No these are new names to me, I'll have a word with Prof. Google. Thank you. I read a very good 2013 thread about this problem on Dogsey this am. This jogged my memory about CSJ Hold It, a herbal mixture which has had some v.good reports. There is a CSJ rep at Eddie's obed. club, so I am going to give that a try too. Had a word with a different vet, (same practice), this am. (Second sample still clear, but slightly dilute). She says she also thinks it is unlikely that a silent cycle is at work behind Merry's leaks, but says that it would be OK to try gradually phasing the Propalin out after a while, and restart it if the problem reappears. I'm feeling a bit happier about trying it now.
Your remark about your friend trying these products reminded me of one of the Dogsey posts, "Laughed so much that the tears ran down my legs". Brilliant!
February was a bad month, and Merry wet her bed on eleven nights. She had started having the Propalin syrup three times a day, and though it took about a week to take effect, she has stayed dry since then. I'm sure that she feels as happy about this as I do. Three weeks ago, I started to add CSJ's herbal 'Hold It' to her lunch, and since then I have been able to gradually reduce the Propalin down to a small night time maintenance dose, - which I may attempt to phase out in time. We will just have to see whether the leaks return in August, when her next season would have been due, but for the time being I'm really enjoying not having to wash her bedding every morning!
Have asked the vets at work [The Rescue Home] on spayed bitches wetting around what would of been their season times, they have said if bitch as been used for breeding & have had 3 litters or more before they are 3 years old then yes they can leak when lying down. [did say what causes it but it was to technical for me to understand]
Thanks for asking about that Tina, any info helps to pin down the cause. Merry didn't have any puppies that early though, as she was still being shown - she was about two before she had her first litter. I'm sure you are right, some bitches organs may not lie in quite the same place after a spay, and can lead to a stress incontinence. I believe that it is possible to do a hoist operation for the worst cases. The loss of ovarian hormone can also lead to a loss of muscle tone, but what I really don't understand about Merry is why her problem seems to come and go. My vets say there should be no connection with her past season cycle, but it does seem to be following that pattern. As long as I keep dosing her, I am masking the cause, making it it is harder to find the true reason. Time will tell I suppose.
Got vet to simplify it better for me he said, when bitches are in season their vagina opens up (to accept male when mating) but sometimes when a bitch as been spayed (if done within days of last season) the season hormones don't have time to go, so bitches will still think they are coming into season every 6 months, vet did say the leaking is more common in larger breeds of dog that have had 3 or more litters of puppies before they are 3 years old.
A little update. Although she still has the mysteriously dilute urine, Merry became dry on a combination of CSJ Hold It herb and Propolin. Over the last three months I gradually reduced the Propolin doseage down from the prescribed 0.3ml three times a day, to just 2 drops at night, before discontinuing it altogether last month. She still has the CSJ Hold It herb on her lunch, (just my superstition?). It will be interesting to see whether her incontinence reappears in August, when her season would have been due had she not been spayed, but I suspect that her confidence has grown so much in the meantime, that we could well be on the winning side.
