Lack of bladder control.

Dr. Marie replied:

Thanks for your question!

I have a few questions for you to help me answer properly...

• Does she drink more than you would expect?


• Is this a new problem or has she had this issue since she was a puppy?


• When she is urinating in the yard, does she urinate huge amounts, or would you consider that normal?


• Does she seem to be straining to urinate at all?


• Are you mostly finding urine where she has been sleeping?


• Is she spayed?

Thanks so much! I am in between appointments this evening but should be able to answer you quite quickly.

Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

OK, thanks for that great information. The most important information you gave me is that she has had this problem ever since she was a puppy.

I am concerned that she may have been born with a problem with her urinary tract.

One possibility is something called an ectopic ureter. This is a condition where the tubes from the kidneys to the bladder, called ureters, don't empty into the bladder properly.

This is a rough diagram of what may be happening:



If this is the problem then urine collects in the vagina and then can leak out, especially when she is excited.

There is a surgery that can be done to fix this, but it can be expensive.

Another possibility is something called a pelvic bladder. This means that the bladder sits inside the pelvis rather than in front of it. If this is the case then the bladder can only fill up a certain amount and can't hold a normal amount of urine. However, if it is worse when she comes in from outside then I don't think this is it.

It is also possible that she has some irritation in her bladder or vagina caused either by an infection or by bladder stones or crystals, but this would be unlikely to be happening since she was a puppy.

Some dogs do have what is called excitement urination where they urinate little bits when excited. It would be unusual for this to happen after she has been out to urinate though.

I'd highly advise having your vet do a urinalysis to determine if there is a simple problem like an infection or crystals. If not, then they may have to do some xrays to see if it is one of the other problems. If they are suspecting an ectopic ureter (which is what I think it is) then they might have to do a special type of xray where they inject her with some dye to see the urine flow through her kidneys and bladder.

I hope this helps!

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

Because she has urine leaking a lot she is a little more susceptible than other dogs to getting either a urinary tract infection or urine scalding causing a skin infection. But these are relatively minor problems.

You can also consider getting dog diapers to help reduce the amount of leaking in the house.

I still would advise a urinalysis to be sure there is no infection.

But if it is an ectopic ureter, dogs can live quite happily with this...they just leak a lot!