Leaking after Spay?

Hi there,

My DouBao had the spay last Thursday and is recovering very well except that --- she seems not to be able to hold her bladder as long as she used to (before the spay). And if she gets excited and jumps onto her mat, she couldn't help herself to leak a bit of pee.... (Her facial expression was really cute though--- like saying "Oops, mom, I just couldn't help it...)

I'm a bit worried... is this normal after the surgery?? Any idea?

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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on May 24, 2012 at 2:57pm

No, it's not normal. Consult your vet.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on May 24, 2012 at 6:16pm

This is not normal, I'd call your vet. Females sometimes do develop incontinence after spay but it is YEARS after due to hormonal imbalance, not really quickly like this. Call your vet.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on May 24, 2012 at 6:26pm

I agree with the others. Call the vet. This isn't normal at all.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on May 24, 2012 at 6:36pm

Did you see your dog posturing to urinate? If you do, it's not urinary incontinence, because that means your dog feels the urge to void, signifying a different medical condition. true urinary incontinence means finding puddles in the sports where your dog normally sleeps.

when a dog is spayed, the removal of ovaries causes a drop in estrogen. The less estrogen, the lower the tone of the urethra's sphincter muscle, which is what control the release of urine from the body. The tone becomes lower when a dog is sleeping, which is why accidents often occur then.

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Permalink Reply by Nora on May 25, 2012 at 9:31am

Thanks very much for the information!!!

She did kind of posturing to urinate.

I only found one accident in her sleeping crate in the third morning after the spay. So, I couldn't tell whether she just couldn't hold as she woke up.

I have questions about that the less estrogen, the lower the muscle tone.

- What will it cause later in her life?

- Will it get better?

- Anything I can do to make it better or be helpful?

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on May 25, 2012 at 10:19am

Hi Nora, I just read your last update, you have nothing to worry about, especially when she had a UTI recently.

Urinary incontinence occurs in 20% of spayed dogs, usually much later in life. Vets prescribe estrogen, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine for that. Here's more info.

Ectopic ureter on the other hand is a birth defect that occurs in Welsh Corgis, surgery can fix that.

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Permalink Reply by Nora on May 25, 2012 at 9:21am

Thanks everybody!

I talked to the vet yesterday. She said it was possible that the dog would not hold as long as she used to after the surgery FOR A WHILE (which means I need to take her downstairs more frequently during her recovery), and suggested keep monitoring her till the coming Thursday. If the accident keeps happening, call them by then.

Also, DouBao had bladder infection before the surgery and was on antibiotics for a while. Now she is done with pills. We also need to see how she is doing on this.

We shall see.

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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on May 25, 2012 at 10:23am

Definitely the UTI is the source of her problem, not the spay. The two combined are probably making her feel the need to go much more often. She quite possibly will need another round of antibiotics since her body has been asked to heal from surgery while also fighting an infection.