show that you were satisfied with your service.Dr. K
Do you think that there is anything I can do naturally to help her in the meantime?
No, not until you know what the cause is. There really can be no recommendation on any type of remedy, without knowing why this is happening. First you need to find out exactly what her problem is. Once you know...you can then explore your options for treatment...both holistic and traditional.
Experience: 11 years experience as Veterinarian
Can I ask you another question?
If it pertains to the same problem...yes.If it is a completely different topic, then you will need to open it up as a separate question on a new thread. If you would specifically like me to answer it, you can just request me by name in the title of the question.