Adult Dog Peeing in Sleep??? .... And Recent Coat Changes

[Stella]

My Chase is 4 years old, he is a neutered male.  On a couple of occasions recently I have noticed that he has peed in his sleep.  Not a whole pee, just a small amount.  Has anyone else had this happen with their doodle?  I did a search but all the other discussions seemed to refer to puppies.

Also, he is a multigen non-shedding doodle with a mostly curly coat.  I have noticed recently that he has got patches where his coat has gotten really thin and wispy, you can almost see his skin through and his skin appears to be quite dry.  (We do heat with wood in the wnter which does dry your skin out).  But, I find it strange that this is only occuring in patches.  Any ideas??

I don't know if this coat change is related to his peeing in his sleep or not, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

Thanks guys.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sorry, no excuse. They could stock good food not easily obtained locally. But it would be like a physician selling crappy drugs otherwise. Just not ethical.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, I agree. It's a huge conflict of interest. There is also a big push to have vets stop selling drugs for the same reasons.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I hope that goes through.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's is Nicky's discussion about Rx foods:

 

 Reply by Nicky, Riley & Boris on Monday

So much better and we are now semi solid poops as opposed to pure liquid! The conversation was interesting.  The vet tech did ring me back.  I told her I had researched the ingredients myself and there was nothing in the ID that seemed to have any therapeutic benefit.  I told her that I only feed grain free so I would not consider feeding corn and that IMO the food I was cooking myself was far superior to what was in those expensive tins.  At the end of the conversation she agreed with me and was mumbling a half hearted apology.

[Stella]

So, here's a question!! I know people drink cranberry juice for UTIs. Can dogs have cranberries?? How do dogs get UTIs? When my husband is away, two days a week the dogs are home 10.5 hours in the house all day. They don't drink much until I get home and obviously they can't pee. Could this have something to do with it? I've looked into a dog walker before but we live in a rural area and I couldn't find someone to come out to our house. Maybe I'll have to try again.
My husband asked her how the food she was recommending was beneficial. All she could say was that it was medicinal. He wasn't sure which food it was though. I'd like to know so that I can look it up!! I have to go tomorrow with the insurance forms, maybe I'll ask. But I don't want to add fuel to the fire and end up with our vet hating us!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Dogs can have cranberries but I stopped giving my dogs Craisins since I thought they could be contributing to dental plaque sine they have sugar. Cranberry capsules are available though. Make sure they have no xylitol , which is toxic to dogs. That is a very long time not to urinate. Stasis of urine can certainly lead to UTIs and concentrated urine is more likely to have crystals etc. Can you get someone to let them out?

[Stella]

Thanks F! Chase has teeth troubles too (lots of plaque and despite my best efforts I can't keep up with brushing them!) so craisins might not be great in the long run. I have whole cranberries in the freezer, but I doubt he'll eat them - too tart!! I'll see what I can come up with!
Yeah, I'll have to try again to see if I can get someone to come and let them out or go for a walk on my long days at work.

[F, Calla & Luca]

That sounds good. I don't think man or beast could eat plain cranberries. Look up PetzLife on DK. I and other have found it helpful with plaque.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is no Rx food that is "medicinal", at least not one that I have seen yet, and that includes all of the Hill's Rx foods, and most of the Purina and Royal Canin foods as well. There are no medicinal ingredients in them at all.

Here are the ingredients in the Hill's u/d diet, for non-struvite urinary tract health:

Brewers Rice, Corn Starch, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Egg Product, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Lactic Acid, Potassium Citrate, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Beet Pulp, L-Threonine, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Carnitine, L-Tryptophan, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Beta- Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

 

The MD who is particpating in this discussion will verify that there is no medicine here. What you have is:

1. Brewer's Rice

The most abundant ingredient in this food is a waste product of the brewing business. Non-food-grade broken and damaged rice particles, or as I like to call it, floor sweepings.

AAFCO: The small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. 

   A processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice. Contrary to what many pet food companies want to make you believe, this is not a high quality ingredient, just much cheaper than whole grain rice. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

2. Corn Starch.  No further explanation is necessary for the 2nd most abundant ingredient in the food.

3. Pork Fat.         Ditto for the third most abundant ingredient

4. Dried Egg Product    "egg product" is not eggs. It's a very cheap protein source,  kind of like an egg by-product. I really don't want to know more than that, but not medicinal.

5. Powdered Cellulose   Insoluble fiber

AAFCO: Purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant materials.    

      Dried wood is the most common source for cellulose (I'm not kidding.). It is cleaned, processed into a fine powder and used to add bulk and consistency to cheap pet foods. I would consider this ingredient appropriate for termites, but certainly not for dogs or cats. http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

6. Chicken Liver Flavor  Obviously, something is needed to make this concoction palatable. Not medicinal

 

And that's it. Everything else except some soybean oil and some beet pulp (more fiber) is a vitamin, a mineral, or an amino acid, nothing unusual, nothing that's not in many other foods, nothing you couldn;t get with a multivitamin supplement, and nothing that is a drug.

I really don't think the vet knows what is in the food, to call this medicinal. Or even therapeutic.

The next tinme a vet says "it's medicinal", ask how. What specific medicine or ingredient is in the food that helps this particular condition? 

 

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think medicinal is a very vague term.all that's here is some lousy ingredients, some fillers, vitamins etc. nothing really unique or particularly good in this combo.

[Stella]

Yeah, he tried to ask how it would help. But she couldn't really specify.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Because she really doesn't know. The salesmen tell the vets, this is for crystals, this is for diarrhea, and the vets prescribe it accordingly. Adter all, it's tested.