2 Q's: Dog Urinating Inside and Possible Fox Problem?

Aragneer

Hello there,

So I didn't want to make two threads as I know that can become quite annoying so I will put both of my questions in this thread. Please can somebody help.

I have a young female dog (3 years old), who was house-trained well and is usually well-behaved (apart from some chewing and hyperactive issues) but all of a sudden she has started to pee everywhere. She urinates on her blankets, on beds, on the sofa and in patches on the floor. It is not a dribble. She is spayed and she has no changes in behavior. She is not running a fever, she seems to be eating and drinking fine (whenever I spot her) and she has no swollen stomach.
When she plays, she chews and licks stones, which is just part of her normal behaviour.
Anybody have any idea what this could be? She is often very healthy. We recently got a new rabbit that is in and out of the house and gets a bit of attention, so perhaps it is that? Advice would be helpful. She is my own dog (family pet but mine specifically) and I panic a lot.

My second question is about a fox.

I heard an awful kind of wheezing bark outside last night. It sounded like how in cartoons, when a character is attacked by dust and gets it in the throat, how they would normally wheeze it up. It sounded very eerie.
I am almost certain this was a fox. I looked it up online and it seemed like an 'alarm bark'.
I'm a bit worried about this as we had chickens and ducks before and all were taken by this fox. One of my young cats (who is now departed, R.I.P) was bitten by one two winters ago and died not long after. (He was ginger and white and possibly resembled a fox?). Anyway, now I have three other cats and one is very small and basically - my mother's pride and joy. We both went out last night to grab him in case the fox came to attack.

Are foxes likely to attack a cat? And is there anyway I can prevent foxes from coming near my house or where my cats would wander?

I also have guinea pigs and a rabbit in secure hutches but I also worry about them and just want to know if I can do anything about this.

Thank you so much.

DBB

Hi OP,
Regarding your dog, any sudden change in toilet behaviour is almost always caused by an underlying medical problem. Very often, it's a UTI, but in fact any number of health problems can cause behavioural changes, so there is little option for you here but to get her to the vet for a check-up.
I know you think she's healthy, but dogs are excellent at hiding problems like this, and sometimes the health problems don't cause them that much discomfort, just odd behavioural changes.

Foxes will attack cats, of any colour, and small dogs. There was a thread on it here very recently, I'll go find it for you.

Your cats, and your small animals will certainly draw a fox in, I hope your hutches are supremely secure because foxes will cause a considerable amount of damage to gain access to hutches.

Edited to add: here's that thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057241790

Aragneer

Thank you for answering my questions, I will gather up some money for the vet trip as I really can't afford it but I will just dive into my accommodation fund and hopefully it won't be anything serious. Our two main concerns are that she either has swallowed a rock or even debris of a rock and it's been flushed into the wrong organ (bladder instead of stomach) or that she has licked a rock with weed killer on.
Hopefully she'll be okay for that?

Ah damn, the fact that my animals attract the foxes scares me. I am in the countryside and have 8 acres of land, which my cats love to explore. We recently had an elderly dog disappear and never reappear, which we think was taken by a fox but we've never found any trace because of all our land ...

Our hutches are inside a shed, which has two doors that are sealed shut and have several latches, although are quite easy to open. They have the barn that shelters/protects them.

Thank you for your help and fingers crossed the foxes stay away and my dog is fine!

kylith

Set your mind at rest about the rock in one respect - there is no earthly way it can get into her bladder. The kidneys take waste from the bloodstream, not the gut, and send it to the bladder. Yes, you do hear about bladder stones and kidney stones, but those are formed inside the organ, they cannot get in for from the outside.