Spay Incontinence

[MyBuddy]

I've heard so much about this from a lot of members here and I'm confused and a bit dismayed. Why does this happen so much to our girls? Do the boys get it at all? My boys never did. Can anything be done to avoid it? Its very distressing to hear how many seem to get it.

 

[Lizbeli]

Bump. I haven’t done much research into this. It honestly slipped my mind recently as we have been thinking about adding a female dog to out house in the next year, possibly a doberman. Im curious how high the risk is. I can’t see myself living happily if I had to clean up pee everyday. No doubt I would still love the dog and suck it up. But at the same time..

 

[jazzies mum]

From my own experience. I've been lucky that Jazzie has only mild incontinence that is easily controlled with a low dosage hormone tablet weekly. She only has a leakage now if she for some reason hasn't been out to pee for a long time, or after being under anaesthetic. She didn't ever leak when walking around, only when relaxed lying down and if she became aware of it she was VERY distressed by making a mess!

I had Jazz spayed very young, at 4 months, because she had to be under anaesthetic for another reason and I thought that being under once was better than twice. The vet didn't tell me it could cause problems and I knew that the rescue groups often did the spay at 3 months! Now I cringe at my ignorance, but it is done and can't be undone.

I would still have another female Doberman but would leave the spay til between 2 and 3 years old. And I think it is a problem with a lot of large breed dogs, not just Dobes. There is often incontinence in older spayed dogs of many breeds but don't know how much the spay has to do with it or if it is just old age. I have heard that neutered males can also become incontinent but can't remember hearing of anyone with first hand experience of this.

 

[Logan 45]

This is very tough. And I have a female I have no intention to breed and I’m currently just letting it play out with her intact. She’s a little over a year now and she’s fine but the occasional accident she does have is peeing. I do understand that they make medication to remedy incontinence but as of now my plan is just to keep her intact. I would rather do heat cycles than clean up accidents to this point anyhow.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Great question. I wonder if it has to do with the quality of the work done by the surgeon and staff. Could it be genetic? Could it be a combination of these factors?

I've always had males.

My wife's female Husky (frankly, bought from a pet store in a mall) lived to almost 15 and was spayed young. No incontinence.

Oji here gives us a taste of what it's like to live with incontinence. Pees indoors when especially stressed. Doesn't shut off flow promptly after peeing – sometimes makes it into house, or at least onto deck, before trickle/dripping is done.

 

[Lizbeli]

I did read an old post on this site stating that the care taken by the surgeon may play a role. After all its a pretty tough surgery for a dogs organs. They mentioned that they prefer to do larger incisions so they can see better and maneuver everything around easier. Those vets that brag about small incisions may be ones to avoid if this is true. Something about them pulling on organs more and causing more internal trauma.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I did read an old post on this site stating that the care taken by the surgeon may play a role. After all its a pretty tough surgery for a dogs organs. They mentioned that they prefer to do larger incisions so they can see better and maneuver everything around easier. Those vets that brag about small incisions may be ones to avoid if this is true. Something about them pulling on organs more and causing more internal trauma.

Sheesh! Are people that worried about the length of incision on their dogs' bellies?!? I say make as long a cut as necessary to be able to be precise and gentle on the insides. Yes, I guess a longer incision may mean the belly wall might take longer to be all healed (?) but seems worth it.

 

[Dogs4Life]

***Knock on wood****

The only time I've noticed Moxy having any accidents is when shes in the cage spinning circles excited to be let out. Even this is more or less a leakage issue than a full out accident, imo. Thankfully nothing much other than that. We spayed her almost a yr ago, when she was a little over 2.

Best of Luck!!

 

[Firestar Dobe]

Dauntless and Candor were both spayed after their 1st heat. They both have long scars, (I did get their stomachs tacked at the same time), and neither of them have had any issues with leakage or full blown accidents. I'm not sure if it's because we have a great Vet, or luck of the draw!

 

[JanS]

Our vet is excellent and always does laser surgery but Della still developed incontinence. The low dose med she was on worked very well though and she would only have little accidents when she was sleeping.

I can’t see myself living happily if I had to clean up pee everyday.

The meds are pretty effective and they will keep adjusting until they find the right dose. When Della did have a flareup (like if I forgot here meds one week), I'd just put a puppy pad under her in bed until it was back under control.

 

[Lizbeli]

Thanks for the input guys. It seems like its not just a doberman thing, many large female dogs are prone to it. Makes me feel a bit more confident that medication can make it an almost no issue thing. Since I would go with a large breed again I am just not going to think about it until the time comes.

Good idea in the stomach tack at the same time. If anything I mention earlier was true maybe it can help. Im thinking about getting this done to my current male when he gets neutered (breeder contract). Need to do some research on that topic too haha.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Before Coronavirus took over, I did dog walking for a client with a 13+ year old Black Lab female. She had to wear diapers in the house, and would often pee (and sometimes poo) in her crate. I chalked it up to such advanced age and figured it is just bound to happen at some point. I have no idea when the dog was spayed.

 

[Firestar Dobe]

Thanks for the input guys. It seems like its not just a doberman thing, many large female dogs are prone to it. Makes me feel a bit more confident that medication can make it an almost no issue thing. Since I would go with a large breed again I am just not going to think about it until the time comes.

Good idea in the stomach tack at the same time. If anything I mention earlier was true maybe it can help. Im thinking about getting this done to my current male when he gets neutered (breeder contract). Need to do some research on that topic too haha.

I thought it was a good idea to get the stomach tacked since they were under anesthesia for the spay. I have seen bloat kill dogs in the past. Several dogs that were in my Obedience classes over the last 18yrs fell prey to it. I didn't want to take the chance with my girls! Especially because of the anatomy of Dobermans.

 

[blacknrust]

Maeve was spayed at just under 1 yr old and did not go into heat. At 2 she started leaking (drops) only when asleep.
I started her on corn silk and pumpkin seed oil capsules which worked pretty well until this past week. With the extreme heat and drinking more water, I called the vet for Incurin. She was having more substantial accidents and it was more upsetting to her than me. So I made the call.

 

[obbanner]

Anna who is 9 now had pyometra about six years ago and had a hysterectomy. She's been bothered ever since. About once a month, she'll yelp out of the clear blue and then look behind her. She stands almost straight when doing a bowel movement. She doesn't like doing tunnels anymore and despite being close to her Masters title, I stopped doing Barn Hunt with her. She obsessively licks her vulva at times, and I take her outside. Before being put on Proin, she had leakage and accidents. I took her to several vets and nothing was found.

Below is a recent picture of Anna having a bowel movement.