As Titan’s bilateral proprioceptive stall worsens, we are faced with new challenges regarding his stool incontinence. Dealing with incontinence in an aging dog can be challenging.  Many times we struggle to keep the house clean. We have wall-to-wall carpeting and as if that wasn’t messy enough; he often stools in his bed, panics and spreads the stool all over his beddings as he struggles to find his footing and lift his body from his bed in a hurry despite his weakness.

Dealing with Incontinence in an Aging Dog

So how do you manage all this with two children under three on a daily basis? These are our secrets! Keep in mind that proprioceptive stall is progressive. So you might only need some intervention at the beginning and need more interventions to maintain your dog’s dignity as the condition progresses. Find just the right amount of food to feed your dog. Over feeding a dog with this condition, even one meal, can cause an increase in stooling because the intestines contain stool constantly and with this condition the dog experiences a loss of involuntary muscle control, including spincters, so the stool will keep coming at unpredictable intervals. Titan can have between 5-8 stools/day, even stooling overnight.

Add pureed pumpkin to the dog’s kibble meals. You can just pick it up at the local grocery store, but make sure you get plain pureed pumpkin. No spices in the puree. Mix in about 1 table spoon per feed. It helps ease the digestive tract, but more importantly bulks up the stool, so that it is not loose. The stool will be more firm every time, and easier to clean and dispose

Make sure the dog’s bedding is comfortable and supportive – but easy to clean. We do dog wash all day long most days. Make sure you always have an alternate change if bedding on hand. So while you wash one, the dog still has a fresh bed

Find a good detergent that you like, that cleans well and disinfects. We like the Tide Pods just because it’s less messing around, it’s faster. Through in the dog’s dirty bed linen, add one pod and let it do all the work against the stool which stains temporarily, smells and carries tones of viruses, like E. Coli which can make us sick. After a wash with Tide Pods, the dog’s bedding is clean and fresh

Invest in a steam cleaner such as a hoover if you have carpet. It’s expensive up front, but if your dog still has quality of life and you love the dog enough, you might be looking at putting up with stool incontinence for a while. It has been about 3 years for us, and progressively worsening as expected. At first it’s was one stool a day in the house, now it’s almost every stool on a daily basis in the house.

Take stains out of your carpets with this pet and baby friendly non-toxic folex cleaner. First, spray a few squirts on carpet stain than use hot water only in the steam vacuum to suck up the Folex. Dog stains melt away before your eyes! For mud mess or urine and stool mess this family friendly cleaner is a must have when you have a dog! Fast and easy to use, it is a permanent in our home. Folex can also by used to spray small food stains that you want to dab up by hand, no steam vacuum needed. For small mess, just spray Folex on the stain and than dab with damp cloth with the hottest water you can handle safely.

Use a vacuum recommended for pets to properly clean the dirt and dander on a regular basis. Even though the Weimaraner is known as a hypoallergenic breed, and has fair hair and skin, he still sheds. We`re always surprised to find so much fur in the vacuum. I joke with Titan that we could have two Weimaraners with all the amount of fur that he sheds when we see how much is in the vacuum!

Dealing with stool incontinence as your dog ages can keep you busy. I recommend keeping a good relationship with your veterinarian. You will have many discussions and you can rely on the vet to give you true advice about your dog’s quality of life if you ask or request to come in for an assessment.

How We Manage Titans Stool Incontinence at Home

 

 

What About Urinary Incontinence?

In one of my recent polls of 312 readers, 98% said their dog had a urinary tract infection (UTI) before! Have you had this experience? Titan had chronic UTI’s in his senior years. Find out more here.