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Discussion: Is it urine or something else with an older dog?
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jcmaley |
Is it urine or something else with an older dog?
Jul 2 2009, 11:48 PM EDT
Hi there,I have a customer who has two older dogs. She keeps the dogs in the outside pool bath most of the time where they mostly lay around and sleep. Because it is Florida summertime I know the dogs probably do get quit hot in this room however there is a pretty good cross breeze. My client called me the other night asking about her dog leaving wet spots on his doggy bed. At first she thought it might be urine but says there is no odor associated with this wet spot. and thought it could be from the dog sweating (I always thought dogs panted and did not sweat when they are hot) She asked me what else it might be. I did refer her to a local vet but just wondering if anyone has heard of this and had any idea what the wet spot on the dog's bed might be (it is not blood either). Thanks so much. Jennifer Do you find this valuable?
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canine
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dogs
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heat
older dogs
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meyati |
1. RE: Is it urine or something else with an older dog?
Jul 4 2009, 12:29 PM EDT
Dogs cool off by panting and through their paws. A dog will lick its paws to cool off quicker. Ask her if the dog is licking itself a lot./more often This is a sign of either a thyroid problem or the dog just wanting to lick itself for a variety of reasons-bored-itchy-sort of cool down-just wants to clean itself. I have 2 dogs that do this. At first I thought that Missy was wetting on my bed and I'd be washing my bedding late at night. Missy wakes up at night in the summer and starts licking a paw, the sheets around her paw to clean it from her scruff falling on the sheets. 2 weeks a go, I woke up because she was washing my arm. Turning on our cooling system has reduced the licking and Missy almost never does it in the winter, as we don't super heat the house. . If the dog is suddenly doing this-it might be for one of 3 reasons- a thyroid problem which can cause weight gain or loss-severe heart problems and even cause aggression. The environment of the pool bath might have changed, where the dog has more minerals/chemicals on its body from the water or even in the air. Another reason is that something might have happened to change the owner-retirement or schedule change, where she's closer to the dog and is more observent of the dog's behavior-health can cause us to be preoccupied then more aware of what's going on around us-like a licking dog. I would recommend trying to give the dogs a cooler environment, steps to keep the dog from being itchy and taking the dog in for a THS-thyroid screen-since that can cause so many different problems-health and behavoiral-also if the dog has less energy or is bouncing off the walls-that's another sign of a thyroid problem. Thyroid problems are the most misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed medical problem in the US. Let me know if the owner has had a scheduling change/empty nest and cooling the dog off more helps any-also the dog could be over washing a small nick or cut that is infected.
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