Hi
I am thinking of having my four year old bitch spayed. I have been looking though the forum at everything about spaying. I cant find anything about a possible link to incontinance. I just wanted to know about other people's experience with it. As the bitch gets older is there a higher likley-hood of incontinance in a spayed bitch as apose to a bitch that hasnt been spayed?
My girl is lovely and has really done us proud she had a lovely litter in January, she was a brilliant mum. The puppies now 9 months old are gorgeous, however in our household with 3 entire males, it is just getting to the point where we are dreading her seasons. So to make life a little easier we thought about spaying. A friend of ours raised the question on incontinance, as she said that it can be a real problem. I would just like to know the facts before making a decision.

Rachel

I can only give you my experience ;)

We took on 2 bitches, not together (long story) one had had a litter before she came to us and we got her spade at the age of 5. She lived until she was 11 and not once did she suffer incontinence.

The other one had never had a litter and she was spayed at 7. She was fine for 3 or 4 yrs and then as age crept in she had very slight incontinence which distressed her somewhat. It was never a problem for us as she was very clean and used to deal with it herself by cleaning the area.

Our last bitch was spayed at 5, unfortunately she was killed when she was 7, but in those 2 years she had no problems whatsoever.

If you do a search on the facility on here, you will see many experiences on this subject. But overall, I would say that spaying at the right age and time has more advantages than disadvantages :)

I have an 11 year old spayed bitch who is slightly incontinent, but I'm struggling to think of another one I know - I worked in a boarding kennels for years and I think we had one bitch boarder in all that time that was on medication for it (and nobody else dribbling or wetting her bed - you'd notice these things in a kennel situation). My girl's kidneys are not A1 so I think that has more to do with it in her case. She was spayed at 3 years of age and was about 9 when she started peeing herself in the night. She can go days without having an accident and never does it in the day.

There's some correlation, but a spayed bitch will not inevitably be incontinent. Some research shows it may be more common in bitches spayed at a very young age, so your girl will probably be okay. To my mind, the advantages outweigh the possibility of a disadvantage like incontinence. Anyway, if it happens in the future, it can be treated effectively.

Hi I have a breed that suffers from Incontinance once they have been spayed but however i have had both my girls spayed and they do not suffer from Incontinance  maybe im just lucky. my youngest who was spayed back in June is 6yr old and so far she has been ok.Your vet can give you drops for Incontinance if you decide to go ahead i believe all you do is put a drop in their food once a day...Forgot to mention my older gir was 18mths old when spayed and she has been ok

Rachel

We had Jess spayed a number of years ago - got to be at least 4 years know and have had no problem with her, her litter sister is also spayed although done much younger and as far as I know has no problems - and they are now 8!
Only reason I would be reluctant to spay again is for coat reasons - although as your not showing her then I wouldnt see any problems - and even then its not much work to keep them looking decent (says her whos had a battle with J to run a brush through her!)

Heather
(Have you seen my email re LKA!!!)

Hi, with 3 entire males in your house I would definitely get your bitch spayed if you are no longer breeding, it will be kinder for your males too. (Stop sending them crazy when she is in season.)

Yes, incontinance can happen after spaying as can mammory cancer after later spaying. It is pot luck as to which dogs may or may not get these things. I do not know the percentages and would not even guess, but I personally and I do know a lot of doggie people, have not come across either.

From my own experience of spaying, I have 3 bitches, who all had 3 litters, and then I had them spayed.  They are now 14, 13, and 10 and are extremely healthy dogs, and have never suffered from either incontinance or mammory cancer.

It is a personal thing, but with your set up, I would have your bitch done.

I think it's the luck of the draw,i have 2 spayed females and no incontinence here.I have heard there are very effective homeopathic and convential treatments that really help incontinence.I would not get her spayed because your worried she "might" be incontinent,because it may never happen.As someone else mentioned,it would be much kinder on her and your boys,and you,i could not imagine the stress of having a female in heat with 3 entire boys in the same house,what a nightmare

I've had 4 bitches spayed. Two have have developed urinary incontinence within 2 years of spaying. The other two never did, up to 14 years afterwards. It's a toss-up.

However I would avoid at all costs living longterm with entire dogs and a bitch in the same household. The chances of your boys living in harmony together when the bitch is in season are unbelievably remote. But personally I wouldn't have a bitch spayed until after her first season - so you'll need to make plans as to who lives where for that month ...

jeangenie have you tried any treatments on your girls? A friend's female used to dribble and the vet gave her something(cant remember the name) that completely stopped it!

A very old bitch of mine was put on propalin when she became incontinent and senile (she was entire).

I think that Dobermanns, Boxers, OES tend to suffer more from apres-spay incontinence than most other breeds

The short answer to this is - yes - spaying can and does cause incontinence in some dogs.  Sometimes this can be treated with drugs, and sometimes with more surgery.

The longer answer is - bitches do need to be spayed at some age or other because, whatever the chances of incontinence are, the chances of pyometra are much, much greater. 

So - spaying isn't really optional when a bitch gets to a certain age, in which case worrying about incontinence is beside the point.

I have had two bitches spayed at 2 and 3 neither suffered from incontinence, there are a lot of factors involved with spay related incontinence, such as, position of the womb etc in the body, if the bitch is docked etc etc

I think if a bitch is speyed before she has fully matured then that causes incontinence- ie at 6 to 12 months. Its not as bad if she's speyed once matured. An old vet told me this.

Thanks to everyone on replying, it is really interesting to read everyones thoughts. I guess it is just a case of spay her and hope for the best. She is 4 so I guess it is best to have her done now. (Very proud of her at the moment as her son who is 9 months old has just got his Junior Warrant today)
Thanks again for all the replies

Rachel