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July 27, 2012

Lilly’s elimination issues continue. Things have improved, in part, because we’re not pushing fluids nearly as much. However, her elimination schedule and control are still off.

If you don’t count all the poop I found in Lilly’s crate in the morning, then she had an accident-free day on Tuesday. Heck, she even had the most epic poop I’ve ever seen on our walk that morning.

It seemed deliberate and voluminous to me. I was very excited. I pretended that it means the end to our troubles … when she purposefully walked into the tall grass on the side of the road to “go.”

Wednesday went mostly OK also, but after dinner, Lilly had 3 pee accidents. She had a poop accident in her crate overnight, and she pooped in the kitchen Thursday morning.

As of today, we’re officially 4 weeks into this setback. We don’t see the neuro team again until the end of August. I really hope this resolves before then.

We’re doing as well as you’d expect, but Lilly is getting wiped down a lot, and I’m doing boatloads of laundry. Thank goodness for tile floors.

Some days, if I’m feeling brave, I let her go diaper-less, but if there is any doubt, or if she is going to be on the furniture, then a diaper is a must. My poor sweetie.

As a funny, annoying aside … I’ve developed a little tendonitis in my right thumb from cutting tail holes in the diapers. It’s hard to use scissors to cut through all the absorbent padding.

Sometimes I worry that we’ll have to housetrain Lilly again, when this episode is over, but then I think she understands … right now, she simply cannot control it.

 

About the Author Roxanne Hawn

Trained as a traditional journalist and based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, I'm a full-time freelance writer for magazines, websites, and private clients. My areas of specialty include everything in the lifestyles arena, including health and home, personal finance and other consumer interests, relationships and trends, people and business profiles ... and, of course, all things pet related.

I don't just love dogs. I need them in my life. Seriously.

  1. Our Maine Coon cat, Jennie, had a similar problem after a dislocated disk that immobilized her tail. Our vet prescribed an anti-seizure med to relax the sphincter, but she occasionally needed to have her bladder emptied manually if the dose wasn’t sufficient. We used a couple of washable adult (human) bed mats on her chair. It took a few months but she finally had more mobility in her tail but she didn’t completely heal. I hear you on the longterm laundry and long fur wipeups … my heart is with you!

  2. I, too, am hoping that the good days start outnumbering the bad days by far. Did the vet give you any idea how long he expected it to take for this phase to pass? Just curious.

    Thinking of you.

    1. Yes. They said we should see improvement in 10-14 days. It’s been a month now. I’m calling list morning (M 7/30) to ask for an acupuncture referral. Some holistic vets I know (in other parts of the country) say that it can help with incontinence issues.

  3. You know that you really, really love your dog when you get excited about the poops! Wishing Lilly a speedy recovery and better days ahead. Hugs from Karen, Dexter & Jersey.

  4. Hi Y’all,

    Yes, poor Lilly. I’ve had seriously ill dogs. They haven’t forgotten their training, they are just like very ill or very old human beings, they no longer have control. I’m sure they are embarrassed or at least pained by their inability. Returning to a schedule as if housebreaking isn’t the easy answer in the case of ill or very elderly dogs.

    I feel for you…and yes, thank goodness for carpetless floors, tile or whatever.

    BrownDog’s Human

  5. Poor sweet girlie. I hope this resolves itself before you appointment too. Way before.

    For cutting the holes, how about laying it down on a hard surface and tracing a circle around something using an exacto knife. Would that work?

  6. I know how difficult that can be and how tired one gets but polease think of “partly cloudy” as you said, also means “partly sunny”

  7. Poor Lilly, poor you. I think she’ll be happy to be “house trained” as soon as she can. I don’t think a dog would forget that they like their den clean.

    Does controlling when she eats help control when she’ll go poo? It was an advice given for diarrhea but might make sense in this case also. E.g. if you don’t want her to soil her crate, figuring out how long since last meal before it comes out and then adjust meal times accordingly …?

  8. Poor Lilly 🙁

    Don’t they sell dog diapers that have the tail hole already cut? I’ve literally never looked into it, but it seems like they must.

  9. Many dogs get very stressed when they have accidents. It sounds like Lilly realizes there’s no feeling bad about this. It just is.

    It probably helps that her Mom is so patient even when it’s difficult.

    Wishing you some light at the end of the tunnel.

  10. Thanks for the update. I was wondering how things were on that front. Tail holes … I’m trying to think of a tool that could do that without stressing your thumb. From your description of the week, it sounds like it “clusters” a bit. As in, good for several hours, then “not” for several hours.

    Love and light to all …

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