Riot had his yearly check-up at the vet last week. Blood work all came back perfectly. However, the vet said that his urine was the concentration of water. So she had me get a first pee of the morning sample. On the recheck, it came back as slightly low. If I remember correctly, his was 1.023 while she would have expected it to be 1.035-1.045. And considering that all his other lab values are perfect, she was surprised it was still low.

So we discussed that in the face of everything else being perfectly normal, there doesn't seem to be a clear cut problem to test for. Riot did have two accidents in his crate last month, which is not normal for him, but it hasn't been frequent by any means. The vet suggested an ultrasound to check his urinary anatomy...

Anyone have any thoughts? Riot is young (a little over 2 years old). I figure I should get his thyroid checked, since that should be done anyway. But other than that, just wait and watch him? Recheck in a few months? I don't want to sit on something that could be serious, but I also don't want to run through a ton of money looking for something that might not be there.

Thanks for any advise!

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Marie
"Riot" aka Topbrass Disturbin' the Peace (DOB 7/12/2010)
"Mocha" aka UUD Mocha (DOB 10/15/1998)

"To love the game is greatest"

Mlopez

Hopefully someone with knowledge of this will comment.
What does the vet think?
Praying Riot is o.k.

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Tonka & Tucker

SNOBEAR at the Bridge
Dec. 23, 1999-March 27, 2010


SMOOCH at the Bridge.
Feb. 14, 1999-Dec. 7, 2010

Why not just do the ultrasound? If something pops up, you caught it early. If nothing pops up, you would also have a piece of mind.
If nothing comes of it, have the urine retested in a month. If your boy starts having more frequent accidents of course, this will have to be pursued further.

I personally would go the extra step and do the ultrasound. Ultrasounds are not that expensive, I had one done on my lab mix last year.

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Christa

The vet is not overly worried since everything else is fine. I think the ultrasound would be a good idea, too. That way we could rule a bunch of possibilities out, and then if that is normal, just watch to see if he has starts having symptoms of any endocrine problems. I think I just needed to say it all out loud to make sure I was thinking right.

Thanks guys.

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Marie
"Riot" aka Topbrass Disturbin' the Peace (DOB 7/12/2010)
"Mocha" aka UUD Mocha (DOB 10/15/1998)

"To love the game is greatest"

Heart problems can cause this, as can tick disease.

Any reason to think he's been drinking more water than usual?

Barley does not concentrate his urine... It has been a few years since we went through all this, so the details are a bit fuzzy. But... It started when he had a few accidents at night, specifically if we had a late flyball practice the day before. So I took him into the vet where he was normal on everything except his urine concentration. So we did the first morning pee thing, then a water deprivation test, then tried adding a little salt to his food for a week. Every time the test came back low. After going through everything the vet said he thought it was likely Barley has diabetes insipidus. I should mention in addition Barley drinks tons of water and pees a lot... He said the way they usually test was to start them on a hormone treatment and see if it got better, but and once you start you basically need to take them forever. So with his advice we decided to do nothing. I made a few changes with the things we do, I try not to work him at night so he drinks to much water before sleeping. We quit flyball, because I thought it really encouraged his heavy water drinking... For the last few years we have not had any accidents. I have not done another test, but I probably should. It is likely something that will return at some point will need treatment, but for now we are just cruising...

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Barley MACH4 Barley Mar MXC MJC MXP2 MJP2 OF ADHF
Mira MACH4 Yaqui's Glenhaven Miramar RN JH MXF T2B WC ADHF VC CCA
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Sammy (2004-2009) I miss you buddy
Sir Sampson Knight II AX MXJ OF EAC TG-N CL2-R CL1-F TF-I FDX CGC

So, you are not treating because you don't want to give him medicine for life?

Kind of... I am not doing anything because the symptoms were not worth the risks and ramifications of the treatment...

And.. In a long time, we have had no symptoms...

But I do know it is still there...

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Barley MACH4 Barley Mar MXC MJC MXP2 MJP2 OF ADHF
Mira MACH4 Yaqui's Glenhaven Miramar RN JH MXF T2B WC ADHF VC CCA
http://www.margoldgoldens.com

Sammy (2004-2009) I miss you buddy
Sir Sampson Knight II AX MXJ OF EAC TG-N CL2-R CL1-F TF-I FDX CGC

My Casey has had this for years. On the first morning check he is usually fine or just slightly low. He does pee a lot when he goes but holds for normal periods of time including overnights and 5 or 6 hours in the afternoon, so he too is not being treated.

Honestly I no longer have the analysis done at the vets - I will do an early morning catch if needed but the standard mid day test is kind of worthless for him - yes he could have a problem but he is closing in on 12, has had multiple TBDs and had chronic Lyme before being treated with a newish protocol several years ago; so if it started when he was say 6 or 7 and he's not needed medical intervention, has no restrictions and he is closing in on being geriatric and still continent why medicate?

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