Bladder Incontinence

[felixkitty]

So I guess I'm just sort of wondering.. I took my dog to the vet, they told me she has bladder incontinence. She pees on herself in her sleep, can't control her bladder at all. She pees outside when I take her out, but she also can't control herself and pees ALL the time. Have to give her baths 3 times a week, it gets pretty annoying. They gave me a bunch of pills.. my boyfriend has to feed them to her once a day for the next month, I wasn't given any other instructions. I take her to low-income vet clinic; I'm trying to save money where I can, because I am pregnant which takes priority over anything else. I love my dogs, but absolutely MUST save money where I can. The vet I go to is fast, but not as thorough or personable as most regular vets.. but I"m not gonna lie, I can't resist the $25 vet visits (this was the cost of the check-up AND treatment, as well as her rabies vacc).

Anyway, I have some friends' who's dogs take pills 3 times a week for the same thing. But it seems like my dog is only on a 30 day treatment plan. Or does she need to take pills every day for the rest of her life?

[tiffers]

It's probably PPA that you were given. This is something she'll need for the rest of her life. The 30 days may be a 'trial' period to see how well she does on the medicine and how she reacts to it. Besides, you can't purchase a lifetime supply of medication at one time. You will need to return for more when you are out.

[special]

Tiffers, how soon should felixkitty expect to see improvement in her dog's condition on this medication, if it's going to help?

[tiffers]

Tiffers, how soon should felixkitty expect to see improvement in her dog's condition on this medication, if it's going to help?

It's really case by case. I'd expect small changes gradually...there's really never an overnight fix.

[beasgal]

Sadie takes PPA twice a day for the rest of her life. She only "leaks" at night while she is sleeping. I don't even think she realizes she is doing it since she has never pee'd anywhere but outside. Lately, even with the PPA she leaks about once or twice a month. She has an appointment in two weeks for her percortin injection and blood tests. I'm going to ask the vet what we can do now that she seems to break through the medication occasionally.

[felixkitty]

I'm not sure what the medication is, but they are large round pills, bluish-brown and they say PROIN 50 on them.

Thank you for the replies, they're helpful. I've been really sad since she started doing this; I a few weeks ago and started monitoring it. Every time I let her outside, she lays down on her bed and falls asleep and not but ten minutes later, she's peed all over her bed and herself. She always looks really ashamed and sad when she does it, since she knows peeing in the house is not acceptable. I never punished her for it, because I figured she had a bladder infection or something, but she always looked so sad whenever she would wake up in pee. I think it's because I usually give her baths when she has pee on her; usually she runs upstairs to the bathtub and waits for me. She hates baths though, so maybe she's associating the baths with punishment or something? :(

Apparently it took me a while to catch it. I had one of her dog beds in a corner of the room, and when shedding season rolled around I was about to take the cover off to wash it, but there was pee caked on it. So of course, after monitoring her for a while, I took her to the vet right away.. Really worried me.. I recently lost a cat to kidney failure so I was started panicking and thinking that maybe there was something in the house they were getting into that was making them sick (though we have a golden retriever who seems perfectly healthy).

Guess we'll see how the medication works. Thanks again. :)

[beasgal]

Yes, Sadie takes Proin (PPA).

[_Lisa_]

My boxer mix has urinary incontinence too. She was on PPA for months but it made no difference at all.

We keep her on a strict water intake & bathroom schedule during the day, and she wears kids pull-ups (size 4T-5T) with dog bloomers (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14459) to hold them on. It works really well! The liners that come w/ the bloomers do NOT soak up anything-rendering the bloomers absolutely useless. So thats why we changed to kids pull-ups.

[felixkitty]

Thanks for the help.. the medication already seems to be working for her. :-)

Guess I'll give it a while and see how she does, but I can already see a difference. She's hasn't had a single accident!

[special]

Glad she is doing better on the medicine. Please keep us updated.

(by the way, did the vet test for UTI?)

[DachshundDuo]

When Bubba was incontinent I used baby diapers and a onesie. You can cut an X in the diaper where her tail will slip through.

[felixkitty]

Glad she is doing better on the medicine. Please keep us updated.

(by the way, did the vet test for UTI?)

We tried, but she wouldn't go to the bathroom. I explained it to the vet and she said it was definitely bladder incontinence; no question about it.