Incontinence in older dog

[PamNY]

My bulldog Lloyd started leaking urine in his sleep, and the vet said it was the result of a weakened bladder sphincter. He turned eleven in July, so he's well and truly old.

He started on Proin (phenylpropanolamine, 25 mg twice a day) and so far it is working.

Just wondered if anyone has been through this. Any hints for nutritional support or ideas for other things that might help him? He's otherwise healthy -- obviously slowing down from age, but no medical problems.

[badger]

my dog had a leaky bladder for a couple of years, and it was really challenging because it made for a pee-smelling house. He did go on medication (can't remember the name anymore) which did work. A couple of years into him being medicated, on a whim I reduced his dosage, and even took him off it and he wasn't leaky anymore, so I'm not really sure what that was about.

I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about it diet or supplement-wise. I do know that it's more common in older females than males. I did wrap a towel around his mid-section, but that didn't stay on very long. I know dog diapers have come a long way, even in the 8 years or so ago that I had this problem (there weren't many diapers for dogs back then, at least not for big dogs).

[PamNY]

Thanks for the link. Right now the leaking only happens when he is asleep. But we live in an apartment with an elevator, so I want to be prepared, because I know this problem could get worse.

Badger, I remember my friend fashioning some sort of diaper for her large dog 8-10 years ago -- it was fairly clunky -- I hope they've improved!

[emily_in_nc]

Both my older male and female dogs became incontinent as they got old. I didn't know about belly bands, and female diapers didn't work well at all on male dogs! Had a bit easier time of it with the female dog, but it was still a trying time. Both were incontinent for over a year before their ultimate demise, and both would pee in the house and in their crates at night. The only thing I could do was take them out as late at night as I could stand before putting them in the crate for the evening, and get up as early as possible to let them out. Still, there were accidents many times. Our female was on the same medication as your dog, and helped a bit, but not completely. It just seems to be a part of getting older for many dogs. In both cases, my dogs were quite old and had kidney issues that caused them to drink more water than the usual and be less able to concentrate their urine, which led to more frequent and copious urination.

Good luck -- it's a challenge for sure.

[Norse]

Our older female dog, in my avatar, developed this problem over the past year. We too tried a drug that worked great; unfortunately, our pup has a sensitive liver (nearly died from liver failure about 5 years ago) and the drug was elevating her bad liver levels so we had to take her off. We got very tired of having to clean her dog beds constantly. We now use doggy diapers at night - a disposable one on the inside that we get at Pet Smart, covered by this washable one (we have 2 so one is always clean and ready to go): http://www.carealotpets.com/Products/Simple-Solution-PUPsters-Washable-Diapers__2603e.aspx. We found that the washable one worked fine on its own when she just dribble leaks, but for nights when she has a full bladder emptying, the inside diaper is a necessity so now we just go with both. She's happier and we are happier.