Hormone Incontinence In Dogs

[Leela and PJ]

My poor Leela has Hormone incontinence which started shortly after desexing her. She is now 4 years old. She requires hormone medication to control the problem. However I have chosen not to give her the medication due to long term side effects. Now it's getting cold at night I bring her inside to sleep and she does have accidents in the house.

Has anyone had this issue with their dogs if so how have you felt with it? Are their any natural remedies to treat hormone incontinence?

[Salukifan]

I have opted to give Lily the medication. The incidence of side effects is not common and she gets distressed when she has accidents.

Lily is down to only one Stiboestrol tablet a month so the dosage can be very low. Herbie the Whippet has renal issues and gets Propalin to help him concentrate his urine. It is working well for him.

I'd talk to your vet. My dogs' Bowen therapist say she gets a fair bit of success with assisting this too.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[persephone]

leela= this article may interest you ?

LINK

excerpt:

Structural Incontinence:Structural incontinence is a term I have chosen to describe the lack of physical control over the bladder other than that produced through a current infection as described above or a nervous episode described below.The underlying problem is usually the fact that the sphincter controlling the release of urine through the urethra is physically unable to hold back the flow against normal amounts of pressure caused by the bladder filling.There are cases to be found at birth due to anatomical malformations such as ectopic ureter. In these cases urine produced in the kidneys essentially bypasses the normal channel through the bladder and empties directly into the urethra or even the vagina and surgery is the only option.The most common cause of structural incontinence, which develops in a bitch which had not previously had problems. is spay incontinence. This can develop from few months to years after spaying. Otherwise for both sexes, it would be structural changes resulting from a history of severe urinary tract infections.

Edited May 31, 2013 by persephone

[Guest Ams]

One of my girls has spey incontinence and has been on and off Stilboestral for years. She is now not responding to that and has had Propalin added twice a day. She is still peeing in her sleep so a lovely friend has purchased some doggy nappy pants for me and I can put them on her for when she does want to get up on the bed. She has control when she is awake but none when asleep. I also make sure I have waterproof mattress protectors on my bed as I do get caught out sometimes with her.

[persephone]

I used this for Mum's old incontinent dog ... worked a treat :)

http://www.conni.com.au/shop/Conni+Bed+Pad+and+Chair+Pad+-+washable+waterproof+absorbent/Conni+Max+Bedpad.html

[Dame Aussie]

I wish vets would be a bit more open about how common this is after desexing. Sorry I don't have any advice, but good luck with it, it must be frustrating for both of you.

[suziwong66]

our first hand experience post desexing is that bitches aren't the only ones who have sphincter muscle issues. Wilbur, 23.5 months old was desexed a few months ago and developed a leak immediately post desexing. It has gotten a little better as the months have passed but if he has a full bladder and is pushing while pooing, urine will often shoot out concurrently. The jnr vet only discussed surgical solutions - i'm not thrilled with the idea atm. The snr vet said add some bicarb soda to his water - oddly enough it has helped but not stopped the leaking. For the first month or so we had to make sure he went out to wee often. And 3 - 4 months post op i still make sure he goes out regularly to minimise the leaking. It is now only present when he's got a full bladder.

Yes, i'm with you Aussie3 and wish vets would be more open about the possibility of it occurring in both dogs and bitches.

[dee lee]

My GR has had it for a couple of years now.

Initially she was on stilboestrol, only giving her a dose if I noticed her dripping (roughly about once a month).

At some point I realised that she is a habitual water guzzler & that if I made sure she didn't have access to excess water the leaking stopped.

Basically I make sure she gets appropriate amounts of water but minimize the refills, especially in the evening. It works pretty well & it's been over a year since I've given the drugs. I feel that her bladder muscles just werent strong enough to hold in the excess water.

But I do want to stress, I'd always felt she drank excess water out of habit, so she still does get enough water. It's probably not the answer for all incontinent dogs, worth considering though.

Oh & I did read once that tail wagging is like pelvic floor exercises for dogs. :laugh:

[Leela and PJ]

I can't remember the name of the medication Leela was on. I do remember it was in liquid form and quite expensive. It doesn't bother me that she has accidents at night in the house I just clean it up and wash her bed. I do feel Leela gets upset about it. she knows she has done naughties in the house and when she has she tends to wake me up to let her outside.

I have just bought her a new bed which has a plastic type cover so I can just hose it down.

I'm glad Leela is not the only young dog out there with incontinence. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.