So… if you have dogs, you know that sometimes accidents happen. By accidents, I mean the kinds that leave stains on your rugs.
Not wet beds.
The first time it happened I wasn’t sure what IT was. All I know was I climbed into bed and my bed sheets and coverings were damp.
This started us on a month’s (not one, not two, not even three months….) long (I’m talking long, like six months long) quest to determine what was going on and with whom.
The obvious thought was that someone had peed on the bed.
My dogs are Labradors. They are funny and goofy and they can also be assholes at times, but I just couldn’t imagine either one of them deliberately peeing on my bed. They aren’t cats after all (no offense to my feline loving readers), because I’ve heard when you piss off certain cats…you might actually get pissed on.
Who you calling goofy?
The wet bed went on for some time. There were days, weeks even, when the beds were dry. Then suddenly, one day, there’d be wet beds.
We couldn’t be sure what IT was, or WHO was doing it. Because of Sampson’s bum knee, both dogs were upstairs with access to the bed. Finally, one day Sampson had been downstairs all day with my mom and the bed was wet, that’s when I knew it was Delilah.
Now, Delilah’s a pip. She’s a hoot and a half and she’s stubborn as hell and gives me a run for my money, but I couldn’t imagine her squatting on the bed and peeing on it. I know with cats (there’s that cat reference again, WTH?) they will sometimes go outside their box when they have urinary tract infections. The logical step for me, was to have her urine tested. But that turned up negative.
A couple of weeks later, the wetness happened again, and again I had Delilah’s urine checked and this time she did have a urinary tract infection. She was treated for it and everything seemed ok for a couple of weeks, but then the wet spots started happening again.
The whole thing was puzzling to me. The wet spots would happen during the day when we weren’t home, but at night, when one would think we would be sleeping the deepest, (and more likely to be relaxed enough to let that bladder have its way) there was absolutely no wet spots.
All this yapping makes it hard for me to get my beauty rest.
Naturally I discussed it with my Vet who suggested that based upon Delilah’s age, she could be having some urine leakage. A lot of older, spayed females have trouble holding their urine. Like us, those muscles get weaker as age creeps up on us. Think sneezing or coughing…and whatever you do, don’t laugh too hard when you have to pee.
My Vet suggested trying Delilah on a low dose of estrogen, but I was hesitant to do so without knowing for sure if Delilah was leaking urine.
The Vet asked me, “Does it smell like pee?”
“What does dog pee smell like?” I asked her back.
Then, (oh for fuck’s sake, the things I do with these dogs) I put my face down as close as I dared to the wet spot and took a good sniff.
It didn’t smell like pee to me.
One night I was in bed watching TV and Delilah was next to me. I noticed she was licking her cooter intensely. When Delilah got up, there was a HUGE wet mark on the bed.
The next day, I called the Vet who suggested Delilah might be having a small bit of leaking, but in her attempts to clean it up, she was making a big, wet mess. The vet once again suggested a low dose of estrogen, but I really wanted to know if there was a natural way to help Delilah.
I checked with my friend Jodi Chick and she suggested a bladder support supplement. I discussed it with the Vet who suggested Bladder Strength by Vetriscience. She explained it is a supplement they sometimes recommend for dogs on Estrogen, as an additional boost. I decided to try Delilah on it, before starting her on estrogen. Bladder Strength by Vetriscience has a combination of herbs and other ingredients, and the combination works like a natural estrogen.
We started Delilah on the Bladder Strength right away. In the meantime, I bought a waterproof mattress pad for my bed and every morning I would remove the comforter from the bed and place an old blanket on it to make sure my comforter wouldn’t get wet.
I also bought some bath mats, one for the area of the couch that Delilah likes to lay on and one for the new dog bed I bought for Sampson. I tucked that rug under the bed cover, because if I left it on the top, those asshole dogs would simply push it out of the way, and that was really defeating the purpose.
Every morning, just before I left for work, I made sure Delilah went outside and peed.
Things were going along great, until I decided to do a liver cleanse on Delilah and I stopped the supplement. Once it was out of her system, the wet spots started reappearing. One night I came upstairs from visiting mom, and there was a very strong pee smell. Delilah had been on Sampson’s new bed, and it looked like her bladder just let go.
Hubby and I decided, that’s it. She’s on the Bladder Strength, regardless of anything else she might need.
It took the Bladder Strength a good two weeks before the wet spots stopped appearing, but once it was in her system, it was amazing. For a dog Delilah’s size, she was supposed to take 2 ½ a day. I broke it up so she got 1 ½ at one meal, and a full one at the other.
