How long should I deal with Incontinence and continuing infections

[123412]

I have a 14 1/2 yr old bichon friese.  He was originally purchased as a pet for my children and now my children are all grown up.  I thought one of my 4 children would want him but no one did.  3 of the 4 of them got their own "new" dog.  My dog started his incontinence about a year and a half ago.  It is getting progressively worse. He is wet every night, and has to be walked every 2 hours during the day and more often around and after his dinner.  He also gets an infection usually about every other month -- UTIs, ear infections, skin infections, anal gland infections.  Last May he had big lesions on his abdomen where I spent about $700 to get biopsies and nothing was definitive although the dermatologist said the lesions "could" be paraneoplastic indication of some type of cancer.  He gave me a $15 container of prednisone which cleared up the lesions but of course made him thirsty, hungry, and extremely unpleasant.  Now when the lesions recur, which is about every other month, I have to give him more prednisone.  The dermatologist said I needed to go to an internal medicine doctor to get more information.  I have spent about $1500 on medical for him in the last year and a half.  Every morning he is wet and I have to give him a bath.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this easier to deal with?  

[skydnsr]

Some vets will not cooperate with an owner's buying medicine from anyone but them.

[deadgamegrrl]

If the crate is still getting wet maybe you can try one of the 'bed pads' made for humans? I have a few that I used for one of my dogs to sleep on when she was on really high doses of prednisone that caused her to pee in her sleep a lot. You will still have to wash it but it beats having to scrub a crate down.

I really hope you can get the Proin, but if not I would definitely try the herbal remedy. It sure can't hurt. Has your vet given a reason why he will not prescribe the Proin?

[123412]

Can I take it with Proin if I can get a prescription for it?  Or should I just do one?

[123412]

Sammy also chewed and licked his feet raw, and other spots also.  I don't know if I tried everything but I'd tried medication and spraying with bitter apple.  Finally I just put an ecollar on him.  He doesn't seem to mind as it is sized such that he can eat and drink with it on. In a way it's great because his sores always heal up and go away.  Of course, if we take off the collar he starts chewing/licking again.  As I said, it looks funny but he doesn't seem to mind a bit.
On ears, Sammy finally got a little ear infection and I have some Otic ointment I got at the vet.  I used that plus amoxicillin, and it went away.  Now I try to keep them as clean as possible.
If I can't get any Proin this week (I'm going to try another vet), I'll order the herbal remedy on Amazon.
Tootsie

[123412]

Yes, it is totally soaked plus he is still getting it on himself and the crate, so today it was bathe, wash crate, wash pad.  
And I couldn't order Proin from my vet, and I couldn't order from Drs. Foster and Smith because my vet wouldn't sign for the prescription.  

I wish I could leave the dog outside but we live in a TH and I can't put him outside.  
Bottom line.  I don't know what to do anymore.

[Misfits4Me]

Vetri-Science is a very trust worthy company......I see this formulation includes Olive Leaf Extract.....This is a natural antibiotic & certainly would be good for potential urinary tract problems.......Karla