Getting frustrated of your dog spraying or leaking during the nights or worried seeing that smelly pool in the house then it is time for you to dig little deeper to find out what are the reasons that are turning your pooch to this specific behavior.
Checking on these symptoms, you need to know that your pooch may be suffering from urinary inconsistence problem unless and until he may not be having any behavioral issues.
There may be many factors leading to urinary inconsistence in your dog. Sometimes due to physical problems of the bladder, the urethra or neurological abnormalities involving parts of the brain and spinal cord for bladder function. The best way to help your pooch recover from involuntary urinating is first and foremost to find the cause behind it.
Causes Responsible for Urinary Inconsistency
Hormonal Issues
After neutering or spaying most dogs, especially female dogs suffer from hormone-responsive inconsistence. Pet may urinate normally but sometimes they leak during sleep or while resting. This condition can happen in pets after months or years of neutering.
Treatment:
Physical examination and diagnosis of blood and urine samples are usually found normal. Certain medications can help overcome this inconsistency issue in your dog.
Age Connected Urinating
Age is also a cause triggering to urinating issues in pets. Due to weakened muscles, the bladder could not hold the urine and it leaks. Certain diseases related to age are also responsible for frequent urination. With age, they develop conditions like senility, in which urine dribbles.
Treatment:
Proper treatment including medications help age related inconsistence in dogs.
Behavioral Issues
Many times anxiety is responsible for spraying. Submissive urination is most common in certain cases when a dog is submissive to another pet or to a person. This happens more frequently in young dogs. They usually roll on the back and urinate.
Treatment
With the help of therapist, this behavioral problem can be rectified. Socialization, behavior modification techniques and safe environment all can help a dog to come out of this problem.
Medical Issues
Cystitis
When a pet is infected in bladder, they have a strong urge to urinate. In this case, it is not usually inconsistence as the pet knows he needs to urinate but they have such a strong urge to empty their bladder that they just drizzle at unlikely places.
Treatment
For such pets a normal treatment by your vet can work in curing the bladder infection.
Central Nervous System Disorder
Dogs having spinal cord injury or brain disease also result either into urine dribbling or unable to pass urine. Sometimes other conditions of nervous system disease such as muscle weakness or paralysis can also relate to this issue.
Treatment
A vet can diagnosis this condition and help in providing the best medication for proper output.
Urethral Blockage
Pets with kidney stones or with partial blockage of the urethra due to tumor can have urine inconsistency. Due to this condition, a dog cannot completely empty the bladder to blockage. Due to urine, this makes bladder larger such that the back pressure is so high that it forces some urine to leak around the blockage.
Treatment
In such cases, enlarged bladder can be felt by a vet and proper treatment can be given.
Birth Defects
In rare cases, young puppies have inconsistence as a result of birth defect. The most common condition in young dog that falls into this category is ectopic ureter. The ureters connect the kidneys to the bladder. If any of these ureters connect to any abnormal locations like vagina or urethra, the puppy can leak.
Compared to male dogs, female dogs are affected more. Another less common condition is vulvovaginal stenosis where the vagina at the level where the urethra ends is narrowed. Rarely, when the pet urinates some urine gets trapped in the vagina in the front of the narrowed area.
Diagnosis
When you find your pet leaking, first thing you need to do is to take him for diagnosis. Regardless of the pet’s age, it is crucial to find why the pet is suffering from involuntary urinating and providing the treatment accordingly. Various tests are performed depending on your pet’s age, inconsistence symptoms along with the presence of other signs. In a vet lab, it is common to collect sample urine for bacterial culture and to check whether is dilute or is there any presence of bacteria or fungus.
Be prepared for your vet’s questionnaire to help identify the right reason of your pet’s problem
- When was the problem observed before few days or few months?
- What is the age of your pet?
- Is your pet on any medications?
- When is the inconsistence more common like during sleep or walking?
- How much your pet drinks?
- Any previous surgeries and illness
- Is your pet spayed or neutered?
- How frequently does your pet urinate?
- Whether your pooch finds difficulty in passing the urine or whimpers during urinating?
Vet may perform detailed diagnosis taking into blood test also to look for any presence of kidney damage from infection or for any disease that might result into increased urination. X-rays or ultrasound may be performed to check all the parts of the urinary tract.
Providing Treatment for Urine Inconsistency
Based on the diagnosis reports, your vet can confer the main cause responsible for this involuntary urinating in your pet. Accordingly, your vet may plan out treatment process including prescription medicines, vet diets or therapeutic exercises to cure this condition.
