Urinary incontinence (also called spay incontinence) in younger, female dogs is a distressing diagnosis for both humans and their canine companions. Spay incontinence occurs when, obviously, the dog has been spayed early in life and the lack of hormones has led to a weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, causing leaking. If left untreated, incontinence can lead to serious infections, not to mention an unsanitary house and owners who ponder either re-homing a dog or putting her down due to the stress of dealing with the mess.
Because spay incontinence doesn’t generally occur only when the dog has a full bladder, but is characterized more by a slow, steady leak, it can’t be prevented by simply taking the dog out when she needs to relieve herself. It’s a constant problem, as we discovered when our dog Tuggles was diagnosed in the summer of 2004.
However, there are treatment options for spay incontinence issues, and we have been lucky to find a routine that works well for us an doctors who were willing to try several different options before settling on a treatment plan.
Acupuncture for pets is becoming more and more popular as people get used to alternative treatments for themselves and then realize that the same healthy, non medical techniques could be applied to their beloved pets. While it seems an odd (and perhaps overly indulgent) choice, acupuncture can be a great solution when long term medication is otherwise called for. Monthly acupuncture treatments can substitute for costly, daily medication which can be forgotten or just a trial to get into your dog and not all over your floor. Our vet prescribed a series of acupuncture treatments for Tuggles when first diagnosed, which worked exceptionally well. Unfortunately, due to our dog’s very nervous temperament, acupuncture turned out to be a stressful experience for all involved.
Another treatment option for spay incontinence is Proin. Proin is phenylproponolamine (PPA for short) which gained fame in the late 1990s as the ingredient which caused many large brands of cough and cold medication to be recalled. However, PPA has been shown not to have any adverse effects on pets. Proin is given to incontinent dogs each day in one of three doses, and tends to prevent the leaking associated with spay incontinence. While this is a very effective treatment for many dogs, we found that our dog’s issue resulted in a very large dosage of Proin being necessary.
The third option for spay incontinence could be termed as hormone replacement for dogs. Estrogen is given in pill form, in a loading dose of one pill per day for two weeks, then a maintenance dose of one to two pills per week after that. The pill works to replace the hormones lost due to the spay procedure and strengthens the pelvic floor muscles. Our dog has been on estrogen for a year or two now and we’ve seen wonderful results.
With a little patience and persistence, your dog’s spay incontinence issues can be controlled extremely well. The quality of life your dog will have after treatment is well worth the work to get the incontinence under control, and you will no doubt appreciate the dry floors and furniture!
