My Collie has suffered with urinary incontinence pretty much since i had her spayed - before her first season. I now know this was the wrong decision & i should have waited but at the time i hadn't done much research on the topic, wasn't familiar with forums and it was also what i was advised by my vet.

Anyway back to the point i have been into the vet 3/4 times in the last year with incontinence and the second time i got told that i could potentially need an op to remove skin from around her vulva as she has juvenile vulva (vet didnt tell me this - i only recently obtained a copy of her medical records with the intention of moving vets before i discovered this in her notes - pretty easy to guess why i am moving!) anyway 2 lots of antibiotics later and still no improvement.

Next time i am at the vets i am going to enquire about the op to the vet if they don't suggest it - has anyone had any experience with this op? Pros & Cons? Actually want to research & know lots more info about the op before i go ahead with ANY procedures in the future. Also, my dog is a bit overweight, about 4/5kg - has been on a light diet for a while now but back when she was "diagnosed" with JV she was an average weight. If i did decide to get this op at this stage - and then she lost weight would that then cause more problems? She is 2 years old this July.

Nice responses please - new to this forum in particular will try remember revisit this post when i work this site out lol!

Sorry to hear about your collie's problems. :-( Is she on any medication for the incontinence? I had a bitch with incontinence and found that Incurin tablets worked wonders. She weighed 25kg and only needed half a tablet a day to keep her totally dry, although other bitches aren't always so responsive and need a slightly higher dose, or another medication in addition (or instead).

If she's overweight then that could be making the problem with her vulva worse; if she loses the weight you might be lucky and find that you can avoid surgery, which sounds rather drastic. Is the juvenile vulva causing urine scald? If so how are you treating it? A smear of vaseline on the area before you take her for a walk (so that she doesn't immediately lick it off) can help ease it.

INCURIN works well for my bitch too.

Something I saw on here and it's worked for my old lady - Cranberry tablets.  I get mine from Healthspan and they really have made a difference.  Used to have soggy blankets almost every day but since I started giving her these, it's once a blue moon when I notice anything :-)

Hi - we had this with one of ours  pre first season - she did grow out of it but went for tests at a specialist to look for a reason ( none was found ) was told that if it did not go away lots of options available including medication ( propalin / incurin ) , collagen injection and also possibly surgery to reposition her bladder . They checked her internally with a camera and found everything was where it should be so might be worth asking your vet about this as I was told that if her plumbing was wrong this would need sorting out with an op and not
medication . I know your girl is spayed now but would be worth asking and seeing a specialist if not sure what to do for the best .

Those of you who use Incurin/Propalin for incontinence meds, how much does this cost you roughly, in an ongoing way?

I am just thinking about insurance and how much common ongoing meds can cost, as our insurance is not the 'for life' kind.  Thanks.

Soli's propalin costs me about £35 for a 100ml bottle.  That lasts us just shy of 2 months, but she is a big 33kg dog on 1.8ml a day.

Food helps - I find that the more actual meat she has in her normal food, the better she is.  So a fully processed, run-of-the-mill dog food will push her dose as high as 2.5ml, but if she has fully raw, it can go right down to 1ml.  She's on a 20% meat food at the mo.

I pay the same for my bitch's propalin.  I think you're right about the effect diet has.  She has 0.7mls morning and evening and is on a fully raw diet.  She was previously on a good quality kibble and needed an extra dose of propalin midday when on that diet.