Incontinent dog and otitis... Confused...

[PapaFrita]

First bit; Ulla (spayed Dobe bitch) had puffy ears this morning so took her to the vet who said she had otitis and shaking her head had caused the swelling (haematoma). Gave her a couple of jabs (ABs and something else... I forget) and some drops for her ears plus some prednisalone (sp?) to start this evening.
Second bit; Incontinence. For the last few weeks, and as it's summer, she's been sleeping outdoors, so I don't know how long this has been going on, but I had her indoors for a while today and she wet herself. She didn't seem to notice it happening and was lying in her wee when I got her up and took her outside. Could this be a result of the injections she had this morning, or unconnected? What could cause it?
I'm quite worried about her although she seems perfectly happy in herself (aside from itchy ears) and will call the Vet later, but they are closed from 1pm to 5pm.
Grateful for any ideas.

 

[BigRed]

How old is she ? any dog who has had a wee and stayed laying in it, is either very ill, or possibly going senile because that is not normal for any animal. It's just something they don't do.

 

[devilinajar]

I would have her checked by the vet!!!!

 

[Skhosu]

I can't imagine the injections would have anything to do with the incontinence, and if they did that they would make her not notice she would be lying in it :S

 

[PapaFrita]

She's only 4

I've just checked where she's kipping now, and she's not 'leaking' like she was earlier (little drops coming out)

 

[PapaFrita]

Yes, I will do. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas in the meantime.

 

[PapaFrita]

She seems to have stopped 'leaking' now. I will get her to the vets when they open in a bit. My mum said she'd read somewhere that sometimes spaying causes bitches to leak- Is that possible?

 

[Thistle]

spayed bitches can 'leak' if the spaying isn't done very carefully. I have a friend with a young 'leaky' bitch, she has to have drops in her food.

 

[PapaFrita]

Can it be sporadic? Perhaps made worse by stress (Ulla hates going to the vet!) A careless spaying sounds possible.

 

[ann-jen]

Unfortunately incontinance is quite common in Dobermans and is more common in a speyed female. My previous vizsla became incontinant at 4

The reason its more common in speyed females is because there is a ligament that runs from the womb to the bladder which is obviously no longer of any use when the womb is removed. This can cause the bladder to sit slightly further into the soft abdomen instead of within the bony cage of the pelvis. That means that when the dog is lying asleep and therefore no longer having conscious control of the sphincter muscle that holds the urine in, the pressure of the floor on the bladder can cause some leakage. Also the hormone oestrogen has a mild action on the tone of the bladder wall and so removing that can also contribute. Its not a case that the spey was performed incorrectly but it is unfortunately one of the possible consequences.
The reason its more common in Dobies? I'm not sure there was some speculation years ago as to whether it was connected to high tail docking as these breeds do seem more susceptible and the nerve supply to the bladder comes from the very last part of the spine. I think this was still discredited as a factor as even if they are left with no stump at all its unlikely the nerve would be severed as it still leaves the spine much further in if you know what I mean. My theory is they probably naturally have a bladder that sits more forward into the abdomen anyway and so after spey it drops well into the tummy. They can have corrective surgery to resite the bladder back into the pelvis but this is quite major and specialist surgery and so usually performed by a urogenital surgeon. It can however be easily controlled with medication to tighten up the sphincter muscle to help them have the control back. My dog was on this for years and never leaked while she was on it and I've never known it to cause any real side effects.
As far as it coming on when she started the treatment for her ears there could well be a link. Prednisolone is a corticosteroid and its most common side effect is to increase thirst and therefore your dog is probably drinking more and filling her bladder more quickly and so its more likely that the incontinance will mainfest while she is on them. You might find when she comes off the preds and her drinking returns to normal that she is no longer incontinant but I would expect it will catch up with her eventually being the breed she is sadly. Hope this is some help.

 

[PapaFrita]

Thank you for that. That's very helpful and I'm quite relieved now!

 

[ann-jen]

No problem.