7 Month old Pup with Urinary incontinence

Question
Is there a cure for Urinary incontinence? My 7 month old female lab/shepherd mix is leaking everywhere. She is on Proin 2 pills per day- she is 35lbs. and my vet said that she will have to be on it for the rest of her life. Is there an alternative other than keeping her on medication forever?  I would even consider surgery.  Any recommendations would be great!

BTW, we rescued her from a local shelter and she was spayed at about 4 months- not sure if this makes a difference.

Thanks,

Fran


Answer
Hello Fran,

Incontinence is not common in puppies.  I would recommend that you take her to an internal medicine specialist for a second opinion.  I would be concerned about ectopic ureters leading to the urine leaking (this means the tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder are not at the right place--see the website below for a more complete description).  Early spaying should not result in incontinence at 7 months of age unless something was really done improperly.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ectopic_ureters.html


I would also recommend that she has her urine cultured as it is very likely that she has a secondary bladder infection brewing.


Sepia and Causticum are two homeopathic remedies that may or may not help her.

You can also give her soy supplements, but at her young age she should not really be deficient in hormones.