My 11 yr old Rottweiler has bladder control issues [closed]

Question

How do I make sure that he's not developing more problems by cleaning up his urine?

Answer 1

There are several strategies for dealing with urinary incontinence in dogs, and the right strategy requires a veterinarian to understand the causes and resultant effective treatment paths.

Generally, especially at your dog's age, the more important thing is to make sure the dog is healthy; there is not a high risk that you are reinforcing behavior by cleaning up the urine, especially if this is a recent issue (i.e. if the dog previously had no bladder control issues).

Here are some questions a vet will probably ask you to determine the right treatment:

• Are you letting him out enough?
• Does he consume more water than usual?
• Is he on any medications right now? Some medications can cause either increased water consumption or incontinence itself
• Has he recently had any injuries?

There are medications that your veterinarian can prescribe to strengthen urinary sphincter control, but there might be other issues (genetic conditions, spinal deformities, urinary tract infections) that have other treatment paths. So it really depends, and you should really reach out to your veterinarian.

Also: - Make sure his bedding is dry; he may be wetting his bedding and he can get sick easily if he sleeps on wet bedding. - Check for skin irritation and excessive licking of the penile area; if urine drips, it can cause irritation there