Is your dog wetting the bed?

By Dr Michelle Trevan

 Urinary incontinence can be a frustrating issue for pet owners, especially if you share your bed with your 4-legged friend.  It is important to realise though, that in most cases, this bed-wetting has nothing to do with your pet being naughty or lazy. Your vet may need to do some important urine testing and blood work on your dog, to try and find out the reason for these accidents.

 Some of the more common causes of urinary incontinence in your previously well toilet-trained dog can include:

 A urinary tract infection – bacteria in the urine can cause the bladder to become irritated and inflamed. This will make your pet feel like they need to go to the toilet right away, even if they have only recently been!

 Hormonal changes – this is more common in older female dogs, but can happen in male dogs too.  The seal, that normally holds urine in the bladder gets weak and this can cause animals to leak urine, especially when they are completely relaxed or asleep.

 Crystals – occasionally tiny crystals can form in your pet’s urine. They act like little shards of glass rubbing against the bladder wall and cause a lot of irritation. As you can imagine, it would be hard to hold on when this is going on!

 Mobility issues – this is seen more commonly in older dogs, especially as the weather gets colder and their joints become more stiff and sore.  Sometimes it’s just too hard to get up and walk out to the yard to do a wee, so they can accidentally wet the bed.

 Internal diseases – some diseases, that are diagnosed with a blood test, can make your pet really thirsty. Because they are drinking more, they will be toileting more and as a result their full bladder can catch them by surprise.

As you can see, urinary incontinence can have many underlying reasons. So

if your normally well-behaved pooch is starting to wet their bed (or yours!), make sure you get them to the vet for a complete check up.