Risk for STROKE?!

meeshielaez

So my 1 year old shiba female was leaking urine the other day. I was freaking out and thought maybe her bladder had ruptured or she had a UTI or something! Well I brought her to the vet the next day and my vet explained to me how this is common among females who have been spayed at a young age! I have never heard of this before! So, I went home that day with PROIN (hormone replacement for urinanry incontinence) and immediately started her on it.I did more research online on Proin and found that many dogs are on it and, actually, many dogs experience the same problem! I really have NEVER heard of anything like it.

Well, I came upon someone's blog about PROIN saying that it was causing strokes in dogs! There were many testimonials about how their dogs have died of a STROKE after starting the drug!They were saying how they wished they knew sooner bc they would have rather dealt with the urine rather than having their dog gone. This broke my heart reading how all these people's dogs died! I am surely going to call my vet in the morning! I am not going to continue this drug if there is ANY risk for STROKE in my little girl.

Anyone elses dog on PROIN?

tjbart17

My mother had a triple bi-pass 6 years ago and the doctor put her on Lipidor (? sp) even though she never had high blood pressure. It ended up causing her liver to begin failing. She has since taken herself off the med's after weighing the pros and the cons. Con liver failure overruled any of the pros!!!!!

You're doing a good job researching any and all medication that your vet prescribes. Keep doing your homework and call your vet to confirm the side effects. Also, look into alternative treatments and please keep us posted. I'm sorry that you are going through this.

meeshielaez

Thanks so much for your kind words! I will keep posting! Yes, I am definitely going to be doing more research! I am currently looking for alternative meds, but so far I think I am going to see how she does without it for now. My vet says some dogs just have episodes of incontinence then it goes away forever, so I am hoping that Luna is one of those cases.

Nekopan

Um, I have to ask... did your vet test for a UTI before he sent you out the door with medication?

I would suggest you get a second, or possibly a third opinion. See if you can get a hold of another vet at a different clinic and see what they think about it.

meeshielaez

Yes, they took a urine sample. I actually brought it up myself and called in asking if I need hold off on taking Luna to the bathroom so she had enough urine for a good sample. I guess my vet wanted to try the medications before anything bc Luna had no signs/symptoms of a UTI, but they took a sample anyways just in case. And YES, I definitely will get more opinions. I just found this our recently and just wanted to see if anyone else knew more about it.

lindsayt

This is a common medication (also called PPP-ironic I know, or phenylpropanolamine) used to treat urinary incontinence in dogs that can occur more often in spayed females. However, male dogs do take this med as well, as do older unspayed females and pre-pubertal un spayed females (female puppies with incontinence). In people, it was found to contribute to the risk of hemorrhagic stroke in pts that had artery disease and hypertension. It is not believed that pets experience these same side effects. The only side effect I have experienced with client dogs in all the many years of having them take this med was slight hyperactivity/restlessness. They all have lived/are living, long happy lives with no reported strokes.

WrylyBrindle

Reilly's dirty little secret- she has been leaky since 8 months old. She is 6 years old now. (she will kill me for putting this on the internet...if only she knew) She was spayed at about 11 weeks- like all the other shelter puppies, before they are allowed to go home. I wish I had had a choice- I would have done it later, but I didnt know about estrogen incontinence and I figured the shelter vets knew best. They probably do. This seems horribly early to me, but vets say "There is No Good Science- no study - that proves any connection between early spay and estrogen incontinence." So there, I guess, we have it - for now anyway.

Rei was tested for UTI and even ultrasounded for ectopic ureter- everything fine- she just leaks. She has been on Proin daily for over 5 years and she exhibits no effects other than a dry bed 98% of the time. I always make sure she empties out before bed and doesnt spend too long without peeing. She doesn;t realize she's dripping, so I have to keep aware of her outs. Even on Proin, she can leak if she doesnt pee on last outs at night, so its not perfect on her. So I have a waterproof cover on her bed insert, that way only her cover gets wet, if she leaks at night. It is unusual for dogs to be leaky as early as Reilly and your girl, but it happens. Frankly, I felt my vets were a little TOO $cientific about their diagnosis, as odd as that sounds, but I can accept it. They tested her thoroughly and it cost a lot of money, whereas my sister brought her lab in for the same thing and her vet ruled out any infection, then rx'd proin- saying if it doesnt respond to this, we'll look at ultrasounding. Cleo was fine and came off proin after a while. Reilly will always be on it.

What is curious to me is that this is an estrogen replacement, (the function is to develop/tighten the urinary sphincter muscle) and I wonder about the estrogen deficiency that makes her need more. Is this why she exhibits "male" behaviors like marking with her leg cocked? Would she do that anyway, whether she was spayed later or unspayed? I have heard a few place that if females are surrounded by males in utero that they become testosterone-ized (?) but I dont know if I should believe that- Id like a better source on that. (Theres probably No Good Science done on that...)

I have been told by various vets in her life that Proin is safe, and have known other dogs on it, but that as she is on it longer and if it loses effect (she started on 2 a day, went down to 1 for years but takes 2 a day now-- but she is a big dog 75 lbs) she may need to take DES, which can affect bone marrow... (ulp-) so I am afraid of that until I have to deal with it.