# Liver disease in dogs causes excessive urination?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liver-disease-in-dogs-causes-excessive-urination/704732>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 15, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liver-disease-in-dogs-causes-excessive-urination/704732 "2014-11-15T22:05:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liver-disease-in-dogs-causes-excessive-urination/704732/1 "2014-11-15T22:05:13Z")

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A friend told me her dog has been having accidents and the vet blamed it on a liver problem leading to too much urine. How is that possible? I thought the kidneys were responsible for regulating excretion of water, and if there’s a liver problem it must be affecting the kidneys somehow…right?

I asked my friend to get more info from her vet, both to satisfy my curiosity and to make sure the treatment the vet proposes is correct for her dog, but in the meantime…anyone?

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**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liver-disease-in-dogs-causes-excessive-urination/704732/2 "2014-11-15T23:43:45Z")

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What seems to be a good list of signs and symptoms:

> **[canineliverdiseasefoundation.org](http://canineliverdiseasefoundation.org/?cat=4)**
>
> This domain may be for sale!

last on the list is:

> [@](#):
>
> Increased water consumption and urination. Most likely due to dramatic shifts in serum and kidney salt balances.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liver-disease-in-dogs-causes-excessive-urination/704732/3 "2014-11-16T00:07:58Z")

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> [@TSBG](#):
>
> A friend told me her dog has been having accidents and the vet blamed it on a liver problem leading to too much urine.

The only animals I treat are human, and liver problems are not something which would cross my mind if someone was drinking and peeing excessively.

That said, I believe a vet once said to us something along the lines that many major illnesses in dogs can manifest as excessive drinking (perhaps as a behavioural response to ‘stress’). Even if true, I don’t see why liver disease would rank highly as a potential ‘stress’.

FWIW, in humans, excessive thirst with excessive urination could occur with:

- diabetes mellitus
- psychogenic (i.e. compulsive water drinking)
- certain salt imbalances such as high blood calcium or low blood potassium
- loss of the kidneys’ ability to concentrate the urine (which can occur with a number kidney diseases/problems OR as a result of problems with the [pituitary gland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituitary_gland) or [hypothalamus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamus))

Notably absent from the above list is bladder/urine infection. Urinary tract infections often cause _frequent_ urination but do not cause excessive _volumes_ of urine to be produced or cause excessive thirst.