Are your females spayed? Just curious. I'm hoping to get a female for a second dog eventually but I keep hearing rumors that females [mostly large breed dogs] have a chance of ending up a little incontinent if they are spayed too early….and you have 4 of them so that makes me wonder if this is a common problem in females [though so far I've only heard the rumor that spaying too early causes slight incontinence].
The above question was asked in another thread, and I didn't want to hijack the thread to answer so I started a different thread.
I've had quite a few female dogs over the years, both Basenjis and Sibes, and the majority were spayed as adults. And yes, older spayed females tend to leak a little; doesn't matter when they were spayed, it's not exactly total incontinence (as it's just a little leakage) and it's got nothing to do with housetraining. It's just something that happens to older, spayed, bitches. But it's easily treated with hormone pills that you end up giving maybe every 5 or 6 days. Certainly no reason to avoid getting a female!!
-Joanne
I think it depends on the Vet that does the spay. I know of many a female (all breeds and mixed breeds) that have been done at a low cost spay/neuter clinic and had problems regardless of age. And I know that some of those clinics are like little assembly lines… and that many times they would use many a less experienced Vet or maybe one not quite the best. However, that said, a poor neuter job can cause a male to leak also.
My girls were spayed between usually 3 to 7 depending. I never had problems with leaking. And my males at around 4yrs. Never any problems until they reach elder age and had kidney problems.
Of course I don't believe in spaying before at least 6 to 7 months, or after one season. All of my pups from my last litter in 2012 with the exception of one were spayed between 6 and 8 months. No problems with them yet either
I never had problems with any of my girls until the very end. Mid teens. All of my Basenjis have been capable to going for extended periods without having to urinate. My current boy goes out for his "last run" at around 7 p.m. and after that is good until he gets up around 6:30 - 7 a.m. or even later. My girls used to go out between 8 and 9 p.m. and were quite happy to wait until 12 hours or more later to "go" again. ( in the depths of winter, I would often arise at 6:30 and go to clean the barn. Back at 8 a.m. the girls would still be in bed!!)
Kaia just turned 1 last year so we'll just have to wait and see. She was spayed at 8.5 mths, though I opted for a lap spay and the ovaries were all that were taken. So far no accidents and there have been plenty of times where she'd have gone 12 hrs or so between potty trips if it hadn't been for me carrying her outside.
Oh, if they do start to leak a little it won't happen until they're 7 or 8.
It's so easy to treat, it's not a reason to avoid getting a female, nor a reason not to spay her.
-Joanne
It is more common in adult spayed females but it can happen to either gender neutered or not when they advance in age. I don't know if basenji females are different from other breeds when it comes to urinary incontinence (I've only owned and prefer males) but from what I've seen it can happen but it's not so common that it's a huge concern. A female basenji we treated at work became incontinent at 15-16 but she was also in renal failure.
Great information. I figure 'all' older dogs will have bladder control issues; the age of onset that I'd be concerned with would be within the first year, or specifically, just after being spayed.
I have absolutely no experience with females…my family would only adopt male dogs [ for silly reasons] so I know all about male dogs, nothing about the female workings. I was interested in a female basenji for my first dog, but fate took me in a different direction 
So trying to gather as much information as possible for the next time around.
I started to worry a little when L.S said she had four females with some 'control' issues and that's what prompted my question. Definitely will not stop me from trying to adopt a female puppy (or spaying!) in the future.
My male dog is neutered as well and has had some minor (not all that noticeable) 'issues' in the past with bladder control; not too problematic, but just not up to par with the dogs my family had in the past that were uncut. That in and of itself makes me wonder if his occasional control issues have anything to do with the neutering….I had him neutered at about 7 months, and he was his full adult size by that time so it may be unrelated.
I was living with a roommate for awhile, who had a female puppy, and the vet told her to let the dog go through the first cycle...so I thought there might be something to the incontinence thing. Eh, maybe just some underlying sexism.....in the vein of "they need to have a litter first.."
