bladder control after spaying

Question
Hi Shelley,
I saw your answer about bladder control after the spaying surgery, however, our yellow lab/golden retriever mix is still having issues.  She is 6 months old and was finally sleeping through the night and not having anymore accidents(we got her at 6 weeks old).  We had her spayed 2 weeks ago, and now she is peeing in her own bed while sleeping.  She pees on the couch and just lays in it too.  We have her locked up in a small area near our room at night (with a cozy bed) and when she has to go to the bathroom, she usually just "knocks' on our door and we let her out.  During the day she now sometimes lets us know she has to go to the bathroom, and when we just let her out on our own she will sometimes still go, but often times she has already gone in he bed or somewhere else!  This is a complete regression, and before the surgery she NEVER would go in her own bed or while she was just laying there!  This is a big change since before her surgery.  What do you think?  Thanks!  Debby

Answer
Hi Debby

Thank you for writing to me about your sweet puppy.  I would allow a bit more time for healing to take place after the trauma of surgery.  In the meantime you could buy a diaper setup that is attached to a harness to keep the diaper in place so that she doesn't wet her sleeping area.  I would also eliminate all grains from her diet and put her on a high quality human grade food.  Check the ingredients to make sure that no grains are included.  My dog Flurry used to wake in a pool of liquid and she slept with me in bed so it wasn't much fun when this happened.  Feeding her a raw died by Primal did help trememdously.

I would also ask for a referral to a urologist.  If you are near a teaching college that would be a great place to find an expert.  They may need to do an x-ray or ultrasound to see what is going on internally. I assume that your vet tested for a bladder infection?

There are also holistic products on the market for incontinence like Leak No More.

Pick up the water bowl after dinner to avoid her having a lot of liquid in her before going to sleep.  

If the natural approach doesn't work, your dog may have to go on a medication like  Proin (Rx).  

By no means should you show any anger towards her for leaking.  She must be as upset about it as you are.  No dogs likes to wake up in their own urine.  Dogs are very clean that way.

She will of course need extra walks during the day.

I wish you the very best of luck,

Shelley Davis