Male Urinary Incontinence

[NorthfieldNick]

Has anyone else had experience with male urinary incontinence? Is it a long-term thing? What causes it?

 

Lu, my older spayed female mutt, has been on a Proin for several years. I was well aware of the older-spayed-female troubles with incontinence, but I'd never heard of it in males before. Nick was having some trouble with night time incontinence, and after everything else checked out fine (complete blood work, urinalysis, etc) my vet suggested putting him on a low dose of Proin (half of what Lu gets). It cleared things right up. Just to see what would happen, I didn't give Nick his daily dose two days ago. I had some reason to believe that his incontinence was due to increased water intake due to heavy work in a heat wave. Lo and behold, the next morning, his bed was soaked, and he dribbled urine when I let him out after having been at work all day. Back on Proin- no trouble! Nick just turned 5, and has no side effects from the low dose of Proin. I once gave the dogs the wrong bowls, and he got Lu's dose of Proin, and he was nuts for the next day! (Excitability is a side effect). Nick was castrated at almost 3 yrs.

 

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

 

Thanks!

[ripley]

Yoshi also has problems with incontinence (and has since I adopted him at age 3). You are lucky that the Proin resolves the symptoms for Nick. With Yoshi it helps, but he also has to wear a belly wrap (it's a bit of a pain, but we've gotten used to it and it doesn't seem to bother Yoshi at all). I've heard various theories about what may cause the incontinence and have been told it's most likely hormone related.

 

One thing you want to be sure to rule out is diabetes insipidus. The other symptoms of this disease include excessive drinking and an inability to concentrate urine.

[Freeman 101]

Hi.

My male Standard poodle has urinary incontinence and is on Proin. He is currently 10 but has had the problem for about three years. I rescued this dog at 8 mos and he had already been neutered at 4 mos. I think this problem is less common in intact males. I believe the hormones estrogen and testosterone add elasticity to muscle, so that is probably why incontinence is more common in dogs that have been altered.

 

I also was given the option of treating this dog with testosterone shots, but this was going to be more expensive than using Proin and I also didn't want the inconvenience of bringing him in for regular shots.

 

I've had the same results that you have had. As long as I give the meds he stops leaking urine. If i forget to give the meds for several days, the problems starts again.

 

I'm curious to know if early spay/neutering contributes to incontinence. My female Lab is 11, we spayed her after the age of 2, and she still has great bladder control.

 

You asked if the problem was long term, and I was told by our vet that it is.

[ripley]

I have heard that the time of the spay/neuter can make a difference. However, Yoshi was not neutered until he came into the shelter sometime around 2.5 to 3 years of age, so that doesn't fit with him. It's possible he was born with some sort of anatomical problem. I doubt I will ever know for sure. I did try the testosterone shots, by the way. They helped a little for Yoshi, but had undesirable behavioral side effects (e.g., constant marking outside, mounting other dogs and sometimes people), so I stopped. If the Proin is working for you, I would stick with it. I get it online from Petsupplies4less for much cheaper than my vet offers.

[elegy]

My male pit bull went through a period of leaking that Proin controlled. He was neutered at 2 years, FWIW. I was lucky in that I was able to wean him off the meds and he's pretty much stayed dry (every once in a blue moon- maybe twice a year- he'll leak but he was leaking pretty much daily when I put him on meds).

[sea4th]

I placed one of my intact males at about 5 yrs. of age with a friend who proceeded to have him neutered. He was one of the most fastidious and cleanest male dogs I've had. After he was neutered, he began have urine control issues, much to his embarrassment. I believe he is on Proin now, 2 yrs. later.