Des Doesn't Seem To Be Working

[Magdalene]

When I adopted Mystique a month ago, I was advised she had incontinence issues due to having been spayed when she was younger (she's ten years now), but that she was on DES twice a week and per her foster dad, it worked so well that at worst, he'd find a 'dime sized' spot on her bed every so often. He claimed it worked so well that he could leave her for eight hours and she'd have no accidents.

 

Well, it's been four weeks, and that just simply hasn't been my experience. She might have two good days in a row, but that seems to be only if I'm home most of the day to let her out frequently. I obviously can't be home all day every day. One of my neighbors works from home and lets them out in the middle of the day, which seems to help, but gods help me if I go to my dance class for two hours (including the drive time to and from)--I come home and there's a huge spot on either her bed, or on the sofa if she lays down there. This happens more often than not, it seems, and right now I'm frustrated--again, I was gone *two hours* (and peed her several times before leaving) and there's a huge spot on my sofa--I can't even sit down on it.

 

I had spoken to her vet about it three weeks ago when I got her prescription for DES refilled, and the vet said absolutely those big spots shouldn't be happening, but it was discussed that she'd undergone a lot in the weeks before--she'd lost her original home due to divorce, got sent to the foster home where another dog attacked her, then came to my house, so we considered perhaps she was a little stressed and needed some time to settle. It's three weeks later and the issue doesn't seem to be any better. I'm honestly at a point where I'm wondering if the foster dad lied to get her out of his house, but be that as it may, the DES doesn't seem to be doing the trick. The vet didn't want to increase the dosage (she explained why twice a week was the max she was comfortable with, and I agree), but right now I'm frustrated that I came home, just wanted to sit down and watch some TV, and instead, I'm scrubbing down the sofa AND the dog. Is there anything else that might work?

[KF_in_Georgia]

See the thread here. There are several possibilities there. Did your vet actually check for a UTI?

[Magdalene]

No, she'd already been diagnosed by a previous vet (her records were all forwarded over), so I'm guessing my vet saw no need to do anything other than refill the prescription. And it does only seem to happen when she's lying down fully relaxed (which from what I've been reading, seems to be typical for dogs in her situation.)

Edited April 30, 2014 by Magdalene

[KF_in_Georgia]

It's just that she could have a UTI in addition to the spay incontinence, so it's possible that the DES is working just fine--but just isn't worth squat against a UTI on top of the incontinence. Or high blood pressure. Or whatever might be going on in addition to what the DES is fighting.

 

If the vet says the big spots shouldn't be happening, I'd expect him to start looking into why they are happening: check for a UTI, check blood pressure, etc., maybe look into some calming meds if he thinks it's stress (and stress would raise her blood pressure). Maybe the foster dad made light of issues in order to get her out of the house, but if the vet says this shouldn't be happening, then the foster dad would be covering up something other than incontinence.

[tbhounds]

Is she drinking more than you would expect to be normal? There could be many reasons for her "leaking". I would first rule out any other medical conditions like an undiagnosed uti. One of my girls had a thyroidcarcinoma and the only symptom she had was drinking more and "leaking" urine while sleeping. I'm not suggesting your girl has cancer but, just trying to make point that there could be many reasons that could explain why she's seemly experiencing urinary incontinetnce.

With the absence of other medical conditions you may to increase the frequency of the DES or you may even need to add an additional medication.

[Magdalene]

OK, I'll make an appointment with the vet and see what she has to say. I hope something works, because right now I'm near tears--I pottied her several times before bed last night (11 p.m.), and she woke me up at four a.m., in a huge puddle. I haven't gotten a full night's sleep since she's been here, and I'm tired and in tears, and about ready to send a nastygram to her foster father. There's NO WAY she went from 'barely a dime sized spot' to this from his house to mine.

 

She did drink more water when she first arrived, but that stopped after the first few days, and she drinks a normal amount now.

[Neighsayer]

Sounds like your vet wasn't very interested in looking further. Maybe you should try another vet. How far away is the vet she went to while in foster care? Reach out to your group...they may be able to recommend a vet in your area. Good luck!

[Guest june]

Sorry you are going through this. Until you find out what the problem is could you put plastic on your couch with a comforter and towels covering. Also covering her bed with plastic and then a cloth cover over that can save you lots of work. That is not a solution to the problem, but might help your frustration level a bit. It does sound like she has been through a lot of changes and so it is possible she has gotten a UTI or just be experiencing lots of stress.

Hope you figure out what is going on quickly.

[Guest rdoyle225]

Any one thought about testing for diabetes?

[MaryJane]

I would first check for a UTI and that means getting a sterile first catch morning specimen - it could be an infection.

 

There shouldn't be any issue to increasing the DES back to once a day for a few days (if I remember the loading period is about 5 days) and see if that helps to bring it under control and then reduce back to the twice a week.

 

You could also add Proin to the DES but, I'm not sure how I would personally feel about doing that. As a note, this happened to Lucy and she ended up on the DES daily for a few weeks and in that time, we discovered a UTI and then slowly weaned her off the DES (over 6 months) but, in the interim, it looked like we might have to give her both the DES and Proin to control the incontinence. Proin in rare cases can cause high blood pressure that is not easily naticed.

[EddiesMom15]

While you are waiting for test results to come back, it might help to use disposable bedpads on your furniture and dog beds. Find them in the incontinence section at big box and drugstores. We used three XL pads across the couch, two on the loeseat, and put a blanket over the pads to help hold them in place. They do rustle some when stepped on, but Missy Pea and the cat herd didn't seem to mind.

[Magdalene]

Sorry that I didn't update this sooner--I had it in my head to do so and I kept forgetting, but I did take her to the vet, and they did find a bit of bacteria in her bladder, so she's on amoxicillin, which has done wonders. (She did have a minor accident last night, but it was so small I had to keep patting at her bed to see if it was really a damp spot or if it was an odd shadow and I was imagining it.) She's now been sleeping through the night without waking me at 2 a.m. to go potty, I can leave her for a few hours without wondering.

 

The vet did take a blood sample just to make sure it wasn't her kidneys (he wanted to check due to her age, she's ten), and he did say her thyroid levels were low and she'd need a supplement, but somebody else told me to double-check to make sure he compared that to what's normal for a *greyhound*, not other dog breeds. So we've been playing phone tag on that one (I want to actually discuss it over the phone with him if I can before I put her on this.)

 

But she's much better and I'm now sleeping through the night (I didn't realize how sleep-deprived I was getting) and we're all happier and more relaxed.

 

I feel bad for having waited so long, but I really figured it was all the stresses she'd been through lately that had her so off-kilter and that the accidents would stop once she felt safe and secure.

[PrairieProf]

Do NOT NOT NOT put her on thyroid medication without a full thyroid panel. If your vet just looked at the T4 he doesn't know what he's doing with greyhounds for sure.

[Guest roweboy]

Getting a new dog is a big adjustment for both you and the dog, so please don't feel ANY guilt about her treatment. Getting an older dog is an extra learning curve. It sounds like you're on the right track for everyone to be feeling better. It's awesome that you adopted an older dog!

 

IF you ever have incontinence issues again for any reason, save your sanity and buy doggy diapers. Look on Amazon or Google.

[juliemac]

I'm so glad that you were able to find the cause of the recent issues, and that you're both finally getting some much needed rest!!!

 

Keep us updated on your new addition!!