Those of You with Older Dogs

We lost our 11 1/2 year old Husky last June to liver cancer. He was drinking a large amount of water, not sure how his urine looked since he went potty outside on his own. Our clue was excessive water intake and high liver levels. Since we had adopted him at age 9 we had no baseline to go on and the blood panel we had run when we got him showed high liver levels, which the vet monitored. We were about to put him through a third surgery for soft tissue sarcoma on his torso when she recommended an x-ray of his liver first, again because his liver levels were higher than they had been in the past. Sure enough, his liver was full of tumors, non operable. He had probably had them for years, which I'm told is pretty common.
Have your vet run a complete blood panel. If that's not definitive go for the x-ray.
I wish you luck with your precious girl. I know how heart wrenching this can be. Please let me know how things turn out.

Typically baseline bloodwork will pick up diabetes, kidney disease, etc. There are additional blood tests that can be done to specifically look for other conditions, like Cushing's disease. Sometimes dogs can be in the very early stages of kidney disease and have some symptoms but not have changes on bloodwork yet. But saying that she "may" have some kind of tumor in her chest and "might" need an x-ray concerns me - why not just get down to the bottom of it? I understand that you had been there a long time already and needed to be able to leave, especially with a 3 year old in tow, but your vet could have also given you the option of leaving the dog there and picking her up later once all the diagnostics were done.

I would follow up with the vet who performed the bloodwork and ask them what the next step is. Then if you decide to pursue it further, make arrangements to have her dropped off for the day if that makes things easier. Another option would be to get a referral to an internal medicine specialist if your regular vet has run the basics and hasn't uncovered anything specific yet.

ETA: I totally don't think you are a bad dog mom - it was a less-than-ideal situation. I guess I am also surprised your vet didn't offer to keep your dog for x-rays and blood tests and let you pick her up later. I always offer that to clients, especially when they have kids with them.

My first thought was kidney or renal failure or damage/disease, but I'm guessing that the vet checked for that?

Call your local university vet hospital, and ask your vet to send the tests there for a differential diagnosis.

It does sound like more tests are warranted, though. Good luck-I hope it all turns out okay...

Your vet will do everything possible to help your fur baby get well. You can drop off your dog, and they will handle things on their end. I am surprised that did not suggest that to you.

Let us know what the diagnosis is, and we will be able to help you through this.

Our Australian shepherd/husky was 10 when she was diagnosed with diabetes, liver disease, and thyroid problems, and serve arthritis. She fought a hard battle, but we lost her 5 months later

find a holistic vet in your area and have them work with you and your other vet to treat your baby

For what my experience is worth we had a dog with renal (kidney) failure. She would drink massive amounts of water to no avail since her kidneys couldn't process the water. We learned to gently pinch and pull up on the skin between her shoulder blades. If the skin stayed in place, she was dehydrated/not processing the water. If the skin sprang back and was elastic, then she was okay. You could try that to at least know your dog is processing the water she is drinking.

We had another dog with diabetes. We noticed he was having problems when he puffed up like a marshmallow. Pugs are chunky in build but this was off the charts puffy. Also he was walking very stiffly. We didn’t notice the gait at first but it looked like the Pug wasn’t even bending at his joints. If you have noticed either of these symptoms, then it could be diabetes or Cushing’s disease. You should, of course, mention the weight gain or gait issues if the vet hasn’t already asked about them.

I think leaving the dog with the vet would allow for a more thorough examination without the waiting room drama you had the first time. Good luck and best wishes.

You are not a bad dog Mom. A bad dog mom would not have sought treatment.

I had to moniter and measure my 11 yo Golden's water intake everyday (vet said for her weight and activity level it was 9 8oz servings of water per day), it was very tricky, she was PISSED! I also have a younger golden not so thirsty so I had to constantly watch the older to be she she didn't drink the younger's water.

She was on seizure meds (phenobarb and potassium bromide) which caused (well might have) excessive thirst.

Vet said sometimes some different urine panels are not as easy to dx if urine is very watered down.

Can YOU feel a mass in her chest? Can you make another appt for an xray? Maybe with a different doc, if you want help understanding the situation a little better.

So I guess next step is another blood test and an xray? Meanwhile restrict her water intake to what is appropriate for her weight/age/activity level? My old girl liked ice cubes, I put sodium free chicken broth in ice cube trays, this helped make her dry mouth feel better, but it DID count towards her daily fluid intake too.

Wishing the best for your doggy!

:)