Post spay urinary issues - HELP!
We've had Miss Bella for two weeks and she's 6 months old. She was at a breeder who has been inspected by the AKC and passed all inspections. She had all her shots with the exception of her rabies and is micro chipped.
She would be 6 months old on June 10th so when I took her to get her rabies, I took her to Banfield and signed her up on their wellness program. The vet recommended that she be spayed asap so that she didn't have her first season. So we scheduled the surgery for June 8th.
She had her surgery and they sent her home the same day. That's when the trouble started. I had noticed on 6-7-09 that she was shaking her head & scratching her ears so I asked them to check her ears. She has very hairy ear canals! She has a yeast infection and a mild bacterial infection so they gave me ear cleaner & medication. They also sent liquied pain medication home.
1. 6-8-09: She was sleeping in my bed with me and urinated without even knowing that she did. It didn't stop there. All week, she has urinated uncontrollably in her pet taxi. I called the vet on the morning of 6-9-09 and they said that her urination without knowing was probably due to the anestetic and it would improve as she came out of it.
2. She can't get enough water. It's nothing for her to drink two cups of water at a time.
3. 6-10-09: I took her back to the vet and they examined her. The surgeon said that her surgery went extremely well and there were no problems. They couldn't get a urine sample so we went home. The surgeon said to stop her pain meds and ear meds in case it was a reaction to one of those that was causing the problems with urinating without knowing.
4. She threw up in the car on the way home and again at 11:30pm. More urination in her taxi. Not small amounts. It's wet.
4. 6-11-09: We were actually able to catch a sample. We took it to the vet and the surgeon said that no bacteria etc was found. Everything looked fine. But he said that he'd prescribe her an antibiotic since she's licking her private regularly. He sent me home with Clavamox Drops 62.5mg/ml-15ml. I give her 0.9cc twice per day. So her first dose was the evening of 6-12-09.
5. Even with all the water she has been drinking, I've noticed that her nose is totally dry. No moisture at all. I pinch the skin on the back of her neck and it sticks together. So does all this mean she's dehydrated? The surgeon said that they give fluids during surgery so I wouldn't expect her to be so ravenous about water.
At first she charged her food bowl and gobbled it so fast that it would get stuck in her throat. No chewing, just ate like she had to fight for her food in her previous home. That has eased up and I've made sure to teach her that she can't eat until I give her permission. She has to sit, get in her calm submissive state & then she can "go".
I make sure that we walk out the door and in the door before her. She can't pull us around on the leash. We watch the Dog Whisperer all the time and because she was the oldest pup in her pack, she exhibited some dominant tendancies so we are making sure to try not to allow that. The first sign was when our baby granddaughter came over and Bella stood on her back.
I noticed that when she needs to poop, it's almost like she doesn't understand what the feeling is. She'll jump around and smell her back side & then abruptly sit down so it doesn't "happen" or something. We make sure to walk her in the AM & the PM. Since surgery we have tried to limit the extent that she moves around etc.
I'm just very concerned FOR her. I am concerned that she's being set up for failure in her taxi training because she doesn't seem to have any control over her urination.
I want to know if there are possibly side effects to anesthesia? Or possibly being catheterized during surgery?
Any ideas?
Home | About | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertise | Press | Resources | Contact
Pet Health Information | Cat Diarrhea Treatment | Treatment for Dog Diarrhea | © Copyright PetDocTM 2008-9. All rights reserved.
Website designed by Digital Scientists, an Atlanta Web Design company.

The urination is from the Prednisone they gaver her for the ear infection. i would cut the dosage down. I;'m assuming thats what she is on. My dog gets yeast infections in her ear a couple times a year since I got her from the humane Society, and they always give her tht and Otomax, which works wonders.
Hi, I am sorry to hear you are having trouble with your pup. It is hard to say if the urine problem is as a result of the anesthesia or a medication. It is very hard to predict how each individual animal will react to something it is given. It is also hard to say if she is peeing a lot because she is drinking so much or vise versa.
As far as this being a side effect of being catheterized during surgery, an iv cath is sometimes put in to give fluids (or sometimes fluids are given under the skin) but the fluids she received then, would have been absorbed in a matter of hours. I have not known any vets who use a urinary cath during surgery so you would have to ask your vet that.
While your dog is having this trouble holding her urine, it is best to take her out often, even as much as every two hours. If you have to be away from her for a period of time, it may be worth it to have someone stop by and take her out. Kind of like starting over with the puppy training.
You are doing a great job keeping track of your dogs issue and keeping in touch with your vet. Hopefully this problem will resolve itself soon. Good luck and keep us posted!
PetDoc.com
I'm so glad to get some encouragement. I feel bad for HER. I'd hate to have zero control over my pottying.
Today, we took her out almost every hour. Picked up all the rugs. And we have more things for incontinence than I ever thought I'd have. We got pee pads for accidents.... they didn't work. The urge hits her so fast she doesn't have time to think about it. I do two loads of towels every day.... So today we bought humanoid bed pads for incontinence so I wrapped her towel in that. We fear limiting her water too much. And she looks for it with a vengence.
I'm taking her back to the vet in the morning. They sure better do something.... I called the emergency animal hospital and they said that it's absolutely not normal.
So I will let you know what happens.
And thank you for your encouragement.
Kelly
So…. The guy from Banfield calls and says that they think they might send her home with a different antibiotic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told him that’s not acceptable!! They’re just stabbing in the dark. I told him that if she didn’t show any urinary tract or bladder infection when they sent us home with the first medication – THEN WHY ARE THEY SUGGESTING A DIFFERENT MEDICATION????????????????? He said he understood my “frustration”. I told him he DOES NOT! I told him that I brought a healthy dog to them and that something happened during that surgery to make her UNHEALTHY & they need to FIX IT & NOT AT MY EXPENSE!!!!! He just called back – they’re going to re-run her urine and do a kidney test but he said they wouldn’t cover anything more than that……………… I’M LIVID!!!!!!!!
Hello,
I am reading your story and it sounds very simular to our story. We have a full breed border collie and she was spayed shy of six months. She was a healthy puppy going into surgery and a very unhealthing one coming out. Same symptoms but she is in pain. We have had bladder and urine tests, fecal tests, blood tests, a ultrasound, all types of medications and we even let a new vet jump right back in a do an exploritory surgery to find what is wrong. And everything is comething back normal!!!! But this puppy always has the urge to go to the bathroom and it hurts her to go... We dont know what else to do. Did you find out what was wrong with your Bella... it just might help our Sadie.
Savannah
Please email me at : Savannahmorrical@yahoo.com