Old dog starting peeing in the house

[fairgame84]

My lovely dog is almost 14 and has started peeing in the kitchen during the night. It started last Friday, there was blood in his urine so I took a sample to the vet, it was clear of everything except blood so they gave him 2 weeks of urinaid tablets.
The blood in the urine has stopped but the peeing inside hasn't.
He's well in himself. Drinking his usual amounts. Doesn't seem in pain. Peeing normal amounts in the day.
I tried puppy pads but he pees anywhere but on them.

Health wise he has well managed hypothyroidism. He had full bloods done in july as he had lost 6kg in 3 months. His bloods were fine. Kidney ultrasound at that time was fine.

Any advice please?

Could you go back to basics and take him outside on the hour every hour so it triggers his brain into remembering to go?

If it's only at night time, it doesn't sound like a toileting issue as such. I would guess he can't hold it for as long anymore. Other than getting up in the night to let him out, I don't know what else you can do. Sorry. Old age sucks.

I agree that he's not able to hold it now. Could also be a bit of dementia creeping in too, hence not using the puppy pads. Can you put him in a smaller room and either take him out several times in the night or cover the whole floor?

My big old dog used to get very distressed when he peed inside when he got old, so I used to put him in the garden every three hours or so. Made his last year less stressful for him.

My old dog started to do that, he had no idea bless him and wasn’t distressed from doing it. I think there might be medication you can get from your vet but I didn’t look into that. I tried nappies but he didn’t like it. I put large washable pads down and did lots of washing

Mine came very unreliable with both wee and poo as he got very old. He got so distressed, so I didn’t react, just put up with it and cleaned it up. Had to throw out all of our rugs. Poor old guy didn’t go on for much longer and was just very old. He’d have done the same for me.

That it is only overnight suggests he just can’t hold it that long.

Could you pen him in to a smaller area and put the puppy pads down so he can’t miss them?

Otherwise - my elderly dog is increasing incontinent (wee) and try vet has suggested it’s that they’re getting confused and drinking too much water… do you refresh the water before you go to bed? He might be drinking too much then, just triggered by it being fresh…?

Like @TheLilacStork my dog is totally unbothered by it, I’m not sure they even notice.

I've just started reducing his water in an evening.
He pees in the same place in the kitchen and it's soaked into the laminate, I think I'd rather him keep doing it there rather than move and wreck more of the floor.

He was a stray when I got him so I don't know if he's ever used puppy pads before. He came fully toilet trained, he's such a clean boy. He doesn't bark or cry to go out for wee like he does when he needs a poo.

I'll set my alarm for 1am or 2am and see if that helps.

If not I'll have to try nappies or wraps.

He's such a sweet gentle boy.

No advice that hasn’t already come given, but just have to say what a lovely dog. Obviously a Very Good Boy.

I had this problem with my old whippet who was so clean I never had to train her to do her business in the garden. The cleanest dog ever. So I knew that when she started being incontinent at night, it was a serious issue. It took me a while to spot it because all I could see were water patches on my bed and the sofa. It did not smell at all. It was basically water and not urine. That is how her kidney disease was diagnosed with a blood test. She latest 2 years after that. By the end she had extensive poodles of water on her bed and the sofa every night and she was very distressed by it. Did you have bloods to check for kidney disease? Else than that, for her, it could have been old age incontinence for which there was something the vet could have given her but for her it was clearly the kidneys packing in.

My old lurcher is 14 and has had occasional accidents overnight since a couple of vestibular episodes. She has dementia and I wonder if this is part of it. She won't go on puppy pads or newspaper either, anywhere but! I have started praising her lavishly when she pees/poos outside, not sure if she takes it in though! If she becomes truly incontinent, it will be time to let her go as she would hate it.

Be careful with the male wraps.

When wet they hold urine against the skin and that may ‘burn’.

Your boy is beautiful. There’s nothing as sweet as an old dog.

If you put a tena type pad inside the wraps/ female dog nappies I found they wick urine away really well. You still need to give the dog a gentle flannel wash with water in the morning (don't use your face flannel lol). The supermarkets will give you vouchers encouraging you to buy incontinence pads for years afterwards!

One of our male dogs had to have male wraps at night for the last few months of his life (he was 15) and one of our old females needed dog nappies for almost the last year, also 14-15. Luckily both only for urine. Both were checked at the vet for other issues, which you've done..

Our current dog is 15.5 and the last year I've often had to let her in the garden at random times of the night. Her whole life she'd slept for hours without so it was a shock initially. But she sleeps in with us, she's very good at whining to let me know, and I'm a light sleeper so its actually much easier than nappies. However if your dog has always slept separately from you, you won't want to change that at this age. It may be that dog nappies are your best bet, combined with letting the dog out frequently. I found they are nicer for the dog than wet bedding/ floors.

I came on here to suggest testing for kidney problems but you've already covered that. Have a look at supplements by Vince the Vet, particularly this one https://www.vincethevet.co.uk/bladder-support/kidney-plus-bladder-support-50ml . My almost 15 year old has joint and kidney problems and as a last resort, when there was very little else left to try, with the vet's agreement I put her on raw food and supplements. They have completely restored her quality of life - obviously she's still old and less active than she used to be but she's comfortable and happy. She much prefers her raw food too.

Your boy is beautiful, I hope you can get something sorted for him.

If he always wees in the same place put newspaper down to start with. He will get used to the texture etc then you can move to incontinent mats on the floor. (they dont have the smell in the that puppy pads do)

You could try a large dog litter tray with soil in it but this can be harder for the older dogs to step into

Also, Vetbed helps with management while you try to resolve the problem. www.petethevet.com/pet-product-review-vetbed-ideal-pet-bedding/

DS let him out at 1am the past 2 nights as he's always up late anyway. He was fine Saturday night but had an accident last night. DH has got him some nappies so we'll give them a try.

You can get really soft bamboo nappies to put inside the wraps..nappylady, very soft and absorbent

You can get really soft bamboo nappies to put inside the wraps..nappylady, very soft and absorbent

The nappy worked a treat last night. He was quite relaxed wearing it after looking a bit sad at first.
I got L/XL but it was too small and his little peen was peeking out the front so we ended up putting it on sideways and it worked.
Bless him 😢

Aww bless him indeed. Well done on looking after the lovely old boy so we’ll x

I agree, you’re doing your absolute best for the lovely boy. They give us so much in their (quite short) lives, we do all we can for them when need us in their later years. The wee in odd places is so common in elderly dogs.
Wishing you both well and a big hug for the lovely boy🐾

Oh love him. Both my old timers started to not be able to last the whole night. One woke me up, the other (a true gent) never woke me and had a few accidents.
Dr Beckmann and a continual supply of second hand rugs from marketplace was the solution in here.

Did you ever find out the reason for the weight loss, OP?

This happened with our dog the vet suggested nappies but I wasn’t able to cope with that at all and the constant accidents were stressing us and ddog out so we PTS ☹️

I know it works for some dog owners, but I wouldn't go down that route personally. My old girl would absolutely hate it, and tbh, so would I.