Diluted urine????

[Cj's Mom]

I'm hoping somebody here can give me some insight.
A little background. I have a 5-1/2 year old dobie mix. She has had spayed urinary incontinence for a little over 4 years now. After trying some other treatments, we started her on PPA (sorry I can't spell out the full name) about 3 months ago. It worked just fine. No leaking and no side affects. I went and got a refill on the prescription about 2 weeks ago. As soon as we started on the new bottle, she started leaking. I called the vet on that and we got a new refill but she continued to leak.

Yesterday I brought both the dog and the pills to the vets. They checked the PPA and didn't find anything wrong with it. So then they did a urine test. Her urine test showed no signs of any infection but was quite diluted. She said the normal is about 1035 and her's is 1014. She mentioned some possible causes like diabetes, which is unlikely because there wasn't any excess sugar in her urine. She also mention excessive drinking. Although I can't say for sure, that doesn't seem likely. I also have a 5 YO lab mix and just based on casual observation, I would say the lab mix drinks more water and more often than CJ (dobie mix) does. But , obviously, with having two dogs, it's almost impossible to monitor that. She also mentioned that the diluted urine could be a result of a problem with the kidneys or liver.

She is doing a full blood panel now to check for the diabetes, kidney and liver functions. Hopefully I'll get the test results back soon.

In the mean time, I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with something like this. I did a quick search on the internet and that only managed to scare me more than I already am.

Carol

[davet]

one urine specific gravity does not tell you much, you would need a few more at different times of the day....also ask your vet what he/she may think of DES for the incontinance..i had dogs on it for years at as low a dosage as one tab once or twice a week,,,,it has side effects in humans but on the low dose i have never seen any adverse reactions to it....

[jdf]

maybe the incontinence is keeping the urine from concentrating. Also, like davet says urine can be different at different times during the day, usually concentrated first thing in the morning but can be dilute during the day with more frequent urination. As difficult as it is, try not to worry till you get the test results. If a problem shows up, there are ways to treat it.

[Cj's Mom]

Thank you both for your replies. I'm *trying* to be comforted by them but...????
In terms of the concentration, one thing she mentioned was if the blood panel comes out clear, that she would want to do a water depravation test with CJ. I would start withholding water at 10pm at night. The following morning, I would get a urine sample and bring it as well as the dog to the clinic. They would test the concentration level at that point. If it still hadn't concentrated to a normal level, then Cj would stay at the vets (possibly for as much as 2 days) where they would continue to withold water and test to determine if or how long it takes to concentrate. Obviously, this would be done with constant vet monitoring to insure she doesn't get dehydrated.
In light of what you are saying about the concentration levels varying during the course of a day, does this seem a bit extreme?

My gut is telling me that if the blood panel comes out normal, I'd be better off getting someone to take my lab mix for a few days so I could accurately monitor CJ's water intake.

[davet]

My gut is telling me that if the blood panel comes out normal, I'd be better off getting someone to take my lab mix for a few days so I could accurately monitor CJ's water intakyour vet could also lend you dip sticks that you could possible measure the sp.gr. not as accurate as a refractometer but still significant...

[k9Karen]

When the vet mentioned diabetes, he most likely meant diabetes insipidus, which is a kidney disease where the kidney fails to properly concentrate the urine, rather than diabetes mellitus, (called "sugar diabetes" by some) which is caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin.

My Leah developed diabetes insipidus about a year and a half before she died (at almost 15) 14 years ago. At the time, there was no treatment available, but I believe there is now.

I hope everthing will turn out to be normal. Sending good wishes and thoughts your way.

[Cj's Mom]

Just a quick update.

Cj's blood panel came back normal.

I appreciate your help and suggestions. I will be talking with my vet again next week to update her and decide what, if anything, we will need to do.

Thanks again.

Carol