While wetting the floor might be common behavior in a puppy, you will find that it is confusing and even distressing in old dogs! The truth of the matter is that urinary incontinence in old dogs can be a sign of a problem that needs to be fixed. In most cases, you will find that identifying this problem and then taking it to a veterinarian can actually lead to a cure! When your dog is afflicted with urinary incontinence, there are many things that you need to keep in mind.
In the first place, urine is store in the bladder, and when the dog goes to urinate, the urine will pass through the urethra, which is a small tube leading to the outside of the body. In a dog that has control over his bladder, this motion is controlled, but a dog without bladder control might experience a slow leakage while he is sitting down or sleeping. In some cases, the dog might reveal the issue through constantly licking their penile opening or vulva.
In most cases, urine is kept from leaving the bladder due to a band of muscular tissue that exists at the base of the bladder. This band usually acts as a valve that the dog can control, but when the control weakens, the dog often becomes involuntarily incontinent. This is something that happens often as dogs age and you will find that the phenomenon is much more common in dogs that have been spayed or neutered than dogs that are unaltered.
When you are looking into urinary incontinence in dogs, you will find that the first thing that you need to keep in mind is that one of the primary factors that affects the dog s continence is going to be their hormones. Their hormones have a dramatic effect in giving strength to the muscles of their bladder; in female dogs, it is estrogen, and in male dogs, it will be testosterone. The factors that regulate these hormones can have an effect on whether a dog is incontinent or not. In some cases, older dogs will experience urinary incontinence due to tumors or polyps that occur in the bladder, though this is relatively rare. Similarly, injury of the nerves going to the bladder can cause issues as well.
Happily enough, treatment of dogs with this condition is usually not difficult. Phenylpropanolamine, often abbreviated to PPA is a non hormonal medication that is used to treat this condition. In some cases, due to the effect that hormones have on the issue, hormones or hormone substitutes can also be prescribed. Thanks to the fact that the hormones that are used to treat this issue are only issued in a very small amount, any side effects are fairly rare. In cases where urinary incontinence is dictated by hormones, the dog will likely need to stay on hormone treatments for the rest of his life.
Take some time and take a look at your dog s condition. Urinary incontinence is an issue that many older dogs face, so make sure that you recognize it when it happens.
Author Resource:
This article was written by Kelly Marshall of http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com - offering the best dog supplies, such as dog toys, at great prices.
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