So, my 11-year-old my mini-schnauzer, Dogeee, is doing some really weird things. She is being seen by her vet but we can’t seem to nail down what is wrong with her. Her urine indicates she has some bacteria and some crystals forming but X-rays confirm no kidney stones. Blood work is completely normal. She has been on an antibiotic for a week and we have changed her diet to a food that is supposed to help prevent stones. Her symptoms are not getting any better, and, in fact, seem a little worse.
What are her symptoms, you ask?
First of all, she is peeing in the house (something she has never done) and then licking up the puddle :eek: She has a full water bowl at her disposal at all times, so she’s not looking for water. The vet thinks this behavior is (obviously) unusual but doesn’t scream a certain diagnosis to him.
Second – and this is where the being afraid of the dark comes in – she is getting up CONSTANTLY at night. She sleeps on my bed so while I may not know exactly when she gets up, I always know when she comes back because she whines to be picked up and put back on the bed and will get progressively louder until I wake up. Then she will get down again a half hour later, rince repeat up to ten times a night. I don’t know what she is doing when she gets up. She may be peeing, licking it, crapping (we have found craps in the house in the morning – another highly unusual move for her).
If I wake up when she gets off the bed, I immediately take her outside and she does not crap or pee. (Yet, we’ll find it in the house the next morning). We have taken her for extra long walks at night before bed to see if maybe she is uncomfortable and needs more exercise. Nothing has made a difference.
And finally, she sleeps all day. She has always been a bit of a couch potato but she does seem to be sleeping more. She doesn’t get up during the day; she sleeps very soundly for hours and snores. Why isn’t she getting up and down like she does at night? Could it be that she is suddenly bothered by the dark?
Maybe you should make sure she sleeps less during the day (playing with her, long walks, etc) so she’s tired and sleeps at night. Clean all the spots with an enzymatic cleaner, and try crating her at night for a couple weeks. That might help restore the diurnal balance. It sounds to me like she’s not sleeping because she’s not tired, having slept all day.
I’m not a vet, so I may be totally off-base here. . . But I have lost two dogs to kidney problems, and peeing in the house and licking it up was the first obvious symptom for both of them. My Basenjis both developed Fanconi Syndrome (and eventually died from it), which is uncommon in other breeds. However, I did see a mention of the possibility of renal dysplasiain Miniature Schnauzers as a possibility.
I don’t know if this fits at all, like I said. But that first symptom (peeing and drinking it) showed up before any of the ‘classic’ symptoms of renal failure in both my dogs. I would ask your vet about a full kidney workup just to be safe. If you catch it early, and start proper treatment, dogs can have a good life for a pretty long time.
My niece had a dog that was afraid of the dark, and exhibited some weird behaviors. They couldn’t find a physical cause. The vet finally decided that the dog just developed some sort of psychosis.
The renal dysplasia seems like it may be a possibility, although there is no change in her appetite and weight. I wonder if the depression symptom associated with RD could be part of the getting up and down at night. I will definitely bring this up to my vet. Thank you.