Sudden bladder control loss after neuter

8 days ago we had our 1 year old male doberman neutered. About 2-3 days after the neuter he has lost all control of his bladder. He is completely housebroken, and had no issues with urination before the surgery. He will be quietly laying down and then all of a sudden he will start to leak, run up to us and continue to just let it go then run off still leaking until he is empty. There is no odor and no blood and absolutely no warning. He always whined when he had to go outside, and he doesnt do it anymore. The wound is clean, and shows no signs of infection, redness or swelling. His testicle sack is empty, and is not painful.

Could this be caused by the stitches (not the kind that dissolve) because of the placement? Possible UTI? Or can it be incontinence? Can a neuter surgery cause incontinence? Im not sure if I trust this vet as he convinced my fiance to do a bunch of tests that IMO were not necessary, and told me the price of a neuter and then doubled it after the surgery was complete.

[peekawho]

I don't think that's normal.  I've always had male dogs over the years, and in fact have 2 dobies + a great dane now.  I've never had any of them have this problem.  

Its normal for a vet to do preop blood work...not sure if that's what you meant by a bunch of tests you felt were not necessary.  

The price estimate--I had a vets office pull that on me once.  Over the phone, they quoted me a price for a neuter--little did I know that it was JUST the price for the actual operation.  The anesthetic was extra, the suture material was extra, all drugs used during the surgery was extra, oxygen monitoring during surgery was extra, pain meds to go home with was extra, the 4 hours he was there being observed afterwards was extra....it all added up to about 4x what the "over the phone" quote for a neuter was.

They *should* have given you an estimate, itemized, for the total bill when you dropped him off for surgery.  That's the time to go over it thoroughly with the office staff and question charges.  Its crappy when they quote you the price for a neuter, and it turns out it was "just" for the surgery, not all the extras, though.

In any event, total loss of bladder control after a neuter sounds concerning 8 days post op.  Call the vet.  Follow up care for complications after surgery *might* be included in the fee---ask and push for it!

But do call right away.  

[Jaybay]

I think you're on the right track suspecting a UTI.  Another possibility is simple swelling in the area that is pressing on nerves that allow the dog to feel bladder pressure.  If you can catch even a little bit of urine before it hits the floor, take a fresh sample to your vet for a quick dip stick test to look for a UTI.  If he isn't taking some kind of anti-inflammatory meds, that would be a good thing to do as well.  I always had great results with Deramaxx or Rimadyl with my dogs.

If you aren't happy with your current vet, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking your dog to a different clinic.  Call a few clinics for basic rates - you might be surprised at the differences in pricing.

[jgjax]

We are already 800 in the hole for just a neuter, not counting what we will need to drop now to fix this urination problem. While I understand the pre op bloodwork, it was not necessary. Our dog was completely healthy, Ive worked in multiple vet clinics and have never seen a vet do so many tests because a dog was 5lbs underweight. Rosko is a picky eater, and unless we feed him dog food with molasses in it he barely eats. But because of the molasses he gets out of control with a bunch of energy and gets destructive, so I am adjusting his diet accordingly. And then add on top of that telling me one price for the neuter (I asked if that was for everything) and then charging us double, Im a bit peeved. Imagine my surprise when the surgery was already done and we were handed the bill, therefore we had no choice but to pay it. Sorry Im venting, Im not really a horrid person that complains;[

I appreciate the suggestions! I will contact the vet who did the surgery and see what we can work out. I will also look into some anti-inflammatory meds to see if it helps. Ive contacted a few vets in my area and none of them will help us because they do not want to be involved with another vets business practices. If I even mention that I had him neutered at a different vet, they tell me to contact that vet and they cant help me. This has truly been a frustrating experience, this is the first...and last time I will buy a dog from a breeder and stick to the shelters where all of this is already done. Thank you!

[murray7210]

I have a doberman that is a little over a year old. I had him fixed right after his first birthday (in June) Now, when he sleeps at night we wake up because the bed is very wet. It has no odor or color, but I have no clue what is causing it. Originally I thought something went wrong when he was fixed, but that would mean it would have started sooner. So I made a vet appointment and as soon as they figure out what it is, I'll be sure to post something. Maybe it will help. He is also a very picky eater... he was so underwieght that it looked as if I never fed him! I got beneful, and only feed him 3 times a day now and he is putting on the weight and starting to look really good. He doesnt eat plain dog food...I dont know why! But he wont...so I mix brown gravy with it and he loves it! Just a suggestion!

[Misfits4Me]

Hello.....Please, evaluate "Beneful" at Dogfood Analysis.Com. It is one of the lowest grade foods as it if full of Dyes and toxins. The websight will explain (Listed under that food) why you shouldn't feed it. This may be some of his problem. Look at their 5 or 6 Star rated foods and see if you can feed him one of those. I bet you wouldn't have to add gravy to any of these. He's trying to tell you something!  I am not trying to sound harsh, but only trying to help you out.....Give it a look.....Karla

[dannyboy621]

three wk. ago i had my wonderful dog neutered and now he has lost his bladder contro... how upsetting this is to him and me as an owner... the spade clinic never mentioned to me that this could happen... they gave him a blood test before the sugery,, this was extra,which they do in the office , more money as usual...that's my opion.. this is a big business for them... more dogs to be fixed and more money...then they give him heart worm test and always find heart worms in the dogs also... know matter how old.. more money again for the meds .. for that ,, never ending expense,, when the vet get them in their hands... when my other dog got his legs ran over by a truck after he layed under the tire and the person didn't see him... i took him to the vet and he said he had to cut off the top of the leg and leave it hang ,, so it wouldn' look so bad with the leg still their .. i refused to let him do that for two reasons.. one money which was almost $2000.00  also he said this was not his speciality... but he could still do it to save me money,,HA!  i refused and low and behold my great dog recuped and now he walks and runs as good as he ever did... this is all that vets wants in my opion... money, money and more money,,, how said ... they know we love our pets and know they can take advantage of us for our love for our pets... dan...

[julieperez]

I'm having the same problem w/ my dobie, neutered at 1yr. now age 1yr 6mos.  please let me know  what u find out

[ChestyDog]

Urinary incontinence post-neuter can happen. It's caused by a decrease in the testosterone levels. Testosterone helps control the tone of the sphincter muscles of the bladder. Usually the testosterone produced in the adrenal glands is enough to keep incontinence from happening, but not always. Hope this helps, even though the original posts are much older :)

[Jackson0323]

Does the testoterone increase over time after being neutered?  If not did the incontinence get better ???