I have been lucky enough to get an article published in the Veterinary Times.
In it I describe the diagnosis and treatment of a rare condition in dogs called Primary Hyperparathyroidism (PHPT).
The parathyroid glands regulate levels of calcium in the blood. When they become overactive, as with PHPT, blood calcium levels become too high which can cause a range of clinical signs. If a dog is only mildly affected signs can be limited to drinking and urinating too much. However more serious signs include vomiting, muscle tremors and muscle weakness.
The best way to treat this disease is to surgically remove the affected parathyroid glands. There are four parathyroid glands and usually only one or two are affected. The remaining unaffected glands will then take over the regulation of blood calcium once the abnormal glands have been removed.
The little dog that I treated in this case did very well post surgery. Her blood calcium levels returned to normal and her excessive drinking and urinating stopped.
If your dog has started drinking and urinating more than normal please get in touch to discuss it with me. There are a range of causes of this, of which PHPT is a very rare one!
The full article can be found here : https://www.vettimes.co.uk/article/case-of-canine-primary-hyperparathyroidism/
