My dog is drinking, bloated, tired, irritable. What to do at home?

I would recommend having your dog seen as soon as possible if her symptoms are not improving tomorrow, even if this means taking her in to another vet or an emergency vet. Diseases we worry about with these symptoms include Cushings Disease (where the adrenal glands produce too much steroids), diabetes, kidney disease and liver disease. Some of these conditions can worsen quickly and become life threatening so having her examined and having bloodwork and urinalysis done as soon as possible to determine the underlying cause is the safest way to proceed.

Oh my. Poor girl! These symptoms are suggestive of a possible adrenal gland problem. Increased drinking, stomach bloating, tachycardia (increased heart rate) as well as tachypnea (increased respiratory rate) are common signs of Cushing disease, Pheochromocytoma and heart disease. I would highly recommend seeking yet another vets opinion about Twinklesa and get some actual tests ran on her. She needs baseline bloodwork (CBC, biochemistry) and radiographs of her abdomen and chest in order to diagnose her underlying condition. The results of those tests should be able to point the vet in the right direction towards her treatment. If she has already had those tests done and the vets are still unable to come up with a diagnosis, then I would recommend considering a referral to an internal specialists. Your vet should be able to send the referral through and get Twinkles seen within a weeks time. I hope you get to the bottom of what is causing Twinkles symptoms and can get her the proper treatment soon. Best of luck!

If she is drinking or urinating more than usual, she should be seen by your veterinarian. Given her age, blood work should be done to assess major organ function, especially kidney function. Dogs can have kidney disease but show no symptoms until kidney function is greatly reduced. If diagnosed early, it may be managed.

As long as she is acting ok you could monitor her for additional signs. If she starts retching, seems uncomfortable, starts drooling, is painful, or the distension persists then she should be examined by a vet. Your vet can take an X-ray to evaluate her abdomen and determine the exact cause of her problem.

Common causes would be Pyometra (uterine infection- an emergency condition!), Cushing's disease and liver disease. either way i would strongly recommend taking her to the vet urgently, this is not something you can treat at home.

My biggest concern is that your vet is talking about hyperadrenocorticism also known as Cushing's disease. This is what I think of when you discuss those symptoms, liver enzyme elevations and adrenal issues. Cushings is where they produce too much cortisol in their system. You can do a test to rule this in or out. You can have your vet do a low dose dexamethasone test OR a ACTH stimulation test. If it comes up positive then you can treat with the disease with a daily medicine called trilostane to help the symptoms. But you cannot cure cushings. I hope this helps and will help guide you in a conversation with your vet if this is actually what your vet thinks is going on.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is difficult to say just from a picture what is wrong with Flower. If you think Flower's belly is bloated / enlarged, I would have a veterinarian examine her and have x-rays taken of her abdomen. Things that would make a belly distend range from fluid in the abdomen, large amounts of gas (bloat) and tumors. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.