Urinary incontinence in older females - Page 1

My female for the past 2 years has been incontinent.  She was spayed at 2 years of age.  

When I did not have a dog, and in my mind's eye thought to myself:  I can never live with a dog that cannot withhold its urine or poop.  I did not know at that time what it means to love a dog and work through things.

A spayed female can become incontinent but it is not a death sentence to living outside the house.  There are many things that can be done to assist the animal.  In the case of my own dog, her incontinence comes when she is completely relaxed (sleeping) and is a result of spaying.

Eischa, my Eischa is a very active and happy 12 year old today.  She lives in the house with me and her two boys.  She was diagnosed as hypo thyroid and gets 2 meds a day with her food that controls this condition completely and also as a side note has resulted in the "bumps" under her skin to completely go down.  She was additionally treated with Proin (a drug that I have been very conservative with.  It is the same drug that was taken off the market for a weight-reduction in humans.  It is a kind of speed.)  I have observed that this drug causes her hair to raise from her tail forward.  But it is used as sparingly as possible.

On the most part Eischa is under control for her incontinence.  I think back when I was theorizing about having a dog and that such a condition would not be something that I could tolerate only to find that it is something very manageable.  

Eischa turned 12 years of age and I hope I have her around for many more years.

Her 12 year old portraits are up.  She is a my special one. 
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sunshine   thank you for the post it is interesting I to have a old girl almost 12 years and sometimes she cant hold her water but that is ok she is a kennel dog as she does not like in the house well not to stay in over night belive me I have tryed as I feel when they get old that the house is the best place for them but she loves to visit the house but then after a couple houres she wants out to her kennel and her friends when I go into the kennels in the morning to take the dogs out just sometimes the old girl bed is wet and I think a little bit of incontinent but we can live with this hope you have your girl for a good few years yet good luck god bless

The vet can often clear up the problem with a single hormone shot. Worked for my old girl quite well.

The vet can often clear up the problem with a single hormone shot. Worked for my old girl quite well.

 Could you clarify what hormone shot your old girl got?  Thanks.

We used Ovaban tablets to treat Urinary incont. in spayed bitches. It balanced the hormons usually in a few days of treatment. While they often have repeated bouts of leaking it is almost always treatable.  DES has also been used, but has fallen into disfavor as it is linked to birthdefects (but if used in a spayed bitch, not sure why that's an issue)

I guess it is never say never. I remember as a young girl thinking to myself of not wanting a day to come to have children while watching my younger siblings and then it all changed later and I love my sons dearly.

      Your girl will be loved forever, and of course cared for well and I really hope perhaps this leads to a way for both of you to be more comfortable for those years. I only hope to have my Aleit so long too. It gives me great hope to see you and Eischa and others stories.

The chemical name for Proin is Phenylpropanolamine. It was marketed for weight loss as Dexatrim and as Super Dexatrim  and was withdrawn from the market for human use because it was implicated in causing strokes in younger individuals. In olden times, vets used to prescribe estrogen tablets for canine female urinary incontinence.

Best wishes to lovely old Eischa, her mom, and her "boys:" I have some nice still photos and videos of this group to share with Maren--waiting to convert them to DVD--lo these many months.

Prior to learning that phenylpropanalamine HCl (what used to be marketed as Dexatrim and other OTC weight-loss products) could be effective in treating urinary incontinence in both male and female dogs, vets commonly used the hormone DES to control the problem in older and spayed female dogs.  Eventually, however, DES was abandoned by  human medicine, and the manufacturers stopped producing it, so the switch to the PPA was made.  That's what Proin is (and yes, it is in the same family of drugs as amphetamines), but it doesn't work for every dog.  If it fails for a female that's past breeding age or is spayed, DES can still be obtained--it has to be made up by a compounding pharmacy.  Your vet can either write you a script and you can obtain it on your own, if you have a compounding pharmacy in your area, or the vet can contact one and issue the script to them directly. 

DES is diethystilbesterone. I used it with success in a spayed btch.

When I was much younger, I probably lost a ton of weight taking Dexatrrim (also contained caffeine) as well as physician prescribed amphetamines.

Old Eischa is in excellent hands. Because I have observed that "sunshine" provides as good a  quality of care for her dogs as anyone I've known, I have remarked that, when I die, I want to come back as one of her dogs in the next life. Not being spayed, I promise not to trouble her with urinary incontinence.  I will leave being pissed to her--LOL!