Is it normal for a dog to lose bladder control after surgery? Simple and Effective Tips

Signs of Female Incontinence After Spaying

You will most likely notice that your dog dribbles while walking or lying down, so you will probably find wet spots on the bedding or areas where she sleeps. This may be side effects of the anesthesia but if it lasts longer or re-occurs months after the surgery and your dog seems to not be getting better from the leaking, consult your vet as it may be spay incontinence. You may also notice your female dog is licking the area of skin that has become irritated by urine. These are symptoms of spay incontinence.

Your vet will diagnose spay incontinence through your dog’s medical history, clinical signs, blood tests, and urine tests. They may also perform a bladder radiograph (X-ray) and ultrasound on your dog to make sure their diagnosis is not confused with other diseases.

Can spaying cause incontinence in dogs? Unfortunately, yes, it can be one of the side effects of spaying a dog. Incontinence after spaying appears on your furbaby first before it actually appears on your floor.

You will occasionally notice and wonder why your female dog is leaking urine when lying down or while resting. Or, you might notice some of these common signs of dog incontinence after spaying:

Your furbabys hind legs are wet

She is licking at her vulva often

Her favorite corner of the house is always damp or smells of dog pee

She has burn marks on her skin around her private parts

She is showing signs of discomfort after spaying

Wet spots where your dog lays

She is exhibiting behavioral changes

Each of these can be considered a spay incontinence symptom. Incontinence after spaying typically develops immediately or some months after the actual spaying procedure. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, urinary incontinence occurred on average at 2 years and 10 months after surgery and occurred each day, while the dogs were awake or during sleep.

Sadly, many of these dogs will develop a urinary tract infection because of the constant licking of the vulva and its constant exposure to urine, which can make the situation worse. Since the sphincter is weak, it allows bacteria to travel inside the bladder. And all of that licking is creating a breeding ground for bacteria. It’s the perfect storm of sorts and makes incontinence even worse.

If your dog has recently been spayed and has any of the symptoms mentioned, you should schedule a follow-up appointment with your vet, who will want to do a urinalysis and blood work, and perhaps even culture to determine the kind of bacteria that is present if an infection is occurring.

“Will my vet know if my dog will develop incontinence after spaying?”

Your vet cannot predict if your dog will be the one to develop incontinence, but according to Dogs Naturally Magazine, obese dogs and pets that are spayed under the age of six months are more at risk. This is because of the common cause that is a hormonal imbalance that occurs after spaying.

For the urinary tract tissues of your furbaby to function well, it greatly depends on the amount of estrogen that its exposed to. After your pets ovaries are removed, her estrogen levels become too low to supply proper function of the tissues in the urinary tract, thus exposing pets who are spayed early to the possibilities of incontinence.

For all emergency situations, please contact your local Emergency Pet Clinic or on-call Veterinarian. Answers are not provided in real time. We can not guarantee an answer to every question, nor can we provide timely responses to urgent questions in many instances.

Please do use our site to become better informed about the medical problems your pet may have. We will do our best to ensure that information presented is accurate and up-to-date. The most current information will be at the top of each page. Remember that veterinarians often disagree about the best treatments for pets. There are often several perfectly acceptable ways to treat the same condition. Just ask a lot of questions!

Please do not use our site to attempt to diagnose or treat your pet. Your veterinarian is the best source of health advice for an individual pet.

We have a 6 1/2 year old female German shepherd; years ago when she was spayed, she became incontinent for a while, but it had not been a problem since then. Can anesthesia cause temporary urinary incontinence in a dog who had minor surgery on her ear?

What are the clinical signs of urethral incontinence?

The most common clinical sign is pooling or spotting of urine underneath your dog when she is sleeping or relaxed. Many dog owners report finding wet spots on the bedding or floor where their dog has recently been laying down or sleeping. Occasionally owners will report dribbling of urine while their dog is walking or after she urinates. In many instances the dog seems unaware of what is happening. It is estimated that urethral incontinence may affect over 20% of all spayed female dogs, especially large-breed dogs. Urethral incontinence is most common in middle-aged to senior, medium to large-breed female dogs although any dog may be affected.

There are several potential causes of urinary incontinence. These include:

Neurological causes including spinal injuries, disruption of the nerves controlling the bladder, and brain diseases or lesions.

Bladder storage dysfunction including bladder hypercontractility in which the bladder contracts frequently resulting in small amounts of urine leakage.

Urinary tract infections or bladder tumors, or any condition that compresses the bladder from the outside.

Urethral disorders in which the muscles that close the urethra fail to tightly contract, and urine leakage occurs. This is one of the more common causes and is often associated with hormone responsive urinary incontinence, urinary tract infection or inflammation, prostatic disease in male dogs, and vestibulovaginal anomaly in females.

Anatomic abnormalities such as a congenital defect, an injury, or a surgery that has caused damage or altered the normal bladder function. Ectopic ureters (ureters that are not in the correct anatomical location due to a birth defect), urethral hypoplasia, and vulvar or perivulvar conformation abnormalities are some of the anatomic abnormalities that can cause urinary incontinence.

Urine retention results when a dog will not urinate due to stress, fear, or behavioral abnormality and ultimately urine leakage occurs when the pressure inside the bladder exceeds urethral outlet resistance.

Mixed urinary incontinence occurs in dogs and is the combination of multiple factors affecting normal urination.Combinations of urethral and bladder storage dysfunction and anatomic and functional disorders are most likely to occur.

The Best Way to Treat Dog Incontinence + Stop Urine Leakage! – Dog Health Vet Advice