dog incontinence?

Question

I'm taking my female boxer dog to my local vet for treatment of urinary incontinence. First I provide them with a urine sample, then hopefully they will be able to treat her. I've been looking online to give me an idea of how she can be treated; in the eventuality that she is prescribed phenylpropanolamine, and hopefully I've spelt that correctly, how effective is it, will it be safe, and how much is it likely to cost me? Grateful for any advice on this, as am now desperate!! Thanks.

Answer 1

My 12 yr old Gsd who weighed 92lbs was on Proin for incontinence. It cost about $16 a month and worked wonders. My g/f has a 10lb mini wire dachshund on it and it has worked great on him too. Neither had any side effects but your vet or the internet can give you possible side effects.

Answer 2

You're really best to run this by your vet.

Urinary incontinence can have different causes, so there's not much point worrying about side effects of potential treatment until you have a diagnosis.

Here's useful info on the drug you've cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylpropanolamine

Just a warning - or a plea even - please don't go to your vet armed with your own diagnosis and treatment! I can vouch that this makes vets crazy, it's very offensive to presume you can substitute their medical knowledge and experience for stuff you've read on the internet!

Don't be desperate, just direct all your questions to the vet. Then you'll know you're getting the right answers - unlike on here.

Chalice

Answer 3

I used phenylpropanolamine with a dog of mine -- she has Ectopic Ureter, which is a difficult health defect to deal with.

With my dog, the drug was only moderately effective, even with surgery. She still leaks -- has all her life, always will.

Depending on the severity of your dog's incontinence, this drug may work fine for you.

When we used it, it was still available in diet pills (it is an appetite suppressant in humans) and relatively cheap. I don't think this is still the case; I think the FDA discontinued it, because it was causing strokes in people.

Now you have to buy it from your vet -- they can give you price info.

As for safety in dogs, I don't believe there are any associated risks. You may want to ask your vet about long-term kidney or liver support, however.

A good article on the drug:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_phenylpropanolamine.html

Another good article on urinary incontinence:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_urinary_incontinence.html

Answer 4

incontinence in female dogs can be caused by a few things, and the first thing the vet will check for is a urinary tract infection. My dog used to get them after each heat cycle. The vet would give her antibiotics and she would get better. The antibiotics aren't that expensive. After a few occurances of this, my vet told me one option would be to have my dog spayed (I hadn't done it so far because I intended to breed her) so that may be an option for you...best of luck.

Answer 5

The meds you are talking about are very safe.
Your vet can talk to you about any side effects.
The drug usually costs about $60.00 and that depending on how large your dog is and what dose the vet puts her on will last you 3 to 4 weeks.
Sometimes local RX places will compound the drug for you and it is a little cheeper.
Don't know where you are but here's are a few we work with
Red Oak Drug
Wedwood Pharmarcy
Both I think ship all over the U.S.