Ok, Tara my 10yr old GSD/collie/lab cross (heinz 57 I know!) has always been very well house trained. Recently though she has started to pee in her bed. It all started around bonfire night.... she soiled inside on 3 or 4 occasions which is soooo unlike her as she will always wait til she is on grass to poo.... she wont even poo on the path! Now it seems as if she cant "hold on" as she used to. She soiled indoors and soiled on the path too.

That seemed to be the last of it when the fireworks ceased so we put it down to distress and maybe her age (although she has never reacted like that before).

But within the last week or 2, she has begun to wet her bed. Again this is so uncommon for her. I am at home all day with her so she goes out when she needs. She has only done it twice so far, last week when my father visited she wet her bed but I put this down to excitement at seeing him but my mother commented how that was unlike her. The second incident was today when I let her out this morning there was again a wet patch on her bed. She had been out only an hour earlier when my husband got up for work and he has her outside for around 30 mins.

I am getting a little concerned now as my brothers 14yr old collie had similar symptoms and was put to sleep recently. She was not poorly but was loosing control of her bodily functions, incontinent several times per day and it was their kindest option to keep her dignity.I know that I should take her to the vet just to put my mind at rest but Im just wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences with their own dogs.

Tara has not lost her appetite or showing any other signs of illness, she is getting a little tired now and grumpy sometimes (but never viscious) and less willing to play but we have put this down to her age. Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Firstly I'd take a urine sample to the vet to have her checked for any UTI, but to be honest it sounds as though she's being affected by the usual afflictions of the aging bitch. If she's been spayed, Propalin syrup is useful in helping to control urinary incontinence (very common in elderly spayed bitches) although it's of little use in intact ones. One of my bitches, who was 15 when she died, had incontinent bowels for the last 3 years of her life - luckily her diet suited her perfectly and the mess was easy to pick up!

My husbands reaction this morning was to see our vet.... which I will get her an appointment. Tara has been spayed around 8 or so years ago, so I will try the syrup. She is on Pedigree chum senior tins with mixer which suits her very well (she wont touch dry complete!)

I suppose I am just really scared that, although inevitable, her time is drawing near, she is such a wonderful friend and companion that I cant bear to think of losing her.

Oh well, off to put her bed in the wash!

My friends dog was doing that and when they went to the vet she was told his body was shutting down but other wise he was all good and they decided to pts... I think Sparkey was 16 -18yrs he was a lil terrier cross with such an attitude :(

Iam sorry and I hope its not that, best of luck (((hugs)))

Well thats exactly why my brothers dog was PTS, which is why Im getting a little worried! My vet is now only taking emergency calls only, and as I dont think she is poorly and needing emergency treatment, (would rather leave the appointment for someone with a real emergency) I will have to see what happens and take her to the vets next week if she is still wetting.

Thank you for your help

There is no need to put an incontinent dog to sleep if it's otherwise happy, there's usually a way around everything. :) The good news is that yours is a bitch as Propalin syrup can be very effective for bitches, it's harder with dogs. My cavalier has been almost totally incontinent for over a year now and he's as happy as anything, my vet said medication won't work for him/suit him, but we use belly bands (easy for a small and male dog, not as easy for a large bitch) and we cope just fine. So don't worry too much!!

Hi Jeangenie,

I don't know if I read your post incorrectly or not but it isn't the case that propalin syrup is of little use in incontinence in entire bitches.  My 9 month old dobie girl has an incontinence problem that is kept under control with propalin.  Propalin controls the nerves in the sphincter muscle, problems with the sphincter muscle do not only occur in spayed bitches.  :-)

Karen

I'm just taking the information from the manufacturer's information on the Propalin box, where they state themselves that "Efficacy has only been demonstrated in ovario-hysterectomised bitches".

Has she had a season yet, karenclynes, if not and her ovaries are not yet functioning she is in a similar state to a spayed bitch.  This is rather hopeful then that once sexually mature matters may right themselves.

Hi,

Yes she has had a season and it's completely unrelated, she has an intra-pelvic bladder, her bladder is in the wrong place and this causes it to sit at an angle which is making the spincter muscle sit slightly loose.  The propalin corrects this.  She is being administered this on advisement of my vets and it has made a dramatic difference to her and me :-)  I also know of other entire bitches who have been given this when they have developed incontinence in later life and it has controlled the problem.  Yes it does say that on the box but maybe that is because they have only done research into the benefits of this drug on ovario-hysterctomised bitches, and therefore have to put this on the box - I don't know.  But I do know that it does have huge benefits to some incontinence related problems in entire bitches.

Karen

Went through the same thing with our ESS, a breed that apparently is predisposed to these problems, but our Vet said it is not unusual in any older spayed female.  First time around with us it was because her urine was too alkaline (it burned the grass after ONE pee).  Too alkaline urine burns the dog too, when they pee, so they try not to and hold on till they just can't anymore and then have accidents at the slightest movement.  In later years our girl was on a medication called Stilbestrol to help her.  Yum, yum cheeze whiz or peanut butter every day to get the pills down.  Ask your Vet.

I cannot believe that a dog was put to sleep because it was wetting itself! OK, so maybe there were other factors and maybe old age has other symptoms and it's necessay.

Propalin is really really effective. I have a 12 year old cross bread and she is so full of life that people mistake her for a pup sometimes. She started wetting herself about a year ago. Eventually it started to get out of contol and took her to the vet. He put her on propalin and within 24 hours I saw a result.

I am currently online looking for info about propalin as she has been experiencing muscle problems for the past month or so and am looking for a connection. She seems quite restless and she keeps getting muscles twitches in her legs from the hip area. I know all dogs chase rabbits in their sleep but this is when she isn't sleeping.  The vet thinks it's possible it's something to do with petit mal (as she collapsed for a few seconds during her pre med when she had an op in October for lumpectomy - which fortunatley turned out to be fatty tissue) and had a collpase a few months ago with no adverse effects. There are, however, no other symptoms and nothing to indicate fitting. I'm not convinced and am unwilling to put her through an MRI scan until I am convinced it is the only option for her comfort and well-being. I am convinced that the propalin is affecting her muscles. Other possibilit4s he suggested are sciatica.

Does anyone else have any similar experiences?  Don't anyone let this put you off admistering Propalin. It has wonderful effects and totally treats the problem. Any adverse efects are very rare. I would recommend Propalin to anyone who's dog is having incontenence problems.