OLD AGE & PEEING IN THE HOUSE.
My 14 yr old lab mix Caleb has recently started peeing in the house. He's never peed in the house the whole 13.5 yrs I've had him. At first I thought it was because of the arrival of his new little brother Archie, then I thought just to be sure I'd take him to the vet & have him checked out. It just so happens that 3 wks after Archies arrival, Calebs kidneys are starting to slowly fail. My question is during the day I can be around enough to let him out as much as needed, but at night I let him out around midnight, then again at 6:30am, this is proving to be too long of a wait for him. This is my first experience with an elderly mildly incontinent dog, ANY SUGGESTIONS? TO HELP CURB THE OVERNIGHT ACCIDENTS?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Is he dribbling, or peeing puddles? If he's dribbling, you can see if he might wear those doggie diaper things. If he's peeing puddles, I'm not sure if that would be acceptable. I've never tried them and I don't know how good a job they do of keeping moisture away from the skin.
The other option, if he'll tolerate it, is to confine him to an area with a washable floor.
When I was younger and still lived with my parents, we had an ancient dog who started peeing in the house. We really didn't have an acceptable solution, sorry to say, and we just sort of lived with it and cleaned up as thoroughly as we could, and ended up with carpeting that needed replacing. She also had doggie senility and barely recognized us or cared if we came or went. Dealing with an aging dog can be complicated and you have my deepest sympathy.
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Permalink Reply by Kristin & Archie on
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Definatley puddles. The vet said the same thing you did that it might be a little senility also. He spends days in our basement when he doesn't come with me to work, I let him decide. He goes to the basement door on the days he doesn't want to come to work. down there is a concrete floor so it's not a big deal. But I hate to have to make him go down there all night at night too. His hips & movement have also started to go downhill and he loves to spend his nights on his favorite couch, but that means not being able to confine him to a washable floor. Maybe I just need to learn how to deal with the cleaning of accidents like you said , because I definatley want the rest of his time to be as stress free and comfortable as possible. THANKS BETH
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I won't lie, our house smelled of pee, especially on hot humid days. The dog lived to be about 16 or 17, and that last year to be honest we continued to care for her out of respect and love for the life she had given us--- as I said, she ignored us. She smelled (kidney failure/ old age). She was bone-thin and urinated in the house. All of the physical things would have been fine if she just knew us, but she was a stranger, someone else's dog practically.
The memory of all the good times can get you through when you are dealing with a dog who isn't suffering enough to put down but no longer offers you any companionship. I hope that your dear Caleb never reaches that point and continues to recognize and love you.
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Yes thank God, at least at this point, he's 100%, except for the peeing. he seems happy, he enjoys playing with his brother, and hasn't changed at all, except for the peeing. Thank you for you thoughts and wish me luck!
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My husband just ran an idea past me... What do you think? Put a doggy door in and get one of theose new "patch of grass" pads for dogs to pee on and put it on our back porch? The porch is gated so he wouldn't be able to wander off, but he could go out when he wanted. I wonder if that could work? I guess its worth a shot!
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That is definitely worth a try. A lot of those things are relatively new and were not options when we were dealing with the situation.
You could try a doggie door to the basement for the same impact, but as Caleb ages the steps might become an obstacle to that. In our dog's case, she was pretty much incontinent anyway and would pee small amounts frequently, but if your dog is able to hold it, just not for long periods, that might work if there are pee pads big enough.
I would consider putting some sort of large tarp down on the porch; if urine soaks into wood or concrete if Caleb misses the pad, then you would not be able to get it out of the porous material and the flooring of your porch might need replacing.
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Permalink Reply by Betts on
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I had the same problem with our elderly dog. She was a bit overweight, and getting her down to ideal body weight helped, for some reason I never understood. But, we eventually had to put a waterproof liner between her and the dog bed, and we topped that with a towel which we washed every day. She hated the doggy diapers and so we dropped that after a few days trial.
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So was your elderly dog in a cage with the doggy bed, or just went to its bed to pee?
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Ours only had accidents when she was lying down. We had to keep her off the furniture, and had a couple of beds available for her when she wanted to rest. She loved being outside during the day, which helped, as she didn't come in a lot then and she had a crate to sleep in at night.
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Permalink Reply by Zach and Lisa on
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I saw on It's Me Or The Dog that she got an elderly dog that also couldn't hold it over night a scented pee pad. The pad had smells to encourage peeing there. I know I would never use it myself except for in this situation. I would rather the pad than my carpet. The dog was even blind it was able to know that's where to pee.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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I used the diapers for Dillon his last year of life. We had to modify them some, as they didn't stay on the best, but his tail hung down always, so they'd slip off. Not sure if Caleb has a tail or not? He too would pee puddles, and was demented so didn't really even know he was going. If his mind is slipping then he may not be able to remember how or when to use the dog door. I don't care about the mess that they make in their old age, but looking back on it, I let Dillon go too long before I put him down, simply because I couldn't bear to part with him. I came home one day and he had pooped, fallen in it, and was unable to get back up so he had laid in it for who knows how long. That's when I should have done it. When Sampson got to the point where he couldn't get up to eat/drink, I decided to put him down because it would be horrible to be so thirsty and not be able to do anything about it. I didn't care that we had to help him up every time, or that he would still poop trying to get up even with us helping, but when he couldn't even help us anymore it was time. Dogs are extremely clean animals, and know when they soil their den. And it bothers them. I would listen to Caleb, and do what you can in the time you have left. The diapers worked well, not great, but it got us by. Good luck--
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Thank you Jennifer. I probably will eventually try the diapers, right now I think he's too "with it" and will just tear them off. Thats the trouble I'm having because other than the peeing he seems completely normal. Still playing, running, moving around good. So i guess I'm just gonna have to deal with the pee for a while, because he's given me 13 wonderful years and I refuse to give up on him just because of a little pee! I'm not just being a loving mom either, this dog has never went to the bathroom in the house, chewed anything, sneered, growled, showed teeth, barked repeatedly, left the yard,....NONE OF IT. So If I know whats good for me I'd better repay his loyalty, I'm not a hugely religious person, but I do believe in some sort of Karma!!! The only thing is I don't think I could ever pay him back all that he's given to me, but I'll try my best.
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