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My IVDD dog is incontinent. How can I help his bladder and bowels?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

My 80 lb. Swissy is recovering from ivdd. When it hit him, he became completely paralyzed from abdomen down 2 months ago. Today he is regaining strength and walking/running again pretty well. He still has no tail function and is urine and fecal incontinent. Has passed 2 UTI's and I keep him on cran+plus Vitamin C urine support and joint supplements. Is there any supplement or procedure that can help his incontinence? He goes through the motions but nothing comes out voluntarily. Thank you

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Dr. Davis

Answered By Dr. Davis

Veterinarian

Published on August 6th, 2017

My practice does rehab for animals like yours that are recovering from paralysis. I find doing laser like you are doing in the photo helps, also acupuncture. For my acupuncture treatments I start with three treatments several days to a week apart then every 2-4 weeks. This can help the nerves start functioning again. The incontinence may improve with time also, I generally continue to see improvement over the first 4-6 months after the paralysis. Make sure you are fully expressing his bladder and repeating a course of antibiotics to cure a low grade urinary infection may help also. To manage the fecal incontinence you can learn to stimulate him to poop twice daily which helps control accidents in the house. Check Dodger's List for other ideas on how to manage him. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.
Vote Icon1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Cara, DVM, cVMA

    Veterinarian

    It looks like he has been getting laser and acupuncture, which is a good place to start! There aren't really any other treatments that may help outside of surgery to remove any compression on his spinal cord. It may just take more time for those nerves to regain function, but it sounds like he's made a lot of great progress already.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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My IVDD dog walks, no bladder/bowel/tail control. Will he recover?
If he regained ability to walk (did not understand if he had surgery or not), there are good chances that urinary incontinence and tail movement will improve up to a point were he will be self sufficient. Time and treatment options would depend on what he had as treatment so far so please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation to give us further details about him.
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My dog has a spinal injury. How to help with hind leg issues & incontinence?
Hello again. As I mentioned before Hannu needs rest. This means in a cage where he cannot move around much. You will need to express his bladder about 4-6 times per day. I hope the vet gave you medicine, so continue to give that as prescribed. If he improves it will take weeks to months to get better. His best chance for quicker recovery is surgery. If you have more questions a consult with us would be best. Good luck and kisses to Hannu!
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Why is my incontinent dog's anus moving and causing discomfort?
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My dog can't control bladder/bowel after spinal injury. Help!
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My dog had disc paralysis, now incontinent. What should I do?
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My dog is paralyzed. How can I provide the best daily care at home?
That is a very broad question, so let me give you a few ideas and a few websites. First, you need to protect the skin on the rear legs from getting sores. Urine that is left on the skin can be very irritating and cause severe skin wounds. You will need to learn to express the urinary bladder if they are not able to do that themselves. Sometimes that is easy and sometimes it is not. Here is a website with a lot of good information for you. http://www.dodgerslist.com Here is their section about incontinence. http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/IncontinentDown.htm This website has a number of good products to help you. You may want to purchase products from them or make your own based on their ideas. https://www.handicappedpets.com Good luck! I hope that gives you some ideas and was helpful. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for using PetCoach.
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My dog poops indoors after IVDD surgery. How do I retrain him?
Behavior changes can be difficult to pinpoint. However, if he remembers being really painful outdoors when he pooped either right before or after surgery then he may associate outside with pain and now prefers to go indoors. I would encourage you to treat him like a puppy and re- potty train him. Lots of positive reinforcement for going poop outside. Also limit his access indoors by possibly tethering his leash to your belt loop so you can catch him before he poops inside. This will likely take time and repetition. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025

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