Poodle peeing all over the house!!

I won't email, and I strongly suggest you have someone take mommasbaby to the vet (or find a vet who will make a house call).



In the meantime, some questions that might be asked before and during mommababy's physical exam, so you'll have the answers ready.



Is mommasbaby a big fan of marking things?

Some dogs, especially male dogs, like to mark things. They are very territorial and very possessive, and they pee on things to let other people or dogs know they are around.


When mommasbaby goes out, does he pee, or does he save it for inside the house?

If mommasbaby is a devout marker, he may save every last bit of his urine for marking purposes.

Or mommasbaby may be refusing to urinate outside because he's afraid of something. Something a big dog may not be too afraid of can be a real threat to a little dog. I found a toy poodle one night in California that had been cornered by a possum, and plenty of raccoons and housecats that could kick the ass of a small dog (or a timid person).

Marking or refusing to urinate outside are behavioral problems, and can be dealt with as such by a vet or by a trainer your vet recommends.


How often does mommasbaby go out to pee?

Mommasbaby's bladder may just be filling up a lot because he's waiting, and he's got to pee more than he used to. If you've relied on mommasbaby to let you know when he needed to go out in the past, he may simply be not letting you know he needs to go out because he wants to stay inside, near you. Then when he decides he really has to go, he may not be able to find someone to let him out or he may just use the house to get back to you more quickly.


Is mommasbaby neutered?

Mommababy's functional bladder capacity may have decreased, so he's got to go more often in smaller amounts.

One way for an intact male dog to have decreased bladder capacity is enlargement of the prostate. Just like in people, a big prostate can lead to frequent urinations in small amounts. Dogs with enlarged prostates may also have bloody urine.

Different than people, though, is that the main complaint from the owner in dogs with enlarged prostates is that they have difficulty defecating. So, does mommasbaby ever have difficulty defecating?

Intact or neutered male dogs may develop prostate cancer. Prostate cancer would have the same signs as enlarged prostate. At mommasbaby's age, it's a good idea -- and very easy and very cheap -- to check for prostatic enlargement.


Is mommasbaby's urine watery or pungent? Does mommasbaby make a lot more urine than he used to?

If mommasbaby's urine is pungent, there is a good chance that the problem is behavioral. It's not a guarantee, though, and mommababy's vet will have to run a very simple test to evaluate whether or not the kidneys are doing their job (concentrating urine and conserving body water).

If the kidneys are doing their work, mommababy's urine will be concentrated (like salty sea water).

If the urine is dilute (like fresh water), there are three possible explanations:

* Mommasbaby's kidneys work just fine, but there is some problem somewhere else in the body causing them to produce dilute urine.
* Mommasbaby's kidneys are not working right because they are diseased.
* Mommasbaby's kidneys work just fine, but Mommasbaby is drinking a lot of water.


Many metabolic diseases can cause the kidney's to lose their ability to concentrate urine.


Diabetes mellitus can cause the kidneys to make dilute urine.

Does Mommasbaby ever act strangely or lose all his energy?

Untreated diabetic dogs sometimes have episodes where they behave strangely or become very lethargic or comatose.

Is Mommasbaby a round dog?

As in people, diabetes mellitus is associated with obesity.


Cushing's disease (hyperactive adrenal gland) can cause the kidneys to make dilute urine.

Has Mommasbaby been losing any fur?

Dogs with Cushing's disease sometimes lose their haircoat.

Has Mommasbaby gotten pot-bellied?

They also metabolize muscle and move fat into their abdomen.


Urinary tract infection can cause the kidneys to make dilute urine.

Some strains of E. coli -- a common cause of UTI -- produce a protein that prevents the kidneys from reabsorbing water. UTI's are more common in females than males, but UTI in males is not unheard of.


Various tumors can cause the kidneys to make dilute urine.

If this problem really has been going on for some time, though, cancer becomes less a possibility than other conditions -- including kidney disease -- but it's something that should be considered. Dogs with this problem usually have a high level of calcium in their blood.


Diabetes insipidus can cause the kidneys to make dilute urine.

Diabetes insipidus is a rare condition.


In very rare cases, a dog may make dilute urine because it drinks too much because it always feels thirsy ("psychogenic polydypsia").



Kidney disease is common in dogs and cats.

Dilute urine is often an early sign of kidney disease. It's also a sign of late kidney disease and all kidney disease in between, so the simple fact that urine is dilute says nothing about the severity of disease or the prognosis if kidney disease is present. Evaluating kidney disease can be very cheap or pretty expensive, depending on what the disease is and how early it's caught. Treating it is the same way -- easy to impossible, cheap to expensive.


It will be easy and relatively inexpensive for a vet to take a sample of Mommababy's blood and have it tested.

The results of a simple serum chemistry panel (high calcium, high glucose, salt disturbances) can be very useful and very reliable clues to whether or not Mommasbaby might have metabolic disease or kidney disease.


Dogs who have diseases that make them pee a lot are also more likely than other dogs to have kidney disease.

When an animal makes a lot of urine and drinks a lot, they are vulnerable to dehydration, and the first organs to suffer during dehydration are the kidneys. Because of this, you shouldn't try to decrease the amound Mommasbaby pees by withholding water. This puts him at risk for kidney disease.

Patiodog--

Excellent answer. For once I have nothing to add--except praise.

Arf.