Reasons to Not Let Your Dog Hold It
Wednesday, November 02, 2016 01:30:30 PM America/Los_Angeles
As humans, we understand it's important to pee when we feel the urge to do so. Why should this be any different for our dogs? It's been found that dogs pass 10-20 ml of urine for every pound of their weight daily. Most adult dogs can go 8-10 hours without urinating, but this depends on their age, sex, body size, and overall health. Younger and smaller dogs need to urinate more often than older larger dogs. When you require your dog to hold their urine for a prolonged time period, veterinarians have warned that several health issues may develop.
Ideally, dogs should be taken out to relieve themselves roughly three to five times a day. Better yet, make sure to have a designated area in your home where your dog can relieve themselves so they don't have to wait on you. The most sanitary option is to have a patch of real grass like DoggieLawn, which lasts anywhere from 1-4+ weeks. It doesn't need to be scrubbed down like fake grass or replaced multiple times a day like potty pads. The hydroponic grass in DoggieLawns absorbs urine and odors, making it the most sanitary portable dog potty system. You can use this link to refer a friend to DoggieLawn so that they can get a discount on their first lawn to try it out.
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Possible Health Issues that May Develop from Your Dog Holding Their Urine:
- There's an increased likelihood that your dog will develop urinary tract infections (UTI), and if left untreated infections can lead to urinary stones. This is the result of bacteria accumulating in your dog's urine. The most common sign your dog is suffering from a UTI is their inability to urinate or only passing a small amount of urine at a time. Alterntively, they may pee more frequently than usual. Other symptoms include bloody or cloudy urine, a fever, the loss of bladder control, straining and/or crying out in pain when trying to urinate, soiling in inappropriate places, constantly licking their urinary opening, a strong odor to their urine, lethargy, vomiting, appetite changes, weight loss, severe back pain, and drinking more water. Fortunately, UTIs in dogs are easily treated with antibiotics like Cephalexin or Clavamox, which destroy and inhibit bacteria's growth.
- Some veterinarians also say that making your dog hold their urine predisposes them to certain types of urinary cancer because carcinogens stay in the urine and cells remain in their urinary tract as well. The most common sign of this is recurring UTIs and can become deadly in as little as 10 months.
- When your dog spends years holding their urine they'll eventually develop bladder incontinence. This is because their bladder, which is a “holding reservoir,” becomes quite distended from holding their urine for so long over the course of many years.
- Sometimes a surgery, known as a colposuspension (for female dogs) and cystourethropexy (for male dogs), is necessary to reposition the bladder's neck so that pressure is no longer placed on the bladder an urethra. This cures about 50% of dogs while improving bladder function for another 75% of dogs.
Source: Khakimullin Aleksandr/Shutterstock
Dogs are “man's best friend.” We don't want them to develop any of these problems, but with the long hours we spend at work and busy lives we live outside of the office, our time an attention can be limited. What can we do about this? After all, there must be a better alternative than costly medical care and painful infections.
The simple, inexpensive answer is DoggieLawn, which is a real grass potty pad for your dog to go potty on. It's created for those dogs who don't have the luxury of a backyard. Whether this is because you're busy, your health prevents you from taking your dog out often, you live in a high-rise, or any other reason, this is a great way to let your dog pee on their own schedule. All things considered, you can see why real hydroponically grown grass is a beneficial solution for both yourself and your beloved pets. So, if you want to take steps to prevent complications later in life but can't get them outside as often as needed, DoggieLawn is here for the both of you!
