wont stop pis*ing

[skycat 6,172]

Dogs which aren't fit enough for long runs will strain their muscles, which in turn releases protein and toxins into the system which need to be flushed through the kidneys. This often makes the dog drink far more than usual, which will make it pee more as well. Don't run the dog hard until things settle down, but be aware that once a dog has suffered the drink/pee cycle once, it is more likely to do it again.

 

One of the reasons dogs do this is that over exerting themselves leads to an imbalance in various minerals and electrolytes in the body, and they try to drink more to put back lost elements. Whilst Recharge is not a cure all, it is very useful in helping replace lost minerals etc after the dog has run too hard for its level of fitness.

 

Have a read of this:

http://www.virbac.com.au/p-virbacaupuben/display.aspx?srv=p-virbacau&typ=pub&lang=en&cmd=view&style=styles/page2.xsl&select=PAGE%5B@ID$eq$PAGE_120%5D&generic1=ARTICLE_421&affp=&

 

Once your dog has stopped the drink/pee cycle, make sure to get it really well conditioned (fit) to do the job you ask of it. Very excitable dogs, or dogs running in warm weather, are more prone to this problem than calm dogs or dogs working in cold weather.

[Blue one 89]

Dogs which aren't fit enough for long runs will strain their muscles, which in turn releases protein and toxins into the system which need to be flushed through the kidneys. This often makes the dog drink far more than usual, which will make it pee more as well. Don't run the dog hard until things settle down, but be aware that once a dog has suffered the drink/pee cycle once, it is more likely to do it again.

 

One of the reasons dogs do this is that over exerting themselves leads to an imbalance in various minerals and electrolytes in the body, and they try to drink more to put back lost elements. Whilst Recharge is not a cure all, it is very useful in helping replace lost minerals etc after the dog has run too hard for its level of fitness.

 

Have a read of this:

http://www.virbac.co...ICLE_421&affp=

 

Once your dog has stopped the drink/pee cycle, make sure to get it really well conditioned (fit) to do the job you ask of it. Very excitable dogs, or dogs running in warm weather, are more prone to this problem than calm dogs or dogs working in cold weather.

 

[yorkshirelad2 24]

Dogs which aren't fit enough for long runs will strain their muscles, which in turn releases protein and toxins into the system which need to be flushed through the kidneys. This often makes the dog drink far more than usual, which will make it pee more as well. Don't run the dog hard until things settle down, but be aware that once a dog has suffered the drink/pee cycle once, it is more likely to do it again.

 

One of the reasons dogs do this is that over exerting themselves leads to an imbalance in various minerals and electrolytes in the body, and they try to drink more to put back lost elements. Whilst Recharge is not a cure all, it is very useful in helping replace lost minerals etc after the dog has run too hard for its level of fitness.

 

Have a read of this:

http://www.virbac.co...ICLE_421&affp=

 

Once your dog has stopped the drink/pee cycle, make sure to get it really well conditioned (fit) to do the job you ask of it. Very excitable dogs, or dogs running in warm weather, are more prone to this problem than calm dogs or dogs working in cold weather.

Nice one cheers for that pal very helpfull buddy

[sandymere 8,261]

When a dog runs itself to a standstill you would expect it to damage the major muscles of locomotion and in extreme cases this can potentially lead to the life threatening complication of Rhabdomyolysis (RMS). In simple terms with RMS the damaged muscles cells breakdown and releases their contents into the blood stream, this impacts on the kidneys with possibly a resultant fluid shift from the blood into the damaged muscle tissue. RMS is an emergency situation and a vet should be involved in the animal’s treatment. I’ve had dogs suffer a degree of RMS with the classic reddish coloured urine and loss of condition over the following weeks but thankfully none have done enough damage to suffer with marked kidney failure.

 

A symptom that occasionally presents itself in similar circumstances to RMS is ‘Coursing Thirst’ this presents as an extreme thirst with a resultant increase in urine output after an extended run. I’ve recently contacted a number of people with a background in coursing to get a little more information on this subject, thanks to all who replied, and from this have considered the likely aetiology. We know that this presents when a dog has run to the point of complete exhaustion which would give an indication that RMS will be taking place plus we would also expect the animal to be extremely hot to the point of hyperthermia.

 

Muscle contraction creates heat and extended running will create extensive over heating. Very fit dogs adapt to cope with this hyperthermia to a remarkable degree but even for them there is a limit, less fit dogs will be less well adapted to cope. Added to the short term kinetic heat of contraction will be the longer term inflammatory heat from the damaged muscle. Dogs aren’t good at dissipating heat; they don’t sweat or have the many surface blood vessels that humans or horses have. One way they loss heat is drinking, an example is when I take the lurchers down the beach for some ball work they very quickly over heat unless I intermittently throw the ball into the surf to cool them down. If I don’t cool them they will use a water point to drink prior to getting in the car, if they’ve spent time in the water they rarely bother to drink. So a dog run to exhaustion will drink to cool down and the double whammy of kinetic and inflammatory heat combined with the possible fluid shift out of the blood stream due to RMS would be major contributors to coursing thirst but there is another factor to consider electrolytes.

 

One would expect marked changes in electrolyte levels in this scenario, those released from the muscles damaged cells, the normal shift that come with muscle contraction along with the loss of fluid volume due to the shift into the inflamed tissue would all alter levels. An increase in blood electrolytes will impact on thirst. An example would be going out for a meal and it being rather salty, pepperoni pizza say, you may well feel very thirsty later that evening. The body has recognised an electrolyte imbalance in the blood, in this case to much sodium, and so we drink to dilute and flush out the excess via the kidneys/urine. With RMS we know the cell contents have been released with their entire electrolyte so there is likely to be marked imbalances present which will add to the symptoms of coursing thirst over the medium term.

 

So there is excessive heat, both inflammatory and kinetic, there is possible electrolyte imbalance and dehydration due to fluid shift out of the blood stream! Basically it’s not surprising that the dogs drinks and in truth this is perhaps the best thing they can do. Drinking will help to flush the waste products and electrolyte imbalances through the kidneys hopefully reducing damage to these important organs whilst bolstering the vascular fluid compartment in the short term.

 

Next we should consider treatment and that’s simple, cool the dog down, ie water, wet towels etc and the vet, IV fluidss and medication are the only real treatment for extensive RMS and any dog showing symptoms of coursing thirst is potentially at risk. Many owners advocate electrolyte drinks but one should consider if these are appropriate in this situation, as discussed there is likely an increase in certain electrolyte, such as potassium, from the damaged cells and blindly adding more into the mix can be just adding fuel to the fire. Plain water with perhaps a glucose drink is always a good idea with any dog that has over run. For those showing symptoms of RMS or coursing thirst then the vets is the first stop for proper evaluation and treatment. There may be a need for some electrolyte replacement but this will be specific and targeted, given within the IV fluids along with supportive medication to minimise long term damage.

 

So in conclusion coursing thirst is not an unexpected result of over running when we consider the biochemistry involved electrolyte imbalances, overheating, trauma and even going into shock. It would be easy to say avoid the circumstances that lead to the problem but alas there will always the one that got up in front of the dog after its run, the extra incentive to make the dog push that little bit harder. We’ve bred sighthounds to push the physical barriers and at times they will go beyond them. The answer is unlikely to lay in an over the counter bottle of non specific electrolytes, at least not if we want the best outcome for the animal. Perhaps better to take a swig of electrolytes yourself after all carrying a collapsed dog over a few fields will bring on a bit of a sweat. I know I’ve done a couple of times.

Regards S