She drips urine when she lays down...it's horrible! I have to keep her on a blanket and wash it alot. I went to the vet and of course they gave her meds. Proen, it's called...i gave her one pill and she threw up from it the next morning....does anyone know anything I could do to help her?? Any herbal remedies? I'd appreciate it. I won't give her those pills anymore - who knows what the side effects are!

Jen

what did they say was wrong with her?

Yes, sounds like she may have an infection like my last dog. You may need to pay a little bit more and take her to a holistic vet to get to the root of the problem but it's worth it.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Here is a bit of on line research for you:
It is very important that you rule out the possibility that your dog's incontinence is indicative of a bladder or urinary tract infection. Infections usually require medical treatment. An infection left untreated will not only bring your dog much discomfort, but it could turn into an even more serious health problem. Dietary changes can help prevent recurrence by building the proper pH in the body to ward off future attacks.

There is some thinking that spay incontinence cannot be helped by the usual methods that would be used to treat incontinence in unspayed bitches (or males for that matter). However, it can't hurt to try! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by at least trying to use some natural methods before resorting to harsh drugs and chemicals (like Phenylproanolamine [PPA] or Diethylstilbesterol [DES]) that may have long term, harmful effects. Besides, herbs are cheaper, a nice bonus!

The best herb to try is CORNSILK (Zea mays). Look for fresh (not dried) silk threads. These can be found in organic food stores, health food stores, or clipped directly from ears of corn, preferably organically grown. Cornsilk is safe for long term use. It may be combined with couchgrass and echinacea; this combination will help with inflammations or infections of the urinary tract. Another useful herb to try for treating incontinence is called UVA URSI.

Dosage: For a medium dog (~70 lbs) try about a teaspoon or so, or if you buy in capsules form, follow the label directions, using half the recommended dosage for humans. A lot of "natural" and herbal remedies are very individualized, and the amount needed by your dog may be different from the amount needed by my dog. This is even true with the good old standby PPA.

Another herbal mixture you can try is 2 parts horsetail, 1 part agrimony, and 1 part sweet sumach. This information is taken from a human herbal book, which recommends brewing this mixture as a tea and drinking 3 times a day. For dogs, we would either add to drinking water or mix into food. Unless of course they are willing to drink it.

If you live near a health food store, check and see if they have homeopathic remedies. There are some good remedies you can purchase for urinary incontinence, as well as herbal tinctures worth trying.

My final recommendation is to offer some diet advice. I highly recommend feeding a natural, home prepared diet, consisting of fresh, raw, human-grade meats, fruits, and vegetables. One "secret" that I discovered, which seems to have stopped one of my own dogs' incontinence and her reliance on the PPA, is to cut all grains out of the diet. Ever since doing this, I have also stopped giving the PPA, and she has stayed dry at night!

I cannot explain why this works, and certainly it may not work for every dog, but it has worked for others. I was skeptical, but figured why not try it. It has worked for us, that's the best "proof" I can furnish.

In closing, I leave you with this to ponder: You cannot eliminate grains from your dog's diet unless you give up commercially prepared dog foods. Yes, even the "premium" brands. They are based on grains, and contain far more than any dog requires. Did you know the dog has no established requirement for carbohydrates? Grain are carbohydrates. Food for thought!

Wow, thanks Lydia...your post was extremely helpful.

They did rule out a urine infection and said she had incontenance b/c she got spayed and the muscles had lost their elasticity. I think I will try taking her off the dry food and switch to wetfood/raw and then transition to just raw.

Man, cutting up meat is NOT something I want to do (plus it's expensive!) I'll have to think about that one....

And P.S. my dog will not touch a fruit or veggie! She hates them and will turn up her nose at anything that's not dogfood or carbs...when I ate the SAD diet she LOVED bagels and bread (carbs!)...intersting...so I'll have to disguise the veggies with some kind of meat product.

Jen Rose

"You must first unlearn the lies, and then you will have room for the truth"

Hi, Jen...

I would like to add some things about a dog's diet and the importance of finding a holistic veterinarian to care for your little one.

A dog operating on the diet it would choose for itself in the wild is naturally equipped to fight off the diseases and degenerative conditions.

The diet a dog would choose for itself:
1. raw meat (prey)
2. The occasional grasses (wheatgrass, etc.)
3. The vegetable contents of the prey's stomach (sorry if that's upsetting to some, but that's nature at work)

Since we can't let our dogs run wild in the streets, killing small prey (although my Jack Russell Terrier would LOVE that) the best way for us to supply the diet that is the most species-appropriate is an all-raw food diet, as lydia8985 was saying.

My doggy eats mostly raw meat but I do also give her veggies by finely chopping them in a food processor and blending them in with her meat. So giving your doggy veggies mixed in with the meat is a very good idea. She RARELY gets grains, but I do chop some wheatgrass up for her and add it to her food, and sometimes I make a treat for her with apples and uncooked oats. I do give her uncooked bones to chew as well, while supervised.

If you don't want to prepare the raw meat yourself, ask the butcher at your local grocery store (preferably a health-oriented establishment, like Wild Oats or Whole Foods or some other similar store) to give you stew meat, or to cut it up for you so you don't have to touch it too much. Even a frozen package of ground turkey or some other meat thawed and served is better to feed them than cooked alternatives, in my opinion; just mix in some finely-chopped veggies.

I only feed my dog organically raised meats or meats that are certified not to contain any hormones or antibiotics. You will find that many more butchers are carrying some brands of meats that hold up the standards of organic or no-chemical, even at "mainstream" grocery stores, so ask about them. It might be a little more expensive than that garbage most veterinarians are paid to endorse, but you'll save the money in vet bills and your pet will have a diet it derserves.

As a standby, I also have some Steve's Real Food in a bag in the freezer; you can purchase that at your health food grocer and online. It has veggies in it, too; but I add extra veggies after I thaw it out. I try to make the ratio of veggie to meat about 80/20.

NOTE: You might want to look up on the web about some fruits and veggies that aren't good for doggies; certain parts of plants, seeds abd fruits can be dangerous to certain pets.

QUESTION:Are you giving your doggy filtered water, or water from the tap? There are too many chemicals in tap water.

I used to work for a veterinarian. Vets are trained, just like most people doctors, to prescribe the drugs they are paid to. I found a holistic veterinary office in my city and they are wonderful; they suggest herbal and homeopathic treatments whenever possible, and they even offer acupuncture for pain relief after surgeries. My doggy is thriving under their care. I actually pay less than I would at a regular vet since I'm not buying drugs by the fistload. She started itching just after I adopted her (probably due to a detox from the switch to a raw food diet from the processed junk she had been fed before) and they gave her chinese herbs to add to her food mix and she stoppped itching in two days.

I hope for all the best for your doggy....good luck.

Marley (and Harley)

)

You can buy raw meat patties from local pet stores. I feed my dog an all raw meat diet. He's very healthy and he's soon to be 8 years old.

Love,
Prism