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My old dog has finally shown her age. I thought she was pissing in the house out of jealousy for the new pup until I saw her urinate all over herself in a dead sleep today. The vet said I spayed her too early and he usually sees this at 8 or 9 years old. My Kayla is 12. She starts estrogen shots tomorrow..........1 every 3 to 6 months.

Guess what!!!!!!!!!! The new pup is not being spayed until after 2 heats AND a pregnancy. I love country vets.

You KNOW I have to say something about the irresponsible behavior

of not spaying pets. The last thing needed is another litter.



Spay incontinence can be quite easily controlled with meds, and I'm not

talking estrogen.



Be thankful Kayla made it to 12 before having it. Better that than

mammary or uterine tumours.

There may be other reasons why your dog is incontinent that may have nothing to do with early spay. Do not allow your vet to misguide you into thinking you need to put a dog through heats and a pregnancy to avoid incontinence. That's ridiculous. Not to mention irresponsible pet ownership.

If your dog has been spayed for 11 of her 12 years and didn't leak urine in her sleep, then I seriously doubt that "spay incontinence" is your problem.

In 30 years of owning dogs it is only in the last few months that I have heard of "spay incontinence". And it seems like any time a vet can not diagnose a bitch's urinary problem it is labeled with this.

Elderly women become incontinent. I certainly don't think it is because they were "spayed".

Sorry, with some 108,000 dogs listed on Petfinder looking for homes, breeding to ensure your dog doesn't leak urine when it is old is pretty weak if you ask me.

Good call, LD.



Could just be weakened muscle tone, not anything to do with

the spay.



I know of some dogs who were "early spay" and lived to a ripe old

age and never did develop incontinence.

Kayla pissed on herself about a month ago and I did what the vet said.....give her estrogen shots every 3-6 months.

She pissed on herself again today........2 months earlier than she should have. It has only been a month.........SO I have to take her back to the vet for systemic shutdown....mostly kidneys.......he told me this..

...

I will put her down in the next couple of weeks because I won't pay hundreds of dollars to keep her alive. Am I bad........no I am not for my income.

I am crying now for her........not for her but for me........how damned selfish.

nvalleyvee wrote: Kayla pissed on herself about a month ago and I did what the vet said.....give her estrogen shots every 3-6 months.

She pissed on herself again today........2 months earlier than she should have. It has only been a month.........SO I have to take her back to the vet for systemic shutdown....mostly kidneys.......he told me this..

...

I will put her down in the next couple of weeks because I won't pay hundreds of dollars to keep her alive. Am I bad........no I am not for my income.

I am crying now for her........not for her but for me........how damned selfish.
This makes me mad and sad . Your dog has been your loving loyal companion for all these years, please give her some love and comfort in her old age . ...its not her fault shes getting old .

nvalleyvee wrote: Kayla pissed on herself about a month ago and I did what the vet said.....give her estrogen shots every 3-6 months.

She pissed on herself again today........2 months earlier than she should have. It has only been a month.........SO I have to take her back to the vet for systemic shutdown....mostly kidneys.......he told me this..

...

I will put her down in the next couple of weeks because I won't pay hundreds of dollars to keep her alive. Am I bad........no I am not for my income.

I am crying now for her........not for her but for me........how damned selfish.


Before you put her down, why don't you try Raspberry leaves. You can get them at a health food store. I doubt estrogen would be helpful to a 12 year old unless she's had this problem since the spaying. More likely she has a kidney infection or kidney problem. Raspberry is a natural medicine for the kidneys. Also helpful is cranberry juice if you can get her to drink it. Both have an acidic quality that will help her. If nothing else, go to a different vet and get her a round of antibiotics.

Also, your vet is advising you wrong if he thinks your next dog should have a litter before spaying to prevent incontinence in old age. That would only make an unneeded litter:-5 All the statistics say that if you wait till after the dog is three that the benefits like cancer prevention are lost so I would not wait any longer than a year.

Believe me, I know about these things, I have been involved in breeding, showing and caring for dogs for 36 years and have encountered nearly everything that can go wrong.:yh_frustr

I'm not understanding some things here:





How is the estrogen supposed to stop the incontinence? I'd like to know how this is supposed to work.



Systemic shutdown. What is the basis for this diagnosis? I'd like to know how this was determined just because Kayla has accidents.





Have you taken Kayla in to see a different vet? If not, why not? If it were a human loved one, I imagine you would get at least one second opinion before doing anything drastic. Doesn't Kayla deserve that much too?



Why is it going to cost you thousands of dollars to keep her alive? Where did that come in? Is that the cost of the estrogen shots or is the vet talking surgery or what?



Could you try dog diapers? There are a lot of people who have incontinent dogs but that doesn't mean it's time to cash in the dog's life. Is Kayla in pain or suffering? Then it might be time to let her go. But if she's still happily greeting you and getting around okay and not in pain, then I don't see why you'd have her killed just because she has accidents. This sometimes happens when humans and pets get old. It's part of life.



For almost ten years I had a blind Lhasa Apso, rescued from my negligent cousin. She peed in their house from puppyhood. When I got her as an adult, she peed all over the carpet the whole time I had her. So I bought a rug shampooer! Did I enjoy cleaning the rug that much? No! But to take her life because she was incontinent? No way! It never once crossed my mind. When I did have her put down, it was because she was having the canine equivalent of heart attacks and I couldn't allow her to go through that pain repeatedly. But that was done for her comfort and wellbeing, not because I thought she was inconvenient.



Get another opinion. Or a few of them. One vet wanted to do surgery on my dog because she was convinced he had a liver malfunction. (We had taken him in for an unrelated thing) She said he'd die soon if we didn't let her operate. We refused. He lived for years afterward because there was nothing wrong with his liver.



I work in animal rescue and one thing I can tell you is that vets are frequently incorrect in their diagnosis and treatment. I have many examples I could give you. I sure wouldn't rule out the possibility of a kidney or bladder or urinary tract infection. Especially in an older dog. I am wondering if your vet just assumed Kayla's kidneys are failing because of her age? If he is suggesting that you make your next dog have litters so she won't pee on herself, you ought to be walking the heck out of there and into a real vet's office. That's just plain wrong on so many levels.



If Kayla is irreversibly ill and you have to end her life to prevent her suffering or pain, then that would be an honorable thing to do FOR HER. But you owe it to Kayla to get her seen by someone else and get some other opinions before you make a decision you can't undo.

I think the most important thing everyone is saying here is to get another vet's opinion. I moved 8 years ago and I still drive over an hour to the vet that I trust. I have gone to the vets closer to my new home and I just was not satified that they knew what was best for my dogs.:driving:

rachelg wrote: I think the most important thing everyone is saying here is to get another vet's opinion. :driving:


Yep!!