Our big old dog is becoming incontinent -- How can we all be happy together?

October 21, 2008 6:05 AM

My 11 year old male shepherd-mix is in congestive heart failure, but doing very well on medicine. He has a good outlook for many months of high quality living. The diuretic medicine causes him to pee in the house occasionally -- because I can't get him out the door fast enough. We live in a condo and he has to go out on leash. We can't leave the house for more than a couple hours or he will need to pee. I welcome any tips on managing incontinence for large male dogs.

We saw the vet recently and had dog tested for urinary tract infection. He will need to take the diuretic for the rest of his life, and I expect the incontinence problem to get worse as his health declines. My husband and I plan to care for doggie at home as long as he is happy and pain-free. When the vet tells us it's time, we will say good-bye.

Here is what I am thinking about:

Dog Walking Service --
We have slowly been introducing a dog walking service, but our dog is protective of the house. It will take a while before he is comfortable letting the walker enter the house when we are not home.

Wee wee pad --
The vet recommended we train the dog to use a wee wee pad as his designated indoor pee spot. Anyone have experience doing this with a large dog? Does it really minimize the mess? I swear he pees a quart sometimes. It looks like these wee wee pads are disposable. Are there any washable, reuseable options?

Belly band --
Does anyone have experience using a "belly band" -- a wide elastic cumberbund that helps a male dog hold his urine longer?

Water bowl --
The vet tells us the dog must have water available at all times. He drinks a lot! I keep two big bowls for him.

Training --
It could be his advanced age, or possibly the drugs... the dog is no longer good at communicating his needs. He used to run to the door when he needed to pee. Now he will only stand and look at me. I'm getting better at reading his face. I'm wondering if there is a positive reinforcement technique to teach my old dog how to specifically communicate when he needs to go out.

posted by valannc to pets & animals (12 comments total)

Pee pad FTW. I've used them -- well, one of my dogs has, ahem -- and they work well, even on a wood floor.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 6:13 AM on October 21, 2008

Walker, indoor sod in a box, doggie diapers or a pee pad (in that order). A belly band will make him less likely to pee, but the problem is that he NEEDS to pee more often, only use a belly band if you are absolutely committed to taking him out every couple of hours. I suspect that he actually has very little notice himself that he needs to go out, so I might put him on a schedule of every 2 hours whether he asks or not (just like when housetraining a puppy) - I don't think the problem is that he isn't asking so much as he all a sudden has to go right now.
posted by biscotti at 6:46 AM on October 21, 2008

When our German Shepherd had incontinence problems near the end of his life, we used the "belly band." It's really just a dog diaper with replaceable absorbent pads. He tolerated it surprisingly well and it never leaked, although we only left in on at most for a few hours at a time between frequent walks.
posted by itstheclamsname at 6:47 AM on October 21, 2008

Which diuretic is he on? The commonly-used ones have slightly differing properties regarding how quickly they act and how urgent it is. In humans, at least, Lasix tends to be shorter-lived, but causes a great deal of urination and a lot of urgency. Torsemide (Demadex) is longer-acting but doesn't cause as much urgency. It might be worth talking to your vet about trying a switch to see if that improves the situation.
Best of luck to you and your pup.
posted by katemonster at 6:50 AM on October 21, 2008

On follow-up, perhaps the belly band is a completely different product, and what we used were the velcro-closure wrap-around dog diapers. I don't think there was anything that was preventing him from urinating in the product we used.
posted by itstheclamsname at 6:50 AM on October 21, 2008

Is there a walk in shower at your place?You can teach him to wee in there and then just rinse it out.
posted by stormygrey at 7:05 AM on October 21, 2008

Wow! Thanks for such rapid response and good info!

katemonster> The diuretic is Lasix (Salix/Furosemide) given every 12 hours. As you suggested, the lasix causes urgency episodes, but the episodes diminish after 2-3 hours, and he can be left alone for longer periods. The vet said we might reduce the dosage on the evening lasix, pending a test result.

Biscotti> I think you are correct that the dog gets little notice of when he needs to pee. Thanks for that insight.

I have found some of my own helpful methods by carefully observing the dog's behavior.
- I have a set time to give the medicine, with a walks after 30 minutes and 90 minutes.
- When I go out during the day, I close all the downstairs window blinds. This makes the dog take a nap, instead of watching from the windows. When he is quiet, he can comfortably hold his bladder longer.

The irony of this situation is that I must get a job to cover the vet and drug bills, now averaging $500 per month. The dog will be left alone more -- so I need to implement an in-house pee management program (IHPMP).

We really love our dog. He was a rescue. We are his third home. He came to us at a time when we really needed a friend. We want him to have a good life.
posted by valannc at 8:42 AM on October 21, 2008

Maybe something like this? This site also has washable and disposable dog diapers.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:49 AM on October 21, 2008

Hmm, that's the same site (different URL) that you posted yourself. Sorry about that.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:51 AM on October 21, 2008

Tinkle Trousers made a big difference for our dog (who also is going through congestive heart failure). It's not a belly band, but actually a diaper (or more accurately a holder for a disposable diaper.) They're more expensive than the diapers you find at a pet store, but the quality is much higher. They are easy to wash and they dry very quickly and it fits a standard baby diaper. Even just a basic diaper is enough to hold everything if she loses complete control, but mainly its useful for catching her near constantly leaking. We've had the same one now for almost 10 months and it is holding up well. She doesn't mind the diaper at all and gets around fine in it.
posted by imposster at 12:05 PM on October 21, 2008

perhaps the belly band is a completely different product, and what we used were the velcro-closure wrap-around dog diapers.

What I know as a belly band presses the dog's penis against his body, which makes urination uncomfortable/impossible.
posted by biscotti at 4:40 PM on October 21, 2008

Followup:
Situation has improved. Through observation, I've learned about the dog's needs relative to his medication schedule. The lasix cause urgency during a 90 minutes period following dosage. After that, the dog is more stable.

When our dog-trainer returns from an extended trip, we will teach doggie to use a pee-pad indoors.

As aging and disease progress, we will need more methods to deal with incontinence. I will return to this thread to re-read all these good suggestions.

Thanks.
posted by valannc at 8:45 AM on November 21, 2008