My Zada (Great Dane) has been 'leaking' urine lately. When it first started, I took her to the vet (of course), and they diagnosed it as simple incontinence. Now she has begun to actually empty her bladder while she is sleeping, and it appears to be discolored. I have an appointment today with a specialist in hopes that he can offer something more as far as what may be causing this (I hope that it is just incontinence and not something more serious), and hopefully a way to help control it....for obvious reasons, Zada isn't very happy with what it is happening to her and she seems so confused by it. She always sniffs it when she gets up and then looks at me as though she thinks she has done something wrong...it's so sad. I just love on her and tell her it's okay and that it isn't her fault. The only therapy the vet has offered is the use of hormones to try to decrease the problem, but this has it's own set of drawbacks. I know from my own experience in animal medicine that incontinence doesn't have many treatments. Has anyone had any experience with other treatments that they found helpful? Furkidlet's mom...if you are reading this, I know I haven't always been very receptive to the thought of using homeo's, but being faced with this has left me with a willingness to try anything. Do you know of anything that might help my girl?? Anything for urinary health in general? I'm desperate!
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that it isn't something more serious...the discoloration of her urine has me very concerned...

Kim,

I PM'd you with most of the info you'll need for quick help, K? As for general aids for U.T. stuff, there are also certain herbal tinctures that can help ( like Stinging Nettles, Uva-Ursi, Marshmallow, etc. ), but it also depends on what, exactly, is wrong, and I'm not familiar with the doseages for dogs. ( our homeo. vet is also familiar with many herbals ) If you have any fresh catnip around, you can also make a tea out of that, as it's very good for urinary problems in general, as well as the kidneys. Adding peas and asparagus to the diet can also help strengthen the UT tract, over time, but you obviously need to get more immediate help as well.

Another site you might visit if you have time, is Health Force - there's a product called "Green Mush" that's supposed to be really amazing, plus other holistic nutritional products for animals and humans,, but I'm not altogether familiar with this whole line myself.

kIM I AM SO SORRY ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM WITH ZADA AND HOPE THE SPECIALIST WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU. MY RAGGS HAD INCONTINENCE THE LAST YEAR OF HIS LIFE BUT I AM SURE THAT WAS AGE RELATED. HOPE YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS
JOANNE

Kim, I'm sorry to hear about Zada's problems, and hope the cause and a treatment can be found for her. The last year of her life, Heidi had incontinence with her CRF, and you're right, that guilty look they give you afterwards makes you want to cry - they seem to think they deserve punishment, and of course that would never happen.

As a human GYN nurse, the medical treatment was always hormonal, and it had a fair rate of success. I don't have any experience with the homeo treatments, but the estrogen which was prescribed for the women did have results. That was a while ago, though, so I can't vouch for it now.

Best wishes to Zada and you, and I hope there is an effective treatment for her problem. Pleae keep us posted and take care - Barbara

Thank you all for your care and concern . Zada saw the specialist yesterday, and we still don't have a cut and dry answer as of yet. Her bloodwork looked great (thank God...I was so afraid it was the beginning of kidney failure since that is the number one killer in Danes ), the x-rays were clear, but the ultrasound did show some suspicious spots on her bladder. He said not to panic (but of course I am )...that it was probably either just age related (something not uncommon to see in older dogs) or just small clusters of crystals and he sent off a clean urine sample to the lab to see if it showed anything...he'll call us when those results come back. He said if it is crystals, they can be taken care of non invasively at this point...one of the 'plusses' of being an overprotective owner and catching things early ! He did say that the hormonal treatment could be tried for the incontinence (with little side effects, but side effects none the less!), but he wanted to try Proin ( which my husband has now further explained to me to be that main ingredient in those cold medications that they stopped selling over the counter...strange how that would help incontinence, but after my H decribed in detail how it does, it actually makes perfect sense!)...when used correctly, it doesn't have any side effects (it was taken off the shelves because people were using it in huge doses to make illegal street drugs (speed) out of it). So for now, we will just wait and see what happens. There doesn't seem to be any infection or inflammation anywhere, so right now he feels like it is just plain ol' incontinence. He had to keep reminding me that 6 years old is considered a 'senior citizen' in giant breeds and she will begin to show signs of age now...I guess I'm in denial over that. I don't even see all the gray in her face until someone points it out! It sucks when our babies get old .
I am completely new to the homeos, but, with F's mom's help, I have begun to research them. I am very intimidated by the idea (after all, after years in traditional animal medicine, it all seems so foreign to me) but I am going to at least open my mind to the idea. Strange thing actually...my Dog Fancy magazine was very late this month, I didn't recieve it until last night when I returned home from the vet, and there was an article about the effectiveness of homeos in pets (flower essences in grieving pets specifically). That is something that F's mom has been talking about for a long time now....hmmm....that was just strange to me...maybe Sasha is trying to put her 2 cents in as to what she feels is the best treatment for her sister !?!
Thanks again for caring, and I'll keep you posted!

Kim,

Just wanted to clarify something for you, so you know the difference. Flower essences, although they also work on an energetic level, are not the same as homeopathics. Most flower essences work to shift emotional imbalances in living beings, and as we know, emotions, when out of whack, can create disease in the body. ( thought/emotion precedes imbalance and the body simply follows suit )

Homeopathics, on the other hand, while also addressing our emotional side, work on the physical end of things, and are attempted to match the WHOLE of the individual and most importantly, how that particular individual reacts to whatever condition they have manifested. In other words, you and I can each have the same virus, but how that virus is expressed in each of us might be different, eg. I get a runnier nose with a certain colour of mucous; you get more of a cough and maybe a fever. It is in this way that homeopathics are 'fitted' to the individual and therefore address the whole of that individual, unlike drugs, which are designed as one-size-fits-all and are not cures, per se, but symptom-relievers, while homeopathics, in the hands of an experienced prac***ioner, can actually cure, or rid, someone of the energetic pattern that is creating the disease or condition. I hope that makes sense to you.

And that does sound rather like a sign, doesn't it, to get that mag just when you did? "Hmmmm", indeed!

[quote]Flower essences, although they also work on an energetic level, are not the same as homeopathics. Most flower essences work to shift emotional imbalances in living beings, and as we know, emotions, when out of whack, can create disease in the body. ( thought/emotion precedes imbalance and the body simply follows suit ).  Homeopathics, on the other hand, while also addressing our emotional side, work on the physical end of things

Boy Kim,
You folks are way smarter than me. I know that being an RN and working in Family practice we use to tell the older me to be careful with antihistamines with deconjestants because they might get urinary retention so maybe that is the principle the vet was going on.Of course your husband would know way more than I do. I did not realize Zada was 6yrs old. I guess that is an old man in that breed but it does not seem possible as I am sure you feel like she was just a baby.
Well anyway I sure do hope something works. As I use to tell patients when they would ask about diffrent herbals and ect. we told them they would not hurt them and if they thought they did and they felt better who am I to say diffrent.
Joanne

[quote]I know that being an RN and working in Family practice we use to tell the older me to be careful with antihistamines with deconjestants because they might get urinary retention so maybe that is the principle the vet was going on

Kim and John,
I researched and the German Shepherd won Westminister in 1987 (Kim you were a little girl.) His name was Manhattan. Gosh it seemed like only a couple of years ago!
Joanne