Update On Hattie-She's Still Wet-Vet Says It's Probably Incontinence

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Well, the vet called me yesterday and filled me in on her conversation with two specialists in San Antonio. Hattie has been on the antibiotics for seven days now and is still damp which means she probably is incontinent. But; she is not wet all the time, that's the strange part. She is dry upon waking in the morning but damp to wet after four hours in the crate. The vet said they now use an antihistamine (Phenylpropanolamine which has been banned for human use) to control her pee. Hormones can also be used. She and I both are so very hesitant to put Hattie on any medication we are just going to wait and see. It is not messy, and or, drippy. The vet says incontinence does get worse over time, but how fast that will progress I don't know. I am so heartbroken at this news and the fact that this will be lifelong for Hattie. The vet believes this is a side effect of early spay because the hormones don't have time to develop in the body. I researched early spay before I signed on with the breeder and couldn't really find anything bad. My breeder told me many breeders were doing that now, so I really didn't question it all that much. Anyway, we still have seven days to go for antibiotics, but the vet said she should be dry by now if they were going to clear up the problem. I will take another pee sample in next week to make sure the infection is clear though. Does anyone else have a young female that is also incontinent that can shed some light for me? And is this something I should have covered in my 24 month health guarantee?

[Christy and Yoda]

Sandy, my brother's lab had an incontinence problem ( I believe they called it the dribbles :) She was on some sort of medicine that they had to pick up from the human pharmacy. I don't know much more about it at this point but I will ask him and check back in. BTW the medicine stopped her dribbles!

[shelly]

Sandy - I never have heard of anyone having this problem, but I wanted to say I am sorry you are worried about this.  I know how you feel...Although we search and research for the perfect breeder with the perfect dog, and we start out thinking I'm getting a "dog" ...  what you really wind up getting is a 'furrier child" with the abnormality of four legs instead of two - that we worry about just like our two legged, much less furrier children.  If she is not completely wetting, perhaps the less attentive owner would not have noticed.  Perhaps there are more dogs that actually do have this problem out there (not on DK of course, most of us, if not all, would notice a 'dribble' out of place), and it's just not picked up upon by 'others'.  I know you must be feeling frustrated, and a bit helpless.  Try to just let the week go by and wait and see.  (I know that's easier said than done) Your vet sounds wonderful.  As far as letting your breeder know... Wait until the antibiotics have a chance to work, then I would mention it just as 'your doing a little research' as to let sound accusatory - yet - until you can look into the early spaying thing more, but still a young puppy should NOT have that problem.   good luck!  {{{{HUGS}}}

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Sandy,

I am so sorry you are going through this.  I know Hattie as loved as she is has been somewhat of a challenging case for you (behavior wise...very spirited girl...) and now this.  I cannot help but feel that incontinence is NOT her problem.  I agree that you should try one of those diapers with a pad or something.  If it is wet, have your vet look at it...maybe it's not urine.  Maybe she IS licking and the only way you'll know is to do that possibly.  Could it be some sort of discharge rather than urine?  I would certainly rule that out first.  Another possibility...I think I remember you saying she used to hate her crate.  You say she is dry with you in bed.  Wet in the crate.  Is it possible that she licks out of stress or to keep her busy (since she is a busy kinda gal) in her crate?  Or if it is urine...maybe pees out of stress from being in the crate?  I'm grasping at straws because I do NOT want it to be what your vet is saying.  I just don't believe it.  Keep us posted.  We ALL wish you well!  We love Hattie!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Sandy, I am sorry Hattie is having this problem.  My first hope is that it just resolves itself, and my second is that is stays so manageable.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I am so sorry! My Charli was spayed when she was app. 4-6 weeks old. I was told she was 9.5 weeks old when I adopted her and her incision was already healed. I think she was much younger but even if I am wrong, she was way too young to be spayed. (she was born at an Amish Puppy Mill, given to a rescue and they had her spayed before they put her up for adoption). From what I have read, she will be incontinent at an early age but at the age of 2, she is not.

Did the vet do a culture to see what bacteria grows? I would do research to make sure the antibiotics she is on is the right one for a UTI - if you haven't already. I am not saying the vet could be wrong but I don't really don't 100% trust anyone in the medical field - they are only human afterall - LOL!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't think that early spaying leads to incontinence inevitably.

[Carol Brand]

No, it is not inevitable,  but incontinence is a known complication of early spay in females.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna wet the crate sometimes when she was little, but she was NOT spayed early.  We waited until she was 5 months old.

I think she was just sleeping so hard at a young age that she couldn't possibly hold it anymore when she woke up groggy.

 

How old is Hattie?  Is this possibly something that might just go away like it did for Luna?  I hope so!

 

 

[Susan and Sasha]

Sandy...I'm So sorry this is happening to sweet Hattie...

I don't have additional input to all of the great things shared so far...but having a second opinion sounds like it might be a good idea.

I will be praying for you and your beautiful girl...

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Sandy, I am hoping you have an answer with the antibiotics. I will keep checking in to see how you are both doing. Good luck.

[Whitney Addington]

Just joined DK and saw your post. My 5 month old was doing the same thing but only when she was napping. She never did it over night in her crate. I noticed her one day licking alot, we made a vet visit and she had a UTI. They gave her antibiotics and she was better. A few weeks later it was worse. She was laying in the floor licking herself and urine was dripping out of her. She was potty trained and it was like she was so upset because she knew she shouldn't use the bathroom in the house, but she couldn't help it. I cleaned up urine at least 12 times that day. The next morning we went to the vet and she was treated for another UTI. We had never gotten her hair cut, only a bath, anal glands, ears, and nails clipped. The vet said to always give her a sanitary clip. Bacteria will hang on the hair that grows from their privates and a females Urethra is much shorter than a male giving them more UTIs. Hopefully this is worst case scenario with your pooch. I know this is an older post, so hopefully Hattie is much better. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna has some wetness every now and then - we think that she only does it if she's in a super deep sleep.  Sometimes she wakes up from a nap and she is wet between the legs (not just damp - it's as if she emptied half her bladder), but it's rare.  She is damp down there quite a bit though, so I keep it neatly trimmed and wash her with puppy shampoo at least once a week.

Luna did not have an early spay - she was spayed at 5 months, so we're not sure that it's from that.  We haven't discussed it with the vet since it's what we view as a pretty minor problem.  We have noticed though that if Luna is overweight (she has trouble keeping the weight off!) even by 10-15% then the problem gets worse.  She's on a very strict diet and that seems to help a lot.