Elderly dog is sometimes not well

[Traci]

Well, because the urinalysis results could have been false (the WBC count), I'd recommend rechecking it, and asking the vet to make sure it is tested immediately after the sample is collected. If you can afford to, get a urine culture done too....it could be a newly forming bacterial infection, but it could also be an inflammatory process going on somewhere....it may or may not be directly related to the bladder. Your vet could try a short course of antibiotics to see if she responds, but he has to be careful in his choice of antibiotics, the duration given, and of course, the doseage.

Start omitting the vegetables and the brewer's yeast from the diet. Start feeding more of the dry food, and less of the cooked meat. See how she responds (does she eat more, does she eat less, does she feel better after eating dry food than cooked, etc., etc)

Ask your husband to watch carefully when she urinates. The timing is a good measure to indicate how much she is voiding, but he can certainly try to watch her urine stream to see if it is minimal, or an abnormal large amount. If the stream of urine is small, thin, and takes some time for her to void totally, this could be inidcative of infection, inflammation or pain. Make sure he watches for traces of blood in the urine, and do the same at home when she goes outside.

Don't let her eat grass anymore, period. Of course she's going to have an acid stomach when she eats grass, and the vomiting will eventually lead to nausea and dehydration, particularly if she doesn't drink a normal amount of water after she ate the grass. Her wanting to eat the grass could be indicative to a stress behavior, deficiency in the diet, etc.

Again, you said it was humid, it could be that she actually feels better outside, if there is a breeze etc. Do make sure she has water available to her at all times, a cool place to nap if it's hot in the house, etc.

And yes, you need to rule out the pain aspect. Infections and inflammatory processes can be painful, depending on their origin and location.

[Ash]

Hi!

Sorry for not responding earlier. I wanted to wait for the test results. We did urine and stool and got the results today. The urin test did not show anything new but the stool test showed hookworm infestation - ancylostoma duodenale.

On Sunday I also found two fleas, so yesterday I treated all (both cats, both dogs) with Frontline and Advantage. Because of that the vet advised me to wait with the deworming until Thursday. He advised me to deworm both dogs and both cats, and us too! And repeat the stool test after three weeks.

I hope this is now sorted!