Causes and treatments for a dog’s weak bladder

Video: How to Treat Overactive Bladder Naturally

There are several causes and treatments for a dog’s weak bladder. Does your dog appear to have a weak bladder?

First you and your vet should make sure the problem really is a weak bladder. A weak bladder in dogs can often be misdiagnosed as such when the problem is the dog is actually marking their territory. The problem can be also due to behavior problems, and it is more common in female dogs. How can we tell the difference if you are the owner of a dog with this problem?

Causes and Treatments for a Dog’s Weak Bladder

Causes

1)  Your beloved pet is consuming more water than is normal. This often leads to a weak bladder and the need to urinate often. This is often a sign the dog may have medical issues such as diabetes, kidney failure, or hyperthyroidism.

2)  If the dog has had recent urinary tract infections, this can cause the bladder to weaken. This may be a temporary problem once the infection is cured, especially in younger dogs.

Video: Causes and Treatments for Overactive Bladder Syndrome

3)  In female dogs a decrease in hormones such as estrogen can result in a weak bladder sphincter causing the dog to urinate more than normal.

4)  If your dog has suffered an injury or been diagnosed with a disease to the spinal cord this is possibly the cause. Also any injury to the lumbar area is another possible cause for the incontinence.

Treatments

1)  If you suspect your dog might be suffering from one of these problems, there is a relatively easy procedure your local vet can perform as a way to pin down what the cause is. Have your vet do a urinalysis or urine culture at their office. In most cases this will be all that is needed to diagnose the problem properly. If this does not yield the results for correcting the problem, the vet can then do a radiograph and blood panel test to further narrow down the issue of why your dog in fact has a weak bladder.

2)  The normal treatment for a dog with a urinary infection and or bladder infection is through the use of antibiotics. Your vet can also perform surgery to correct a weak bladder sphincter but this does have possible risks and side effects, so they might start the dog on hormonal therapy before using surgery as a last resort.

3)  There are several drugs that can be given if there is no specific cause found. According to an article on the Medi-Vet.com website:

When no specific cause can be identified for the incontinence drugs may be given that increase the tone of the muscles that hold urine in the bladder. Some drugs that are used for this purpose include estrogen, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine.

4)  If all else fails, you will want to consider using dog diapers. These are made to fit all size dogs comfortably and will need to be changed once a day.

Above are some of the causes and treatments for a dog’s weak bladder. There are others, and you will probably need a veterinarian to sort it out if it becomes a continuing problem.

Have you had a dog with a weak bladder? If so, share below how you dealt with it.

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