incontinence dilemma

I have a dilemma. About a month ago the vet diagnosed Teagan with hormonal incontinent. He prescribed her DES. At the beginning she was on half a tablet every day for three days and half a tablet every second day for the rest of the week and than the second week she was on one tablet a week.

The DES never seemed to help. I was still putting diapers on her at night just in case. She never peed in them every night, but she was still peeing in them ever 2-3 night.

I called the vet and he suggested that I up her dose again to half a tablet for every second day than every third day and so on.

Well last night while watching TV Teagan peed all over the couch.

I don't know if I should give the DES some more time or what.

Also, the vet said if the DES does not work than he wants to do a bunch of blood work than try proin.

Which I really don't want to try. After reading this thread on another forum it kinnda scared me a bit.

Is your dog on PROIN? READ THIS! - Dog Health & Nutrition - Dog Forums - I-Love-Dogs.com

So if you were in my situation what would you do? Because I really don't know what direction if I should go.

Also I found there is a natural product I could try called "leak no more" I might see if that would work.

Another question can you guys think of any other issue that might cause incontinence while relaxed?

Would you consider keeping the diaper on her whenever she's indoors, rather than giving her medication? I've known a few diaper dogs and they all seemed to get used to it soon enough.

You know what I have considered it, a lot actually. Because right now if the DES does not work I do not want to put her on proin. I think the risk is just to great for me to even consider it.

But I am also thinking if I should go the blood work or not. If there is even a point.

I think I might actually try the "leak no more stuff" and see if that works or not.

I have nothing to add, except that I would probably do the same thing.

I know two dogs on proin and neither one has had any adverse reactions. They also don't pee on themselves anymore either.

Hugs.

I don't have much to add, but wouldn't her skin get irritated wearing the diapers 24/7? Obviously you will keep her clean, Iam just wondering... I think a few ppl on here (is it juno and emma?) that give proin.

Yes, I do understand that it works for a lot of dogs, but I am just taking that chance that she might have a reaction to it. If there is an alternative that is natural and will work than that's the path I am taking

Ha ha, She would not be wearing the diaper 24/7 only when we go to bed. She just seems to pee during the evening and when she is sleeping. And cleaning up after her if she pees on the couch or floor is not a big deal since its a leather couch and we have no carpet.

My main concern is that she is visibly distressed when she does pee herself. I am doing a lot of research right now on natural stuff you can give your dogs. So I think I am going to go that direction or go to a homeopath vet.

You took a chance that she'd have a bad reaction to DES, though. Even given at the appropriate dose, it can (rarely) cause bone marrow suppression and lead to potentially fatal aplastic anemia. I've never seen it happen, of course, but it can. It took was taken off the market because it did horrible things to people, though in this case it was more to the children of the people who took it.

I have to admit, I don't put a lot of stock in the scare stories on websites.

But then again, my dog takes Proin AND Rimadyl.

Black cohosh is a natural supplement that is supposed to help with incontinence. It didn't help my dog, but it may be something to look into.

Thanks El, I do know that the DES can rarely cause bone marrow suppression and that other issue. That is also why I am looking into an natural alternative. I might just take her off it all together. I don't think it would be an issue if she was only taking it once a week or less, but I was giving her half a tablet every second day and she was still peeing herself. And I do not want to have her on that high or higher of a dose.

And I will look into black cohosh. I also found that corn silk might help as well. And a whole bunch of other stuff. I guess It will be all trial and error.

Z has periodic incontinence, too. A few thoughts:

- have you had her urine tested? Z's came back with crystals even after we treated a UTI so I switched her food and the crystals went away, along with the accidents.

- what is she eating? Switching Z to a moist food (Honest Kitchen) helped immensely and a friend of mine also cautioned against giving beef because it supposedly can trigger incontinence in susceptible dogs (I think something in Chinese medicine related to heat/cold/etc.?).

- Leaks No More is supposed to work well for a number of dogs - I have an online friend who has used it with great success when her vet wanted to go to Proin.

- Our vet said that low calcium can sometimes cause problems with the nerves that control the bladder so she recommended giving more raw bones, specifically turkey necks.

My answers are in red

Forgive me if you or anyone else has mentioned this, I didn't read the whole thing Anyways, have you tried Cranberry Capsules before? Its a more natural way and it might help - just throwing it out there

Nikkie, you have mentioned them before and they are on my to try list

FWIW, DES did not really help Juno, but she's been on Proin for a couple months now and we notice a huuuuuge difference.

1tsp of chopped parsley once a day (I think) is supposed to help, as it's a natural diuretic. I tried it for a couple weeks with Juno, inbetween switching from DES to Proin... she definitely wasn't any worse and I would have continued with it, but my mom was super paranoid that she'd start peeing in bed again.

Bailey took DES for years then we started weaning her down when she started getting regular chiropractic adjustments. No more urinary accidents as long as she sees the chiropractor regularly. I know mine's not the first, nor did I "believe" in it before it happened with my own dog.

She's been off DES for almost a year now with zero accidents and we were having multiple incontinence issues a week before DES.

So I went out and bought some corn silk and Cran capsels. It says on the bottle it can take about a month for them to start working. I am really hopping It will because frankly I really dont want her on proin.

So can we have everyones good vibes that this will work

I don't know what to suggest. Sheena is on DES and with in 24 hours of starting on it she no longer had any issues. She has a pill once every 6 days. Wish I could be more of a help.

This is what happened to Piper 2 1/2hrs. after I gave her Proin for the first time..



Gums were BRIGHT red as well. 30min. after that was taken, she started vomiting; threw up a good 10 times. We almost took her to the ER vet, she was just so out of it (she has NEVER thrown up since we've had her). Luckily, she stopped and was 100% normal the next AM. So, NO more Proin for Piper!

Haven't tried anything else yet. Her incontinence is really sporadic.. sometimes she'll go a month between accidents, other times she'll have one once a week. I've read soy milk can help, so I plan on trying that next.

OMG Kady, poor little thing.

I will have to look up the soy milk thing. Im just really hoping that the Corn silk, and cran will work. So far its doing nothing, but it might take a while.

I just feel so bad for Teagan because right now her leaking is just so bad especially at night.

Yeah it was pretty scary! It was like I poisoned her.. I felt awful. I have heard that the "Leaks No More" stuff works. A friend of mine has some leftover that she's going to give me next time we see each other so I can try it. Can't hurt I guess!