My dog has had bladder problems since she was a puppy. She will often have accidents, especially when sleeping. I've been able to manage her accidents by giving her water only by the bowl and by taking her out every 2-3 hours. I usually take her out in conjunction with when she last drank.
Today, she seems to be having more trouble than usual with bladder control. I woke up to find that she'd had an accident on the bed at some point last night (which is unusual for her--usually once she goes potty before bed, she's fine because we don't give her any more water). She had another accident just now while lying on the couch, even though I had taken her out about 45-60 mins beforehand.
My question is whether I should be concerned about this or if I shoudl monitor her and see what happens. Her border collie ocd issue is definitely with water--she LOVES to drink it and will scratch the floor obsessively for it (even if her bowl is full!)--so I'm not necessarily troubled by what's happened because she enjoys drinking water so much.
She had a urine gravity test about 5 years ago when she was younger and the doctor said that her urine did concentrate when she went without water. I'm thinking I should get another one of those tests done, but I would like your input as to how to proceed.
Thank you in advance for your help--I always appreciate your responses!
Blessings,
Julie
Dr. Marie replied:
Hi there Julie!
You may want to talk to your vet about the possibility of USMI. I wrote an article about it which you can read here: USMI in dogs. If Jammy is leaking urine when sleeping then this could be what she has. You can see in the article that it is usually quite easy to treat.
If you feel like the problem has gotten significantly worse, then the vet will likely want to do a urinalysis just to be sure there is no medical issue complicating things such as a UTI or a kidney problem.
But I'm guessing that USMI is the culprit!
Dr. Marie.
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Customer reply:
Thank you for your response! I'm pretty used to her leaking problems, and would prefer not to put her on lifelong medication for it unless this issue poses a risk to her health. If I continue to manage her leaking by taking her out frequently enough and making sure she doesn't drink too much, is there anything else I need to worry about? Does this pose any type of risk (long-term or not) to her health?
Thanks! :)
Dr. Marie replied:
If this is what she has then it's not a health concern for her...just more of an annoyance to you when you have to clean up the urine messes!
Customer reply:
Thanks again for your response. I am primarily concerned at this point with the level of incontinence she is exhibiting today. Since this morning, she seems to be unable to avoid peeing whenever she lies down. This is definitely worse than normal (before today, she hadn't had an accident in a few weeks). I'm definitely willing to take her to the vet to get this checked out, but I wanted to know what could possibly be aggravating this. Thanks!
Dr. Marie replied:
I do think it's a good idea to have her checked out Julie. It's possible that she has had USMI all along but now, there is "something" that is causing her to produce more urine. If there is more urine in the bladder, then there is more chance for it to leak out.
That "something" could be a mild kidney problem, diabetes, or a number of other things.
Lately I have had a number of healthy dogs in my clinic that are drinking and urinating more than they should. I really think there is a connection to dog treats made in China. If Jammy eats any treats that are not made in North America then I would stop those. For more information on that, read this article here: Chicken Jerky Problems.
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Veterinarian, Dr. Marie created this site to be able to provide quick, accurate veterinary advice online. She would love to help with your pet's problem!
Dr. Marie is a veterinarian who practices in a busy animal hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She created Ask A Vet Question as a resource for good, accurate veterinary advice online. Dr. Marie treats dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. She has been a vet since 1999.
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