Hey.

I posted quite some time ago about my Female Collie having incontinence issues as a result of being spayed before her first season and what i could do to help prevent her incontinence. Got Propalin (i think it is called) from the vet at the time which helped a little, then in the following months even long after the treatment had ended her problem seemed to vanish. Now it seems to have flared up again quite badly to the point where she will leak everywhere constantly regardless of what she is doing or how many times in the day she gets out to pee.

The last time i was at the vet about this they said it was due to her being over weight (her ideal weight is 17KG, however she is currently about 24KG). As a result of the early spaying & her weight, this has resulted in her having Juvenile Vulva and also a layer of fat overlapping this area which results in it being inflamed and i am guessing - probably worsening the incontinence?

I was told my options were i could send her in for an operation to remove the excess fat around her vulva or put her on a diet - which is proving ineffective so far. She is fed Arden Grange dog food and i have had her on the light version for quite some time, feeding the recommended amount for a 17KG dog as directed by the vet. She also gets fed a raw meaty bone on a Saturday, and through the week she will often get Cooked liver/heart occasionally although when she gets this it replaces her usual kibble so she is not being overfed.

So i was basically wondering again if anyone else has had a similar problem and how they have gone about it? Has anyone ever managed to prevent incontinence or is it something i will always have to deal with? Also, can anyone suggest any good quality (and affordable!) light foods that will potentially  help weight loss in Dogs?

Thanks for reading,

J

I would say that if the vet has ruled out any other reasons for her weight gain and you are feeding her the recommended amount but she isn't losing weight then you are still giving her too much food.

I would cut down on her food a little and slowly increase her exercise and see if it made a difference. Dogs have varying needs with regard to the amount of food they need - my large 32kg dog has 450g of raw food a day and stays fit and lean  whereas my much lighter 6kg dog has around 200g a day - so proportionally a much greater amount - and is very, very lean indeed.

You would be surprised in how much food there is in the odd bone, I would cut out any extra food and just feed the A G and cut it down a little and continue to cut until she starts to loose weight, you can give a carrot or apple if she needs treats for training.

As far as the incontinence is concerned I think it is something you will have to manage, the immature vulva is a problem as she is likely to become very sore if the leaking continues and you may need to use the sort of cream you would use on a baby to stop urine burning.

I have never found the light diets of any real use and the amounts advised for some dogs are still too much.

The only sure way I have found to get weight off is to stick to a good quality nutritious diet and halve the quantity replacing the other half with low cal cooked or raw veg to give bulk and make them feel full.

My breed put on weight easily and the 20kg girls who are spayed only get around 170g of AG Lamb and Rice daily.  If I was dieting them they woudl only get abotu 100g.

Ok thanks for all the replies! Will continue to cut down her food intake gradually and see how we get on then. Hoping this wont affect her too badly as she also used to eat everything and anything she could find whilst out in garden and off leash (Mainly any form of poop!) regardless of diet, it took a long time for her to grow out of this habit.

As with light diets i was also told by the vet that regular brands you can buy in light versions are not as effective as prescription diets you can get from them, although i am not sure if this is true or not. They wanted to put her on the Hills Light prescription diet (tins) but i was reluctant to do so at the time and preferred to try and cut her weight ordering her usual food. I am not sure what Hills rates on the Quality dog food scale so will have to look into that too.

As for exercise - she does get plenty of daily out with my working hours, we are up to the park twice a day and she does off leash running and alot of fetch, we also do Flyball at weekends however i am worried she is getting to fat for this - she is always out of breath & the fattest collie there *sigh*. The more exercise the better though in this case Lol x

I'd take the prescription food being better with a pinch of salt. 

It's simple as with us less food in than body uses equals weight loss, more food in than metabolism requires dog gets fat.

Sadly my body uses less food than I like to eat, hence fat dog owner.  I do have dogs at a healthy weight as I control the food.

Replacing the reduced food with veg is to help with the scavenging issue.  In the light diets they add indigestible fibre and cellulose to do the same but it is rarely enough, and easier and much cheaper to replace with veg yourself.

jamiioo i have PM'd you.

Vets always want to put dogs on the prescription diets that they sell! I would do as you say and just cut her food gradually, possibly adding some veg if she needs the bulk to feel full. Good luck!

Hey, again thanks for the replies. Zeebee i have replied to your pm :)

Definitely going to be cutting down the amounts she gets to eat! Considering trying a Raw Diet too, to see how we get on with that. Need to do a bit more research on it first though, i find there is alot of conflicting advice on the net regarding how it should be done. Also need to find where to get the majority of my ingredients for it too.

Thanks! :)

I agree with everyone on cutting down the amount of food she eats. Definitely the way to go re weight.
As for the incontinence-- I am not normally keen on any dog being on long term medication for no good reason, but incontinence, and the resulting painful urine scald round her vulva, sounds like a good reason to me. I have had boarders who have been on Propalin for many years with no ill effects, and others who have been on Incurin for many years with no ill effects.  In the case of Incurin, the owners I know have often managed to reduce the dose after a few weeks, often down to a very small dose onm alternate days.