The main causes of urinary incontinence in dogs include: neurological problems, loss of bladder function to store urine, urethral disorders, urine retention, and structural problems. Dog urinary incontinence is more likely to occur in middle-aged and elderly dogs and dogs that are overweight. Of course, young puppies sometimes also suffer from urinary incontinence due to excessive excitement. In addition, neutered dogs or female dogs are also more susceptible to this disease.

1. Nervous problems

Dog urine is stored in the bladder. When the urine exceeds the amount that the bladder can hold, the urge to urinate will occur. If there is a problem with the dog's nervous system that controls urination, the dog will have abnormal urination, and then urinary incontinence will occur. Nervous causes are also the main cause of urinary incontinence in most elderly dogs.

2. Loss of the bladder’s ability to store urine

When a dog's bladder loses its normal urine storage function, or the bladder contracts excessively, small amounts of urine will continue to leak out frequently. Causes include urinary tract infection, pelvic infection, chronic inflammation, tumors, fecal obstruction, external pressure, bladder dysplasia, etc. Diagnosing bladder storage problems is not difficult because there are often many other symptoms to distinguish.

3. Urethral disorders

The closure of the urethra is composed of smooth muscles, voluntary muscles and connective tissue around the urethra to prevent urine from leaking out. If the dog's urethra does not close properly, urination will occur. Causes include urethral dysplasia, acquired urethral insufficiency, urinary tract infection or inflammation, prostate disease or prostate surgery.

4. Urine retention

Due to long-term incomplete urination in dogs, a large amount of urine is retained in the bladder, which will destroy the normal function of the bladder and cause urinary incontinence. It is often secondary to bladder neck obstruction, urethral stricture, or neurological problems. damage. This type of urinary incontinence will be more serious. The dog will have great difficulty urinating and often drips when urinating. And it can easily cause more serious kidney diseases, such as kidney inflammation or even kidney function damage, so it must be dealt with immediately.

5. Structural issues

Some congenital structural malformations can also cause urinary incontinence in dogs, such as bladder exstrophy, open urachus, ectopic opening of the ureter at the bladder neck, or acquired damage.Harm (such as damage to the structure of the bladder and urethra during genitourinary surgery) may cause structural urinary incontinence.