If I do end up with a female puppy I'll definitely wait until 6-7 months before spaying...if possible. I've heard that before the first cycle starts is the best time [if you don't plan on breeding]?
Our older female has spay incontinence. She was spayed at 7 months IIRC. (this was 12 years ago) She would just leak urine, especially when asleep and was not the greatest at holding it. Symptoms started pretty early on, within a few months. We put her on Proin, and that completely stopped the leaking and has helped her with general holding . Still even now, she will occasionally get hyped up doing the B500 and just drop and go, but usually she is OK. We have almost all hardwood floors and a few rugs which helps.
We have a younger girl that is 6 now. She was spayed close to the same age, maybe a little later, by the same vet, (though they used a laser this time) with no issues at all. She can hold it for hours and hours with no issue. It is pretty crazy actually.
There are other drugs, but proin has worked the best for us. Used to come in a liquid that we put on her food, but they stopped making that. IT only comes in super huge flavored tablets. This particular dog hates any type of flavored tab and when she was being treated for cancer and had to take lots of pills a day, she just got real obstinate about it. We found a compounding pharmacy that can put it in much smaller capsules though now, so its way better.
If I do end up with a female puppy I'll definitely wait until 6-7 months before spaying…if possible. I've heard that before the first cycle starts is the best time [if you don't plan on breeding]?
I've heard and read to do it before the first cycle as well as to let them go through one and then spay. We were able to wait until Kaia was 8.5 mths without her going into heat, I would have waited a bit longer too but my preference was to spay prior to her first heat. Her breeder, vet, and my research all said just before or after her first heat would be fine. There wouldn't be many differences health-wise if we were to wait a bit longer than we did.
Lady was spayed after her first heat…...my vet at the time preferred that. Tamu was spayed much later, because she was a show dog and after I had "finished" her I procrastinated for awhile before deciding I would not breed her. Both had no issues with leakage, and both had no incontinence issues until extreme old age. (I lost Lady just short of sixteen years, Tamu shortly after her sixteenth birthday).
I'm worried about this. I was unable to spay Ava before her first heat. She has a medical problem that can self-correct with a pup's first heat, so I was weighing the pros and cons of waiting when she went into heat early. I thought I would never get her fully housetrained due to constant UTIs, so now that we seem to have finally gotten that under control, I would really, really hate to mess it up. I'm trying to decide when to spay her. I'm opting for a lap spay, too.
I have not had a problem with the females I have had.
I'm worried about this. I was unable to spay Ava before her first heat. She has a medical problem that can self-correct with a pup's first heat, so I was weighing the pros and cons of waiting when she went into heat early. I thought I would never get her fully housetrained due to constant UTIs, so now that we seem to have finally gotten that under control, I would really, really hate to mess it up. I'm trying to decide when to spay her. I'm opting for a lap spay, too.
I hear your concern, but if you have a good vet and since it seems that your vet ID the problem to begin with, I would assume that they are good at spaying… I would not be too concerned... I would most likely wait till the summer and then have her spayed. When did she come in season?
Ava came into season at the end of July. The tricky thing is her problem only half-corrected with her first heat, so some advise giving it a second heat to see if it fully corrects. But she has had only one minor UTI after coming in season and has been UTI-free since. She is finally healthy and no longer having accidents, so I'm thinking it might be best to go ahead and have her spayed.
My first girls lived to 12-14 and never leaked, both were spayed at 4, I always spay at 4, by then they are done showing and breeding.
Our 17 year old starting having problems with leaking last year. Almost every time she slept she would wake up with a small wet spot in her bed or on the couch. Since she sleeps in bed with us this became a huge problem - washing the sheets every day got old REAL fast…but we couldn't bear to throw her out of bed! After several tests to rule out various problems, her doctor put her on Proin twice a day, and the leakage has pretty much disappeared. I honestly can't remember the last time we had to clean up a puddle! The problem NOW is getting her to take the medication since she absolutely will not chew up the tablet. After struggling for weeks we finally tried crushing the tablet and mixing it with her food, and this has worked perfectly.
