u/Many-Front4403

We have been going to one of the vets offices here in town. I won't mention names as they have been wonderful aside from being consistently late getting us in and out.

Show up for appt right on time then waiting 30 minutes to be taken back, then another 15 minutes in the room waiting for the vet. Even longer to get checked out. I understand emergencies come up and sometimes other animals require more care but it is every single visit.

Which vet do you use thats more consistent? What other reasons do you like going there?

I appreciate it!

Some background:

4-5 year old, Neutered Male, American Bulldog mix 45-50lbs

Has history of skin and possible food allergies

Treated about 4 weeks ago for bloody diarrhea, one instance of vomiting the week prior, was otherwise acting fine, fecal negative, treated with metronidazole for 10 days and it resolved.

Then about 2 weeks after completion of metronidazole he vomited a couple times during the week, but otherwise seemed normal. By the end of the week he refused food or water and was acting really out of it. Was able to see vet same day he stopped eating, they took abdominal xrays, nothing found and lab work. Lab work showed extremely high levels of sodium despite his other values looking okay regarding kidneys and being decently hydrated. Also showed some signs of infection and inflammation.

He was hospitalized overnight on IV fluids to bring sodium levels down. There is zero chance he ate something high in sodium and since his labs didn't show he was overly dehydrated we did some additional tests to rule out diabetes insipidus and atypical addisons. All came back negative.

When I picked him up he was sent home with prednisone and amoxi clav due to the labs showing inflammation and infection. I was instructed to not withhold water and that he would be drinking and peeing a lot due to the prednisone.

The constant thirst and peeing is insane! The following day he was drinking non stop to the point he was peeing constantly. I am not exaggerating. I would let him out, he would have a good long pee and then would continue to squat again every minute to let more dribble out, going on for the whole 10 minute potty break. Bringing him inside would only last 5 minutes before he was back at the door to go out and repeat it all over again. I counted his water intake the following day and it was over 32 cups! For a 45-50lb dog. He was also starting to look very bloated but was eating and pooping normal. I called the vet the following Monday and explained and they seemed unconcerned since he was otherwise acting fine. I tried to ask if i could pace out the water by giving 2-4 cups every hour but this was considered withholding and was a no. They did agree to lower the steroid dose even though he was already on a low dose. This changed nothing. I feel so bad as he basically lives outside right now, the weather has been good but still. Now he is starting to get diarrhea again, no blood this time and follow up is tomorrow.

TLDR: dog on steroids, even after lowering the dose he is consuming insane amounts of water, over 32 cups per day. Basically as much as I put down he will immediately consume, there is no distracting him away from the bowl. He will empty a 10 cup bowl in 5 minutes and pees constantly, then will go right back to bowl and be upset if its empty. Vet is unconcerned and said to not withhold water.