Viewing post #1093165 by Newyorkrita

flaflwrgrl said:I guess it is vet week for many of us.
Pearl went to the vet today too. We were close to 2 months overdue for her annual check up & shots. All the HVAC & plumbing stuff we had going on is why we were overdue.

For those reading, even if they don't post but just lurk, I will explain the following:
When female dogs age, most especially those who have been spayed, the sphincter muscle weakens. The sphincter muscle controls the outflow of urine. When this muscle weakens with age then the dog will "leak" involuntarily especially when the dog is relaxed as in sleeping or just laying on their side while watching TV with you & in a very relaxed, mellow state of mind. This is really no different than human women who are post menopausal -- same thing happens with them. The hormones aren't there. So, with dogs, there is a fix for this. It is hormone replacement therapy and is literally estrogen. You give them the pill & it tightens the sphincter muscle & no more involuntary leaking.

Pearl is now 8.5 and she's just begun to present with mild leaking off & on. I've been stepping up her potty breaks which helps a lot in controlling this especially if you take them out to relieve themselves just prior to times you know when they regularly take a nap or are doing a "lazy" thing. But it's become time to address this with hormone replacement.

So the vet visit was also to address that situation. He felt her bladder & said the bladder wall was somewhat hard & a bit thick so wanted to do an X-ray just to make sure she had no stones in there. So back to X-ray she went. All was well. The X-ray showed no abnormalities either in the bladder or in her kidneys -- so no stones & nothing to worry about there.
I knew she had an ear infection in her left ear as well so wanted that addressed. They irrigated her ear & we got some drops that are sort of a 3 pronged approach as they are an antibiotic and anti fungal as well as for yeast infection. Although I always clip her nails myself, it was time to do it & they were very sweet & took care of that while they had her in the back doing the X-ray & ear irrigation. And she got her annual shots. Plus she got her blood drawn for the heart worm test. She's a healthy girl in great shape who also had a pretty big day at the vet while mommy had a pretty big bill to pay at the vet. So we were both a little worn out when we got home but for different reasons.

When my dogs get their shots I always take it easy with them for the rest of the day & don't do the usual exercise/play. I just try to keep them "chilled out" for about 24 hours. Sometimes if you do the normal play or physical exertions with them after shots, they can get sick & urp so we just take it easy.

Rita, I'm very glad Lily got taken care of & you got some answers as to the whole Lyme vaccination thing.

Wow, must be vet day. Glad Pearl got everything taken care of and all is or soon will be well.

I didn't know that about the leaking on older female dogs. Well, I know they can all leak of they get really old bit don't consider 8.5 that old. Good to know there is something to be done to take care of the problem. Yup, Lily and Pearlie both probably needed their rest this evening as the vets visit is stressful for them. For me fortunately my vet bill was not so bad but I need to get a second shot in 3 weeks and then will be needing a blood titer done in the spring.