Dog Consistently Urinates On Itself

by Angel
(Bend, Oregon)

Reader Question: Can Low Thyroid Levels Cause A Dog To Overly Urinate?

My dog stands up and urinates all over herself and she doesn't even know it, like about 2 cups worth. It's always clear and she's not straining it just comes out all at once (no muscle control). She's been seen at the Vet many times and has taken medicine but doesn't help. They just found out that she her thyroid results came back very, very low. Is this a related issue?

She is a 109 lb Alaskan Malmute/Shepherd. She is 7 years old. And she was spayed before a year old.

Angel

Vet Responds To Reader Inquiry Regarding Effects of Low Thyroid Levels in Dog

Hi Angel,

I haven’t heard of any research that links hypothyroidism to urinary incontinence, but both conditions would put your dog at higher than average risk for a urinary tract infection which could certainly make her incontinence worse. If she hasn’t had a urinalysis and a urine culture recently, those tests would be a good idea. Of course if her incontinence goes away with thyroid supplementation, you might be on to something!

Have you tried an estrogen product (e.g., Incurin) and phenylpropanolamine for your dog’s incontinence? Unfortunately, not all dogs respond to these medications, but if you’ve only tried one and not the other (or used the two in combination), there may be more that you can do short of surgery or other extreme measures to help with this problem.

Best of luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM