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My dog leaks urine & drinks lots after spleen removal. Vet needed?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chinese Shar-Pei | Female | spayed | 13 years and 1 month old | 41.8 lbs

My dog is a 13 years old healthy Shar-Pei, she had a splenectomy 3 weeks ago, she had a benign tumor and the blood work before and after the surgery is good, no abnormalities. Although, since the surgery, my dog is leaking urine while sleeping, she is also drinking lots of water every couple of hours. We went to the vet for a check and everything seems to be fine. Will it pass on its own? Should we take her to the vet again? Is it a side effect from the surgery or living without a spleen?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

Published on October 16th, 2017

I'm happy to hear that Lill's tumor was benign. There are a couple of possibilities going on, but having a splenectomy should not result in urinary incontinence. Sometimes we will see dogs have to urinate more after surgery due to the amount of fluids that we give them during surgery, but this commonly passes after a couple of days. Since Lill is also drinking more water, I would make sure that her bloodwork was normal after surgery (as well as before). If that is the case, then I would have your vet check a urine sample. If surgery was 3 weeks ago and this is continuing, I doubt it will pass on its own, so I would take her to the vet again to investigate the problem.
Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

3Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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