Any Veterinarians in the house?

[georgewe4]

We just purchased a Miniature Schnauzer about 3 weeks ago. He was born May 29th. I was told by his Vet that he may have diabetes. The reason he was tested for this is due to the fact that I thought he was drinking and urinating excessively. He will want to get up through the night to lick dew from the grass. At first I thought this was just due to his age. The Vet said that a couple of enzimes in his blood are elevated. Well, one is elevated and one is on the high side of normal. The bills are racking up!! He said now they will need to do a urinalysis to check urine concentration. This could cost up to 120.00. It was 81.00 for the blood test, and 76.00 for shots, since they would not honor the breeder's shots. The vet said he also probably had worms, because his stomach was hard. The breeder said that she had wormed him 3 times, but he would need to be wormed again. Anyway, back to the frequent urination... He can soak a pee pad or towel, and himself to dripping within an hour or less. On some days though, he will have a dry night all together. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Oh, and he is due for another set of shots and a fecal test. Who knows how much that will be. He will go outside up to four times when taken out. It seems like he just goes a little each time though. So, I'm not sure if he is just trying to mark his territory all over the yard, and saving some for each spot he goes to. Anyway, he is a cute dog, and our little boy adores him, so we would like to keep him, but simply can't afford all of these tests that are inconclusive. Not only that, but we would not be able to afford to care for him if he is diabetic

Any advice for us?

Thanks

George, Tara, Spence, and GUS(the puppy)

 

[GNBRETT]

Dogs, like kids are not cheap. Those vet bills are actually quite reasonable. I look at it as the years of happyiness a dog will bring your family vs. the few hundred dollars a year you might spend in vet bills. I would sell everthing I own if I needed money to treat my dog for an illness if I did not have the funds. This is my mini schn. My mini drinks quite a bit of water herself. Puppies all urinate a bit. This breed as well as the Yorkie have peeing issues. Mine never pees inside now but she was a little she-devil when she was a puppy. Peed, chewed, you name it.

Little frequent squirts are markings. That is common. Once again, they will pee a LOT when they are puppies. More so then other breeds. The diabetis diagonsis could be correct but your dog is acting quite normal IMO.

 

[georgewe4]

This was a long lost post, but I have to update. We had Gus checked out last week by another vet. He was highly recommended by a lady I work with. Her son graduated with him from Ohio State. He was very nice. They did a blood test and a few other little things and it turned out that Gus could'nt be healthier. He has become the coolest dog this week. He runs to the door when he has to go outside. He sits on command and plays with our 4 1/2 year old very well. He growls and fusses when our son wants to pick him up and Gus is'nt in the mood. He has that Schnauzer personality. He is not afraid of anyhting so far. He plays for a while, and then will settle down and stretch out on the floor to sleep. He makes it through the night with no problems.
We took him with us to my dads last night. When we arrived we set him down in the yard to see if he had to go. He squatted about 8 times and peed a little each time in different areas of the yard. He was marking the territory. Kinda funny especially at about 9 weeks. When he was finished he was ready to go in.
Here is his picture before his first haircut. He now has a Schnauzer cut.

 

[Pronto]

Our mini is 12 now. She's really mildly tempered. She's never snapped at anyone and was never yippy. She started to develop loose stools when she was about 5 but we never could find a reason. Weird thing was she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in June and was on antibiotics. They helped her diarria so she could go the night without an accident. She's off the medicine and back to her "old" self. She's gotten tested for all kinds of stuff but nothing that an anitbiotic would help. Her heart is enlarged and so is her liver. 2 years ago she was falling down and we took her to the vet. They told us she was in need of a pace maker or she would die. No pacemaker and 2+ years later she sure showed them. Of course she now has bad eyes and is pretty deaf but we still love her-except for cleaning up after her.

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[Project TNX]

Not the answer you want to hear, but I would put him down or give him to someone that is prepared to deal with a lifetime of medical bills and urine. I put 11 years into the most worthless Beagle on the planet and I vowed to never do that crap again.