Regardless of the cause of urinary incontinence in dogs, many are interested in the treatment and what to do in such situations.
This is a pathology that in veterinary medicine, as well as in ordinary medicine, is called enuresis. This is a fairly common phenomenon, it is found in many domestic animals - both cats and dogs. The reasons for the development of enuresis in pets can be very diverse. However, in many ways, the causes and treatment of urinary incontinence in cats and dogs are the same.
Is urinary incontinence always a pathology?
Very often, the owners of the animal, when they find him urinating indoors, take it for urinary incontinence. In fact, such behavior is not always a physiological pathology, sometimes the answer is in the psychological plane.
For example, there are situations when a dog’s urine is excreted during certain events, and this happens in portions. Not necessarily the events are stressful. This can happen when meeting with other dogs or with their own owner, with stroking - that is, it seems to be in favorable situations. The fact is that such a discharge of urine is an instinctive sign of obedience. If you watch a pet, it becomes noticeable that he sits on his feet or falls on his back. Here the same mechanism works that starts when the territory is "marked". This is actually a behavioral problem and the dog can theoretically control the process.
If urinary incontinence is a symptom of a physiological pathology, for example, an inflammatory process in the bladder, then the animal can not affect what is happening. The behavior of the animal always tells about the nature of the problem. For example, if enuresis is a consequence of a malignant neoplasm or the formation of kidney stones, then the animal experiences frequent urge to urinate - it constantly sits down, but very little or no urine is produced. In any case, there can be many reasons, so a more detailed diagnosis is needed.
The main causes of urinary incontinence in dogs
First you need to decide on the terminology. Enuresis means constant leakage of urine or its involuntary discharge. This can happen due to a number of factors.
Possible causes of dog urinary incontinence:
- Lack of proper education in combination with natural uncleanliness. Here the fault lies almost entirely with the owner, since this means that he simply did not train the dog to ask for a toilet, and the animal does not know how to behave in this situation.
- Psycho-emotional reasons. Usually episodes of incontinence occur with any strong emotions, and this can be both joy and fear.
- Behavioral reflexes in which animals mark their territory.
- Inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system.
- Injuries and pathologies of the spine and musculoskeletal system.
- One of the causes of dog urinary incontinence is that complications arose after sterilization in the bitch.
- Natural aging processes. Over time, the animal muscle weakens, it can no longer control the process of urination. In addition, it happens like this: a dog lived all his life in a booth, and in old age she was taken to a house. It’s almost impossible to accustom her to “ask”. Finally, old dogs may suffer from arthritis, sometimes they cannot get out of their couch and ask outside. The only option in such cases is the use of a special bed design: a piece of polyethylene, a layer of newspapers on top, then a polyester mat so that urine can pass through it.
- Great thirst. If the dog often drinks large quantities of water, this can lead to involuntary urination. By itself, such thirst is also pathological, as it is a symptom of serious diseases such as diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, Cushing's disease, etc.
What you need to know
It is understood that puppies do not yet have real urinary incontinence. With the development of the genitourinary system and by virtue of upbringing, they will learn to ask for a toilet. Of course, there are times when dogs cannot be trained, but this is quite rare.
However, one should not exclude such an option when the animal intentionally relieves the need for a room. Usually this is done in spite of the owner or members of his family, if there is a conflict with them.
Diagnosis of enuresis
To begin with, the owner of the animal needs to deal with what is a violation of the norm and a signal for immediate treatment for dog urinary incontinence.
The formation of urine occurs in a specific department - the renal corpuscles, after which it accumulates in the renal pelvis and gradually reaches the bladder. This process is continuous. The urine cycle repeats almost every 20 seconds. It’s just that all this time, fluid accumulates in the bladder and does not flow out of it only because the sphincter holds it. When a signal comes from the brain, this muscle relaxes and urination occurs. Thus, incontinence is associated with impaired urine formation, signal transmission, or sphincter dysfunction.
Incontinence in dogs itself (causes, symptoms and diagnosis of which many are interested in) is rare, it develops against the background of some additional problems. Unfortunately, based on this symptom alone, it is often impossible to make a diagnosis correctly. The veterinarian will have to consider a whole range of factors. Often, diagnosis is carried out by exclusion, that is, the specialist discards those options that are not related to the current state of the animal.
Of course, in order for the doctor to be able to correctly diagnose, it is necessary to describe in detail the state of the animal, behavioral reactions, and talk about the daily regimen and nutritional characteristics. The more information the vet has, the better.
If urinary incontinence is associated with kidney disease, then additional symptoms are observed - this is the already mentioned strong thirst, loss of appetite, weight loss. Many dogs try to ask outside more often, but sometimes they relieve the need right in the house. Of course, loss of appetite and weight loss may be associated with age-related changes, but still it is recommended to consult a veterinarian. The specialist will direct blood and urine tests to the laboratory. In addition, ultrasound of the kidneys and other organs of the abdominal cavity is considered an informative diagnostic method.
Pathology of the spine and musculoskeletal system
Urinary incontinence can be caused by pinched nerve fibers or other spinal injuries. In such cases, the animal suffers from severe pain, and the pain is often difficult to stop. Not all dog breeds suffer from such pathologies, but in animals with a long spine, for example, in dachshunds, they develop earlier. Especially strongly this predisposition becomes noticeable with age.
