Hey all I thought I would throw this question out since the experts helping my sister don't know what to do.

My sis lives in England and adopted a retired racing grayhound. Shortly after adoption she developed redness and irritation at her vent which was so painful to her in the middle of the night she woudl bark in pain.

My sisters dog insurance has paid for most of the treatment over the last year but the vets cannot figure out the cause. Allergies were ruled out and the closest they can come to the cause is that the urine is more potent than it should be even after increasing the water intake dramatically. Right now the dog is on a special urine specific diet so the vet can test the potency.

Does anyone have any ideas on this issue? The pain has gotten better but is still there resulting in small amounts of "wee" leaking out. They have even done tissue sampling from the bladder and urethra and everything else. I told my sister if this diet didn't help to try the RAW diet - beyond that I'm stumped. Thanks for ANY ideas! Kelly

I don't think potent urine will hurt the dog much. Have you tested for the urine's pH? You can buy kits to test the pH at fish stores easily. If anything I think the dog may be licking itself to the point it is causing a rash. Try looking up stuff on cystitis in dogs online. I know with retired greyhounds the females can have many problems due to steroid injections they use during racing them. This can cause malformations of the genital area. How long before your sister got her was she spayed? Did the problems happen shortly after that?

Kimberly

http://www.ranvet.com.au/urine_analysis.htm

This link talks specifically about Greyhounds.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_urinary_incontinence.html

She may also want to try using diaper rash ointment on the dog to help releive the rash. In the link above it states urinary incontinence may come from spinal damage, so she may want to get the dogs spine checked.

Kimberly

Wow great information thanks! I have passed this on to her. England has an interesting system for their pets. She says that she is required to have pet insurance and beyond that there is an ombudsman for each type of insurance over there! It would be nice to have something like that here in the US.