We used the bladder strength for almost two full years before we needed to make changes in her regimen. But that’s another story, for another day.
From what I understand, estrogen is quite safe in low doses, but I always try a natural way first, both for myself and my dogs.
I am not a Veterinarian, I do not play a Veterinarian on TV, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I’m sharing what worked for me and my dog after consulting with my Veterinarian. As always, consult with your own Vet if you have concerns about your pet.
I think you may have just solved my problem here. I have 2 older females that sleep with me. One is a tiny chihuahua and the other a lab/border collie mix.
I have been noticing wet spots too on my bed from time to time and they are too big to be from the chihuahua and don’t smell like pee.
I was racking my brain trying figure out what could be causing it.
You might want to check the link for the Bladder Strength. I couldn’t get it to work. I tried a few different browsers and nothing happens when you click on it one browser and in the other browser you get a white screen.
The link didn’t work for me either. My girls don’t need the stuff, but I figured I’d check the link on my phone. I get “URL cannot be shown”.
You always have the things I need! Nose work, Rejenease, and now this. Bailie holds her bladder for days, no issues. But…every couple months, she is sound asleep next to me in bed and I smell something weird and look and there is a wet spot and she will lick herself like a mad woman too. It is not a pee smell either. Since she is young, it probably is less frequent, but I haven’t been able to wrap my head around why it might be happening as it makes no sense. I’m ordering this supplement and am going to give it a try…although, it may be months until I can say if it works or not. Thanks so much for posting as I had no idea how to even start asking anyone about it. I prefer to not do the hormone thing too, so if this helps, yay! The link didn’t work for me either but I cut and pasted it into amazon and found it that way.
We had that problem with Torrey when she was younger. About 5 months after she was spayed, she would fall asleep and wake up with a puddle under her. I too tried a natural supplement and that worked. She only took it for a couple months though, and has been fine ever since.
I’m so glad you found something that helped. I’m going to keep this in mind for Cricket. She just occasionally has an accident, and I think it’s more that she’s just a bit forgetful….when we’re diligent about making sure she goes out in the evening it’s all OK. It’s no fun having to change the whole bed when you’re ready to go to sleep (as my hubby experienced when I was gone!).
I have seen the wet spots they can leave just from licking (and yes, gotten right down there to smell it!) – it’s surprising how wet they can get something!
Thanks for the detective work to find the source for wet bed. If i ever have the problem i will just jump to your solution.
Someone did pee pee on our friends sofa. We never ever do that, but some buddy did. Good info. By the way mom insists it wasn’t her
Lily & Edward
Glad the supplement is helping! (I’ve smelled many a spot. Our beagle had issues when she got older… Kept getting bladder infections.) If this ever happens with Rita I hope I’ll remember this!
So, I’ve forgotten to ask in the excitement of the whole post…why doesn’t it smell like pee? That is the main reason I’ve really been puzzled by the spots. Do you know?
If I had to make a guess….I’d say it was because the spot is more from the saliva from the licking. I’m thinking maybe a tiny bit of pee, or it feels like it, then they lick and the saliva wicks out and is what actually forms the wet spot. But that is just my guess. 🙂
great good to know info. about bladder control issues. had no idea that could be an issue with aging female dogs.
Hello from Idaho and I found your blog though H & Z.
Your two labs are wonderful and wish them all well.
If you have time stop in for a cup of coffee
Opps I didn’t fill out the comment section right…sorry about that
My female OES had a leaky bladder from the time we rescued her until she passed away (over 13 years later). She was on Proin for the most of her life with me. And it worked. Wishing you all the best, including dry beds as you treat D-Dog.
Stuff happens with cats, too. Not with me, of course, but my fur-sibs, you know…
Although I did once pee on the peep. Well I sprayed her actually, which is a very different thing.
And the pooping ‘mongst the primroses? That SO wasn’t me. I swear it wasn’t. Really! purrs
Right after I moved in with my ex-husband, Kitty started peeing in my bed (we weren’t married and we slept in different rooms). It took me a couple weeks to figure out why the bed was wet. At the time, I took a shower right before bed, so I thought I just wasn’t drying my feet enough or something. She’d never had so much as an accident in the 15 years I’d had her. But sure enough … she’d pee in my bed every day. No UTI. After a month or two, it just stopped. It was odd. I can’t even imagine the confusion you experienced.
My Abby had this issue for a short time after her surgery for an intestinal obstruction last year. Fortunately, the issue resolved on its own. But I’ll keep this in mind if we have problems down the road.