The main methods of treatment for the causes of urinary incontinence in dogs also depend:
- Pinched nerve endings. It can occur not only with injury. In bitches, this happens after childbirth or during labor. This can be understood by the fact that the limbs of the animal become numb or begin to hurt. Such bitches often abandon their puppies. But for making a diagnosis, you will have to conduct a comprehensive study of the pet. There are different procedures to eliminate infringement, sometimes you have to solve the problem in an operational way.
- Diseases of the nervous system. They can be the result of severe stress. In some cases, doctors simply advise giving sedatives such as Diazepam or Fluoxetine to eliminate the very cause of enuresis.
- Congenital pathology of the spine and nervous system. Usually eliminated only by surgery. For example, in some animals, ectopy is diagnosed when urine immediately enters the intestines or vagina, but not the bladder.
In any case, the doctor can tell about the reasons only after examining the animal and studying the anamnesis. On this basis, treatment will be prescribed.
After sterilization
With urinary incontinence in a sterilized dog, the causes and treatment are interrelated. As you know, the features of the procedure depend on the sex of the animal. It is clear that when a bitch is sterilized, the ovaries and uterus are left, while during castration a male just removes all the organs of his reproductive system. In this regard, enuresis after castration is less common than a similar disease after sterilization. Veterinarians do not have a clear explanation of why this is happening. However, the most popular theory is that after surgery, the hormonal background in the animal changes. This, in turn, affects the sensitivity of the sphincter and muscle tone. As a result, the bitch develops urinary incontinence.
In this case, the veterinarian after the diagnosis may prescribe medication. For this, drugs such as alpha agonists and reproductive hormones are used. In the first case, we are talking about a drug such as "Propalin", which is prescribed for functional sphincter insufficiency in different dosages for up to four weeks.
It can not be used too often, because otherwise the animal will decrease the response to this drug. There are also drugs such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, but studies have shown that their effectiveness is slightly lower than that of Propalin.
As for reproductive hormones, in the treatment of enuresis in bitches, they often use a drug such as Diethylstilbestrol, abbreviated as DES, It is believed that its effectiveness is up to 80%. However, sometimes it is prescribed in combination with other hormones. Be sure to consult a doctor on the use of drugs, especially not all of them are licensed in Russia.
Castrated males can also be prescribed alpha agonists, but the result of treatment in this case is less predictable. As for the reproductive hormones, they are injected with testosterone cypionate. The course has to be repeated every 6-8 weeks.
Hormone therapy, despite its effectiveness, is not without drawbacks, since the animal’s hair can thin and fall out, behavioral changes also occur, and bone marrow function can be suppressed.
In some cases, surgical treatment is prescribed. These are mainly endoscopic operations. In general, the technology of endoscopy is used both for diagnostics, and for carrying out surgical procedures related to muscle recovery, and for injections. Since the punctures will be small, the dog recovers relatively quickly after such an operation.
But abdominal surgery, also used to restore muscle, is more traumatic. But it allows you to suture muscle tissue and inject collagen fibers into the cavity, without fear of leakage. In some cases, when conducting such operations, it is possible to change the position of the bladder.
Treatment of inflammatory processes
In dog urinary incontinence, causes and medication are interrelated. If a similar problem is caused by inflammatory processes in the organs of the genitourinary system, then the most often provoking factors are infectious diseases of a bacterial nature.
Therefore, in such cases, animals are prescribed antibiotics - for example, Amoxicillin, as well as Nitroxoline or Biseptol.
In the same way as people, after a course of such medicines the dog will need to be given probiotics, for example, Lactusan. If necessary, antispasmodics such as “No-shp” can be prescribed if there is pain.
In some cases, it may be necessary to suppress immunological reactions. This is done by drugs such as glucocorticosteroids, for example, Prednisolone, Metipred, and others.
Bulk-forming drugs in the treatment of enuresis
In some cases, when it comes only to improving the closure of the urethra, a volume-forming drug is introduced into a certain area of the urethra. It fills the volume with it, while the length of the muscle fibers increases, and the urethra closes better with the sphincter, which helps prevent involuntary urination.
Such injections are made during cystourethroscopy only in a veterinary clinic, since special equipment must be used for this. At one time, several injections are made in 3-4 sections of the urethra. The effect of such a procedure will be noticeable only 2-3 days after such an intervention. Some animals may experience mild complications (according to statistics, approximately 15% of dogs usually have urinary retention).
Collagen preparations are often used as bulking agents. They are made on the basis of bovine collagen, which binds to the molecules of a substance for injection - for example, glutaraldehyde.
Such injections are believed to be effective in about 60-65% of animals. In this case, there is always a risk of collagen rejection or leakage, which may require an additional course of injection.
In people in such cases, a drug such as Polydimethylsiloxane is used. It has proven to be more effective than collagen. Currently in the West it is also used to treat dogs. Its effectiveness is 77%, and the number of complications is much smaller.
Treatment of age-related enuresis
Similar problems in older dogs are often resolved with hormonal agents. A drug such as Duplex may also be prescribed as an injection. It is believed that, among other things, it is a tonic.
But it should be used with caution only as prescribed by the doctor, since this drug contains sodium arsenate and strychnine nitrate, and these are very toxic substances. Therefore, the dosage and course of treatment can only be selected by a specialist.
Recommendations
Movement and walking are important for dogs of any age. They are an excellent preventive measure against urinary incontinence caused by diseases of the spine and musculoskeletal system.