I have an english bulldog puppy with Spina Bifida. She is incontinent, can any one give me info on how to take care of her.
I have never taken care of a dog with this problem so I have no clue where to begin.
7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
Re: 7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
Hi Lori,
I have a similar situation.
At night my dog sleeps in a playpen. I use quilted playpen sheets on the bottom, and she has a blanket. I change both every day. At night she does not wear any diaper, her skin is exposed to the air, and the quilted sheet absorbs any dribbles, and being in the playpen keeps the house clean.
During the day my dog wears a diaper. We have been using the denim diapers they sell at PetsMart. Inside I put an incontinence pad (like Poise). Since my dog is small I cut it in half and just put half in the diaper. The cut end is toward the front of the crotch so the uncut end is by the tail. My dog can usually go all day on one pad.
My dog drops little stools during her activity, but not that many, and it is not a problem if the stool quality is good. I feed her a diet that gives her firm stools that are not messy, you just pick them up with a kleenex. It does not hurt the carpet at all since they are not messy. We reduce the amount of stools by using a bowel management technique called "Poop on Demand". You can read about it here. It does not totally eliminate the problem but does help.
https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Bowel_management_in_incontinent_pets
I have a similar situation.
At night my dog sleeps in a playpen. I use quilted playpen sheets on the bottom, and she has a blanket. I change both every day. At night she does not wear any diaper, her skin is exposed to the air, and the quilted sheet absorbs any dribbles, and being in the playpen keeps the house clean.
During the day my dog wears a diaper. We have been using the denim diapers they sell at PetsMart. Inside I put an incontinence pad (like Poise). Since my dog is small I cut it in half and just put half in the diaper. The cut end is toward the front of the crotch so the uncut end is by the tail. My dog can usually go all day on one pad.
My dog drops little stools during her activity, but not that many, and it is not a problem if the stool quality is good. I feed her a diet that gives her firm stools that are not messy, you just pick them up with a kleenex. It does not hurt the carpet at all since they are not messy. We reduce the amount of stools by using a bowel management technique called "Poop on Demand". You can read about it here. It does not totally eliminate the problem but does help.
https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Bowel_management_in_incontinent_pets
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Loriperfume
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:38 pm
Re: 7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
That you so much for the info. Can you tell me more about the diet you feed your dog?
Re: 7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
Sure. 
When I got her she was already 7 months old, and I had her on Royal Canin dry puppy food. Now she is on Royal Canin Indoor Adult 21 (she's a small breed). When I want to give her a treat, she gets a few (4-6) kibbles of Science Diet w/d dry food, which the other dog eats. If I give her any canned food like the other dog gets sometimes, we have a bad case of "messy bottom" so isn't worth it. 
Also, if you feel it's going to be difficult to care for the puppy, there was someone here who was wanting a disabled English Bulldog puppy. I didn't know whether to mention it, but if you want to rehome her you might be able to work something out.
In addition, here is a story of another person who had a spina bifida puppy. Riley just passed away this month at the age of 11 yrs 7 months.
http://www.handicappedpets.com/Articles/spinabifida/index.htm
When I got her she was already 7 months old, and I had her on Royal Canin dry puppy food. Now she is on Royal Canin Indoor Adult 21 (she's a small breed). When I want to give her a treat, she gets a few (4-6) kibbles of Science Diet w/d dry food, which the other dog eats. If I give her any canned food like the other dog gets sometimes, we have a bad case of "messy bottom" so isn't worth it. Also, if you feel it's going to be difficult to care for the puppy, there was someone here who was wanting a disabled English Bulldog puppy. I didn't know whether to mention it, but if you want to rehome her you might be able to work something out.
In addition, here is a story of another person who had a spina bifida puppy. Riley just passed away this month at the age of 11 yrs 7 months.
http://www.handicappedpets.com/Articles/spinabifida/index.htm
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Loriperfume
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:38 pm
Re: 7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
Thank you so much for all the information, it has been so helpfull. Would you know how I could find that person? I would at least like to talk with them, I do have kids and as bad as I want to make it work to keep the puppy, I just can't take time away from my family.
Thank you again!!
Thank you again!!
Re: 7 week old puppy with Spina Bifida
Hi Lori,
I got a reply back from the lady who was wanting a puppy, but she said she actually adopted a dog recently. I'm sorry, I haven't talked to her for several weeks. She said she would spread the word among her friends, and suggested this link for Bulldog Rescue.
http://bulldog.rescueme.org/Connecticut
My spina bifida dog is really very little trouble, mainly she requires one or two diaper changes a day and clean bedding. That means one load of dog laundry every 2-3 days, and if I don't have time I don't fold it. I just throw the clean blankies in the laundry basket and pull them out as needed. Other than that she's a normal dog. 
I got a reply back from the lady who was wanting a puppy, but she said she actually adopted a dog recently. I'm sorry, I haven't talked to her for several weeks. She said she would spread the word among her friends, and suggested this link for Bulldog Rescue.
http://bulldog.rescueme.org/Connecticut
My spina bifida dog is really very little trouble, mainly she requires one or two diaper changes a day and clean bedding. That means one load of dog laundry every 2-3 days, and if I don't have time I don't fold it. I just throw the clean blankies in the laundry basket and pull them out as needed.
Other than that she's a normal dog.