Can’t decide on keeping foster dog.

[Dogdilemma2000]

I’m feeling really stuck.

We took on a foster to adopt dog 9 months ago. She was born with abnormalities and required surgery to correct. She had incontinence (wee) issues but the rescue said it was minimal and should totally resolve with her first season. She was 7 months when we got her.

She’s an awesome dog. We all adore her, she’s responded to training so well. She’s gentle with kids and my DC major anxiety issues have literally reduced by around 70% since we got her. My DC was barely leaving the house before.

But the incontinence hasn’t resolved. We’ve been back and forth on medication, but her bladder is small and she seems prone to infections/cystitis. Typically we will have 3-6 weeks with barely any leaking, and then 3 weeks of drips on the floor and her licking herself constantly. Then repeat the cycle.

I can’t lie, it’s hard work. We keep her in kitchen (large space) so no leaks near kids toys/playing area. Kids are older (8-10) so there’s not many years of kids toys Everywhere left. We’ve got good routine of washing her and bedding that’s easy to wash etc. I bought slip on shoes for kids to wear in kitchen only but might as well not bothered as kids don’t remember.

When she leaks I can be mopping the drips 10 times a day and it’s relentless. I’m also very concerned she could get worse in the future. The rescue have said they’ll do assisted adoption so they will cover medical expenses for the condition going forwards.

What do I do? She’s gorgeous and such a good companion, and so deserving a wonderful home and family. But I’m worried in 5 years time it could go downhill. From experience the medication to control the condition can make her go a bit destructive, every time we’ve gone up a dose anything plastic she can get hold of gets destroyed!

I think you do need to have a clearer idea of long term prognosis, can this be fixed or at least maintained at a manageable level, will it deteriorate with age etc.
If your vets can't give you that I'd be looking at going to referral to get some answers.
It sounds like she is worth putting that effort in for .
Completely understand you not wanting to commit to an incontinent dog for the next ten years or so though, it's a big undertaking.

Medication varies depending on cause, the dog, the age etc etc. We tried both Incurin and Propalin and it was the latter on max dose split over three doses a day which made the best impact. We agreed the max dose per day with the vet and then fiddled around with it depending on whether she was going through a good or bad patch. We got to know how to use it most effectively. A 50 ml bottle lasted about 6 months and cost around £50 a few years ago. We did used to find when we got down to the last 10% it was time to replace it as it is a suspension so wasn't evenly spread, despite shaking.

Ours did not deteriorate with age and only became unmanageable at the vet end when she stopped eating so the drugs weren't metabolising. She was 17.

What medications were they? She’s on propalin at the moment which is pretty cheap, not aware that she’s been tried on anything else.

@Dogdilemma2000 she was on Incurin originally. The propalin worked better for her, but we were told its a bit of trial and error and often dogs that haven't responded well to one will respond well to the other. We were also told she can be on both if needed (and she was for a while as we transitioned).

It maybe there are things you can do which may may life easier. There are prob some relevant dog groups on Facebook but know a lot of dogs on Winston's wheels are incontinent due to spinal /nerve issues. There are special people who choose to adopt disabled dogs who are even doubly incontinent so I don't think you need to worry it will only be your home or euthanasia.

These Dog pants were comfortable for my dog and come in range of sizes, their pop in washable incontinence liners maybe ok with dribbles, (baby bamboo liners similar) they suggest human incontinence pads for wees, Aldi fairly cheap. My dog wasn't incontinent while awake it was more after been asleep/ night as kidney disease they can't concentrate urine as well so i used kids nappies with bamboo liners to reduce the leakage of the massive wees. She took to wearing them no problem but was used to wearing coats which do up round the waist. Humans using these products seem to manage to avoid infections or urine burns and as your home all day you can check to change regularly as would a baby or give time without to air as needn't be 24/7 but may make certain times easier so she can interact more fully with the family.

These Washable incontinence pads are great big enough to go under vet bed and cheap so can buy plenty, they also dry fairly quickly compared to cotton topped. The King size bed pads fitted my sofa seat, harder to wash/dry. Hik9 do a mesh raised bed which helps airflow & can hose off which may help given kitchen floors can get cold/drafty, less likely to chew that type too. These Waterproof bed/mat are wipe clean so no drying time, has a leather texture but may still slide on smooth surface so may need a rubber back doormat or the mesh get for rugs underneath.

I would be wanting a referral to a specialist vet now you've given her time to grow, have a season? and it's not resolved naturally. The rescue vet said was congenital & need an op so it likely needs investigating now and treatment plan decided given at age for spaying now. Especially as she is having reoccurring UTIs as this can cause kidney damage, if not done already sending urine sample to lab for culture may be worth doing to check isn't some unusual bacterial.strain needing specific antibiotics, it's more expensive than in house test.
Even if the rescue wants to hold off longer, a phone consult with specialist may still be an affordable option so you could ask questions and get general idea of what future investigations/ treatment/costs maybe and medications which may help now, you'd send them all your dogs past vet history from current & rescue vet.
Vet will suggest referral but can pick your own as fees at these specialist centres vary massively & it can even be worth travelling if live in an expensive location.