Spayed dog now peeing in the house

[dogluva]

We adopted a pure bred lab on 5/24 and had her spayed on 5/29. From 5/24 to 6/1 she never peed in the house or her crate. On 6/1 she began peeing whenever and wherever she wanted, sometimes right beside us if we weren't watching her closely. The vet said that this is normal, and prescribed an antibiotic, which she's been taking since 6/2.

I'm also wondering if our cat is preventing her from going to the door. The cat hates her and lets her know, which has made the dog skiddish when the cat comes around. She will not enter a room or pass by the cat. We have to coax her. I know she is dealing with a lot. She follows me every where but seems OK when we leave her in the crate (no more than 4 hours at a time). We have her on a schedule, but it's only been 10 days since we've had her.  

Any thoughts on the peeing or how to make her more comfortable in her new home?

[seokladuckin]

Are you sure that your dog is just peeing or are you finding wet spots?  It can likely be estrogen.  That is the issue with our female spayed lab and have seen it in many other breeds.

Urinary incontinence is a common disorder of older female dogs, as many as 20% of neutered ******* develop it at some point in their lives. The reason is usually urethral sphincter mechanism incompetence (USMI). It can happen to any breed,

Urethral Sphincter Mechanism Incompetence (USMI)

Affected ******* that are affected by this have poor tone to the smooth muscle surrounding their urethra (the tube that connects the bladder with the vagina), and often a shorter urethra than normal, and a bladder neck that is positioned too far back in the abdomen.

There are a number of contributing factors to this condition developing, but the main ones are breed susceptibility, obesity, body size, bladder position and spaying (neutering). Spaying is thought to have an effect by decreasing the estrogen levels, which affects the local muscle tone. However, most spayed ******* do not develop the condition and it should certainly not be used as an excuse not to neuter, as the increased likelihood of cancer in non neutered ******* is far more worrying.

What are the clinical signs?

The disorder is characterized by the passive leakage of urine without the dog noticing, often during sleep or rest while the dog is lying down. The owner usually remarks how there is always a stench of urine coming from the dogs bedding, and how the dog seems permanently wet and smelly around the back end. Continual leakage can also cause scalding of the skin around the vulva and groin.


How is it diagnosed?

Diagnosis is usually made based on the history. The pattern of urination is important to rule out other causes of incontinence. Urinalysis, radiography and ultrasonography can be performed for confirmation if necessary (e.g. to assess the location of the bladder neck within the abdomen).

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to increase the tone of the urethral smooth muscle. This can be done medically, surgically or by both. Medical treatment is either by giving estrogens or adrenergic drugs.


Estrogens

Estrogens have been used for a long time as HRT in post menopausal women. Estriol, a naturally occurring estrogen, is available as a licensed veterinary product and works by restoring the normal function of the urethral sphincter muscle, and increasing the sensitivity of the urogenital tract to adrenergic stimulation. Side effects traditionally associated with long term estrogen use include bone marrow depletion, but this has not been observed with Incurin, the licensed veterinary drug.


Adrenergic drugs

Adrenergic drugs stimulate relaxation of the bladder wall and contraction of the urethral sphincter simultaneously. Both of these actions facilitate urine storage. Phenylpropanolamine (Propalin, Vetoquinol) is the most frequently used drug for this, and is extremely effective in the majority of cases.

Surgery

Surgery is usually only appropriate if medical treatment has failed to control the incontinence. The procedure most often used performed is colposuspension, which involves pulling the bladder neck and vagina forwards from within the pelvis to an abdominal position. This has a cure rate of about 50%.

Another technique is the transpelvic sling, where a ribbon is passed through the obturator foramen in the pelvis and between the urethra and vagina. The ribbon is pulled tight and fixed to itself. This may be performed in addition to colposuspension.

A less invasive technique is endoscopic injection of Teflon or collagen into the urethra about 1.5cm away from the bladder neck, artificially increasing the tone of the smooth muscle there. This has a reported success rate of just over 50%, and is sometimes done alongside adrenergic medication.


I hope this helps you.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

If the inappropriate urination is not due to a urinary tract infection, or other physical problem, than it is behavioral, obviously.  Is she also defecating inappropriately also?

Your cat really sounds like a tough character!  It sounds as if you must try some behavioural modification on your cat, even if it means following your cat around constantly with a squirt bottle and give the cat a squirt in the face every time your dog is bullied.  

This will require a bit of work on your part.  

You could also try the holistic anti-bully formula called "Bully Remedy" from the Spirit Essence company.  You can view this remedy at the spiritessence.com website.  If you do try this remedy, please let us know if it is effective.

Lastly, you may have to find a good behaviorist who can come to your house.