incontinence and many other issues...
He's been tested for everything, and the only test result that's out of the ordinary is that he continues to be borderline for Cushing's. He and another dog at our vet have been following the same path at the same time. The other owners pushed for treatment and had the worst possible outcome. Our vet suggests we try to make him comfy until he reaches the treatable level. It's tough. His drinking is up and so is his urination. He's dribbling in the house. (He's had two GHP sets of bloodwork, and two different urinalyses...he's done both the low dose and the high dose something something stim test, and the list goes one.) He just got over pancreatitis, which we didn't catch until he was in the middle of a three day panic attack, which required maximum doses of meds and a vet stay to bring him down. (It took me until that point to realize I've never heard him cry or whine. When he's hurt he panics, and he was really hurting.) The boiled hamburger and rice was all he could keep down without him getting sick, but after well over a month of that he'd lost so much weight that my healthy boy when he was 98 pounds bottomed out at 71. It killed me, but I was thinking about making that big decision. Nothing we fed him was gentle enough, and he couldn't maintain his weight on the diet. (He had dropped to 85 and maintained for quite some time, but this last bout of illness dropped him another fourteen pounds, and he's a BIG boy - 28 inches at the shoulders.) He looked awful, and we had strangers approach us and ask why he's been so neglected. They started to scold us. Our dogs get everything they need and then some, so it was really tough to hear. I am glad that there are people who will stand up and say something to protect an animal, but it was still tough to be put in the position of having to defend myself. Now he's been eating medi cal gastric diet and doing great. I haven't weighed him, but his skin isn't so saggy and his ribs are sticking out a little less. He's tolerated it for almost two weeks so we are cautiously optimistic. He's eating a full cup more than the suggestions in an effort to help him gain some of it back. And his digestive system has come back to normal (blood tests also confirm his numbers are normal and his pancreas appears to be okay again). He's pooping up a storm (all over the house at weird times, but who cares...he's doing well). We're working on getting him back on his regular walking and pooping schedule. Which currently leaves the dribbling. It's frequent. I picked up extra large diapers (for twenty five bucks) and they don't fit him at all. They barely make it around his backside, skinny though it is, and his "business parts" are located well outside the diaper zone. I thought someone here had once mentioned a kind of pad for boys that was like a belt around their middle, with a pad for that "special" place. I'd be interested in trying some, but haven't had any luck finding even a picture online. Does anyone know that official name of this product? And/or an online source? A nudge in the right direction would be great. From our perspective the leakage is a nuisance, but we own a steam cleaner so it's no biggy. But Portage is such a GOOD dog, and doing something he shouldn't causes him all kinds of stress. We've been trying to distract/reassure him, but he still hangs his head after he's done it as if to say, "Oh my god...that can't be me. I'm soooo sorry mommy and daddy." I want to cry for him every single time. |
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| www.kennelkomforts.net/
www.howtodothings.com/pets-and-animals/ ... s-for-dogs www.petexpertise.com/dog-training-aids/ ... -dogs.html These are a few of the things I found. Just go to belly band for dogs and google it. Lots of info. I hope this helps. Hope he is better soon. Good luck and best wish and prayers. Deana |
| oh gosh that has made me cry. Give him extra hugs from me please you are doing your best for him. I pray that he will get better and stronger. xx |
| I am so sorry for you - and people can be very unthinking and self righteous. |
Oh, Tracie! How sad for Portage and you!  I hope now that the pancreatitis is over, that he continues improving.
Having gone thru the incontinence issue with Drez, here's what we did. The extra large dog diapers also didn't fit her, so we bought human Depends. They worked great. At about 70 lbs, we bought the small size. We then had a doggie diaper cover that we would put on top of the diaper. She never fought our putting it on her - like Portage, I think she knew that we were doing this for her benefit, so she didn't have to feel badly if she had an accident. My thoughts and prayers are with you.  |
| When Daisy had pyometra and we had to try to control the discharge I used to use a large pad and put on a pair of childrens cotton pants to hold it in place (Age 4 if I remember correctly) It did look a little strange but did the trick and they were easy to wash.
I hope things get easier for you and Portage soon - he sounds as if he's been through a lot lately. Keep up the good work. |
| Here is my Pee Band post - hope it helps!
http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=24795 They really work great. It never is a good situation when they are needed, but I feel they are lifesavers. |
| The poor big guy!! I hope he's feeling better and that the suggestions here help make him feel less embarrassed. |
| Thanks so much for the link to the pee band site. We just ordered a snazzy black one for the Portagedog, and he's very excited (okay, I may be exaggerating a tad there) that a package will be coming his way in the mail.
I really like the choices and all the details on sizing. I'm pretty sure we've got just the right one. I liked the dalmation print, but my oh, so grumpy husband vetoed it. The black was my next choice anyway, so it's all good. Thanks so much for the help. Tracie |
| Although it isn't the same situation, we had a dog growing up named Mackenzie. She was a great dog but was starting to sit funny. After a few months, we realized she was turning into a he...or was a he...or a she. She ended up as a case study for the University of Minnesota as an XXY female. After being spayed and neutered, and reconstructive surgery, she was put on a daily supplement for incontinence and has been on it for 7 or 8 years now and still works. I will find out from my mom what it was, but maybe you could bring it to your vet's attention as a supplement to the current medicine regiment. Just a thought. Good luck and I hope Portage gets better! |
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