spay incontinence is very common. while my 9 year old spayed great dane has never had it, my other female started about 8 months ago, at age 3. she is taking Proin and it has eliminated the problem entirely. i never did put her in diapers...the medication only took a couple of days to become effective and no problems since.

good luck, i know what a problem this can be with BIG dogs!

I have a 12 year old Dobe and she has been incontinent since she was spayed at 6 months of age. I found that switching her to a raw diet (no grains) really helped. As she got older, I used a combination of Proin and Black Cohosh. The Black Cohosh allowed her to remain leak-free on a lower dose of Proin. We also tried estrogen, but it did not work for her.

At age 7 she developed arrythmias due to Dilated Cardiomyopathy. We verified via holter that Proin increased the arrythmias dramatically (3,000 on it, 300 off it), so we discontinued the Proin. I have been living with a leaky girl for 5 years. She is now in congestive heart failure and on a diuretic, so the leaking can get quite bad. It is manageable though.

As with your Rottie, potty pants do not stay on her well. The best thing I found was inexpensive cotton women's panties (high cut) in combination with a sanitary pad. I cut a hole for her tail and tacked a couple gathers in the elastic and they stay on much better than the commercial potty pants.

But I also have a doggie door and want her to be able to use the yard when she needs to, so I don't use the "underoos" very often. I've lined all of the dog beds with vinyl and just launder the covers as needed. I put water proof crib pads down where she lays routinely and she's good about staying on them most of the time. Those go in the washer as well. She is now leaking through the pads so I've added shower curtains cut to size under them and that's working very well to protect my floors. I also use Nature's Miracle Advanced on the carpet and Simple Solution for hard floors as needed.

It can be a pain, but my old girl is well worth it. :o)

As our pug grew older, he developed the bad habit of "lifting his leg" around the house when we weren't looking. I found some rubber-lined pants for babies (designed to be worn over a diaper). They had velcro tabs for closure. I cut out a hole for his tail, and then used Poise pads or maxi pads that could be changed out as needed.

For him, I got the smallest size available, and I don't know if they make a size large enough for a Rottweiler, but you might check the baby/toddler section at Walmart or Target (etc.) to see. The nice part of it is that the velcro tabs allow you to adjust the snugness so that your girl can't walk out of them.

Proin (phenylpropalanine) is much safer than DES which can cause severe anemia. I have many patients on proin without adverse effects.

meghane, how common is incontinence due to spaying?

pea has been on proin for close to one year without a single problem. she has regular blood work done.

murraysmom, spay incontinence is quite common. i'll be interested to see meghane's comments. i wonder why my senior dane has never developed it but my other dane started at 3 years of age.

Not to hijack the thread but I'm curious about the DES side effects. My dog has been on DES for 4years- she cannot take Proin, spent the weekend at ER vet when she tried it.