Where does everyone express their incontinent animals?

[cricketsmom]

I'm just wondering where everyone expresses their incontinent animals. I've had my incontinent cat Cricket since last fall, and most of the time I have used a puppy pad. I use them in her bed to help with keeping her clean, and when it's time to change her bed I take the pad out and express her over it before throwing it away. I would like to get away from buying disposable puppy pads, so I'm looking for other options. She hates it over the toilet because her back feet slip, and she feels insecure. I have also tried over the tub drain but it's usually wet and she hates the water on her paws.... She always gets stressed out and temporarily hates me lol, so I'd like her to be as comfortable as possible. Any suggestions?

[critters]

How about a sink? I always peed Buddy into a baby diaper, and 1 could hold a whole day's worth of pee. No fuss, no muss.

[Bobbie]

Well, mine are dogs, so either outside, or inside on a pee pad. (Just started with Merlin.) I do it while they are in their carts most of the time. You can switch to washable pee pads, but for a small dog or cat the sink is an option. (I'd use the bathroom sink unless you have a good utility sink that will work.)

[CarolC]

I used to express my chihuahua into the bathroom sink and run water afterward and pour bleach down once a week or as needed.

Now I express her onto an incontinent pad (like a puppytraining pad) but I reuse it till it is soaked. I keep it on the bathroom counter folded closed when not in use. When ready to use it I open it, express urine onto it, then fold it closed again. I can use the same pad for 2-3 days, it does not start to smell bad.

Bendy's mom expresses the kitties into the litterbox.

[Diana R.]

I express my two incontinent cats with paralyzed back legs into the bathroom sink. Rinse with water and squirt with bleach after doing this. I put a towel on the basin and both sit on the towel while I express into the sink. With Harley who actually is quite good and purrs while I am doing this, I have put an e-collar on him. He can be a little biter when he is annoyed. Diana

[Dianne]

Schnitzel is expressed on top of a baby changing table. I use a stack of old wash cloths that go into a "diaper pail" in an adjacent utility sink.

WARNING: The gas dryer looked to be a perfect height for expressing, as my knees hurt to bend over a tub, or express on the ground level. Little did I know that a stray shot of urine could short out the gas dryer and BLOW IT UP! That's right, it shot flames out from under the top of the dryer... We had to get rid of that dryer...I was lucky to get a new one.

[FYI]

[EchoRoboDog]

I have a cart dog, so taking him outside when the weather is decent is the best option. However I do use a puppy pad indoor when the weather is bad or if he and I are feeling partiularly lazy. I imagine having cat stand over a bathroom sink would work fine, as long as you clean it afterwards. Hope that helps!
-Carl

[synthsis]

right into the sink. having a 7 pound dog makes it really easy. Plus I can use one hand to squeeze and the other to dab her "bits" with a little bit of toilet paper to keep her clean.

[Toni]

I use the bath tub most frequently, although I have used puppy pads...and even just held them "over" the litter box. Some of them have then tried to bury, using their front feet, while I am supporting them. Using the litter box method I have gotten some cats to "try" to go on their own, since they know that is what the litter box is for. That has been especially helpful (I think) for cats that have had an injury that will allow them to gain back some, if not all of their control. It seems to keep them using as many of the muscles as they can..sort of a physical therapy....for those special situations.

[Philacatshia]

Kitchen floor (alas) is the only non-porous floor in the house. We sit in front of the sink; use a sponge to clean up. We're considering putting down a non-porous surface near the basement toilet, but venting the smells is more difficult there. The vet expresses Bully while he's crouching on a table, but we squeeze him while he's lying on his left side. He grumbles when the linoleum is cold, so I can't imagine trying to do that in the bathtub!

[critters]

I laid Buddy on a towel to express him into a baby diaper; the towel cushioned him, and it wasn't so cold.

[janew]

I always took my cat outside to express him...never thought of the sink. It would have been way warmer in the winter & more convient in the rain, ect. Sometimes, I am not the brightest light. 13 yrs of going out in all conditions 3-4 times a day...duh, why not use the sink??

[CarolC]

Wow!! 13 years is the longest I ever heard of anyone express! That is so cool. I sometimes think I should try expressing onto a reusable cotton hospital pad, I have lots of them. You are throwing more urine into the washer that way, but I do pet wash separate with bleach, and with a small animal like a chihuahua, it isn't any more than it would be if you were washing old fashioned baby diapers. It would save money and the environment...

[janew]

Thanks Carol,
It was not any complication from his paralysis & incontinance that was his demise but lymphoma that did not respond to chemo on the 2nd round a year later, he was ~17 yrs old. Never had any issue related to his paralysis injury or illness until the lymphoma.
Finny was so happy always, despite dire vet warnings that he would not make 6 months after I found him as an unaltered stray injured by a car & I was setting myself up to fail. I made the descion in in 1987 to give him all the good time I could. I neutered, vac. & felv tested him. He was with me until 2000 with no troubles. To this day I still have the automatic think of him in my schedule if I am asked to do something that is not 'normal' & would effect his schedule. I am still hard-wired to his needs. Wish I still needed to be, I do not regret a second of the rain, snow or cold taking him out but darn the sink would have been handy. If at all possible he traveled with me, he didn't do well with vet boarding at the best places. We were kind of like an old couple in tune with each other & it worked well...