We have a bitch who was operated on for having ingested a foreign body last week.  It was major abdominal surgery, with her intestines being taken out of her body, flushed through and returned.

She is home now and all seemed fine until yesterday (day 6 after op).  When she got up from sleeping, I noticed a wet patch on her bedding the size of the base of a mug.  I wasn't sure what it was - I checked her wound but there was no discharge, so I thought perhaps it was dribble or drool in her sleep. 

Today though (day 7), she stood up after sleeping and her whole hind leg was wet through - so was the cushion she was sleeping on, and the wooden floor beneath - it was like a flood, which she was unaware of.  She is usually a v clean dog who asks to go out when she needs to go. 

She is in no discomfort when she wees outside.

We have a check up tomorrow with the vet who operated, but I just phoned the vets to speak to someone and see what they thought, on the phone.  They said to take in a urine sample, as she could have a urinary infection after the v strong ABs she was on initially.  But she has no other symptoms of a urinary infection and is in no pain when urinating.  She just seems to have lost the ability to know when she needs to go.

I was wondering if anyone else has experience of a dog becoming incontinent after surgery, short term or permanently?  I have heard of spay incontinence, but i thought that was for hormonal reasons as a low dose of estrogen stops it... She is 6 yo and spayed.  Obviously my fear is that the surgery damaged nerves in the bladder, which would tell her when she needs to go...

Thanks.

my last dog was incontinent after her spay. no issues whatsoever prior- very incontinent afterwards to degree that it poured from her as she walked.
after many tests- trials ofdrugs etc it was decided to opperate and was found her bladder was unusually abnormally large (would have been from birth) but also that the neck of the bladder had somehow been concertinared up during her spay making it impossible for her to be continent.  her bladder was repositioned back were it should be- stitched into place. the first surgery helped a great deal- unfortunatly she was still very wet, the repeat surgery taking it back further effected a 95% improvement and although she very slightly dripped it was not an issue for her or us.
I hope your bitch just has bruising or similar and this ceases on its own .  good luck

Thanks weimed.  Saw the vet this AM and he thought that perhaps she had a weak sphincter muscle on her bladder which she usually manages to deal with but, because she is a bit out of it after her op, she has had a couple of lapses.  He said that he went no where near her bladder etc during surgery and thinks it unlikely that this is a direct result of surgery - but more likely related to fatigue etc.  Also, she is usually fed a dry food but has been on a wet food since surgery and I've also been adding water to her wet food - I was concerned she wasn't drinking enough. 

He said that, 1 wk after surgery, he is reluctant to start doing urine samples, blood tests or put her on meds for incontinence yet - but that I should get her back to her usual routine with food and water asap and see how things are in a week.  She was dry last night.  I'm taking her out to wee more often.  Let's hope it's just a blip and all is back to normal soon.

Thanks for your help.

hope she is ok. it sounds like she has had a pretty traumatic big opp and your vets advice sounds very sensible to me.  with any luck she'll be right as rain once over the surgery.

No more accidents yet :)