Natural Solutions to a Dog's Leaky Bladder
If you have a dog with a leaky bladder, or urinary incontinence, you know how frustrating this problem is for you and your dog.
Dogs are quite fastidious and get very embarrassed when they have an accident. Also no one enjoys cleaning carpets and floors or having their house smell like pee.
It may surprise you that there are a number of common causes of incontinence that are commonly missed:
- Back injuries: When a dog’s lumbar muscles get injured or overexerted, they get tight and the bladder nerves get impinged. This leads to bladder sphincter weakness and involuntary urine leakage - urinary incontinence.
- Excessive and Too Intense Exercise: Urinary incontinence can be a sign of too much exercise. (read further to learn the whole reason behind it).
- Stretching During A Surgical Procedure: Similar to the first two points, over stretching of the lumbar-sacral spine during a spay procedure or any other surgery can lead to incontinence.
- Low Estrogen Levels: Low estrogen and conventional spay procedures are common but not the only cause of incontinence.
Urinary Incontinence Treatment Protocol For Dogs:
First, you need to rule out the following problems that can lead to urine leaking:
- Urinary tract infection by running a urine sample test and possibly a culture
- Polyp or growth that can impede the function of the bladder sphincter
- An ectopic ureter attached to the bladder in an anatomically incorrect location
- Urinary bladder stones, which can cause inflammation, irritation and incontinence
- Excitement or submissive urination. This is a behavioural issue and has nothing to do with true urinary incontinence
- Sometimes hyperactive adrenal glands or the administration of corticosteroids can also cause incontinence
Most importantly, if your dog has been spayed, you should consider estrogen therapy (hormone replacement therapy). Go to this article and look for the paragraph on HRT.
Every Incontinent Dog Should Go Through the Following:
- Physical examination by a veterinarian
- Blood test – chemistry, complete blood count and thyroid test
- Urinalysis to evaluate kidney function
- Hormone replacement treatment therapy