12 year old English Mastif

[bell]

Hello This is my first post . I have a 12 year old female English mastiff she has always been very healthy . She had a complete physical 3 months ago and nothing out of the norm came up for a senior . In the last 2 weeks she has been peeing in her sleep at first it was here and there. now it is every night. I will be getting a urine sample from her in the morning to rule out a urinary infection.Was hoping to get some helpful hints on what to do If it is not a urinary infection. As I already know that the vet is going to want to medicate her, If it is a matter of old age than I would rather find something else other that medication to help her. She is so cute she wakes up and has this look on her face ( how did I get wet!! )

 

[Sadies Mom]

Welcome! We all love pictures
I too have a "leaky" mastiff and I have been doing some research on natural remedies for the condition, but I have not found anything so far. Sadie is on Proin 25mg twice per day. She was prescribed 50 mg twice daily, but it made her very anxious. I just cut it in half, and per the vet a very low dose, but it works. She has not leaked in months. I am about to cut it in half again, to see if that will be enough. Hope it is just UTI in your case. Welcome again

 

[Iymala]

Welcome to the forums. I am sure you will find lots of help here and good people to share stories and pictures with.

 

[musicdeb]

Sounds like an UTI. I have no suggestions for a natural remedy for the urine leaking.

Keep us posted.

 

[Robtouw]

At 12 you are lucky she is in good health, she is a "high" senior or old lady! The leak comes with age and there may be medication to help her control the contractions of her bladder for a short while, but be prepared to begin cleaning up a bit more messes, the meds loose their power as age sets in. As they age they begin to slowly loose control of the muscles that contract the bladder, just like people. Our oldest mastiff lived to 13 and for a short while we used adult depends fastened on with the nice little velcro tabs to keep our floors clean, just took them off when she went out to eliminate. They will get pretty emotional and pouty about the issue and it does bother them quite a bit so we did not fuss about messes, just cleaned her up and acted like it was no big deal. We had to use the depends for about 6 months, she died in her sleep but I would gladly go through the challenges again or would have longer because Heidi-Ho was such a fantastic girl!

 

[Boxergirl]

My old girl Greta was leaky enough to need a diaper 24/7. Fresh parsley helped significantly. If it had been offered, I would probably have tried Proin. Of course that's assuming it's not a UTI. Good luck.

 

[bell]

Thank you for the input. I do believe it is old age. I do not fuss about the mess But as soon as she sees me cleaning it she knows . She is a very proud dose not like people to watch her go to the bathroom, she wil not even poop on her walks only off leash .

 

[bell]

Thank you I will keep your info in mind . My concern is at her age she sleeps alot and has a hard time getting up her joints are old. I am afraid of what meds might do to her ,There are always side effects the vet had perscribed some medication for her achy bones and joints. After reserch on the internet there were a lot of complaints that the med caused death. I took her off immediatly. Thanks again

 

[bell]

Thank you the replys have been fantastic I joined because I was looking for help on how to deal with a senior mastiff. My Vet has never seen a mastiff so old . I find the info from other senoir mastiffs very helpfull . Thanks again

 

[Iymala]

She is beautiful!

 

[Boxergirl]

Such a pretty girl! Here's another thing that you might want to do some research on - Turmeric. Yeah, the kitchen spice. It has a multitude of health benefits. My Greta didn't handle any of the anti-inflammatory drugs well and we had to take her off of them. I supplemented her with turmeric instead and it seemed to help her a lot. My mom uses turmeric for her osteoarthritis because she can't take the other pain meds prescribed for it.

 

[Harrygto]

great looking old pup I hope my EM lives that long he is 9 all most 10 now

 

[Dakota Kid]

What a beautiful lady! If you don't want to do meds like Rimadyl or other NSAIDs, try something with Glucosamine in it for her joints. My girl has some joint issues and the vet recommended 3,600 mg glucosamine a day. I use a concentrate from KVsupply.com, there is something called Phycox soft chews or human grade stuff is ok too.

 

[CeeCee]

View attachment 25050Thank you the replys have been fantastic I joined because I was looking for help on how to deal with a senior mastiff. My Vet has never seen a mastiff so old . I find the info from other senoir mastiffs very helpfull . Thanks again

What a beautiful girl!! You can see her pride.

 

[stephanieb]

She's beautiful!!!

 

[Robtouw]

We chose not to use the vet prescribed meds because of the trial studies and side effects and instead used a glucosomine/chondroitin/MSM combo that I purchased at walgreens for joints, it seemed to really make a difference and was pretty cost effective. We also, after elimination breaks and putting on the depends, would lay out a heating pad to help ease joint pain. They now make heated mats just for senior dogs! Warm baths that circulate water also seem to help as well as swimming. We installed ramps to help with getting in and out the house because of our steps and bought a sling that fits under the belly to help lift when in pain. When the pain was really bugging we gave a half tablet of tramadol to help relax. There are a lot of little things that you can do to make her comfortable. Having a senior is a bit of work and a lifestyle change but worth the effort in the end. I would do it and have again in a heartbeat! Treasure her while she is here, if you are lucky she will quietly have an easy ending at home where she is the happiest!

 

[VentiandMe]

Welcome to the forums!!

Hopefully you can get the bladder issues worked out. My female beagle used to do that as well due to incontinence.

Also, do you have any secrets/pointers for keeping your EM happy and living so long? Would love to hear some!!