It appears our Woody has canine Cushing's Disease. His adrenal glands are misfiring, resulting in excessive thirst (hence why he wakes us up at night for water) and uncontrollable peeing. We did urinalysis and blood work this morning, I'll know more when I get the blood work tomorrow.
Our vet is very pragmatic. Woody will be 14 next month. The doctor said that Cushing's itself isn't fatal, but the symptoms often are (ie--peeing all over isn't good for longevity). Apparently treatment is rather hit or miss. It isn't a cure, and there is no guarantee it would work. It could do more harm than good. And there would be two more tests, including a hospitalization to definitely diagnose Cushings. Jamie and I have been saying that we wouldn't do anything drastic to prolong Woody's life for a while now. But that's a lot easier to say when the inevitability of euthanasia isn't staring you in the face.
I'm glad I know what's wrong with him, but I hate it too. This is so the worst part of pet ownership. We had so much loss last year and this was such a good year. I've known this was coming, but that really doesn't make it any easier at all.
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